A road bike with a motor? What seemed unthinkable just a few years ago is gradually being offered by more and more road bike manufacturers. E-road bikes in various guises are entering the market. One basic feature is common to almost all drive systems: the switch-on button, which can be used to regulate the level of assistance. However, when it comes to functionality, the numerous e-road bikes sometimes differ enormously from one another.
New E-road bikes on test: Now to the test letters of the bikes from BMC, Orbea, Specialised and Willier!
There are basically two different drive variants: Bikes with a mid-motor, which either hide the drive in the down tube like Fazua or integrate it into the bottom bracket, as is the case with Bosch. With the Spanish supplier Ebikomotion, on the other hand, the drive is located in the rear wheel hub. Read our overview to find out what the different concepts mean for weight, battery life and handling:
Centre motors
Fazua
The drive system from Munich-based manufacturer Fazua is the market leader in the road bike sector. The e-bikes from Corratec, Cube, Focus, Look, Pinarello, Ridley and Storck, among others, are equipped with the module, which weighs just under 3.3 kilograms and combines the gearbox, motor, electronics and battery. The compact design of the Evation drive offers visual advantages. This is because some models with Fazua drives are not recognisable as e-bikes at first glance due to their slim tube shapes. The drive is virtually silent and has a freewheel that completely disengages above 25 kilometres per hour - without any jolting pedalling resistance. Another advantage of the Fazua technology is that the entire battery unit can be removed in one easy step so that the e-bike can be used as a normal - and correspondingly lighter - road bike.
To the Ride review of the Cube Agree Hybrid C:62 with Fazua drive.
- Battery capacity: 250 Wh
- Weight battery + motor: 3.3 kg
Bosch
Cannondale and Trek rely on a powerful Bosch mid-motor. The Active Line Plus motor drives the Cannondale Synapse Neo with a battery capacity of 500 watt hours, which according to the manufacturer should enable ranges of up to 200 kilometres. Naturally, this is reflected in a higher weight: Cannondale's gravel e-bike, the Synapse Neo SE, weighs just under 19 kilograms.
- Battery capacity: 500 Wh
- Weight battery + motor: 6.0 kg
Polini and Yamaha
Italian motor supplier Polini equips the Energy Freedom, the new e-road bike from Italian bike manufacturer Titici, with the EP-3 drive with 500 watt hours of battery capacity. The Taiwanese manufacturer Giant relies on motor power from Yamaha for its only e-road bike to date, the Though Road E+. The typical specifications for mid-mounted motors on road bikes also apply here: 250 watts of power with a 500 watt-hour battery.
Hub motor
Ebikemotion
Bianchi, Orbea and Willier use the rear hub motor from the Spanish company Ebikemotion, which gives the bikes a very slim silhouette. With a battery capacity of 250 watt hours, the hub drive from Ebikemotion - like the Evation drive from Fazua - is designed more for partial support on the mountain than for continuous support. In contrast to all other drive systems, the activation button of the Ebikemotion drive is integrated into the top tube.
- Battery capacity: 250 Wh
- Weight battery + motor: 3.5 kg
