Bafang Ultra powered Full Suspension Carbon Bike from Germany

Joined
Apr 30, 2012
Messages
31
Location
Germany
Hello,
For those with serious offroad riding in mind, who are looking for a capable bike with Bafangs Ultra drive, take a look at this: http://www.exess-bikes.de/

The manufacturer is just an hour away from my home, so I went there for a test drive on the trails.
For the last 2 years I was riding and modifing my Mondraker Summum with BBS02/BBSHD so I was wondering how the Exess bike would compare. With similar geometry and wheelbase I felt right at home. First thing I noticed how quiet the bike was. Although it was a prototype there were less ratteling or squeaking noises compared to my Summum.
I wasn't so happy with the Airshock but that might be due to my preferences and what I'm used to. On my testride the prototype had only the long wheelbase wich is even longer than the longest setting on my Summum. It felt super stable at high speeds. I could even take both hands from the handlebar going Downhill at 60km/h. The downside was it did not feel as playful as my Summum on jumps and manuals. But on the production version you can change the wheelbase to the short setting.
Power-wise my BBSHD feels a tad bit stronger, but the torque sensing power controll and overall lower cadence speed made up for that. Of course it will smoke any of the EU-pedelec-legal bikes.

Would I buy one? The "legal" looks (integrated like Bosch or Shimano Steps) and the carbon frame are the main advantages to me (over my Summum). But the bikes are too similar and I allready have too many bikes :) and there are some things that I like more about my Summum (primarily the suspension), so probably not. But I consider buying the fatbike version that will come soon.
 
DolphLundgren said:
Hello,
For those with serious offroad riding in mind, who are looking for a capable bike with Bafangs Ultra drive, take a look at this: http://www.exess-bikes.de/

The manufacturer is just an hour away from my home, so I went there for a test drive on the trails.
For the last 2 years I was riding and modifing my Mondraker Summum with BBS02/BBSHD so I was wondering how the Exess bike would compare. With similar geometry and wheelbase I felt right at home. First thing I noticed how quiet the bike was. Although it was a prototype there were less ratteling or squeaking noises compared to my Summum.
I wasn't so happy with the Airshock but that might be due to my preferences and what I'm used to. On my testride the prototype had only the long wheelbase wich is even longer than the longest setting on my Summum. It felt super stable at high speeds. I could even take both hands from the handlebar going Downhill at 60km/h. The downside was it did not feel as playful as my Summum on jumps and manuals. But on the production version you can change the wheelbase to the short setting.
Power-wise my BBSHD feels a tad bit stronger, but the torque sensing power controll and overall lower cadence speed made up for that. Of course it will smoke any of the EU-pedelec-legal bikes.

Would I buy one? The "legal" looks (integrated like Bosch or Shimano Steps) and the carbon frame are the main advantages to me (over my Summum). But the bikes are too similar and I allready have too many bikes :) and there are some things that I like more about my Summum (primarily the suspension), so probably not. But I consider buying the fatbike version that will come soon.

I have seen this design in some of the Chinese Websites . I was woundering since your in Germany have you seen the New Spitzing Evolution ? http://ebikemag.com/m1-spitzing-evolution-una-nuova-potente-e-mtb-per-il-2019/
This bike is available in Germany but is a 2019 bike and is not currently available in the USA. I have been speaking to the importer and it will be 2019 before it will be available . In fact he doesn’t have a definitive date yet. I really would like to see somebody from this forum check this bike out. You might check the Forum I started for Carbon Fiber bike with Bafang M600 motor same Nm as this Spitzing bike had top speed of 40-45 mph.
 
I haven't seen the new Spitzing yet. I know from two friends (both have Bafang Ultra and HD) that the TQ Drive is very good (pretty strong for an EU-legal drive and good torqe sensing).
The new Flyon bikes from Haibike wich use the TQ aswell, look more interesting to me (price/looks).
I hope I get the chance to try either the Spitzing or the Flyon soon. A head to head comparison uphill against my shunt moded BBSHD would be very interesting to me.
 
DolphLundgren said:
I haven't seen the new Spitzing yet. I know from two friends (both have Bafang Ultra and HD) that the TQ Drive is very good (pretty strong for an EU-legal drive and good torqe sensing).
The new Flyon bikes from Haibike wich use the TQ aswell, look more interesting to me (price/looks).
I hope I get the chance to try either the Spitzing or the Flyon soon. A head to head comparison uphill against my shunt moded BBSHD would be very interesting to me.

I ve looked at both bikes the New Haibike and also the Spitzing Evolution . I believe the difference is the programming . Both can conform to all speeds requirements in Europe and USA but the R version by Spitzing for strictly off road is capable of tromendous low end torque and high end speed of 45 miles per hour .
 
Anyone ordered one of these yet? I'm in the market for an off-road only ebike and from the videos I could find it looks like this one has the perfect combo of e-MTB looks + throttle for moto style riding.
 
Had the pleasure of testing this bike yesterday, quite a fascinating bit of kit! I'd imagine if you came from a regular e-bike or even non electric bicycle background the Exess will feel like a bit of a beast. It had enough power to take me up a fairly steep incline at 20 kph with no pedalling, which was impressive. The adjustment options and screen interface from Bafang were good too, easy to use and clear to read.

What I was not too keen on was the thumb throttle which was quite "on/off" in its action, and of course the brakes were the wrong way around (front brake on the left) for someone used to motorbikes. Those issues are easily fixable though, and the rest of the components (frame, suspension, brakes) felt really good from an amateurs perspective. If your goal is a legal-looking bike with a bit of extra power then this is an excellent option. Don't expect it to wheelie off the line on the motor alone though, this is far closer in power to a regular e-bike than it is to an electric motocross bike.
 
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