Issue Six - Spring 2013 - Electric Bike Magazine

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