Urban Transport

EH Line's aluminum monocoque Street Racer aims to become the Ferrari of e-bikes

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The EH Line Street Racer
The EH Line Street Racer Pedal-assist
The EH Line Street Racer Pedal-assist
The EH Line Street Racer Pedal-assist
Arnold visits the EH Line stand at a recent e-bike show
The EH Line stand at a recent e-bike show
The EH Line Street Racer Pedal-assist
The EH Line Street Racer Pedal-assist
The EH Line Street Racer Pedal-assist
The EH Line Street Racer Pedal-assist
The EH Line Street Racer Pedal-assist
The EH Line Street Racer Pedal-assist
Jean Todt, President of the FIA and former Ferrari CEO, Jean Todt visits the EH Line stand.
The EH Line Street Racer
View gallery - 13 images

EH Line calls its top-of-the-line Street Racer the "Ferrari" of its ebike range. It's a big call to claim your technological prowess to be in the same category as a company that fields a competitive F1 car, but the Street Racer looks to have created a new category of the fledgling electric assist bicycle and appears to have some innovative thought behind it.

The Street Racer will support the rider to 45 km/h (28 mph) and the analogy with the Prancing Horse obviously runs to the styling and "pure roadster" positioning, high tech drive train and price tag.

The body of the Street Racer is an aluminum monocoque - it somehow makes the bike seem so much more to know that the bodywork is old-school craftsmanship ... and if you're in any doubt as to how good an aluminum monocoque can look painted different ways, see the gallery. My favorite is the red, though you can have the Street Racer in any color scheme you desire.

The EH Line Street Racer Pedal-assist

As with any other ebike, the Street Racer can be ridden without the motor if you feel so inclined, though with a weight of 16 kg (35 lb) and a price of EUR6,990 (US$9,250), it's unlikely that's why you'd buy it.

If you want a competitive non-electric racing bike, the Street Racer is about twice as heavy as you would want it to be. Batteries and electric motors and the materials are there to build a bike that weighs half that again. So despite all the self-proclaimed sporting tendencies, there isn't a lot of blue sky buying this bike and expecting it to be fun to ride without using the 250 W motor.

The EH Line Street Racer Pedal-assist

Using the 250 W motor though, you'll go longer distances at a much faster clip and will be able to stay with a more experienced group in the hills, though the derision an electric-assist bike is likely to draw amongst the racing fraternity might make the price too great to pay.

It is beautiful and with the motor supporting the rider to 45 km/h, I wonder at some of the amazing point-to-point times possible across a congested city - being able to use bike paths and other privileges accorded bicycles would make this a wonderful around town bike in many of the world's cities - if only you could secure it to the standards necessary to ensure it doesn't get stolen.

Arnold visits the EH Line stand at a recent e-bike show

The most interesting part of the Street Racer is training mode, which enables you to simulate gradients into your ride. The Street Racer uses a BionX engine with power sensing capability - the feedback BionX uses to make its electric pedal assist technologies so sought after.

BionX is at the leading edge of pedal-assist and electric motor technology and supplies business partners such as Klever, KTM, Matra, Riese & Müller, Raleigh, Smart and TREK with its advanced technologies.

The Street Racer uses a BionX engine and can accordingly recharge the battery when going downhill and at the same time, offer a new way of training. Four of the eight levels enable the driver to simulate mountain sections in middle of the city or lowlands. The other four levels offer various levels of pedal assist, with the highest offering 300% of the muscle power you put in.

Source: EH Line

View gallery - 13 images
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12 comments
Mark McGraw
can we get ANY lazier?
The Hoff
Riding in the hills with other cyclists? LOL This might make a good commuter bike though and 35 lbs is the lightest I've seen so it's a step in the right direction. Where I work is too hilly to arrive without needing a shower and this actually could be a good solution. Power through the hills and accelerations from stops and I'll do the rest, no sweat.
Alan Mudd
Just because you call something "the Ferrari of" doesn't make it so. Ferraris are gorgeous. This bike is a clunky, overstuffed turd of an object. Really ugly!
wle
reverse slope top tube - WHY
this thing will cost $6000
you could get 3 good bikes for that - 3 good bikes that no one would laugh at, and would actually look good
also what is the range and speed? something tells me that the 'real cyclists' are still going to beating this thing
wle sales predictions: 10 units sold
wle
John Talbert
When I saw in the teaser it was 250 Kw I had to read it. Wanted to know what kind of new power source it had. Maybe "Back to the Future" was really here.
Gregg Eshelman
Yet another hunched over backbreaker "commuter" bike. Commuter != Lance Armstrong
Make a COMFORTABLE bike. That means an upright riding posture, not a wannabe crotch rocket.
Antony Stewart
250 Kw? same as 250 washing machines! 800mph and flying bike:>
oh! 25mph racer! ok
Leonard Foster Jr
you can have a Ev motorcycle for that price
Angus Whitton
How long is the Battery Guaranteed ? Replacement Battery Cost ? Charging Time ?
etc
VoiceofReason
As Leonard Foster pointed out, I can get an electric motorcycle for that. A nice one. It will go much faster than 28mph. And for much less than what they want, I can get a really light bicycle that doesn't look like a child's play dough cut out.