ROTWILD R.X275
Is Rotwild’s down-country e-bike the new lightweight champion?
€9,499 • 29in • rotwild.com
At one end of the spectrum, the e-bike arms race is all about packing in the biggest batteries, and offering the greatest range, using maximum assistance. Meanwhile, at the opposite end, brands are tripping over each other to build the lightest e-mtb on the market.
Last year alone, Pivot launched the Shuttle SL, with a special lightweight version coming in at 16.44kg. Hot on its heels were the weight weenies at Scott, cleaving chunks off that figure with the 15.6kg Lumen eride. Even if the small print revealed that Scott used a size Small and a billionaire’s spec to hit that weight.
Then BMC threw its hat into the ring with the Tq-powered Fourstroke AMP LT LTD. It used a more sensible real-world spec compared to the Lumen, and only ended up a few hundred grams heavier, with a claimed weight of 15.9kg.
Now there’s an even lighter option on the market, and it doesn’t use a pocket-sized frame to sneak ahead of its rivals at the weigh-in. Rotwild’s catchilynamed R.X275 is a claimed 15.3kg in size medium, and yet the top model costs €3,500 less than the most lithesome Lumen SL.
Rotwild has achieved this impressive weight with a two-pronged approach. The svelte carbon chassis forms the foundation of the R.X275 and, at 1,850g, saves 100g over the Scott. A strategy of simplicity and minimalism is taken throughout, manifesting itself in details like the flex-stay rear end – that cuts down on pivots and bearings – the flat-mount disc mount, and the internal cable routing that runs along grooves in the battery housing, negating the needs for internal fixtures.
Talking of the battery, TQ’S commonly-used 360Wh unit is substituted for a smaller 250Wh power pack, giving a useful 600g weight saving. Rotwild also eschews the complex remote lockouts found on the Scott, so the R.X275 ends up well ahead of its rival on the scales. And if you’re worried about range, there’s a 160Wh extender battery that fits in one of the two bottle mounts on the down tube via a custom Fidlock interface.
Reducing the peak power is another way Rotwild mitigates against that reduced battery capacity. TQ’S normal 300W max power has been chipped back to 200W, but a nifty red Boost Button on the handlebars lets you amplify this to the full 300W for up to 30 seconds. In reality it’s more of a ring controller, in the same vein as the Fazua remote, rather than a button, but it’s compact, light and intuitive to use.
Opting for that smaller battery really pays dividends when it comes to the
A svelte carbon chassis forms the foundation