What do you guys think of this bike?

[Ravi Kempaiah]

I thought this bike was decked out with top-end specs... like really impressive.

Racing steel frame capable of handling 400 lbs.
Bosch CX drive with dual 500 Whr batteries
Gates carbon Drive
Rohloff E-14 electronic hubs
wide rims and 2.8" plus super moto X tires for all-terrain riding.
Magura MT5 dual pistons front and rear

For someone wanting to do serious touring, this would be ideal. You can also spec it with a suspension fork and Bosch Speed motor.

Review here: https://www.radfahren.de/test-teile/test-elektronische-rohloff-e-14/

You can purchase the bike from here: http://www.rennstahl-bikes.de/de/produkte/e-bikes-mit-mittelmotor/853-e-reiserad-rohloff-e-14/
Seems like they offer international shipping.

Some pics:

 

[e-boy]

Nice bike !
Would you take this over a Tout Terrain with Go Swiss rear drive and Pinion gear box ?

Some other Rollhof and Pinion gear eBikes coming out of Germany .

(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

https://pinion.eu/en/bicycle-manufacturers/ (select ebike under bicycle type)

 

[charlesbrenthirak]

DROOL! that is beautiful! but a pretty penny...

 

[Nova Haibike]

Nice! But I can still find fault. LOL. A bike like that really needs a double leg kickstand.

 

[e-boy]

Oh ; I see that Rennstahl also offers GO Swiss drive and Pinion gear box .
http://www.rennstahl-bikes.de/en/produkte/e-bikes/931-e-reiserad-pinion/

 

[JRA]

Looks heavy even before loading on the touring gear. But if you can shell out $8k for one I suppose you could afford to credit card tour with it carrying the bare minimum and do a decent 100+ miles a day.

I would prefer the wheelset from the Pinion bike though for touring but you would want to put an extension on that front fender to keep the water bottle clean.

 

[tompat]

The Rennstahl 853 e-reiserad is the most beautiful bike I've seen.
It has the classic bike frame look with the massive Moto-X tires.
If I already didn't order a R&M in the same price category I'd go for the Rennstahl.

The manufacturer has a short video (in German) about the bike. Even if you don't know the language, the video shows a lot of the bike. It is simply stunning.

 

[Alex M]

What do I think? I think that 7,000 Euro could buy me a really nice scooter and a few years worth of fuel.

Yeah, should've installed a better kickstand. And a throttle

 

[e-boy]

I don't know you , young Alex M .
So I hope your post is with tongue firmly planted in check .

 

[e-boy]

You , you , Gravel Grinder !

 

[JoePah]

Can't read the review very weill.. Is it some kind of high speed ebike with long range capability? If not, it's $8000 of fancy parts that don't add up.

 

[tompat]

Can't read the review very weill.. Is it some kind of high speed ebike with long range capability? If not, it's $8000 of fancy parts that don't add up.

Touring bike with high quality components. Read the first post, it explains what this bike carries.

 

[Alex M]

So I hope your post is with tongue firmly planted in check .

Yes and no.
As a recreation toy it is rather expensive, and as a transportation it is what I wrote - the cost of a nice scooter and few years (or several?) worth of fuel.
The truth sometimes sounds funny, doesn't it...

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

This is what I think... it is not a run of the mill E-bike.
This is particularly designed for heavy touring and reliability. Not for speed or agility. This will be a slow but reliable steed.
Anyone who has done 10+ daysbike touring, will immediately recognize the value and what it is offering. There are very few steel frame bikes with such componentry and it is built for a specific purpose. From an engineering standpoint, everything is so carefully picked. I agree, it could use dual kickstands that ToutTerrian's offer or some M99 lights and better battery protection.
For regular commuting, there are much cheaper, lighter options for sure.

heck, there are even non-electric touring bikes that go for $5000. ... bikes like this... Koga World Traveler.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

Yes, high-end touring bikes can easily cost that much even without a motor.

It looks like a promising bike. Although I suspect that some additional refinement wouldn't hurt.

One pet peeve I have is that in the modern era touring bikes should have three-bolt cage bosses on their fork in addition to eyelets for a front rack. I'd use those eyelets and an Anything Cage far more often than a front rack.

 

[Over50]

I'm still not sold on using electric for touring. At least for off-the-beaten path touring. I would think it adds too much weight, travel complexity and increases the possibility of catastrophic bike failure (catastrophic as in trip-ending, stranded in the hinterlands failure).

 

[Mr. Coffee]

I'm still not sold on using electric for touring. At least for off-the-beaten path touring. I would think it adds too much weight, travel complexity and increases the possibility of catastrophic bike failure (catastrophic as in trip-ending, stranded in the hinterlands failure).

I hear you.

What I'd say is that realistically, 99 percent of bike tourers and 99 percent of bike touring miles are not off the beaten path very much at all and you'd be fine on an electric bike. Very few of us will actually ride in Tierra Del Fuego or across the Silk Road.

From my own bike packing and bike touring experiments with an e-bike I've learned several things: camping is more trouble and complexity than it is worth with an e-bike, you need to charge opportunistically, and your scheduling and travel time is going to be dominated by charging time and finding places to charge your batteries. So I'm still not a hundred percent convinced that e-bike touring is worth the hassle to actually be a thing.

On the other hand, I see all of those people on the van tours and think the tour operators would print a few bills if they had e-bike tours as well.

 

[Over50]

...From my own bike packing and bike touring experiments with an e-bike I've learned a several things: camping is more trouble and complexity than it is worth with an e-bike, you need to charge opportunistically, and your scheduling and travel time is going to be dominated by charging time and finding places to charge your batteries....

I recall from my misspent youth of camping, fishing hiking and mountain biking with family and later friends that the key to success was minimalism (and good planning). The more complexity and stuff added the less likely it was that we would have what we would consider a successful venture. The essentials, in the right quantities and nothing more. Yes, I tend to think that e-bikes are great for certain applications but for touring (heck especially of air travel is involved), human power is the way to go.

Now if I were going to do a USA rail trail trip with my wife with possibly some stays in some hotels or B&Bs then we are going electric (but I don't consider that touring).

 

[Mr. Coffee]

... then again, just to the east of me there is a small town with a large state park, several RV parks, several fairly dumpy hotels, and great mexican food from a food truck. There are various routes from my home to that town that are between 40 and 48 miles, with between 4500 and 7000 feet of elevation gain. Over ninety percent of the distance is on gravel or dirt roads. So I'm hoping with a suitable bike I can make the trip for mexican food several times this summer (right now all of the routes are completely full of snow).

So a dual-battery Bosch bike with an IGH would be awesome for taco runs.

 

[Alex M]

...minimalism (and good planning). The more complexity and stuff added the less likely it was that we would have what we would consider a successful venture. .

Well put. It's not the "stuff" that makes trip memorable, and not even the distance covered. It's places and mood.