New Motobecane Gravel/Road Bikes with Integrated Battery and MidDrive BAFANG M800 System

[FlatSix911]

There does not seem to be a EBR Motobecane forum, so I'll start this one.
I just came across a new line of Electric Road bikes listed on the BD website.

An interesting design with a fully integrated battery and the BAFANG M800 28MPH MidDrive motor.
Has anyone on EBR purchased one of these lightweight road/gravel bikes? Please post a review, thanks.

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products...tric-flatbar-road-bikes-emulekick-express.htm

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products...-electric-gravel-road-bikes-emulekick-pro.htm

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products...s-electric-gravel-road-bikes-emulekick-sl.htm

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

An interesting design with a fully integrated battery and the BAFANG M800 28MPH MidDrive motor.

Quite interesting!
The battery looks a bit small at 215 whr.
If the M800 system has zero to no drag, that will help.

 

[jabberwocky]

Interesting product. Definitely no reviews, they list it as releasing June/July (who knows if that will slip at all with the pandemic disrupting things all over the world). Price is good, battery is very small (215whr). But also a very light bike. Seems to be aimed at the creo and similar?

Interested in seeing reviews once its out.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

iGo was supposed to release their road bike with M800 system but it never came through.
Here is a video from 2018.

 

[FlatSix911]

Quite interesting!
The battery looks a bit small at 215 whr.
If the M800 system has zero to no drag, that will help.

Interesting product. Definitely no reviews, they list it as releasing June/July (who knows if that will slip at all with the pandemic disrupting things all over the world).
Price is good, battery is very small (215whr). But also a very light bike. Seems to be aimed at the Creo and similar?
Interested in seeing reviews once its out.

I agree that the smaller battery is aimed at the light/fast weight-weenie crowd... I know because I was a roadie for many years.

Compared to the price of the $5,000- $6,000 Specialized Creo, the price/value equation is excellent... 1/2 the price at $2,000-$3,000.

 

[Art Deco]

Interesting because of weight and price. Motobecane used to make motorcycles IIRC. Does anyone have experience with the brand?

 

[FlatSix911]

Interesting because of weight and price. Motobecane used to make motorcycles IIRC. Does anyone have experience with the brand?

Motobécane - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Motobécane was a French manufacturer of bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles, and other small vehicles, established in 1923. "Motobécane" is a compound of "moto", short for motorcycle; "bécane" is slang for "bike."

In 1981, the original Motobécane filed for bankruptcy and was purchased by Yamaha and reformed in 1984 as MBK. The French company continues to make motorscooters.

Motobécane is a different corporation from Motobecane USA, which imports a wide range of bicycles from Taiwan manufactured by Kinesis Industry Co. Ltd. under the Motobecane trademark.


I believe that BD is now the distributor for Motobecane USA.

 

[Deacon Blues]

Up to 28 mph with a 215W battery. That could be a very short ride.

 

[byunbee]

Use case would be never to use the motor unless there is an emergency.

 

[FlatSix911]

These lightweight road/gravel bikes are designed for people in good shape who don't require much assistance on the flats and often ride with younger athletes.

The Specialized Como Turbo Creo has been very successful with this lightweight/high-speed formula as the number of middle age riders grows. YMMV

Specialized Turbo Creo SL Comp Carbon EVO Review | ElectricBikeReview.com

Price: $6500.00 | Model Year: 2020 | A lightweight gravel grinder road ebike with flared handlebars, wide treaded tires, a seat post dropper, and unique Future Shock 2.0 steer tube suspension. Available in six frame sizes, sold through a vast network of dealers with professional fitting systems...

electricbikereview.com

 

[Deacon Blues]

About a month ago I test rode a couple of Creos (one carbon and one aluminum). I found that I mostly left the power on the eco level, to compensate for the bike's extra weight, and only used the two higher levels on inclines.
Riding like that would probably give me a comparable riding 'on the flats' speed as my Defy Pro 0 carbon and a considerable advantage on the hills. I wonder how far I'd get on a 215W battery.
The only thing that disappointed me about the Creo was the lack of power on really steep hills. Mind you, that also may speak to my fitness level.

 

[JRA]

The M800 as was introduced 2 years ago: https://electrek.co/2018/05/07/new-bafang-powertrain-lightweight-electric-road-bikes/

The bike in the article makes more sense to me as it displays a double chainring that provides a wider range of gearing to be able to keep your cadence consistent as human input with these type of bikes I would imagine is as critical as it is with push bikes.

I believe that an enhanced version of this motor is what the Forestal bikes that are being developed in the Andorra region are using rather than the M600 which has some popularity in the eMTB sector but weigh more as Forestal claims 1.65kg, only .5kg more than the Mahle used by Specialized on their road bikes. I would imagine it will perhaps be set up for higher watt output via upping the Amps or maybe using a 48v system.

 

[Art Deco]

Since the battery is the heavest and most expensive part of an ebike and most new buyers aren't concerned with range (yet), I expect an add-on 14 ah battery will be an upsell once the bike is shipping.

 

[FlatSix911]

Since the battery is the heavest and most expensive part of an ebike and most new buyers aren't concerned with range (yet), I expect an add-on 14 ah battery will be an upsell once the bike is shipping.

Agreed... Specialized offers an add-on battery for additional range and various accessories.

Optional Range Extender Battery Pack ($450, 46.8 Volts, 3.35 Amp Hours, 160 Watt Hours, 2.3lbs 1.04kg) ​

Range Extender Cable ($45) SLY Charging Split Cable ($65), Replacement Charger ($200), Optional Replacement Battery ($700), ​

Optional TCD LCD Display ($90, Battery Percentage, Pedal Cadence, Speed, Distance, Trip Time, Odometer, Calories, Pedal Watts, Time) ​

 

[TomD]

Not sure if the batteries are proprietary for the Bafang M series but I suspect there will be an inexpensive aftermarket so you could easily mount a high capacity range extender on the seat tube similar to this:

Bafang M series doesn't interest me due to unrefined torque sensing, lack of programming, and no app support.

 

[byunbee]

Not sure if the batteries are proprietary for the Bafang M series but I suspect there will be an inexpensive aftermarket so you could easily mount a high capacity range extender on the seat tube similar to this:

Bafang M series doesn't interest me due to unrefined torque sensing, lack of programming, and no app support.

Bafang Ultra is also an M series. M620.

 

[TomD]

I meant to say the newer M series (M500, M600, M800) where Bafang switched to CAN bus protocol. May have some upsides but precludes user programming (for now).

 

[Abna]

iGO released that bike quite some time ago. It is their Carbon CGV model
The Specs book is here

Or on their website here
Igoelectric.com/carboncgv

iGo was supposed to release their road bike with M800 system but it never came through.
Here is a video from 2018.

 

[FlatSix911]

iGO released that bike quite some time ago. It is their Carbon CGV model
The Specs book is here

Or on their website here
Igoelectric.com/carboncgv

A really nice ride with the same M800 Bafang drive system and no Class-3 / 28 mph speed... for twice the price of the BD eMulekick.

 

[byunbee]

I figured out why this bike is so much cheaper than other brands. It only has one chainring, so is a 11 speed not 22 speed. The limited gear range makes this not a true road bike. It’s just a regular hybrid bike with drop bars attached to it. Their comparison with Trek Domane and Specialized Turbo Creo is not a valid comparison.