After riding more than 15,000 miles with a CYC Stealth on the same bike, I was excited to finally install the new Photon Pro.
"CYC really hit it out of the park with the new Photon Pro. I’ve been putting serious miles on my 2022 X1 Stealth—over 15,000 miles of almost exclusively asphalt road riding. The Stealth has been an outstanding motor and has given me years of dependable riding. Living in Northern California has its challenges when it comes to cycling. We have plenty of mountains, and believe it or not, they come with some pretty serious hills! The Stealth handled those climbs effortlessly, but on long sustained grades of 7–15%, motor temperatures would typically climb into the 160–170°F range. The new Photon Pro has exceeded my expectations. What has impressed me most is the new inrunner motor’s heat management. I took it on a 40-mile shakedown ride this morning that included a couple of 1/4-mile climbs at around an 8% grade. I intentionally tried to build heat by holding 20 mph in PAS. The highest temperature I saw was only 110°F. Once the road leveled out, I maintained… well, let’s just say around 28 mph… for the next five miles, and the motor quickly cooled back down to approximately 103°F. Power feels very comparable to the Stealth, even though the Photon Pro is rated at 4,000 watts peak versus the Stealth’s 3,000 watts. To be fair, I never came close to using that much power on this ride. The biggest improvement, for me, is heat management. That’s number one. Number two is how incredibly smooth the pedal assist feels. The PAS is silky smooth and very natural. I always thought the Stealth’s torque sensing was excellent, but the Photon Pro takes it to another level. I feel very fortunate to have received one of the first Photon Pros in North America. It was simply a matter of being in the right place at the right time. A huge thank-you to Arron and the entire team at ElectrifyBike for putting up with months of my questions: “What’s the latest on the Photon Pro?” and “When is it finally going to launch?” Their customer service and support have always been outstanding, and they’re a great company to work with. One final note: I don’t work for CYC or ElectrifyBike. I’m simply an enthusiastic customer sharing my honest first impressions after my initial ride."