NZ Electric Bike Review

There is a lot of chatter about which bikes climb best and not a lot of facts, so I set out to establish the facts. I picked a hill that I have ridden many times on all manner of bikes. I know that I liked it a lot less on a regular bike, and that some ebikes were better than others. It is also used frequently in Auckland, running along the back of the University and towards the fabulous Te Ara I Whiti, aka Lightpath aka the Pink Path. It has both recreational and commuting use.

To separate out the better climbers and (spoiler alert) give the Bosch bikes a chance, I took some of the bikes up the fearsome Liverpool St climb. Anyone who says that Auckland doesn’t have steep hills, I can prove otherwise.

I was carrying a standard payload including myself of 95kg (ballast in a backpack), and limited my heartrate to 120bpm – you can see my HR on the Strava links if you click the ‘Analysis’ option. For me, this is what I’d call a ‘light to moderate’ effort. Along the flat I average 110-115, so there isn’t much room for big efforts! The whole point of the ebike is that it is supposed to flatten hills so I don’t want to have to grunt and sweat up them. This effort constraint may have hurt the chances of some torque sensor bikes, but I did my best to let them run when I could.

The bikes were arranged by Maurice at Electric Bicycle Team and Michael Tritt at Electrify.nz – thanks. I’d love to repeat this with more bikes, so suppliers, I’ll be happy to do more with your assistance. I have since done a Specialized, Moustache and a few supplied by Bikes & Barbers. I’ve also done a Smartmotion Pacer GT, but it was pre-production so I haven’t reported the time (though you can guess from the other Bafang Max 250W – they have since had a power upgrade and hope to bring you that sometime soon).

Before we get into the detail, my favourite overall bike and the overall winner for the day was the Evox City 520. It’s by no means a perfect bike, but it is comfortable, handled well, quiet and super powerful. The controls are a bit complex – and there is a full-length motorbike-style throttle – and the brakes are cheap mechanical disks – but it has a lot going for it.

The Bosch Performance CX was impressive in its torque, although there is a slight delay in it coming through and it isn’t the quietest motor. The speed limits are perfect for MTB applications and up the Liverpool St steep bit but hurt its chances on our street test, especially with nobbly tyres and my effort limit. The Bosch Active is silky smooth, but no match up hills.

I have subsequently ridden the Specialized Vado 3.0 with the Brose motor. It has won my heart in the quiet end effortless way it flew up Liverpool St. If it were allowed to go faster than 30kph up Grafton I’m sure it would be among the top times.

I had great hopes for the Bafang Max mid-drive, but it seemed gutless. It is nice and smooth so perhaps a good city bike motor (and a demonstration that the Chinese can make good motor systems too!). Note that they available with different innards according to OEM spec so it isn’t an indictment on the system at all.

Finally, big ‘ups’ to the geared hub motors (front and rear) especially the Ezees. They can climb, they can go quite fast and they don’t cost a whole lot of money. For most purposes, a hub is as good as a mid-drive and cheaper.

The Results

The Time listed is as recorded on a Strava segment. Each run has an unedited video. 17 of them, groan… Apologies for some of the video quality – I broke the mounting after two runs 🙁

I’ll do my best to add other bikes as I get the opportunity. Aware that I’m missing a few including SmartMotions (Dapu), Onya (Shengyi), Shimano Steps x 2

The Liverpool St Bike Killer Test

Liverpool St was harder than I imagined, especially after having ridden 13 bikes to and from Grafton Gully. Damn it is steep. I only took bikes that I thought would make it. It’s an eMTB, so no surprises the the Bosch Performance CX was fastest up the really steep bit. The surprise of the show was the Evox. It isn’t “supposed to” be a climber because it doesn’t operate through the gears. I stayed seated the whole way, unlike the Turbo S where I was cranking away like a mad thing. And wow, the rear hub Forza made it up! It was so steep that the Bosch Active bike choked right near the bottom of the steep bit hence the DNF.

I haven’t listed times as the GPS was going a bit crazy with the buildings around me and stopping the timer at the top was a bit fraught as it is a cross road. I reviewed the video evidence and gave the win to Bosch by a second. EDIT: The new winner is the Bosch Performance 45 on the Moustache Friday Speed. EDIT2: Now the Vado 3.0 is faster again.

The Conclusion

Hub motors can climb. But as long as your selected bike can handle the hills YOU ride and generally do the things YOU do, then all is good.

Bosch: Please allow your bikes to be de-restricted outside Europe. You make nice motors but they are seriously limited in application for a range of users. You could try to make them quieter too.

Kalkhoff: Same message about restrictions. Your Impulse 2.0 motor is powerful requires too much rider input to make it easy. Change the ramp up of torque.

Bafang: I like your Max drive, but really guys, it needs more grunt.

Ezee: Nice job on the motors. I like that they can go full speed on throttle too by the way.

A bit more on the bikes