Issue Six - Spring 2013 - Electric Bike Magazine

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+ELECTRIC MTBS Electric mountain biking: round-up Alongside the models we’ve reviewed on the preceding pages there are many other notable electric MTBs available. Here’s just a brief selection… » Haibike Haibike from Germany, now distributed by Raleigh UK and with several dealers, produce a number of MTB models intended for serious off-road use. We tested one, supplied by Justebikes, in Electric Bike Issue 3. All are powered by Bosch crank drive systems. The 2013 range includes one ‘29er’ hardtail, the £2750 Xduro RC29 (29ers have larger wheels than most MTBs, which many say helps them roll easier over bumps) and two full suspension models, the Xduro FS SL (also £2750) and a top end model, the Xduro All Mountain at £4150, weighing just over 20 kg all in. www.haibike.de » BH Emotion Spanish manufacturer BH have a good network of dealers in the UK, and they offer a full-suspension MTB in their ‘Neo’ range, the Jumper. Like the Neo Cross which we reviewed in Issue 4, it uses their silent, torque sensing hub motor system and a battery which slots ‘invisibly’ into the downtube. Looks like a good choice if you want to be very discreet about your off road electric assist. Prices are at the higher end of the scale. www.bh-emotion.co.uk » Kudos Bikes The Kudos range of relatively affordable machines has several new arrivals for 2013, including four hardtail MTB models. This includes a torque sensing model, the Arriba, with hub motor, as well as the crank drive (with rotation-sensor control) Ibex, both for £1295. They also note that their £1095 Tornado has its BPM- Bafang motor optimised for torque at low speeds, ideal for hill climbing and off-roading. Pictured here is the Ibex, which also features Tektro hydraulic disk brakes front and rear. www.kudoscycles.com » Electric Goat Bikes Steve Punchard of Electric Mountain Bikes is something of an electric mountain bike pioneer, and he’s been supplying electric MTBs since 2007. Now moved to Somerset after several years in North Yorkshire, he can add electrics to existing MTBs or offer one of his ‘Electric Goat’ range. These use motors from Heinzmann or Gruber Assist – the latter concealed within the bike’s seatpost and driving the cranks through bevel gears. www.electricgoatbikes.com 18 Electric Bike Issue 6
IROUND-UPI Electric mountain biking: lessons learned » KTM eRace P650 This bike is new for 2013 and just missed a proper review this issue: it’s among the first to use the new Panasonic 250 W rear motor drive system, which operates at an unusually high 47 V (most bikes use 36 V). It also uses the 650B tyre size, somewhat larger than the usual 26" (559) MTB wheels. First reports from dealers are very promising indeed, and we’ll hope to get one in for a full review soon. www.ktm-bikes.at So what have we learned from riding these electric MTBs? Here’s a few brief thoughts… I may be biased by my own lack of skill and fitness, but I think electric MTBs will probably have limited appeal to the young and fit who love the jumps, stunts and general more radical aspects of mountain biking. Too expensive, too heavy. They’ll appeal much more to those looking to mountain biking for access to trafficfree trails, scenery, nature and the fun of descending – but without wrecking the bike, the trail or the rider! I think crank drive does have the edge for more technical riding: in low gear it gives you huge torque to pull yourself out of trouble. Good hub drives come close, but can’t quite match this. Completely silent hub drives are a particular pleasure out in the silence of nature. Torque sensing drives makes low-speed mountain biking much easier, simply because of the more intuitive control they give. But if you can keep speeds up to reasonable levels, then torque sensing doesn’t make much difference, and a simple rotation sensor motor control will still take the hard work out of climbs and claggy surfaces. Aside from electric assist, the bike bits matter. Choice of tyre makes a huge difference. Good brakes are a necessity. Mountain biking is fantastic but your bike doesn’t half get dirty! Factor in somewhere to clean it, and time for maintenance. Overall, I’m convinced that electric MTBs have a big future. As I said in the introduction, a visit to an electric mountain bike hire location, or to a dealer equipped with a demo fleet, would be well worth it before investing in a bike yourself! Peter Eland Autumn 2010 Electric Bike 3
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Page 8 and 9: +ELECTRIC MTBS Mountains to molehil
Page 10 and 11: +ON TEST Grace MX German brand Grac
Page 12 and 13: +ON TEST clicks neatly into its soc
Page 14 and 15: +ON TEST The Falco’s distributors
Page 16 and 17: +ON TEST Volt Alpine The Alpine is
Page 20 and 21: +ON TEST Beatbikes Beatbike We revi
Page 22 and 23: +ON TEST ABOVE: The folding process
Page 26 and 27: +ON TEST Hero Eco A2B Hybrid 24 Wit
Page 28 and 29: +ON TEST This would make the bike r
Page 30 and 31: +ON TEST Klimax Hase Bikes What, yo
Page 32 and 33: +FIRST LOOK The Sunstar electric bi
Page 34 and 35: +E-BIKE BASICS ELECTRIC BIKE BEGINN
Page 40 and 41: +LETTERS From Simon Lord I was diag
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Page 46 and 47: B I K E S The KLIMAX of all-weather
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Issue Six - Spring 2013 - Electric Bike Magazine

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