The Rise Of E-Bikes
If there’s one area of cycling that divides opinion more than any other, it’s the rise of the e-bike. Love them or hate ‘em, e-bikes are becoming more prevalent and I’m sure many of you are becoming just a little bit e-curious.
We personally think they’re a great tool for many riders but just to prove it we’re going to go for a ride and try to dispel some of the common e-bike myths along the way.
We personally think they’re a great tool for many riders but just to prove it we’re going to go for a ride and try to dispel some of the common e-bike myths along the way.
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00:00If there's one aerocycle that divides opinion more than any others, it's the rise of the
00:15e-bike. Love them or hate them, they're definitely becoming more prevalent. I'm sure there's
00:20many of you that become just a little bit e-curious. We personally think they're a really
00:25good tool for many riders out there. To prove that, we're going to go for a bit
00:29of a ride today and hopefully dispel some of the common e-bike myths along the way.
00:34Now, James, this isn't just any bike ride. We're going to be heading from here in Knaresborough
00:38to Boultby Bank. I've got a sneaky suspicion there could be a challenge awaiting us at
00:42the end of the ride. To help us on the way, we've brought two of
00:46the latest crop of motor-assisted road bikes. Will has chosen Look's very first e-bike,
00:53the E765 Optimum, and I've gone for Cannondale's Synapse Neo SE.
00:58Now, both bikes approach it from a very different angle. The Look E765 is really a performance
01:05road bike with Phase's super lightweight and compact motor and battery system that can
01:11be removed and ridden without the battery attached. Whereas the Cannondale Synapse Neo
01:15SE approaches things from a do-it-all angle. It uses Bosch's latest Active Line Plus motor
01:22and battery system and has a strong aluminium frame and wheels and tyres to allow it to
01:27ride on any terrain you want to go on. Now, enough talk, James. Let's power these
01:31guys up and get going.
01:33If you enjoy having fun, getting out in nature and exercise, then there really is no cheating
01:53with an e-bike. All an electric bike does is give you assistance to make it easier to
01:57go up hills. In fact, e-bikes are making it more accessible for more people than ever
02:02before to get out and enjoy cycling. If you want to work harder, then turn the motor off.
02:08It's all a matter of how much assistance you require on that day.
02:21Absolutely not. Motor systems are self-contained units. With the majority of recognized brands
02:26offering a level of reliability, they'll keep them going for thousands of miles. The only
02:30thing to impact performance is under-inflated tyres.
02:33Give me a second. Definitely not. E-bikes do not make you lazy in the slightest. Electric
02:58bikes are designed to be 50-50 pedal assist, meaning the rider does half the work. Although
03:05less effort is required, riders who switch to e-bikes claim they ride further distances
03:10and thus make more use of them. An added advantage to all that extra power is you get to the
03:14top of the climb not in a sweaty mess, but thinking about pressing on to the next summit.
03:29Is there anything better than having a bike that'll take along any path you choose? Cannondale's
03:33Synapse Neo SE is the perfect accompaniment for any type of riding. The Synapse Neo SE
03:40uses Cannondale's out-front steering geometry, pairing a relatively slack head angle with
03:45a long 55mm fork offset to increase stability at speed while maintaining a quick, agile
03:51steering feel. A wide-ranging SRAM Apex 1x11 speed groupset gives the perfect combination
03:57for both on- and off-road exploring. And when it comes time to stop, the hydraulic brakes
04:02with their 160mm rotors make short work of the job. Fast, comfortable and above all versatile,
04:09the Cannondale Synapse Neo SE is all you can wish for from an e-bike. A special bike from
04:20a special brand. The E765 Optimum is the first e-bike from Look and it's a focused performance
04:26road bike with the integrated FATSU motor. The FATSU motor is the centrepiece of the
04:31bike. It's the smallest and most compact e-motor on the market today, featuring a 250wh
04:37battery paired with a motor capable of a 250wh output. All this in a small package that gives
04:42a range of up to 86km. Should you wish to lose the extra weight, the motor and battery
04:47from FATSU is removable and due to the frictionless internals you won't feel anything out on
04:52the road. It's not all performance and no comfort however. The frameset features 3D
04:57wave stays that maintain lateral stiffness but allow 15% increase in the carbon's natural
05:02flexibility for a more comfortable ride over a longer distance. The bike is built using
05:06Shimano's Ultegra Di2 groupset. The wheels are the Vittoria Illusion carbon tubeless
05:12wheels. At first glance it looks like a bike straight out of the Pro Peloton, all while
05:16allowing you to reconnect with the pleasure of cycling without the fitness to match.
05:35Check out the clearances and mounts on this bike. You can run normal road tyres or fat
05:40gravel tyres depending on where you want to ride. You can slather it in racks and mud
05:44guzz depending on whether you want to go touring or use it for commuting duties. And
05:49with bikes like this Cannondale you really can take it anywhere you want.
05:54Well yes, an e-bike is going to be heavier than a regular road bike. However with Look's
06:05frame integrated battery system you're only adding around 3kg which is nothing and with
06:10the pedal assist you're really not going to notice it. And with most modern motors
06:14once you get over that 25kmh threshold there's almost no resistance to be felt.
06:24Modern motor and battery technology mean that the term range anxiety has almost made a thing
06:29of the past. Take the Bosch Active Line Plus system on this Cannondale. Clever electronics
06:35and a whopping 500wh battery mean that you can eek nearly 200km off one charge. And a
06:43clever system on the front which allows you to switch between power modes means you can
06:47really make the most of this system.
06:59Well of course we're going to stop for coffee.
07:12So we've made it. We are at the bottom of the famous Boultby Bank, one of North Yorkshire's
07:17most infamous climbs. And this is the scene of our challenge. So what we're going to do
07:23is we are each going to have a go at trying to beat the fastest time up here which stands
07:28at the moment as a staggering 4 minutes 52 seconds. It's going to be a real challenge.
07:34At 0.7 of a mile it doesn't seem like much but it averages over 13% gradient with parts
07:40at over 25%. It's going to be a tough one. I'm not sure we know what we're letting ourselves
07:45in for but hopefully with the help of these bikes it's going to be an easy task. We'll
07:52see. But because I'm the most senior person here I'm going to make sure that it's Will
07:58that goes first. He's going to set the benchmark so we'll see if I can beat that. Catch me
08:02if you can. Good luck mate. What James doesn't know, I've got rocket mode. 400 watts of unadulterated
08:09power. I'm going to get the KOM. 3, 2, 1, go.
08:40Wow. That was hard. Climbing Baltby Bank trying to go as hard as possible from the bottom
08:58to the top was crazy. That was really hard. As we said we did time it via Strava and Will
09:05you did it in 5.27. Just outside the top 10. Outside the top 10, wow. However, you
09:12were faster than me. I did 5.36 which to be honest is probably a lot faster than I could
09:19have gone up there on a normal bike. Agreed, yes. Don't panic. We did delete them straight
09:23off Strava. We know it's e-bikes. We have taken it out. Don't panic. I hope that dispelled
09:29a few myths about e-bikes. I had a lot of fun today but I think I'm still going to need
09:33a lie down after this. I hope you've enjoyed what we've done today. If you've got any comments
09:38you'd like to say about e-bikes, please put it in the comment section below. Don't forget
09:42to like and subscribe to keep up with our latest releases. Until then, we'll see you
09:46later. One take.