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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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 If there's one aero cycle that divides opinion
00:13 more than any others, it's the rise of the e-bike.
00:16 Love them or hate them,
00:17 they're definitely becoming more prevalent.
00:19 I'm sure there's many of you
00:21 that become just a little bit e-curious.
00:24 We personally think they're a really good tool
00:26 for many riders out there.
00:27 To prove that, we're going to go for a bit of a ride today
00:30 and hopefully dispel some of the common e-bike myths
00:33 along the way.
00:34 Now James, this isn't just any bike ride.
00:36 We're gonna be heading from here in Knaresborough
00:38 to Boultby Bank.
00:40 I've got a sneaky suspicion there could be a challenge
00:42 awaiting us at the end of the ride.
00:44 And to help us on the way,
00:45 we've brought two of the latest crop
00:47 of motor-assisted road bikes.
00:50 Will has chosen Look's very first e-bike,
00:53 the E765 Optimum,
00:55 and I've gone for Cannondale's Synapse Neo SE.
00:58 Now both bikes approach it from a very different angle.
01:01 The Look E765 is really a performance road bike
01:06 with Fazia's super lightweight
01:08 and compact motor and battery system
01:10 that can be removed and ridden without the battery attached.
01:13 Whereas the Cannondale Synapse Neo SE
01:16 approaches things from a do-it-all angle.
01:18 It uses Bosch's latest Active Line Plus
01:22 motor and battery system
01:23 and has a strong aluminum frame and wheels and tires
01:26 to allow it to ride on any terrain you want to go on.
01:30 - Now enough talk, James.
01:31 Let's power these guys up and get going.
01:33 (upbeat music)
01:35 - If you enjoy having fun,
01:50 getting out in nature and exercise,
01:52 then there really is no cheating with an e-bike.
01:54 All an electric bike does is give you assistance
01:56 to make it easier to go up hills.
01:59 In fact, e-bikes are making it more accessible
02:01 for more people than ever before
02:03 to get out and enjoy cycling.
02:05 If you want to work harder, then turn the motor off.
02:07 It's all a matter of how much assistance
02:09 you require on that day.
02:21 Absolutely not.
02:22 Motor systems are self-contained units.
02:24 With a majority of recognized brands
02:26 offering a level of reliability,
02:28 they'll keep them going for thousands of miles.
02:30 The only thing to impact performance
02:32 is under-inflated tires.
02:49 Give me a second.
02:51 Definitely not.
02:55 E-bikes do not make you lazy in the slightest.
02:58 Electric bikes are designed to be 50/50 pedal assist,
03:01 meaning the rider does half the work.
03:04 Now, although less effort is required,
03:06 riders who switch to e-bikes claim
03:08 they ride further distances and thus make more use of them.
03:12 An added advantage to all that extra power
03:14 is you get to the top of the climb not in a sweaty mess,
03:17 but thinking about pressing onto the next summit.
03:19 (upbeat music)
03:22 Is there anything better than having a bike
03:31 that'll take along any path you choose?
03:33 Cannondale's Synapse Neo SE is the perfect accompaniment
03:37 for any type of riding.
03:39 The Synapse Neo SE uses Cannondale's
03:41 out-front steering geometry,
03:43 pairing a relatively slack head angle
03:45 with a long 55-millimeter fork offset
03:47 to increase stability at speed
03:49 while maintaining a quick, agile steering feel.
03:52 A wide-ranging SRAM Apex 1x11 speed groupset
03:55 gives the perfect combination of gears
03:57 for both on- and off-road exploring.
03:59 And when it comes time to stop,
04:01 the hydraulic brakes with their 160-millimeter rotors
04:04 make short work of the job.
04:06 Fast, comfortable, and above all, versatile,
04:09 the Cannondale Synapse Neo SE
04:11 is all you can wish for from an e-bike.
04:14 (upbeat music)
04:17 A special bike from a special brand.
04:21 The E-765 Optimum is the first e-bike from Look,
04:25 and it's a focused performance road bike
04:27 with the integrated Fatsia motor.
04:29 The Fatsia motor is the centerpiece of the bike.
04:31 It's the smallest and most compact e-motor
04:34 on the market today, featuring a 250-watt-hour battery
04:38 paired with a motor capable of a 250-watt output,
04:41 all this in a small package
04:42 that gives a range of up to 86 kilometers.
04:45 Should you wish to lose the extra weight,
04:47 the motor and battery from Fatsia is removable,
04:49 and due to the frictionless internals,
04:50 you won't feel anything out on the road.
04:53 It's not all performance and no comfort, however.
04:55 The frame set features 3D Wave stays
04:57 that maintain lateral stiffness,
04:59 but allow 15% increase in the carbon's natural flexibility
05:02 for a more comfortable ride over a longer distance.
05:05 The bike is built using Shimano's Ultegra Di2 groupset.
05:09 The wheels are the Vittoria Illusion carbon tubeless wheels,
05:12 and at first glance, it looks like a bike
05:14 straight out of the Pro Peloton,
05:15 all while allowing you to reconnect
05:17 with the pleasure of cycling without the fitness to match.
05:20 (upbeat music)
05:22 Check out the clearances and mounts on this bike.
05:38 You can run normal road tires or fat gravel tires,
05:41 depending on where you want to ride.
05:43 And you can slather it in racks and mudguards,
05:45 depending on whether you want to go touring
05:47 or use it for commuting duties.
05:49 And with bikes like this Cannondale,
05:51 you really can take it anywhere you want.
05:53 Well, yes, an e-bike's going to be heavier
06:02 over a regular road bike.
06:04 However, with Look's frame-integrated battery system,
06:07 you're only adding around three kilos, which is nothing.
06:10 And with the pedal assist,
06:11 you're really not going to notice it.
06:13 And with most modern motors,
06:14 once you get over that 25 kilometer hour threshold,
06:17 there's almost no resistance to be felt.
06:19 Modern motor and battery technology
06:25 mean that the term range anxiety
06:28 has almost made a thing of the past.
06:31 Take the Bosch Active Line Plus system on this Cannondale.
06:34 Clever electronics and a whopping 500 watt-hour battery
06:38 mean that you can eat nearly 200 kilometers off one charge.
06:43 And a clever system on the front
06:44 which allows you to switch between power modes
06:46 means you can really make the most of this system.
06:49 Well, of course we're going to stop for coffee.
07:01 (upbeat music)
07:03 So we've made it.
07:12 We are at the bottom of the famous Boultby Bank,
07:16 one of North Yorkshire's most infamous climbs.
07:19 And this is the scene of our challenge.
07:21 So what we're going to do is we are each going to have a go
07:25 at trying to beat the fastest time up here,
07:28 which stands at the moment
07:29 as a staggering four minutes, 52 seconds.
07:32 - It's going to be a real challenge.
07:34 At 0.7 of a mile, it doesn't seem like much,
07:36 but it averages over 13% gradient
07:39 with parts over 25%.
07:42 It's going to be a tough one.
07:43 - Yeah. I'm not sure we know
07:44 what we're letting ourselves in for,
07:46 but hopefully with the help of these bikes,
07:48 it's going to be a easy task.
07:52 - We'll see.
07:53 - Yeah, we'll see.
07:54 But because I'm the most senior person here,
07:56 I'm going to make sure that it's Will that goes first.
07:59 He's going to set the benchmark.
08:00 So we'll see if I can then beat that.
08:02 - Catch me if you can.
08:02 - Good luck, mate.
08:04 - What James doesn't know, I've got rocket mode,
08:07 400 Watts of unadulterated power.
08:09 I'm going to get the KOM.
08:12 - Three, two, one, go.
08:15 (upbeat music)
08:17 (upbeat music)
08:20 (upbeat music)
08:22 (upbeat music)
08:50 - Wow. That was hard.
08:53 Climbing Baltby Bank, trying to go as hard as possible
08:57 from the bottom to the top was crazy.
08:59 - That was really hard.
09:00 - So as we said, we did time it via Strava
09:04 and Will, you did it in 527.
09:09 (Will groans)
09:10 So just outside the top 10.
09:11 - Outside the top 10, wow.
09:12 - You were faster than me.
09:13 - So I did 536, which to be honest,
09:17 is probably a lot faster than I could have gone up there
09:20 on a normal bike.
09:21 - Agreed, yeah.
09:22 - Don't panic, we did delete them straight off Strava.
09:24 Okay, so we know it's e-bikes, we have taken it out,
09:27 so don't panic.
09:28 - I hope that dispelled a few myths about e-bikes.
09:30 I had a lot of fun today,
09:31 but I think I'm still going to need a lie down after this.
09:34 - Well, I hope you've enjoyed what we've done today.
09:36 And if you've got any comments you'd like to say
09:39 about e-bikes, please put it in the comment section below.
09:42 And don't forget to like and subscribe
09:44 to keep up with our latest releases.
09:45 But until then, we'll see you later.
09:48 (exhaling)
09:50 - One take.
09:52 (laughing)
09:55 (whooshing)
09:57 (whooshing)
09:59 (whooshing)
10:02 (whooshing)
10:04 [SOUND EFFECTS]