LeMond Supercharges Its E-Bikes With Carbon Fiber-Wrapped Technology

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Greg LeMond is finest recognized for being the one American to formally win the well-known Tour de France — a feat he completed 3 times. His success hinged on his obsession with each single element of the race, from the carbon fiber within the body of his racing bikes to the aerodynamics of his helmet and past.

His ardour to trip on the reducing fringe of biking expertise hasn’t slowed down since profitable the Tour, and he’s introduced quite a few bikes bearing his identify to the market since founding LeMond Bikes in 1986. In 2014, he first encountered e-bikes and located the expertise to be the proper approach for him to proceed using bikes whereas doing battle with the barrage of well being challenges he confronted.

To have a good time the launch of its latest e-bike, LeMond invited CleanTechnica out to Sarasota, Florida, to study extra in regards to the model and trip round city on its first three e-bike fashions. At their core, the LeMond e-bike line takes Greg’s ardour for high-tech racing bikes, electrifies them, and makes them inexpensive for the lots. “I consider within the energy of e-bikes to cost individuals’s lives,” Greg mentioned to us on the opening presentation.

The Firm

Including electrical motors and batteries to the light-weight carbon fiber bikes he beloved grew to become a approach for him to trip simply as quick as he at all times had, no matter whether or not he was using right into a headwind, uphill, or feeling beneath the climate. With a renewed ardour to get individuals’s butt’s on bikes, Greg launched the primary of many LeMond e-bikes simply because the COVID 19 pandemic arrived on our shores.

Underpinning the brand new LeMond electrical bikes was a brand new carbon fiber course of pioneered on the Oak Ridge Nationwide Laboratory in Tennessee. Greg occurred on the expertise on one in all his many journeys world wide to search out the most recent and best expertise. He employed one of many key supplies engineers who helped develop the expertise, bringing him in to their small workforce because the Director of Operations at LeMond.

Carbon fiber is utilized in LeMond’s e-bikes nearly in all places potential, from the body, forks, stem, and handlebars right down to the fenders and seat publish. The electrical bike parts and batteries had been tucked into the body, integrating seamlessly to each the aesthetics of the bikes and the using expertise. A 250 watt Mahle motor is tucked into the rear hub of the bike, with a 36 volt Panasonic battery array housed within the down tube.

From the manufacturing unit, LeMond’s e-bikes present from 40-70 miles of assisted using and had been designed to all however remove the powertrain drag from the electrical motor for seamless transitions to unassisted using if the event requires it. For longer rides, LeMond added the flexibility so as to add an optional Mahle range extender battery pack that provides 70% extra vary to the social gathering and clips into an outsized water bottle model holder on the body.

The key sauce that each one three bikes share is the gorgeous integration of ultralight weight racing bike expertise. Selecting carbon fiber because the bones of the majority of the bike does imply the next price ticket, however is single-handedly liable for making LeMond’s e-bikes look, really feel, and deal with like a standard guide bike. The load the carbon fiber saves makes room for the e-bike motor, batteries, and wiring that make them so succesful.

And once they say gentle, they imply it. These items tip the scales at 26, 27, and 28 kilos, relying on the bike. That’s an insane weight for a motorcycle that’s able to 40 to 70 miles of electrical assisted vary for the 250 watt rear hub motor. Second, additionally they wished the bikes to look actual, like a standard bike. In consequence, the batteries are all constructed into the bike and the motors are all however invisible on the bike.

The Prolog

Unlocking this new expertise was a lifehack for LeMond and enabled the corporate to construct an e-bike that made Greg’s imaginative and prescient of an ultralight weight bike that simply occurred to have a battery and motors inside a actuality. At simply 26 kilos, the LeMond Prolog induced chaos on this planet of e-bikes, and at $5,495, it’s absurdly inexpensive for a excessive efficiency, ultralight weight e-bike.

It’s the final word city avenue slayer, constructed with carbon fiber parts in all places you look and a flat bar up high for maneuverability. Its slim highway tires make it nimble, and its 250 watt motor pushess out as a lot energy as the common rider’s legs can muster if you want it.

Did I point out it’s solely 26 kilos? The sunshine weight of the bike means it’s simple to load onto a rack, into the automotive, and up a flight of stairs with out blowing any gaskets alongside the best way. In comparison with the 40-50 pound weight of most premium e-bikes and the 60-80 pound weight of the overwhelming majority of e-bikes available on the market, it’s a featherweight.

The sunshine weight additionally interprets to being nimble and responsive if you’re ripping down the highway or in your native bike path. It doesn’t appear like an e-bike and even with the ability off, it doesn’t trip like one both. It has extraordinarily low rolling resistance when the motor is off so it may be ridden even in case you overlook to cost the battery.

However that’s no enjoyable, so we charged them up and ripped on down Sarasota’s Legacy Path. They reworked our group’s trip down the flat, absurdly straight Florida path right into a spirited dash with nearly everybody in a position to hold tempo with LeMond himself.

Working an organization within the midst of a world provide chain disaster compounded by a raging pandemic wasn’t simple, and it was doubly so for a brand new firm transferring into e-bikes with out the power of long run provider relationships to lean on. The launch of the Prolog in 2020 was muted in consequence, however the firm stored its head down and only a yr later, launched the Dutch.

The Dutch

Greg and his spouse Kathy lived in Europe for years throughout his racing profession they usually each mirrored fondly on the convenience of cruising across the cobblestone streets of European cities on a traditional Dutch bike. The traditional low step frames and swept again handlebars make them simple for everybody and anybody to only hop on and trip. They’re absolutely the workhorses powering the Dutch transportation system and are nearly synonymous with Dutch inhabitants facilities like Amsterdam.

The second e-bike from LeMond was the Dutch and was designed to deliver the convenience of biking that the LeMonds skilled within the Netherlands to the world of recent, light-weight e-bikes. These designer bikes appear and feel like a contemporary interpretation of a standard Dutch cruiser bike, however with Greg’s fingerprints all through. Director of Product Improvement at LeMond, Bill Stephens, mentioned, “We wished to make it intuitive, not intimidating.”

That begins with a carbon fiber body and a barely narrower set of handlebars that give the bike a particularly gentle and correct really feel with exact controls, due to the compact handlebars. The LeMond e-bike powertrain brings its energy and unobtrusive design to the Dutch with the simplicity of the only button interface. It encompasses a very simple management system that means that you can see the remaining battery capability and change between completely different ranges of pedal help whereas on the fly with ease. Homeowners can even hook up with it with the Mahle cell app, although it’s not essential for regular operations.

Swapping out the normal Dutch metal body for LeMond’s signature carbon fiber construct interprets to a particularly gentle bike that’s additionally absurdly sturdy. The sunshine weight makes it simple for almost anybody to drag the bike out of a automotive or storage with out having to blow any gaskets alongside the best way. In any case, the Dutch’s 27 kilos is what a typical mountain bike weighed not that way back, and that’s with none motors or batteries!

The All-Street Prolog

The LeMond All-Road Prolog is the model’s tackle an ultralight gravel bike that leverages the sturdy, light-weight carbon fiber body expertise and electrical powertrain in a gravel bike format. Its tires are barely extra bulbous than on the street-focused Prolog, with small strings of tire nubs to present it some traction when it’s time to go out onto the path. The nubby tires even have a bit extra quantity in them, which gives extra cushion, permitting them to soak up extra bumps whereas nonetheless protecting the general bike tight and light-weight at 28 kilos.

The All-Street Prolog can be the primary e-bike from LeMond with a extra conventional set of drop-bars. This can be a far more pure place and retains the wrists straight, making certain hours of consolation, whether or not on a motorcycle path in South Florida or romping round on the dusty fireplace roads within the mountains flanking Southern California.

General

Greg LeMond and his workforce have put a ton of labor into the expertise, design, and luxury of their new e-bike lineup, and it reveals in how effectively they trip. These bikes ship the very best quality-to-weight-to-price ratio of every other premium e-bike available on the market, fingers down.

The worth tags — $5,495 for the Dutch and Prolog and $5,995 for the All-Street Prolog — seem costly when in comparison with the lots of funds e-bikes with their backside of the barrel parts. However when they’re in comparison with e-bikes with comparable specs from Specialised, Trek, and the like, the LeMond e-bike lineup appears like an absolute cut price. A comparable bike can be upwards of $8,000, $10,000, and even $12,000, relying on the spec from different builders.

On high of that, they arrive with Greg LeMond’s a long time of expertise using on the reducing fringe of expertise, taking American biking to a brand new degree, and bringing dwelling awards that no different American has achieved earlier than or since. Bear in mind, these bikes don’t simply ship electrical bike parts slapped onto a carbon fiber body. They had been designed with the very best supplies on this planet, supported by time-tested, world-class geometry outlined by probably the greatest biking racers and bicycle designers on this planet.

For extra details about LeMond’s e-bikes, take a look at the video under or head over to their website.

Disclaimer: LeMond paid for the creator’s journey and lodging to attend this occasion.