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Patrick Brady

Four Tips for Winter E-Bike Riding

Winter riding isn’t as much fun as riding during spring and summer months when the weather is nice, but for the dedicated commuter, riding when the weather is cold can be rewarding for a number of reasons. First, it cuts down on that gas bill, and saving money is always handy. Second, for those of us trying to improve our health by riding rather than driving, year-round exercise is a win. And for those of us who need to correct for all that holiday eating, and possibly drinking, riding on e-bike is one of the best ways to burn those pie calories.

But riding in the winter requires a slightly different game plan than riding in warmer weather. Here at Electric Bike Report we’ve got a few tips that will make winter riding more enjoyable.

Keep the battery inside

Most of us store our e-bike outside or in a garage. While those are appropriate places for an e-bike, lithium-ion batteries don’t perform well in cold temperatures. During a recent blast of cold air that gripped much of the nation, there were widespread reports of EVs suffering from reduced range.

Engineers we’ve spoken with suggest keeping your e-bike’s battery indoors for both charging and storage. The ideal temperature range for both charging and storing is between 50 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

Spearfish, S.D., Officials Contemplate E-Bike Ordinances

Officials in Spearfish, S.D., are examining how e-bikes use is beginning to grow in their city. Spearfish is just one of many cities across the U.S. that hasn’t passed any local ordinances defining where and which e-bikes can be ridden.

While the three-class-system defining e-bikes may seem the law of the land, many cities around the country have yet to take up the question.

In Spearfish, the Parks and Recreation Department is examining e-bike use on a recreation path that runs through the city of 12,000 as well as on the trails of Lookout Mountain, a popular mountain biking spot.

The reason the city is choosing now to examine how to handle their use is due to citizen complaints following what Parks and Recreation Director Tyler Ehnes termed “negative interactions.”

In a meeting with the Parks, Recreation and Forestry Advisory Board, Ehnes said, “If you can imagine a 28-mile-an-hour bike coming up the rec path, that is extremely fast. That’s I think where the speed comes in. I think the class three is where people start to get a little bit nervous about how fast it can go.”

It’s a common dilemma cities face: How fast is too fast for an e-bike?

The concerns over Lookout Mountain take a different form. Users express concern about increased erosion, a position Ehnes doesn’t agree with.

“Claims of erosion simply aren’t true…. It’s still a bike tire,” he said.

In 2023 the Northern Hills Ranger District took up the issue of e-bikes and concluded that they are motorized vehicles. That distinction effectively banned all e-bikes from the area’s forest service trails used by hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians.

“Like I always do, I tried to reach out to other agencies to figure out what they’ve done, how they’re addressing it so that we don’t have to recreate the wheel. Most of the time when I reach out, I find a trend, you can sometimes figure out what the general consensus is,” Ehnes said. “This is wildly different across every organization.”

On the other side of the state, in the city of Sioux Falls, the city ordinance allows Class 1 (maximum assist speed of 20 mph and no throttle) and Class 3 (maximum assist speed of 28 mph and no throttle) e-bikes, but Class 2 e-bikes (which have a throttle) are banned.

Confusing matters is the existence of a South Dakota state statute. It declares that Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes are permitted on any bicycle path or multi-use path in the state, unless otherwise forbidden.

Potential user conflicts are but one consideration when examining how to legislate e-bikes in the city. The city must consider whether they can effectively enforce any law they pass.

“My concern as director is that if ordinance and regulation is adopted, enforcement will be difficult,” Ehnes said. We don’t have the staff to control these areas and even if we did, parks department doesn’t have any authority to ticket them or fine them for violating ordinances. “I called the district ranger and I said, ‘OK, you’ve got the regulations; are you enforcing them?’ He kind of laughed and said, ‘I don’t have the staff available to enforce it.’”

Some area residents want laws on the books regardless of their ability to enforce them.

“I have spoken to several concerned citizens…. While they understand that enforcement is an issue, they believe having an adopted ordinance would give them the ability to say something when another user is in violation. Kind of a self-patrolling mentality. Right now, they don’t feel like they can say anything because there’s nothing on the books,” Ehnes said.

One possible solution the city is considering would be posting speed limit signs to encourage good behavior. The city plans to accept input from the cycling community as well as citizens both for and against e-bike usage.

Canyon Spectral:ON CF 7 Spec Review 2024

Canyon, the German manufacturer that pioneered consumer-direct bike sales, has introduced its updated Spectral:ON CF 7 eMTB for 2024. The Spectral:ON CF 7 is considered a “trail” eMTB, which is to say it has less travel than an enduro model, such as the Canyon Torque:ON. In our spec review of the Canyon Spectral:ON CF 7 we will look at what makes this a trail model as well as what sort of value it represents.

Of the many categories of e-bike, eMTBs can run the most expensive (and good ones rarely go for less than $4000). There’s fierce competition in the $4000-$6000 price range, and the Canyon Spectral:ON CF 7 sits right in the middle of that range. Part of the appeal of Canyon is they cut out the markup that a retailer would add, which can save consumers 20-30 percent, which in this case can mean $1000 or more.

In mountain biking the trail category runs from roughly 115mm of travel in the rear, up to about 135mm. Forks run from 120mm up to 145mm in travel. With eMTBs, though, due to their greater weight thanks to the motor and battery, travel tends to run more like 140-160mm in the rear and 140-170mm in the fork.

The Canyon Spectral:ON CF 7 sits well within this range as well, with 150mm of travel in the rear and 160mm of travel in the fork. This is a go-anywhere, drop off most things eMTB.

Let’s take a deeper look at the Spectral:ON CF 7.

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Canyon Spectral:ON CF 7 Spec Review: Bike Overview

In broad strokes, the Canyon Spectral:ON CF 7 begins with a carbon fiber frame with 150mm of travel and a 160mm-travel fork. Providing the muscle is a Shimano EP8 mid-drive motor. As is the trend with eMTBs currently, the Spectral:ON CF 7 uses a “mullet” wheel selection, with a 29-in. wheel front and 27.5-in. wheel rear. In 2023 Canyon began sourcing their own batteries so that they could better optimize their placement in the frame to optimize the eMTB’s center of gravity.

The component selection is a bit of a surprise as it mixes Shimano and SRAM components. Component makers have often prevented such mixing by forcing product managers to spec the whole of a group of parts, rather than just the brakes or drivetrain. In this case, Canyon went with a Shimano drivetrain and SRAM brakes.

Total e-bike weight comes to 51.3 lbs. (23.3kg). Considering the motor, battery size and the fact that the components exist at the value end of the eMTB performance spectrum, that’s a very respectable weight.

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Canyon Spectral:ON CF 7 Review: Specs & Features

Frame and fork

The Canyon Spectral:ON CF 7 frame features full carbon fiber construction with the battery positioned internally in front of the motor. The RockShox Deluxe Select R shock delivers 150mm of travel.

The one notable change between the 2023 Spectral:ON CF 7 and the 2024 model is that the RockShox Lyrik Select fork was upgraded to the RockShox Lyrik Base fork, boosting travel from 150mm to 160mm, which should give this eMTB both a bit more sensitivity over small bumps and a greater ability to absorb bigger hits.

The Spectral:ON CF 7 comes in four sizes: small, medium, large and XL. Their sizing guidance goes:

Small: 5 feet 9 or shorter
Medium: 5 feet 9 to 6 feet
Large: 6 feet to 6 feet 4
XL: 6 feet 4 and taller

This new edition of the Canyon Spectral:ON CF 7 includes a new feature: GPS tracking. Not only can riders use the GPS to track their riding, it will send an alarm if the e-bike is tampered with and the new Canyon smartphone app offers additional features. And even if the battery is completely depleted, the GPS has a separate battery that will keep it active.

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Motor and battery

Of the various mid-drive motors being spec’d on eMTBs, the Shimano EP8 is one of the most popular out there. The EP8 is a 250W motor that provides 85Nm of torque and up to 400 percent assistance. When combined with a wide-range drivetrain, there is little a rider can’t climb.

The battery gives riders 720Wh of riding, which should be good for at least three hours of mountainous riding, even in Boost mode.

Canyon’s charger pushes 4A and is reported to fully charge the 720Wh battery in four hours.

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Componentry

Canyon produces a line of components specific to their eMTBs, Canyon:ON. The alloy bar is 780mm wide and rises 30mm to give the rider excellent steering leverage as well as make it easier to lift the front wheel.

The Canyon:ON stem is a bit shorter than we typically see in eMTBs: 45mm instead of 50mm. You can tell that this is an eMTB meant to take some hits thanks to the 35mm bar and clamp diameters.

Canyon’s Iridium dropper post gives riders a chance to get the saddle out of the way for steep descents. A Fi:zi’k Terra Aidon XR saddle sits atop it.

In the photos of the Canyon Spectral:ON CF 7 they show it with Shimano Deore XT clipless pedals; those are not the pedals that come with this eMTB. It comes with a set of flats for those who don’t want to be attached to their e-bike.

Drivetrain, brakes and wheels

Canyon chose a Shimano Deore 12-speed drivetrain for the Spectral:ON CF 7. They pair a 34t chainring with the Deore 10-51t cassette for a 510 percent gear range. This eMTB can climb any trail it encounters.

Rather than go with Shimano disc brakes, Canyon chose SRAM’s DB8 hydraulic disc brake. This brake is based on their pricier Code brake, but is designed to be more maintenance free. As is appropriate with a 51-lb. eMTB, the brakes were paired with 203mm rotors for excellent stopping power and modulation.

The wheels use Sun Ringlé wheels with aluminum rims and thru-axles. A Maxxis 29 x 2.5-in. Assegai tire is mounted on the front, while a 27.5 x 2.6-in. Maxxis Minion DHR is mounted in the rear.

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EBR’s Canyon Spectral:ON CF 7 First Look Review:

So how good is the Spectral:ON CF 7? There’s no question that this is a terrific value as eMTBs go. Often, when a manufacturer tries to keep an eMTB priced below $6000, to do so they go with a smaller battery that cuts the rider’s range. Canyon, however, gave the Spectral:ON CF 7 a 720Wh battery. Frequent EBR readers may recall that our rule of thumb for acceptable range is a 1:1 ratio of motor wattage to battery watt/hours. As the Shimano EP8 motor produces 250W (nominally), the Spectral:ON CF 7 enjoys a nearly 1:3 ratio of motor power to battery capacity.

What that means is that many riders will be able to enjoy two or even three days of riding before needing to recharge.

It may seem odd to call an e-bike that goes for more than $4000 value-oriented, but it’s important to keep in mind that high-end eMTBs can run more than $15,000. The question, then, is: What does someone give up by choosing the Spectral:ON CF 7 as opposed to a more expensive eMTB, such as its big brother, the Spectral:ON CFR, which goes for more than $8000?

The Spectral:ON CF 7 shares most of the features found in more expensive trail eMTBs. It has a great motor and sizable battery, plus the travel, the 12-speed drivetrain, hydraulic disc brakes with 203mm rotors, dropper post and strong wheels shod with terrific rubber.

The difference that will be most apparent in a test ride is that this eMTB will be heavier than a more expensive model, possibly as much as 10 extra pounds. The weight will cease to be an issue if you aren’t comparing it to other eMTBs, which is to say by the second or third ride, it will simply feel like the owner’s eMTB.

The biggest difference, then, will depend on how much the Spectral:ON CF 7 is ridden. The Shimano Deore drivetrain performs remarkably well when new. What it won’t do is last the way Shimano’s Deore XT or XTR groups do. For the rider who plans to ride two or three times a week and only in fair weather, this e-bike will last for years. The rider who goes out daily—rain or shine—will begin to see deterioration in as little as 18 months. The good news? The stuff that will wear out—the tires, chain, cassette, brake pads, rear derailleur, shifter—is easily replaced.

From a value perspective, Canyon has created an eMTB that will perform like one that goes for substantially more. The Spectral:ON CF 7 is one of those e-bikes we are happy to recommend to friends and family.

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Burley Coho XC Bike Trailer Review, 2024

We’ve been singing our praises for the many cargo e-bikes to hit the market in the last year. We believe that they offer one of the best opportunities for hauling groceries and other loads. But what if you already own an e-bike and aren’t interested in replacing it? Well, a trailer presents a terrific opportunity to be able to carry loads greater than a rear rack or front basket can handle. The Burley Coho XC offers a terrific opportunity to increase carrying capacity.

One of the reasons we at Electric Bike Report wanted to review the Burley Coho XC trailer was that it will work with almost every kind of e-bike on the market. Whether someone plans to use it for deliveries, camping, hunting, fishing or general errands, this is a trailer that will allow an e-bike to expand its capabilities.

There are a number of features that made the Burley Coho XC trailer a standout among trailers. Let’s take a deeper look.

Propella 9S Pro V2 Spec Review 2024

Propella has announced the second generation of their 9S Pro model, the 9S Pro V2. This is a Class 1 commuter (20 mph max speed, no throttle) that comes in both a traditional frame as well as a step-thru frame. The Propella 9S Pro V2 is unusual among e-bikes in this value-focused tier of e-bikes. It retails smack-dab in the middle of the $1000-$2000 price range, but it sports a collection of features that would be more in keeping with an e-bike priced above $2000.

The Propella 9S Pro V2 is light for a commuter e-bike, weighing just 43.5 lbs., which is an impressive achievement for any e-bike. They manage this by making a number of strategic choices with regard to components. First, there’s the 350W brushless, geared hub motor. As we’ve mentioned in reviews of other sub-50-lb. e-bikes, when an e-bike weighs less than 50 lbs., a smaller motor (like this 350W unit) can offer terrific performance because it doesn’t have to accelerate as much weight.

A 350Wh battery powers the Propella 9S Pro V2, which is more effective than it might seem at first glance. More on this in a bit. It’s equipped with a 9-speed Shimano drivetrain, hydraulic disc brakes, 27.5-in. wheels running 2-in.-wide tires and an adjustable stem to dial the fit. Possibly the most surprising detail of this e-bike (aside from its weight) is the fact that it is equipped with a torque sensor.

What’s it all add up to? Let’s have a look.

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Propella 9S Pro V2 Spec Review: Bike Overview

Commuter e-bikes have a different set of priorities than some other e-bikes. They need to be efficient; that is, they need to cover as many miles as possible with each watt/hour of capacity the battery offers. Features that will help increase an e-bike’s range include less weight, and bigger wheels.

Anything less than 50 lbs. is cause for celebration where an e-bike’s weight is concerned. The 43.5-lb. weight of the Propella 9S Pro V2 makes it one of the lighter commuter e-bike’s we’ve seen.

The Propella 9S Pro V2 rolls on 27.5-in. wheels, which is the next-to-largest wheel size available (700C or 29-in. being the largest). Larger wheels offer lower rolling resistance, which is to say that once they are up to speed, they are easier to keep rolling. A wheel’s size is only part of what determines the rolling resistance, though: tires matter, too. The wheels are shod with CST Brooklyn 27.5 x 2-in. tires. This is a low-profile tread with small sipes (or channels) to move water out from under the tires. It’s a tire big enough to offer a comfortable ride while still maintaining a high level of efficiency.

Propella includes a nice array of accessories to make the 9S Pro V2 commute-ready. It comes with full fenders front and rear, as well as a front light and kickstand. Yes, they left out the rear rack which is a common feature on commuters, but a rack adds weight and many commuters wear a backpack rather than mount a pannier or two. Not only does not adding a rack keep weight down, but obvs, it helps keep the price down and is a component that can always be added later.

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Propella 9S Pro V2 Review: Specs & Features