An e-MTB with a decent motor boost - but light, quiet and easy to handle. The new league of light e-MTBs promises exactly that and the first bike with the new drive from TQ Systems - Treks Fuel EXe - scored particularly well in terms of background noise. Hardly any other e-MTB has ever been so quiet.
Motor and battery: The HPR50 in the Rapcon Pmax TQ
The Vorarlberg carbon specialists from Simplon are now presenting the second E-MTB with the lightweight drive from Lake Ammersee. Here too, the HPR50 from TQ (here in the test) up to 50 Newton metres of torque and a maximum of 300 watts of power. However, the TQ battery is permanently installed at Simplon, while an optional range extender with an additional 160 watt hours can be fitted in the bottle cage.
The Simplon Rapcon Pmax TQ at a glance:
- Motor: TQ HPR50 (max. 50 Newton metres torque, 300 watts peak power)
- Battery: TQ, 360 Wh, permanently installed, 1830 grams (manufacturer's specification)
- Two versions: All Mountain or Enduro
- Suspension travel: 150 or 170/165 millimetres
- Wheel size: 29 inch or MX
- Carbon frame
- From 17.6 kilos (size L, manufacturer's specification)
- Four equipment variants from 8599 euros
- Customisable via online configurator
The Simplon Rapcon Pmax TQ will be available as an All Mountain with 150 millimetres of travel and as an Enduro with a 170 millimetre fork and 165 millimetres of travel at the rear. In terms of wheel size, the customer can choose between a 29-inch or mullet setup (29-inch front, 27.5 rear). The geometry can also be adapted to a small rear wheel using a flipchip. Simplon also offers extensive options for the equipment itself in its own online configurator. Prices start at 8599 euros.
Special attention was paid to geometry and kinematics during the development of the new bike. As with many other modern bikes, the rear suspension should initially be as light as possible in its travel in order to be very sensitive to small bumps. Then the rear suspension becomes more and more progressive. The rear should offer a lot of counter-pressure in the centre of the suspension travel and also be resistant to bottoming out.
Short chainstays, customised geometry for every frame size
Fans of agile handling will be delighted with the geometry, which is designed for good cornering and fun handling with short chainstays and a low bottom bracket. A speciality at Simplon: not only the main frame, but also the length of the chainstays has been individually adapted for each frame size. The chainstays measure a short 436 millimetres in frame size S, size L is 443 millimetres and size XL is 447 millimetres.
The bottom bracket is low, the reach and head angle are very modern, but not extreme: On the All Mountain, the fork is at an angle of 65 degrees and the reach is 486 millimetres in size L. The Enduro is slightly shorter with a reach of 475 millimetres, but the head angle is slacker at 64 degrees. Steep seat angles of 78 to 79 degrees should ensure a good riding position when pedalling uphill. Small details such as the double-row bearings on particularly stressed rear triangle joints and tidy cable routing round off the picture.
Adrian Kaether
Editor
