MOUSTACHE SAMEDI GAME 11
The French firm’s new e-bike has a bigger battery but does it bring its A-game to the trails?
£7,599 / 29in / 2pure.co.uk
As a pure e-bike brand with 10 years of experience in the assisted sector, Moustache remains a relatively unknown marque in the UK. And it’s not for want of a memorable name. But that’s something the French brand aims to change, and with five distinct and competitively-priced e-mtb platforms on offer for 2022, it’s in a good position to realise its plan.
Why Moustache, I hear you cry? I know I was curious as to the etymology. Apparently it traces back to the company’s modern take on the traditional, swept-back handlebar design that featured on its first utility models. While you can still see the M-shaped cockpit on its urban models, you’ll be pleased to hear that all of its mountain bikes use a conventional riser bar.
All of its bikes are named after days of the week, with the commuter and utility bikes falling under the Lundi (Monday) label and the mtbs tagged Samedi (Saturday). While there are assisted hardtails and BMW Gs-style adventure models, the most relevant options to UK trail riders are the Samedi Game and Trail. Essentially this is one frame that’s adapted to create two model ranges.
To do this, Moustache starts with the longer-travel Game chassis and runs a shorter-stroke shock and headset spacer/shim to correct the geometry on the Trail model. Previous-generation Moustache bikes (like the Game 8 we tested last summer) did the reverse, which was partly responsible for their sky-high BB measurements. By trimming the travel of the enduro bike, rather than pumping up the travel of the trail bike, Moustache has brought the BB height down a claimed 5mm. I didn’t get a chance to measure the geometry of my demo bike, but the Game 8 we tested last year came in at an eyebrow-raising 365mm. On paper, at least, there’s no doubt Moustache could still go lower without compromising pedal clearance.
Other geometry developments over the previous model include a slacker head angle (by 1°), steeper seat angle
(by 2°) and significantly longer top tube/ reach. The old Game was very short by modern standards – 420mm reach on the size Medium and 440mm on the Large – so the new sizing brings it much more in line with other brands. Back in the game, if you will. By extending the reach, Moustache has also been able to chip back the stem length to 40mm, which helps the steering characteristics.
From the side, there’s little obvious difference between the new and old Game, but scratch beneath the surface and Moustache has made numerous small (and large) changes that add up to a significant update. The alloy frame (Moustache doesn’t do carbon) still runs the Bosch Performance CX motor, but there’s now a 750Wh battery on all models. Obviously that means more range over the old 625Wh power pack, but the downsides are additional weight and extra length. So Moustache’s engineers took a close look at all the hardware and mounting points in an effort to optimise the packaging and minimise the weight penalty. What they came up with is clever stuff.
Firstly, by binning the annoying key-operated battery lock, Moustache reduced weight, saved space and made battery removal far more convenient. Now the cover unclips, you unscrew a bolt through the top of the down tube with your fingers and release a latch. It’s quick and tool-free. At the opposite end, new custom plates attach the motor to the frame, freeing up more space and saving more weight. This, along with some further refinements to the frame, means the bigger battery now fits in the same space as the old one and the total weight of the frame and battery has only gone up a claimed 300g despite adding an 800g heavier battery.
In addition, inspired by the dropouts on Fox and Öhlins forks, Moustache has designed a lower shock mount that can
be adjusted for perfect alignment, which reduces friction, enhances grip and should improve durability.
The shock itself is something slightly out of the ordinary. All of its suspension bikes use a proprietary Magic Grip Control shock of Moustache’s own design. Inside are all the ingredients you’d expect – positive and negative air chamber, internal floating piston and shim stacks – but Moustache adds some secret sauce that it claims “erases small bumps”, “optimises efficiency” and creates a “magic carpet” ride. Trying to pin down the details of how it delivers on this promise, and how it differs from a Fox DPS or Rockshox Super Deluxe is tricky, as Moustache is fairly guarded about the tech, but it is relatively easy to set up with just air pressure and low-speed rebound externally adjustable. There’s even a clip-on sag indicator to help, although the same tool is used on both the Game and Trail models. To get the right sag for the Game (30%), you need to align the top of the O-ring with the end of the indicator. For the Trail, align the bottom of the O-ring with the end of the sag indicator. Or just use a tape measure if you want to be more precise (30% of 65mm stroke is 19.5mm).
Sharing the same frame across two platforms, using a single, proprietary