E-bike market – the offer becomes more and more diverse
New wheels that greatly expand the range of applications are on the rise.
Gone is the niche existence, e-bikes have long since conquered the market. Lightweight bikes for the city, commuter and leisure machines, mountain bikes and a wide variety of cargo bikes are driving sales despite the crisis. Here we offer a small selection from the huge range – away from the mainstream.
Light Urban E-bike Category
Sushi California Roll/Roll+: Urban driving fun at a low-budget price
Increasingly, a very specific type of e-bike is conquering both urban areas and a distinctly young buyer group that is indulging in the zeitgeist. The characteristic feature of these bikes is that everything is omitted that distinguishes classic trekking e-bikes, for example, and makes them firm but heavy for longer distances. These lightweight e-bikes weigh far less than 20 kg, are hardly recognizable as such, have batteries with rarely more than 250 watt-hours and get about 50 kilometers, enough for the city.
Joko Winterscheidt and Andy Weinzierl have interpreted this “less is more” principle quite consistently with their lightweight bike California Roll for 999 euros. Whereas recently, with the upgrade of the Roll to the Roll+, the comfort has been noticeably increased: by wider tires, a more comfortable saddle, a new LCD display, clip-on lighting and a slightly larger battery for more range. The weight is now 17 kg, the price is € 1,199.
Imitation leather applications on the grips and saddle add visual highlights. The practical and sturdy luggage rack (available as an accessory on the Roll+) is a concession to everyday practice. Winterscheidt & Co have gone one better with the gears by dispensing with them right away. This allows them to sell the bike to cost-conscious young people for a good thousand euros.
The Sushi e-bike is precisely targeted at a young, urban and fashion-conscious clientele. It meets the needs of this target group very well. But the makers have also very sensitively sensed where the limits lie and have integrated mudguards and luggage racks, as well as taking comfort up a notch with the “+” update.
Category Crossover
HoheAcht Sento Lumo: mountain trekking crossover with style
The boundaries between the individual e-bike categories are becoming increasingly blurred. There are full-suspension MTBs with all the comforts for the city, commuter and gravel bikes, urban lightweights, and crossover models like the one presented here from the trekking/mountain spectrum. Softening the boundaries can be a marketing strategy, but it can also stand for applied practicality, away from predefined pigeonholes.
The HoheAcht Sento Lumo, described by the manufacturer as a “cross-country file”, is based on a crystal clear concept. Lightweight, speed, traction! The weight savings falls victim to the suspension fork, this is represented by a carbon counterpart, which is all the easier here, as the 29-inch tires front obstacles simply “rolls over” and can thus keep the speed high. For the necessary traction is the 27.5-inch rear tires, which also provides the necessary maneuverability. Curve circulating on single trails is therefore not the territory of the Sento Lumo, rather it goes over forest trails and along streams so right to the point – or in the city and suburbs: fast and stylish!
Frame geometry, motor and gears are typical for mountain bikes, so that even the sometimes enormously steep farm roads in the mountains are no serious obstacle for the Sento Lumo. The frame lock, battery light set and GPS tracker are typical for urban use.
Despite all the confusion about how to classify the bike, it is a coherent design for today’s mobility and leisure demands. Thumbs up!
Price: 4.199 Euro
Category: Gravel E-Bike
Urwahn Waldwiesel: Weasel nimble in city and terrain
Something for the really tough among us? Not at all. The flex capacity of steel as a frame material has been incorporated into the design here more consistently than anywhere else. When mountain bikes were learning to walk, the question of the right steel was like a real credo. Columbus tubes or rather from Mannesmann, Reynolds, Easton or Tange? What immediately triggers fear of frame breakage for one person is regarded by another as the pinnacle of craftsmanship.
The Magdeburg bike forge has a second argument in addition to the flex: steel is honest, for eternity and quite environmentally friendly in production and recycling. Hence the manufacturer designation for these frames: Fairframe. A Mahle rear wheel motor provides decent thrust, an Intube battery for reasonable range, hydraulic disc brakes for safe stopping.
Otherwise, minimalism prevails, one could also say: purism. Eyelets for water bottle and the attachment of mudguards are present, as well as a StVZO-compliant lighting – the cyclocrosser’s concession to the traffic regulations. The somewhat wider and with small studs occupied tires are quite appropriate for this application mix of asphalt, gravel path and root path.
Ultimately, the question is: Isn’t this curved appetizer too good for dust and dirt?
Price: 4.449 Euro
https://www.urwahnbikes.com/de/bike/waldwiesel/
Category: MTB Fully
Malaguti Superiore: premium e-bike for summit regions
Mountain bike fulls in the premium category are very much in vogue. Instead of providing comfort, the full suspension serves to control the bike in difficult terrain. Traction is required, the bumpier, the better it is when both wheels get back in contact with the ground as quickly as possible. Between the bikes of the more moderate all-mountain category and pure downhill bolides lies the territory of the E- Enduros, they have to give the all-rounders in the high alpine, master the steepest climbs, rush rapidly downhill and also and first of all master tricky trails.
A beautiful and functional example of this type is the Superiore LTD 1.1 from Malaguti, the Italian bike manufacturer that in earlier times was famous for extravagant mopeds in the 50 and 125 cc class and still plays on this terrain today as part of the Austrian KSR Group.
The high-end equipment is equal to the task at hand. At the front, the 29-inch tires smooth out obstacles, while the 27.5-inch rear tire provides the necessary agility, the shocks allow 160 mm of travel and Shimano XT four-piston disc brakes bring the E-Hammer to a halt in good time. A 750 watt-hour battery is installed for great endurance. The price of 6,675 euros, which is almost a bargain in this class, also shows that functionality still takes precedence over prestige.
https://malaguti-bicycles.com/models/superiore-ltd
Category: E-bikes from renewable raw materials
MyBoo Todzie EP8: Fairbike for the benefit of all with style factor
Back to nature, back to the roots or what grows from them. Raw materials directly from nature do not yet play a major role in e-bike construction. At most peripherally, leather, wood or cork are often used for handlebar grips and saddles. Smaller specialized manufacturers build bicycle frames from wood, usually glued together many times in sandwich construction. This is now slowly continuing in the e-bike sector.
My Boo from Kiel offers bikes and e-bikes across the entire range of bike classes. The unique thing about the Kielers is that a complete system has been set up here, in which all partners are on an equal footing. The raw material for the frames, bamboo, hemp and tree resin not only comes from Ghana, but is also processed there before the finished frame kits are assembled into complete bikes in Kiel. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the bikes goes directly to Ghana, where sustainable jobs are created and, among other things, a school project is maintained in cooperation with UNICEF. The school project under the name of the local project partner Yonso Project has already given 500 children an education and thus a perspective for the future.
The Todzie model occupies the role of a lightweight urban bike with powerful Shimano EP8 motor and full road equipment, but without suspension elements. For luggage is a bag holder available, plus mudguards and side stand. The model is available with a classic diamond frame or in trapezoidal form for easier access.
The price is 4,999 euros
Category: City/Load E-bike
Metz E-Packr: A compact e-bike for a variety of tasks
In the city, the air is often thick and space is thin. Large cargo bikes have major parking problems. The sidewalks are often too narrow, bike racks or hangers don’t fit, and everything on the street is parked up. The best conditions, then, for the compact class. The twenty-inchers with their widely extendable stem and seat tubes are not only suitable for young and old alike, they also have room in narrow bike cellars and usually enjoy the right to be transported free of charge on local public transport. But what about their transport capacity?
That’s what the experts at Metz mobility in Fürth thought and came up with a remedy. The result is a compact bike with a unique carrier system and a payload of 150 kg. Driven by a self-developed power unit with 75 or 85 Nm torque, which acts very quietly in operation, and a self-produced CroMo steel frame, which could also carry more than 180 kg. Amazingly easy to change or exchange the position of the carriers and baskets, there are a lot of accessories from dog basket to child seat and other fixation systems can be used incl. trailer hitch.
The bike is certified as a cargo bike and is usually co-financed by municipalities with a corresponding subsidy program. The bike is available in the versions E-PACKR 8.0 with 8-speed hub gears and as type 8.E with continuously variable Enviolo gear hub for 3,199 and 3,499 euros respectively.
ADAC members receive a discount of 250 euros on the 8.E model.
Image rights:
Sushi: Sushi Bikes/Dario Suppan, W. Köstle
HoheAcht: HoheAcht
Primal Delusion: W. Köstle
Malaguti: Malaguti
MyBoo: MyBoo
Metz: P.Grett, Metz
