Sometimes it feels like good ideas are surprisingly hard to come by. Good execution is even harder. There’s no doubt that the Clip electric bike accessory is a good idea. It’s easy to mount—provided the bike it’s attached to is compatible and doesn’t have a front suspension fork, of course—easy to use, and easy to carry. But there are some issues with execution. Ultimately, there’s a pretty narrow group of riders who the Clip will benefit from.
First of all, what the hell is this? a clip? The company said “this is the first time electric bicycle upgrade you can take with you.” Simply put, it’s a battery-powered electric motor that attaches to your bike’s front fork assembly, similar in principle to Solex Motorcycle. A small wheel is positioned to contact the front tire of the bike, creating a friction-driven coupling to supplement the electric power of a conventional bike. And the good news is, it works.
After assembling a bike provided for evaluation by Priority bicycle — a single-speed cruiser with a great belt drive system — we had no problem mounting the Clip unit to the front fork. Combined battery and the motor unit weighs less than 10 pounds and is easy to carry. Attaching it to the bike requires two hands and a little tweaking to make sure the drive wheel is properly contacting the front tire, but it only takes a few seconds. The fork is a little soft due to the weight, but that feeling goes away once you get moving. There’s no feeling that the Clip unit will accidentally detach from the bike, even on rough road surfaces. A small remote is attached to the main Clip unit for recharging, and it uses a rubber pad to attach to the bike’s handlebars. There’s a large red button to activate the motor and a smaller button to activate regeneration brake.
So far so good. On flat surfaces, we found the Clip provided a reasonable amount of motor assistance that made pedaling much easier. The boost function is activated by holding down the big red button and is strong enough to get the bike accelerating even when the rider isn’t pedaling… as long as there’s no incline (more on that below). We tested the Clip in a small urban area near us and found it to work quite well. The assist is right on the pedal and the amount of power the device provides is perfectly reasonable in a busy area with parked cars and people walking dogs and pushing strollers. Range is listed as up to 6 miles with the base Clip Commuter or up to 12 miles with the upgraded Clip Explorer. With the aid of man-made pedals, we assume that those range estimates can be accurate, again assuming there is no slope to deal with.
We also tested the Clip in a residential area with some easy but steep climbs that were a few hundred feet long, and that’s where we ran into trouble. Our single-speed test bike didn’t have any gears to make it easier to pedal uphill, so we used the Boost function to pick up a little speed before hitting the hill. It worked, the rider could see it through a set of LEDs on the unit, for about 30 seconds before we felt the electric assist drop off. And when it did, it seemed to drop off completely. After pulling over, removing the Clip, and reinstalling it, we repeated the test with the same results. A deeper dive into the FAQ—thoughtfully accessed via a QR code directly on the Clip—revealed that the Clip is equipped with safety systems to prevent the motor or battery pack from burning out or overheating, which is a good idea. Sadly, there just wasn’t enough power to climb even the moderate slopes on our test route.
We recommend choosing a bike with a gearing option; even a simple three-speed system makes pushing a heavy cruiser much easier uphill, especially with the added weight of the Clip unit. It’s also possible that tire choice will affect how much support the Clip can provide, but we only had one tester. Your mileage may vary, as they say. And we mean that literally.
The Clip is a great idea, with a lot of clever options and useful design details. For buyers who just need a little help in relatively flat urban areas, this e-bike makes a lot of sense. Cyclists who need more than the minimal electric assistance the Clip provides may want to consider a dedicated e-bike.
