The Austrian-made EH Street Racer is an interesting variant on the electric bike model. Instead of a mountain bike, they have decided on a monocoque aluminium road bike frame similar to what the Optibike uses. Even with a 48 volt 9-Ah battery tucked neatly into this slick frame, this bike weighs in at only 38 pounds, one of the lightest electric bikes on the market with any decent range. You should be able to get 20-30 miles off such a battery pack. The bike uses a Bionx 250 watt rear hub motor and a unique pedal-assist feature which senses how much you are pedaling and adds electric power accordingly.
The EH Line is following the lead of some other high-end European bike manufacturers such as Smart and Grace, who have chosen to build a fancy frame, and include the clean and under-powered bionx hub motor system as a power package. EH line has really broken the traditional model by choosing a road bike as its platform with super thin tires. It seems to appeal to “out of shape” road bikers, a category not many road bikers would admit to fall into. Most road bikers hate electric bike riders, so we are not sure how good the market research was from the folks over in Hawaii.
As with the Smart Ebike, this bike has the same problems with its 250 watt motor, which ensures legality in just about every state it is sold, and thus lowers liability for the company. The problem with it that any e-bike enthusiast knows, 250 watts of power is not enough, and just about who you are you will wish you had more power every time your ride this bike. The Bionx 250 watt hub motor will give you pathetic acceleration, very limited hill climbing “assistance” and you will not be able to break 20-MPH on flat ground without pedaling. This bike also lacks belt drive, a nice feature of the Smart Bike, which is running the same model of beautiful frame, but with a much more practical design (not a thin wheeled road bike), a belt pedal drive (!) and amazingly…half the price at $3800.
This EH-line bike is expected to retail for a whopping $9.800….way too much money for something that is basically a simple hub motor bike that is way under powered. Although this is a slick looking bike, at this price point, and with that motor, performance, caliper brakes and dorky name….we at electricbike.com would bet the house that his bike is heading for a nice slick belly flop. Predicted sales? 10 bikes. Might be a good rare collectors items or museum piece or something to hang on the all. Nice looking electric bike…looks good pictured on the electricbike.com walls. 🙂 Enjoy the slide show:
ehline
