E-BIKES TESTED
E-bikes used to be cumbersome roadsters but now the new generation is lighter and better looking, so is it time we took e-bikes seriously?
As performance e-bikes emerge for road riding, we test Giant’s FastRoad E+, Orbea’s gravel-focused Gain and British brand Cytronex’s bolt-on kit.
The mountain bike sector is already littered with high-performance e-bikes, there’s even an enduro race series for e-bikes now. What we’re seeing emerge on the road are performance e-bikes such as Focus’s Paralane2, featured in issue 342, and brands like Pinarello, Colnago, Bianchi, Wilier and Orbea all bringing sporty e-bikes to stores. We’re taking a look at three new options: Orbea’s gravel-focused Gain, Giant’s flat bar-equipped FastRoad E+ and British brand Cytronex’s clever add-on kit affixed to Cannondale’s CAAD12.
Dragstripstar
The Cannondale CAAD12 is a brilliant bike, its £2k price tag makes it well worth the money too. For an extra £995 you can have it built with Cytronex’s front wheel e-assist. As you get the original front wheel too, it’s both e-bike and standard bike in one. With the Cytronex kit you simply replace the front wheel with the readybuilt one, run cables from the hub axle bolt junction up the fork leg, using reusable zip ties, with the control button mounted on the bar and the battery mounted in its special oversized bottle cage on the down-tube, then run the sensor down to the cassette.
The kit can be fitted or removed completely in around half an hour, although you could just remove the battery and switch the front wheel if you don’t mind leaving the cables in place. The ease and swiftness of set up is all down to the clever sensor. Usually e-bikes need a crank sensor for cadence, a speed sensor for the limiter and a brake sensor to cut the motor when you begin to stop. Cytronex has replaced three sensors with just one. It points at the largest sprocket on your rear cassette and senses the movement of the teeth, so when they start to turn the motor engages. If you stop pedalling it cuts out and speed is calculated by the sensor working out the speed at which the cassette turns.
You’d think it would feel weird having a large amount of the weight centred over the front wheel, but it doesn’t affect the bike’s handling. Yes, the steering feels a little more loaded than the standard bike but it’s still easy to manoeuvre. The sensation of being pulled along by the motor
is strange, but you get accustomed to it. Put the assist on max to move away from traffic lights and the pull is impressive, making the Cytronex feel like a dragster getting you up to speed.
The system operates on a single large button that can be easily dabbed on or off with the heel of your palm. You cycle through low, medium, and high assistance with a single push. Battery level is shown by a light on the battery itself – green means 100-75 per cent, blue 75-50 per cent, purple 50-25 per cent and red 25-10 per cent. When you get below 10 per cent the light flashes red, which turns on the low battery mode to extract the last of the energy by ramping down the power gradually. The smart battery also turns on when accelerometers inside sense movement, so you simply shake it to wake it.
As the battery isn’t as big as the others on test, we thought the range might be an issue. However, as the limit (15.5-17.5mph) is fairly low you only use the assistance when you need it. It feels the least hampered by weight, as we’ve tested heavier standard bikes. The complete bike with the claimed 3.6kg kit fitted weighs 11.4kg, which is light for an e-assisted bike. Should you want to fit the kit to an existing bike it’s available separately from £995 built into a rim or the kit only from £906. There are UK-legal max 25kph or US 32kph versions available.
On our first ride-to-empty outing on a normal rolling Wiltshire loop, the Cytronex managed 66.85 miles/107.6km with 1000.1m of elevation at an average of 17.1mph/27.5kph. The next ride notched up just over 60 miles, but with 1640m of climbing, so it’s pretty consistent and went further than we’d have guessed. These figures are all achieved by being clever with the modes, leaving it on minimum while riding normally and only hitting full power on big hills.
I was impressed by the Cytronex system, it works well for something so minimal. The finish could do with some work; the battery looks suitably techy and its fitting is simple, but the raw stainless holder it sits on doesn’t look quite so slick. The sensor is a clever piece of electronic engineering and the clamp it sits on neatly flips out of the way when you remove the rear wheel, but, like the battery holder, it looks more prototype than finished product. Cytronex has an app to allow you to alter the power bands and tune the system, which is a brilliant idea. At the moment it’s only PC-based and only via a USB connection to the battery.
The standard spec tyres, 25mm Mavic Yksions, are fine, but on slim rims the extra weight on the front meant we did suffer a couple of pinch punctures until we ran the tyres harder than we’d like. A switch to thicker rubber, 28s would be ideal, would cure this and add some comfort.
If these mostly visual aspects were addressed, the Cytronex could be a world-leading system. Still, we’re more than happy to recommend this clever UK-built system if you’re looking for a bit of extra help on the hills or to ease your commute.
The Cytronex feels like a dragster getting you up to speed
Diesel feel
Giant’s FastRoad E+ is the most obvious e-bike here. It’s the cheapest on test but also the heaviest at 20.3kg, but don’t dismiss it. The Yamaha/Giant power unit provides such a punch from lowdown torque that you can’t help but be impressed at how well it moves you. We can only relate it to something like a diesel traction engine, it’s not fast or nimble but it just pulls and pulls so if you’re looking for something to transport you with ease, consider the FastRoad.
On our first ride, the Giant FastR0ad E+ ran for 67.5 miles/108.7km with 1071m of elevation at an average of 16.8mph/27kph. Unlike the Cytronex and Orbea we relied more heavily on the system’s power more of the time, making its range all the more impressive. When you pedal at a cadence of around 75rpm the Giant makes absolute sense, and with the full digital display you’re bombarded with information – average speed, max speed, distance, range, power mode (a choice of five) and more. Controlling modes is via a neat button mounted next to the shifter and can be easily found with your thumb. Here you can cycle modes, turn on and off connected lights and power up or turn off the system. On further runs we got similar mileage, and on a purposely flatter ride – towpaths and bike paths – we eked the range up to 76.3 miles, but that took more effort on our behalf rather than riding hillier routes.
With the motor active the FastRoad E+ feels alive, light even, and when you do crest a big hill and head back down you’ll be happy for the hydraulic disc brakes as it descends seriously fast. The weight is mostly low down so acts like ballast, so it feels stable too. We topped out at 48mph on the straight line descent from Westbury’s White Horse.
Like all Giants the FastRoad is well equipped, the contact points are good with comfortable grips and a well-shaped saddle. The 28mm Schwalbe Durano tyres are good and set up tubeless, but we’d have preferred something wider to help cushion things. The FastRoad can feel hard on rougher surfaces.
When you’re working outside of the power range, so faster than 16mph, or riding without assistance you can feel the bike’s weight. Keep the FastRoad E+ in the power band and it’s an epically powerful machine that covers big distances with ease. If you’re looking for transport more than sport, the FastRoad E+ is a brilliant option. Its sculpted aluminium frame hides mounts for racks and mudguards, making it viable for load carrying and all-weather commuting. The power on tap will carry you up the steepest slopes with relative ease; this bike has so much low down grunt you could moonlight as a tow truck.
Enoughisenough
Orbea claims its Gain system is different from the competition, the idea behind it is ‘just enough’ power and assistance when you need it. The rear hub-mounted Ebikemotion motor is rated to 250w, as is the battery.
This D15 model is Orbea’s gravel machine, and at first glance it looks like a regular gravel bike, the clean, oversized aluminium frame is pretty standard, while the oversized down-tube, where the battery hides, looks no bigger than myriad standard bikes. You can’t really see the oversized rear hub hidden behind the 11-36 cassette of the SRAM Force 1 drivetrain on one side and the 160mm disc brake rotor on the other. The control system is hidden too, with a flush-fitting button mounted into the top-tube. Even the 14kg weight isn’t that heavy for an aluminium gravel bike, although we opted for the £609 carbon wheel upgrade over the standard £2999 model.
Controlling the system is simple, press the top-tube button (called iWOC) to turn it on and the ring LED shines white. Press and hold and it turns green (low assistance), orange (medium) and red (full). This is also the battery level indicator, white is 100-75 per cent, green 75-50 per cent, orange 50-25 per cent, red 25 per cent and flashing red less than 10 per cent. The Ebikemotion system is also Bluetooth compatible and the controller flashes blue as it connects to your phone via the Ebikemotion app.
The app shows a more accurate battery level, along with distance travelled, altitude, average speed, cadence, gradient and current speed. You can even download maps to the app and it will upload to Strava any recorded activities. If you pair it with your bike and a heart rate monitor you can set heart rate-based assistance. Set your maximum heart rate and the bike will automatically alter the level of assistance so you won’t need to touch the iWOC control button. Set your required heart rate training zone and the bike will work its assistance level to help you stay within it. Features like this take the Gain beyond your average e-bike to make a really usable machine for even the most serious cyclists.
We took the Gain for its first outing on a gravel ride across Salisbury Plain. A ride of 60.62 miles/97.55km with 982m of elevation at an average of 15.5mph/25.02kph is impressive, especially as only three of the 60 miles were on tarmac. Subsequent rides of 54.5 miles/87.7km and 52.34 miles/84.23km were all ridden to empty with similar levels of elevation and predominantly off road too.
The Gain handles like a great gravel bike should, the excellent 40mm Kenda Flintridge tyres offer plenty of bite in loose corners and the geometry is stable over rough ground. The Gain makes sense when you’re climbing serious
gradients on loose surfaces. There’s one particular stretch of singletrack on a favourite gravel loop where the track is only a fat tyre wide and hits a double digit gradient. More often than not, we get out of the saddle and lose traction on the rear wheel and dab a foot, then it’s almost impossible to get riding again so end up walking. On the Gain we could drop into the 36-tooth ring, bump the power assist to max and sit in the saddle and pedal to make the climb without stopping.
Like the Cytronex, we don’t really see the Gain as a traditional e-bike. It’s more of a range extender, something to give you that bit of assistance when you need it and a great equaliser if you ride with fitter or more experienced riders. We’d also see the Gain as a riding life extender, if you can’t quite manage the hills you used to, the Gain will get you up them. You’ll be putting in the same effort but you’ll get to the top quicker, and without having to walk. The Gain offers just what you want from electric assistance; it enhances the ride when it needs to, helps extend your riding in both range and terrain and still feels just like a top-handling gravel bike. It is expensive for aluminium, however.
Inconclusion
The three bikes are all very different propositions. The Giant is the most traditional e-bike even though it’s the one with the most untraditional looks. It’s by far the most capable piece of transport, its power reliable and is a good ride. As a replacement for a car, motorbike, moped or public transport, it would be our choice.
The Cytronex has to be admired, it’s a kit you can fit to any bike that can hold its own with dedicated e-bikes. Yes, some of the aesthetics could be sharpened up but the electric-assist performance is among the very best in power terms, even if its full-assist range is less than its big battery rivals.
The Orbea Gain is our favourite of the three. Like the Cytronex’s CAAD12 donor bike, the Gain rides and handles like it should, it’s nimble and agile off road and the great tyres, wheels and contact points make it a blast to ride. Add the clever motor to its natural feeling assistance, smart app and the Ebikemotion-equipped Gain is a star of the emerging ‘performance road e-bike’ genre.