This Innovative Gadget Can Seriously Power Up Your Bike — But There’s a Catch

Some innovations are immediately resonant. Others’ impact lies in shifting paradigms. In rare cases, a breakthrough disrupts conventional thought while also being super cool right now. 

That’s where we find the Bimotal Elevate EBike Motor System. Mount this 8-pound drive unit/battery pack/rotor-gear/throttle package to a compatible two-wheeler and you’ve got a Class 2 e-bike hitting 20 miles per hour.

Bimotal

GP100 Winner

Bimotal Elevate EBike Motor System

Specs

Continuous Torque	50 Nm
Power at the Wheel	750 watts
Battery life	~30 minutes (full blast) to 3-plus hours (conservative)

• $1,795 at Bimotal
  $1,995 (10% off)

Now, there are limitations. First, It’s pricey. Second, the range ain’t great. (Although in fairness, Bimotal product engineer Neil Flock tells us battery packs are relatively small and light — about the size of a small cycling bottle — making it possible to bring a few extras for, say, gravity laps at a mountain bike park.)

Third, power flows through the rear disc brake, giving your chain a rest but also requiring a disc-brake bike — and (currently) one with an external post mount or iso mount. (Examples include the Specialized Stumpjumper and Canyon Torque mountain bikes.)

Bimotal

Still, once you’re set up, the use cases multiply. Its quick-release capability means, for instance, you could throttle to the trailhead and then switch to pedaling, be an e-commuter all week and a trad MTBer on weekends, or simply keep up with e-biking friends.

Beyond turning a bike into an e-bike, then, what entrances us is the ability to switch between analog and electric. And considering Bimotal says they’ve also engineered twice the torque per weight of other systems, the party might just be getting started.

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