Moustache Lundi Urban Explorer
This is a guest post by ElectricMeg.
The Moustache Lundi (Monday) is intended to be a city bike; well engineered and more versatile than it looks, handling roads, paths and gravel with ease.
From initial looks I thought that this would be a quirky bike that compromises for form over function, and dismissed it as a serious modern bike because of the battery over rack design. What I found surprised me. It is a very polite and well behaved bike. It feels very light to ride with good manners, and for a while I even forgot I was on an ebike.
A true step-through like this is so useful, and the bonus is that it fits shorter riders like me (5’) and taller riders like Electricbazza (>6’). The upright ride position was comfortable and the bars were at a good angle. After my 15km ride on a mixture of on- and off-road surfaces I felt great, no hand fatigue at all.
Lundi is a good looker – available in red, yellow and graphite – and attracted many interested stares on my ride. My initial concerns about ride quality proved unfounded, this bike doesn’t twist at all but still feels comfortable as long as you don’t over inflate the balloon tyres. The suspension seat post helps a little too. Even over gravel and stones it felt composed and comfortable. Moustache has engineered their own extrusions and the downtube has a tube within a tube to make it stiff. Even the mudguard has a double skin, so it too is stiff and doesn’t rattle or wobble. It’s details like this that separate a premium bike from the ordinary.
Lundi Downtube Cross-Section
Power is by Bosch Perfomance Cruise line with 400Wh of battery. I suspect it has been down-tuned a bit compared to other Performance line motors but it is adequate and handled my testing which included some steep climbs. The version I rode has an internal hub gear system that is electronically controlled. It will even shift automatically which is nice for people who don’t want to think about these things. I did find that it set the gears a bit light each time, but I suspect that somehow that will be configurable. Of course you can shift yourself using the handy up-down button on the right. Hill climbing was easy and without much effort, I used Turbo mode twice. On the road I kept to just under 24 km/h and never felt lag or drop out. The bike is restricted to 25.
Off road I kept my speed around 18km/h, never needing Turbo mode. I didn’t get tired nor sore wrists or shoulders, so comfort and cockpit are well sorted. The ‘gull-wing’ bars may be unconventional, but are very comfortable.
The brakes are good and the bike has a reasonably good turning circle.
For utility, it has a high quality waterproof Ortlieb pannier bag ($195) designed and branded for Moustache. Again, a premium touch.
For my test, I rode from Chargeabout’s home base in Kelvin Heights out to Frankton Golf course along the gravel track with its nice undulations, then up a steep tar road up to the Golf Course Clubhouse and then gravel downhill with sweeping turns back to lakefront track, which is rail trail style but steeper. The bike and tyres handled it well. Return was through Franklin Heights where I thought the bike showed its real colors, smooth, very predictable and a cruisy ride. It has enough consistent power to ease the rider over the hills. It only fell short on a steep rougher gravel downhill back to the track with a sharp hairpin bend that the tyres couldn’t handle and bike didn’t have enough turn to manoeuvre safely. I got off and walked 10 metres then back on my way. It has walk assist easily accessed via the remote if you were to do that in reverse.
This is a good fleet bike option for businesses that demand the best, and that will suit all riders. It has enough torque but assisted 25km speed restriction to keep H&S happy. It is a very predictable and user-friendly bike that doesn’t take getting much used to.
How good it it? It is a beautifully engineered bike that will appeal to function geeks as well as style queens. You will need to test it out on your hills if they are challenging, and it would be a perfect commuter for our flatter cities like Christchurch, Hamilton, most of Hawkes Bay and parts of Auckland. It was perfect on my ride in Queenstown too.
The ‘Titanium” spec tested sells for $6295. You pay around $1000 less for the regular derailleur and somewhere in the middle for the Nuvinci variable gearing.
Yes the LUNDI is a very well thought out design, and engineered to a higher level than most. It’s also one of the few out there which is actually NOT from Asia , These are all at BIKES and BARBERS in Newmarket – come by for a test ride and Ogle anytime 🙂
Hi Bazza – I’ve just come across your site – it’s a credit to your passion – well done.
I’m a lapsed mountain biker, getting creaky in the joints that matter (and hurt) most and, following an electric bike tour in Barcelona recently with my (non-bike rider) wife reckon an electric bike is defiantly in my future.
Your website is a great information resource and I’m gobbling it up.
Thanks and keep up the great work.