More power Can e-bikes be hammered to give as much fun as pedal power
Electric mountain bikes are on the up. We tried one of the latest to try and find out why
Mountain bikes with electric motors? Surely that’s cheating. They’ve been creeping on to the market for a little while now, and I’ve always been sure that they’ll be heavy and slow. Even if they’re good, surely you’re just conning yourself into thinking you’re fit – and cheating others when you destroy them on that hard, techy climb?
The only way to find out was to actually have a go on one, but tracking an e-MTB down for a test ride proved surprisingly difficult. After some extensive legwork, a Cube van finally arrived containing a Stereo Hybrid 120 HPA Pro 29 and a charger. Dan from Cube was keen to deliver the bike personally so he could give us a rundown of how to ride it and make the most of the motor system. We listened carefully and then chose
instead to whack the bike into Turbo mode and head off. Sorry Dan!
Power to the pedals
The Stereo we got our hands on is the base model in Cube’s full-suspension e-bike range, and tips the scales at 21.5kg (47.3lb) – twice the weight of some regular mountain bikes. Does it feel heavy? Yes, and it’s noticeably harder to manhandle and pick up than a bike without a motor. But 10 years ago most downhill bikes were around that weight, so it’s not ridiculous.
The Bosch motor puts out 250w and drives the chainring directly, rather than the front or rear wheel as on some e-bikes. It’s powered by a large battery that sits in the hydroformed down tube. There’s a bar mounted display, with a shifter style controller so you can change modes without taking your hands off the grips. You can switch between five power settings – Eco, Tour, Sport, Turbo and a power-off mode should you really want to pedal unassisted. The Turbo mode is the biggie, with the motor adding 275 per cent effort to what you’re putting in. Nuts!
Up, up and away!
After a quick bar and stem swap to something decidedly less European, I hopped on and made a swift exit. Really swift! The motor doesn’t have a throttle or ‘go’ button, instead it simply helps you pedal – when it senses pressure on the cranks, it kicks in and takes some of the strain. This means you can be spinning your legs with virtually no resistance but still be maintaining a speed of 25kmh on the flat. Bonkers!
Steady climbs feel like riding on the flat, and snapper Steve Behr managed to get all the way up the Forest of Dean push-up track wearing his camera bag and not break a sweat! Steeper climbs are still pretty hard though. The limited gearing means you have to push hard, and the motor, though keen to help, doesn’t quite give you that same feeling as when you’re flying along the flat. That said, there’s no other way Steve or I could have ridden a 47lb bike up any of those climbs! The extra weight also helps hugely with grip on technical ascents, where you’d otherwise be wheelspinning and fighting for traction. The steady torque of the motor combined with the weight meant I could get up one climb I’d never cleaned on my XC bike.
Technical flat sections become scary fast, to the point that you’ll almost definitely crash at least once coming into a corner a shedload faster than you ever could on your usual bike. On fireroads the bike’s quick to hit its 27kmh (17mph) limit though, and then you’re left pushing the extra weight along unassisted – not fun.
Going down
The bike handles downhill sections much like any other 120mm (4.7in) travel 29er, though the weight means you carry a crazy amount of speed and have to brake
noticeably earlier before turns. It took us a load of practice, but you can trick the motor into blasting you out of tight turns by giving a sharp stab through the pedals. It’s probably a good thing the chainstays are so much longer than on a normal bike, because they add stability – I’d have been ejected a fair few times if they were much shorter! The extended wheelbase and extra weight of the bike give it a hugely planted feeling and it’s surprisingly confidence inspiring – or at least it was after we’d fitted the shorter stem and wider bar.
We were a little sceptical about launching the beast off drops and jumps, figuring that with the extra weight, flexy fork and 29er wheels, things could only end badly. But after taking the plunge, we couldn’t believe how well the bike handled some pretty big drops and jumps, though the extended wheelbase did take some time to get used to. It was pretty fun to be able to take super-short run-ups and still easily clear the jumps, from places that even Chris Hoy’s legs couldn’t have got our usual bikes up to pace from.
Satisfaction guaranteed
E-MTBs are definitely cheating, and they’ve now been given a separate category at the European enduro races to prove it. But are they fun to ride? Yes! They’re ridiculous fun, letting you hammer through sections of trail stupidly fast and climb like never before. After the first few rides on one of these, we can almost guarantee you won’t stop smiling for days. Imagine if a bunch of mates all got hold of them – they’d be able to totally terrorise the trails!
After riding an e-bike for a week in the same way that I ride my enduro bike, there have been situations where I’ve wished for my normal bike back mid ride – a 120mm 29er simply isn’t built for super-steep natural downhill runs where most would be keener to ride a full-on DH rig. Mostly though, it’s been tons of fun, and with the same amount of effort, I’ve covered about three times the miles.
There’s definitely a place for e-bikes, whether it’s for bicycle couriers who have to ride all day carrying a lot of weight, older or injured riders who wouldn’t be able to ride otherwise, or even just younger riders who’ve got the money to splash out on an extra toy. They’re never going to replace ‘proper’ mountain bikes, but they can be ridden on the same trails to give a totally different experience, and we actually quite like them.