YOUR OWN PERSONAL TAILWIND

Lapierre’s new ‘integrated’ eMTB is designed to bridge the gap between a conventional trail bike and a powerful e-bike. Not only is the compact Fazua Evation 1.0 motor stealthily integrated into the down tube, but it uses a 250Wh battery, which only has half the capacity of the power packs used on the French brand’s Overvolt bikes. The concept is that, rather than making your whole ride easier or faster, the 400W motor just adds a little assistance when you need it, such as when starting, riding uphill or into a headwind. It’s supposed to feel like you’re riding with the wind on your back.

The drive unit is claimed to weigh just 3.3kg (battery and motor) and most of it can be removed if you want to use pedal power alone, e ectively giving you two bikes in one. While the motor cuts out above 25kph (to ensure that it’s classed as a bike under UK law, not a motorbike), it helpfully decouples from the crankshaft so as not to provide any extra resistance to your pedalling.

As on the standard Zesty, Lapierre have dropped their long-standing ‘OST+’ suspension platform in favour of an alternative four-bar design with a verticallymounted ‘floating’ shock that sits within a split in the seat tube. Spec details were thin on the ground as we went to press, but we know there will be two models – the top-tier eZesty AM Ltd Ultimate costing 7,699 (UK pricing still to be confirmed) and the AM 9.0 Ultimate at 5,999.