Everyone commutes right? We all love to buy stuff so we need money meaning we need to work so unless you’re self employed from home you need to walk/ride/drive/pub/cycle or if you’re real special, fly. Two-wheeled transport has been somewhat of a thing for me of late and I enjoy it very much. Cutting through traffic or rapidly disappearing from the pack at the lights is akin to magic. It’s like I was never there and yet I make a huge din with the super loud exhaust (that’s another story). What if there was another way to enjoy the ride, what if I could have a similar profile except there was no noise and therefore no emissions or racket? I could save on fuel and tolls since they opened up the motorway to cyclists again. Let me take you through 2 new bits of kit that could help you in your commute too, say if you were within approx 60 kms of work and you want to ride what seems like a bicycle on a bike path and go scorchingly quick all without breaking a sweat. Sounds like you? Read on:
Let me preface this with I like my kit to look good and function well. This is especially for two-wheeled implements because they are that much more personal and if your personality says bike designed for boardwalks on the beach or “I ❤ Trees” then you and me probably won’t get along too well but I will share laughter with you when I pull away as a mix of power, torque and mass affect the air in such a way to suspend particles of dust in the spaces previously vacated by me. The cool thing about these bikes is that they don’t scream eco-mentalisim or hemp-is-what-all-my-shirts-are-made-of and that might be the coolest thing about them.
Greyp: G12
This is the first bike that caught my attention for eBiking. It has great swoopy lines that remind me of Santa Cruz DH bikes and it has triple crown forks plus rear suspension to keep you from shattering your vertebrae, a useful feature because you can get this guy up to 80km/h on the flat with an astounding 120km range. All that and it still has pedals just in case you run out of juice but don’t worry because a full charge takes 2 hours. One of the neatest features is the dashboard which looks like a Samsung note’s hardware was stuck on and it provides you with a great view to speed, battery remaining, power modes and time etc. it also has a fingerprint scanner to store the various power modes from ‘Street’ to ‘Eco’ to ‘Power’ (1 finger per mode), secure as well as smart. The G12 is what seems to be the electronic proving ground for Rimac who are looking to release their ‘Concept One’ electric car vying to be the fastest in the world. Even so I think the Greyp will be more than that and will most likely be their primary business, should the market take off. Electric bike with supercar roots? Sign me up for a white one please!
The Greyp G12 – smooth lines and DH geometry. Greyp are touting this as an offroad and on road machine. Not sure about the rear suspension geometry which looks like a Target special. Disc brakes recharge the batteries.
The dashboard looks good and gives you everything at a glance, by far one of the best features save for the moving without pedaling function.
Fingerprint scanner for security – iPhone 5S proved that it could be thwarted. The other reason for the scan is the performance levels which are activated depending on the finger you use.
Nice crank, you can see the quality of the welds and the rear swingarm from here. Less Target special now eh?
Stealth Electric Bikes: Bomber
There is a degree of national pride here because the Bomber is Australian. Built, designed and conceived here and it shows with it’s rugged good looks and no nonsense components. If the G12 was a nice exercise in design with some exotic materials to boot the Bomber says Mad Max was his hero and salad is eaten only by it’s food. Being green was probably further down the list then the guys at Stealth Electric Bikes put the plan for high speed electric domination together. The Bomber weighs in at 53kg and also does a rapid 80km/h with a max range of 80km (probably not at full speed) and full charge at 2 hours like the G12. The coolest thing about the Bomber is the look, you can’t picture a more radically aggressive looking bike which is no wonder the US military is looking at obtaining a few of these for scouting. The Cristalite motor is also virtually silent with all the gearing internalised in a 9-speed sequential gearbox rather than external derailleurs. Bomb proof bomber may not have the range of the G12 but it has it on components, build and it’s already on sale so what are you waiting for, go faster and green or black.
Simple usage meter. Not as fancy as the Greyp but it’s enough to know how you’re consuming the battery and what’s left – electricbike.com
It looks purposeful and not to far from the look of the usual super tough downhill rigs hence the name Stealth because nobody knows you are just pretending to pedal. The crank setup is very unlike anything I have seen before. Suspension geometry looks proper for the use. Brakes are regenerative like KERS.
Hydraulic 9-speed Suntour Vboxx gearbox for strength, compactness and whisper quietness. Heavy though at 4.52kg
I have to admit one of the most enjoyable things I think will happen on bikes like these (before legislation takes over) will be passing cars on the bike lane in peak traffic and pretend-pedaling at 60-80km/h. Don’t worry I will be wearing a full face helmet hiding a massive grin on my face… as long as the charge holds all the way to work.
KOKSTARS 