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E-road bikes divide opinion, even in the TOUR editorial team. While the testers approach the matter professionally and neutrally, other colleagues have so far given them a wide berth. Now TOUR editor Kristian Bauer reports on his first experience with an e-road bike and a mountain that is suddenly no longer there.
It has to be said openly: I have great prejudices against e-road bikes - I have a bad reputation in the editorial team as an e-bike enemy. I think it's great that e-bikes are replacing cars in everyday traffic, but when sport becomes motorsport and the mountains are flooded with motorised vehicles, I'm not happy. Being asked to test an e-road bike doesn't make me happy. For aesthetic reasons, I opted for the Rose Reveal Plus, a filigree bike, and not one of those "tanks" with a huge motor in the bottom bracket.
As I set off with my colleague for a test ride, it only takes a few metres to make my first realisation: the bike really takes off. Without realising it, I have switched on the highest support level and the bike literally catapults me forwards after starting at the green traffic lights. I hadn't expected the thrust to be so strong. I switch to a lower level and it feels a little more natural - the two of us roll effortlessly up the ascending cycle path. You don't even notice that you're going uphill. Going downhill, the bike sits well on the road and I'm glad that I'm not travelling with a big motor in the bottom bracket.
Uphill with a resting heart rate
The climb near Schäftlarn is a classic in the south of Munich. I've ridden the small hill under pressure hundreds of times and enjoyed cranking at the limit for a short time. I've also learnt to pace myself, because if you go up the climb too fast, you'll run out of steam by the second bend. It's a priceless feeling to feel your body when you're pushing uphill at the limit. In Munich, with its low altitude metres, the Schäftlarner Berg is a gift for road bike training. On the Rose E road bike, I roll uphill with a resting heart rate as if I were on the flat. The mountain has disappeared. I'm travelling at medium speed and it feels like the motor is pushing - or is it? At 32 km/h, it can't really be; the motor is obviously so well regulated that it starts and stops assisting almost seamlessly.
A sophisticated e-road bike
I love being able to put the pedal to the metal again on a long straight back to Munich - you can quickly reach 40 km/h on the gently sloping road - a far cry from any permitted engine assistance. At the end, it almost feels like a normal ride on my home circuit - only the mountain has disappeared and that's a shame. For me, a road bike is and remains a piece of sports equipment, I want to feel my body when I'm doing sport. The Rose Reveal Plus is a well-engineered e-road bike that impresses with its low weight and good drive. Nevertheless, I hope that my health will remain so good that I won't need motor support for a long time yet. I don't want the mountains to disappear!
Kristian Bauer
Editor
