UBCO reveals new 50 mph (80 km/h) electric trail bike with pedals

Saw this on the net and don't recall seeing it posted here, though I may have missed it:

https://electrek.co/2019/09/06/ubco-frx1-electric-trail-bike-50-mph/amp/




"UBCO reveals new 50 mph (80 km/h) electric trail bike with pedals Micah Toll - Sep. 6th 2019 12:13 am

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any wilder in the electric bicycle space, this happens. UBCO has just revealed their upcoming UBCO FRX1 Freeride Trail Bike featuring motorcycle level specs, speeds of up to 50 mph (80 km/h), and functional bicycle pedals.

New Zealand-based UBCO is likely better known for its UBCO 2×2 electric utility two-wheeler. It’s not quite a bicycle but not quite a motorcycle either. It’s kind of its own category — something of an electric farm bike.

Either way, it’s nothing like the company’s latest announcement, which represents a hard left turn for UBCO.

The company has just revealed its first true electric bicycle, if you can call it that. The UBCO FRX1 Freeride Trail Bike is set to be debuted at the AIMExpo on Sept 26 in Columbus, Ohio.

The UBCO FRX1 is an electric two-wheeler with functional pedals and a pedal assist system. Technically speaking, that makes it an electric bicycle. But only technically.

Truly, this is an electric trail bike with all the capabilities of a lightweight dirt bike. Tipping the scales at just 115 lb (52 kg), the UBCO FRX1 features a 15 kW (20 hp) peak, liquid-cooled, mid-drive electric motor. The motor can be controlled either by the twist throttle or via pedal assist. Yes, pedal assist — like a cute little European e-bike. Except that this e-bike can hit speeds of up to 50 mph (80 km/h).

UBCO claims that it comes with a 9-speed gear box for pedaling, which should make it more pedal-able than one might initially imagine.

The UBCO FRX1 features a 2.2 kWh Li-ion battery pack that the company rates with a maximum range of 62 miles (100 km). At 35 Wh/mi (22 Wh/km), though, that’s likely at a reduced speed of closer to 20 mph (32 km/h). The UBCO FRX1 features the ability to regain up to 10% of its expended energy via regenerative braking. And charging up the pack the old-fashioned way (i.e. from the wall) takes just 2.5 hours.

The aluminum-frame design offers 8 inches (203 mm) of travel in the front and 7.9 inches (200 mm) of travel in the rear, both with adjustable compression and rebound. Stopping power is provided by four-piston hydraulic disc brakes in the front and dual-piston hydraulic disc brakes in the rear. There’s also user-adjustable regenerative braking.

We haven’t heard any word yet on pricing, but don’t expect it to be priced competitively with a $500 250 W electric bike — this is an entirely different beast.

UBCO says that while the FRX1 is the first new EV to follow the company’s UBCO 2×2 electric farm bike, it won’t be the last. The company is planning more product announcements over the next year.

Electrek’s Take
The UBCO FRX1 looks fascinating as an electric trail bike, but I must admit that I’m left wondering why there are pedals at all. With this level of impressive performance, does it really need functional pedals?

We’ve seen this before on lightweight electric motorcycles like the Sur Ron Light Bee. That 45 mph (72 km/h) model can technically become an electric bicycle with an optional add-on pedal kit. But it’s still a motorcycle in its DNA.

The UBCO FRX1 reminds me more of a CAKE Kalk electric motorcycle in terms of size and performance. And again, we’re talking electric motorcycle levels here.

Generally speaking, pedals are added on these types of e-bikes to lend a smidgen of credibility to the claim that it can be operated street legally on public roads. But at these speeds, it is well above the 28 mph (45 km/h) limit for Class 3 electric bicycles in the US. And making it a bicycle also requires certain compromises, such as the less-than-comfortable bicycle saddle and the higher chance of pedal strike versus foot pegs.

Of course if the US took my suggestion and made a new class of drivers’ licenses for light electric motorcycles, vehicles like the UBCO FRX1 might be easier to register and ride on roads without needing to act like bicycles.

Until then, this one still looks like a lot of fun for the trails. If we ever get the chance to try it out, we’ll definitely report back on how well it rides."

Really curious where they squeezed a 9spd transmission into that frame.

couple pics looks like their using pinion pedal gearbox transmission..

HK12K said:

Of course if the US took my suggestion and made a new class of drivers’ licenses for light electric motorcycles, vehicles like the UBCO FRX1 might be easier to register and ride on roads without needing to act like bicycles.

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Of course you'd never be able to legally put this thing on the road as some kind of motorcycle, it would need lights etc. But taking that for granted, what's the "light electric motorcycle" story? Are there onerous requirements for "motorcycle", like ...

-> "rider needs to get a motorcycle license endorsement"? Sure, why worry about whether you have the knowledge and skill to ride a motorcycle on the road at 50mph, if the motorcycle is "light"?

No one's going to fool law enforcement with pedals, because there's no pedaling a bicycle to 50mph, unless you're a very athletic rider in a streamlined recumbent on the salt flats. They presumably put pedals on it because people want to use them.

donn said:

HK12K said:

Of course if the US took my suggestion and made a new class of drivers’ licenses for light electric motorcycles, vehicles like the UBCO FRX1 might be easier to register and ride on roads without needing to act like bicycles.

Click to expand...

Of course you'd never be able to legally put this thing on the road as some kind of motorcycle, it would need lights etc. But taking that for granted, what's the "light electric motorcycle" story? Are there onerous requirements for "motorcycle", like ...

-> "rider needs to get a motorcycle license endorsement"? Sure, why worry about whether you have the knowledge and skill to ride a motorcycle on the road at 50mph, if the motorcycle is "light"?

No one's going to fool law enforcement with pedals, because there's no pedaling a bicycle to 50mph, unless you're a very athletic rider in a streamlined recumbent on the salt flats. They presumably put pedals on it because people want to use them.

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Personally I somewhat disagree with the authors take on pedals. Without them the bike would be 100% undoubtedly illegal here, except while on private property, meaning I'd have zero reason to ever consider one. With pedals and judicious use of the throttle, (or a decent programmable controller) one could ride that everywhere around here without issue and still be able to have a blast offroad. I also disagree with his stance on licensing as I gave mine up and don't need the lawmakers finding any new and inventive ways to ruin my good time.

it could be speed restricted and moped or speed pedelec homolgated.. but they have to come to market first before funds could be allocated towards that.. UBCO has a good chance of success by adding this to their existing product line imo..

efMX Trials Electric Freeride said:

couple pics looks like their using pinion pedal gearbox transmission..

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Interesting system. First I can recall seeing it:

https://pinion.eu/en/

https://pinion.eu/en/e-bikes/

efMX Trials Electric Freeride said:

it could be speed restricted and moped or speed pedelec homolgated.. but they have to come to market first before funds could be allocated towards that.. UBCO has a good chance of success by adding this to their existing product line imo..

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The million dollar question is can they bring it to market in Canada for less than the Sur-Ron's absurd $6500 pretax asking price?

I for one hope they can.

HK12K said:

efMX Trials Electric Freeride said:

it could be speed restricted and moped or speed pedelec homolgated.. but they have to come to market first before funds could be allocated towards that.. UBCO has a good chance of success by adding this to their existing product line imo..

Click to expand...

The million dollar question is can they bring it to market in Canada for less than the Sur-Ron's absurd $6500 pretax asking price?

I for one hope they can.

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the answer is likely no..

one reason is bc surron doesn't have this, which costs lots.. :

efMX Trials Electric Freeride said:

HK12K said:

efMX Trials Electric Freeride said:

it could be speed restricted and moped or speed pedelec homolgated.. but they have to come to market first before funds could be allocated towards that.. UBCO has a good chance of success by adding this to their existing product line imo..

Click to expand...

The million dollar question is can they bring it to market in Canada for less than the Sur-Ron's absurd $6500 pretax asking price?

I for one hope they can.

Click to expand...

the answer is likely no..

one reason is bc surron doesn't have this, which costs lots.. :

Click to expand...

Yeah, I wasn't planning on getting my hopes up.

...maybe the prices will come down once China unrepentantly copies it. :lol:

https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=101656

Hmm yes that's an excellent integration of the Pinion GB. Not quite the way I'd do it but very close.

Straight cut or helical gears?

Too big and heavy for pedals. We have 50 mph trail bikes with half the weight. I pity the consumer.

efMX Trials Electric Freeride said:

https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=101656

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Despite the lower power, lack of water cooling and pinion gearbox, it's pretty good budget competition. Exciting to finally see more and more interesting stuff coming out of the woodwork. Hopefully they can make it to market, though I'd be stunned if it actually came in at anywhere near 1k. Seems like I can barely get a decent hubbie or knockoff bare frame into the country for a grand. Craigslist is stuffed full of $4-6k noname Bafang mid bikes here and I could buy a small fleet of used cars for what a Sur-Ron would cost. It's bananas.

sounds to me like your market is ripe for canada built ebike ??

UBCO FRX1 electric freerider :
[youtube]N3k3yR8ZCA0[/youtube]
https://youtu.be/N3k3yR8ZCA0

"UBCO recently announced it has entered into a general agreement with Lithuanian-based Neematic to bring Neematic's free ride electric bike concept into the UBCO product family as the FRX1 (Freeride Trail Bike One). With its 20hp peak power brushless motor, lightweight mid-drive frame and hardcore off-road suspension, UBCO views the FRX1 as the perfect fusion of MTB and dirt bike, adding another dimension to UBCO's growing product line.."

efMX Trials Electric Freeride said:

sounds to me like your market is ripe for canada built ebike ??

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Potentially.

I see a lot of ebikes while I'm out and about. People are interested in them and they're selling, but most of them are on junk china bikes that they likely paid the better part of 3 grand to buy. 500W motors, sabvoton controllers if they're lucky, tiny questionable often proprietary packs, etc.

https://vancouver.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=e-bike&sort=pricedsc

Better yet:

http://buildyourebike.com/

I'd love to see something cool come out of Canada, but it's almost certain that the price would be absolutely obscene.

flat tire said:

Too big and heavy for pedals. We have 50 mph trail bikes with half the weight. I pity the consumer.

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Stripped down to it's bare frame, how much heavier do you think it is than some of the DH bikes people often recommend be converted? Granted they're no real joy to pedal either, but I wonder how they'd shave weight from the frame without compromising it's integrity? B52's are heavy and people spend 10-15k for the privilege, so the market it certainly there.

I like the pedals because without them it's obviously illegal here at a glance, regardless of what speed you're riding it. Assuming you're not speeding around town or doing wheelstands from a stoplight chances are nobody is ever going to bust you because you're running over the legally allowed wattage, assuming you have pedals. For my environment it would be completely useless without them.

by starting with pedals, one can easily switch to pegs.. however by starting with pegs .. likely stuck with them.. variety is the spice of life more choices the better.. 8)

donn said:

No one's going to fool law enforcement with pedals, because there's no pedaling a bicycle to 50mph, unless you're a very athletic rider in a streamlined recumbent on the salt flats. They presumably put pedals on it because people want to use them.

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And to "fool" law enforcement.

A lot of people (myself included) use low powers on streets and never exceed about 25mph, which you see regularly in bikes going downhill (or on street bikes with _very_ good riders.) Then on trails and deserted roads I open it up. A good option if you don't want to have to trailer your bike places.

efMX Trials Electric Freeride said:

by starting with pedals, one can easily switch to pegs.. however by starting with pegs .. likely stuck with them.. variety is the spice of life more choices the better.. 8)

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Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-pegs. I'd probably prefer them a lot of the time if given the choice. Just one of the many unfortunate and misguided ebike laws on the books here. No pedals = private property only.

billvon said:

donn said:

No one's going to fool law enforcement with pedals, because there's no pedaling a bicycle to 50mph, unless you're a very athletic rider in a streamlined recumbent on the salt flats. They presumably put pedals on it because people want to use them.

Click to expand...

And to "fool" law enforcement.

A lot of people (myself included) use low powers on streets and never exceed about 25mph, which you see regularly in bikes going downhill (or on street bikes with _very_ good riders.) Then on trails and deserted roads I open it up. A good option if you don't want to have to trailer your bike places.

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This is pretty much it. Self moderation is key on the streets, or they will moderate for you. Here the ebike speed limit on flat ground is 32kph, so doing 50mph is going to get you nailed to the wall if they see you.

efMX Trials Electric Freeride said:

it could be speed restricted and moped or speed pedelec homolgated.. but they have to come to market first before funds could be allocated towards that.. UBCO has a good chance of success by adding this to their existing product line imo..

Click to expand...

From a legal standpoint they should probably promote it as "offroad use only." Users can choose to try to fool/slide by local law enforcement at their own risk.

wturber said:

efMX Trials Electric Freeride said:

it could be speed restricted and moped or speed pedelec homolgated.. but they have to come to market first before funds could be allocated towards that.. UBCO has a good chance of success by adding this to their existing product line imo..

Click to expand...

From a legal standpoint they should probably promote it as "offroad use only." Uses can choose to try to fool/slide by local law enforcement at their own risk.

Click to expand...

I'd rather they leave it as-is, lest someone with access to google decide your bike is illegal even though you may (or may not) have the wattage and speed regulated to within the legal limits.