Some of you may have read my report a couple of months back on the Orbea Gain EBike, and it completely sold me on getting an Ebike going forward.
I'm at an age where I feel like treating myself, more for the Pain elimination of Hills than purely the Financial treat !
Cue much reading and deliberation, comparing and reviewing, and general pondering and debating with myself on the merits and possibilities..
The Orbea was pretty good, but only Alu framed (so far), and running the Ebikemotion system, which has an unremoveable battery in the downtube, and a Rear Hub Drive.
I wasnt totaly sold on that overall, as riding 'without' the battery was never going to be a possibility, so on with thoughts....
Wilier are also soon bringing out a beautiful looking bike too, with same system as above, so again, wasnt convinced.
The Giant Ebikes, whilst having a very powerful batter apparently, are rather 'ugly' imo, and I didnt consider them, the alternatives are just far more indistinguishable as Road Bikes.
So, we move on to the options using the Fazua Evation system....which offers the 3 Power levels, and all neatly comprised into the Downtube, in a removeable Battery & Motor pack.
The Cube Agree Hybrid was quite tempting, Ultegra, with Discs etc, and the 'cheaper' of their 2 options at £4500, in White, was quite a nice looking package, but something about it just didnt quite meet with my idea of what £4500 on a Bike might look like.
(Plus, I wasnt completely sure it offered the same 400watt Max output)
The other stand out was the Pinarello Nytro, a seriously sexy looking option, and with the Prestige that comes with the marque.
However, Dealers cried that demand was huge, and they perhaps wouldnt even be getting DEmo bikes in to try, or fit on etc, even the Bike Rooms in Manchester (Distributors apparently) were stating 2/3mths at best.....
Slane Cycles in Belfast, looked like they had some in stock, but after a call, that proved incorrect, but Andy there did offer to keep me posted as he was 'expecting' one in......
So my interest now focused on the Focus Project Y, and when exactly that may appear for Sale.
Much reading, much googling, and I decided that indeed, this looked the most likely candidate,
& same Power as the Pinarello.
Then, 2 things happened.......
1. Focus launched the Paralane2, the available version of the Project Y, presumably as they'd seen demand to be huge.
However, of the 4 options to be released soon, the most likely for me would have been their Ultegra version, but only in Blue or Black, and at £5500, so pretty much Pinarello priced, and in my opinion, didnt look quite as impressive for that dosh.
2. I get a call from Andy at Slane Cycles, saying that the Nytro they'd expected has indeed landed, and is in his hands, -......how tall was I ?
Cue much measuring and debating, sending of photos, comparing my Bikes geometry with the Nytro, etc etc etc...... really really helpful, I couldnt fault their assistance at all, fantastic.
So, I dived in, and the Bike arrived before the weekend.
Cue a long ride on Saturday, 65mls, with about 2700' of ups in the rolling East Yorks countyside, and I have to say the Nytro was fantasticly comfortable, even compared to my Roubaix.
The first 30miles I didnt even have the Battery/Motor on, as it was flat, but as we reached the climbs, the motor was a godsend for me, and achieved exactly what I wanted to, in reducing my HR.
125watts gives a gentle assist to the revolutions......
250watts helps you along with a noticeble rush.....
400watts is a massive help uphill, incredible.
You still have to pedal, so are still working out, but at a level thats far more comfortable for me at least.
Stop pedalling, Motor stops too, and anything over 15mph it wont work anyway.
Frequently, on similar rides, my HR gets to what I deem to be unadviseable levels of 170-180 with even easy effort uphill, and averages of 140+.
With a familiar history of Heart issues, and indeed some arrythmias myself, mostly alcohol induced, an Ebike seemed a sensible route to go for me.
In that, it completely succeeded, my average over the 65miles was 130bpm, with a Max of 160, and at no point did I feel that pounding in my chest that does concern me at my age.
I know others will scoff at the Ebike movement, and hats off to those that refuse to ever consider not 'pushing' themselves, but I aint one of them !
This Nytro simply allows me to ride with the others as fast uphill as well as down, and simply makes the ride more enjoyable for me.
With a half mile of my house, there are 2 steep climbs which we 'never' ride up, as they feature much too early in a ride before your even remotely warmed up. As they would be direct routes to some of the better stuff beyond, thats a shame, but with this Nytro, I can breeze up without an issue, meaning I'm more likely to ride more in actual fact, and vary my rides far more.
Yes, £6k is a lot of money, but I had the chance, and felt the need, so jumped in. I know its perhaps not an option for many, and my post isnt in any way meant to be a 'willy waving, I've got a Pinarello' kind of post, its purely an honest report on the road in my decision.
I feel sure the EBike movement is going to be massive, and I reckon in a years time, all the main contenders will have an Ebike in their range, I really do.
Thanks for reading.
