Zurk Model X
I try to review bikes that are a bit different to provide some interest for you the reader (and for me the rider), so when Nelson from Zurk Bikes asked me to review one of his I thought “Heck, why not?” It sure looks different and I had been wondering what’s it all for. I was hoping for the Peter Fonda/Dennis Hopper Easy Rider vibe — it sort of has that ‘mini-me’ street bike look, in the way that a Little Tikes electric car looks like the Porsche it is modelled on.
Up close with the optional $79 rear rack it looks a bit like a motor bike up close.
Nelson said to me that it is a bit like a Lime Scooter, and I tend to agree. Both have a thumb throttle, slightly sketchy disk brakes, high handlebars and wheels that would make for better handling if they were bigger. They also both go faster than you thought given a bit of a run-up.
If Zurk bikes were available as rentals down at the beach like a Lime, I think they’d be enormously popular. With fat tyres you can go on the sand a bit (don’t worry, they wouldn’t go very fast, this is no Harley Davidson) and you’d probably part with $60 to have a bit of fun compared to $2070 plus accessories to own it.
Riding the Zurk Model X (there is also a Model S… hmm, who else uses those model names?) was a bit of fun. It is best treated as a motorised bike with pedals. It isn’t fun to pedal. It does go quite well with the Xofo motor at 48V. It couldn’t quite make my driveway without pedal assist, but not many bikes can. Brakes are cable actuated disks, the wheels are fat and small. Handlebar position is high, and I found that riding no-hands was a bit of a challenge (small wheels probably the reason). You could fit two smallish people on the seat and rear footpegs are available for that, turning it into the sort of bikes that Vietnamese schoolkids use (almost always with a pillion passenger). Battery life seemed good despite me hardly using the pedals.
One thing I worry about with all new brands is local support. You will get things replaced in the short term if something goes wrong, but actually you are pretty much on your own, especially months or years later when said importer has moved on, or simply started bringing in different bikes and stockpiling spares isn’t part of their business model. In short, there is a good reason why established brands cost a bit more.
If you want one, visit the website: https://zurk.co.nz/
