Scott is leaning heavy on integration for its latest Bosch-powered, trail-busting ebike. The Patron eRide rocks Bluetooth connectivity, hidden cables and an invisible rear shock integrated into the frame for a tough and rugged look that'll keep the mud out.
The shock sits right in line with the top of the swingarm, tucked into the carbon fiber frame and cleverly packaged so its 160 mm of travel doesn't interfere with the action of the dropper seat post. Indeed, everything's tightly packaged here.
The downtube conceals a decent-sized 750-Wh Bosch battery, good for up to 100 km (62 mi) of pedal assist, which you can drop out the bottom if you want to take it inside for charging. The 85-Nm (62.2-lb.ft) Bosch Performance CX motor is completely supported by the frame, and rotated forward nearly on its nose to fit everything in.
Most of the wiring and cables are concealed within the frame, running down through the steering head bearings – although there's quite a lot of it, and possibly more than is strictly necessary. The dropper seatpost cable is fair enough, but we'd question just how often people are going to lock out the suspension on a bike like this, and whether it's therefore worth festooning the handlebar with three thumb levers as well as the Bosch ebike system remote.
Then again, the shock does offer two lockout options, one full lockout and one "traction mode" that brings the travel down from 160 mm to 115 mm, the idea being that when you're working hard to get uphill, you don't want the bike to squat down on the back wheel so much.
Fenders and rear lights are cleverly built in, and while there's no front light supplied, there's a cable and plug ready to go if you want to fit one. The Kiox 300 color display includes GPS, speed and cadence readouts, and the ability to connect to your phone through Bluetooth. It's also removable, so you don't need to risk dashing it on a rock in the rough stuff.
It's a pretty sweet looking machine. Componentry varies between the US$6,499 base model and the US$8,999 "Tuned" model. Check out a video below.
Source: Scott Sports
Sigh....
The original GT mountain bikes from 1994 and up were the sweetest looking bikes of all time, i remember the GT TEAM RTS with its ball burnished finish and its 3 spoke wheels and beefy KORE Stem and elegently balanced looking 2 suspension frame. They just dont make them look as good as they were back then.
Those were the passion days of mountain bike engineering....