Nothing is as relaxing as an extended bike tour - provided you have a suitable and safe partner under the saddle. Because even far away from bike workshops, you need to feel comfortable on touring e-bikes at all times. If you have any doubts about the quality of your touring bike before you set off, you won't have much fun on the road. The basic prerequisite is therefore confidence in the material. Judging a pedelec's suitability for touring based solely on the size of its battery could backfire on the road.
The problem with weight
Due to the system, e-bikes are significantly heavier than bikes without an additional drive. To make the pedelecs stable and safe to ride, designers put a lot of material into the frame, forks and wheels. The large and heavy batteries commonly used today also increase the weight of the bike. This is particularly true for E-Tourers: our test bikes weigh an average of 27 kilos. Although the high weight improves safety, these pedelecs are only suitable for everyday use to a limited extent - especially if you have to carry them into the bike cellar from time to time.
The high system weight also restricts the possible payload, as the permissible total weight rarely grows with it. For example, Scott only allows the rider and luggage to weigh 100 kilos together, whereas the competition allows loads of 110 to over 130 kilos. However, safe pedelecs do not have to be excessively heavy. With a fighting weight of just over 23 kilos, the Stevens E-8X Tour is significantly lighter than the test field average. Its rather small battery of 500 Wh contributes to this, but the range is only slightly reduced compared to the competition.
Uli Frieß, test editor: "Ideally, good touring pedelecs are all-rounders. A stiff and stable chassis is therefore a must. Unfortunately, many tourers are therefore disproportionately heavy, which limits their suitability for everyday use. Apart from that, the quality level in the upper middle class is pleasingly high."
- Victoria E-Manufaktur 12.8
- Stevens E-8X Tour
- Specialised Turbo Vado 4.0 NB
- Scott Axis E-Ride Evo Tour
- Cube Touring Hybrid EXC 625
- Conway Cairon T 5.0
- Advanced Trekking pro diamond
Comfort is a must
Important and often underestimated: Touring e-bikes must be comfortable to ride. A comfortable riding position is a must. Ergonomically speaking, touring cyclists sit in the golden mean between upright and sportily stretched, and not too far back. This moves the centre of gravity forward, which improves contact with the road, especially on touring bikes: the rear weight of luggage is reduced and the bike can be steered more accurately through bends. Voluminous tyres from around 47 millimetres wide also improve riding comfort. They can be ridden with less air pressure and roll over obstacles more easily. Because they are heavier, they require more energy to accelerate, but this only plays a minor role for bikes with an electric drive.
Comfort on the touring e-bike
Wide tyres absorb shocks from the ground, but do not dampen. A good suspension fork can do both. The damping prevents the front wheel from losing contact with the road when the tyres rebound. This significantly increases riding safety, especially on heavy bikes. The prerequisite is that the fork can be adjusted as finely as possible to the system weight of the bike, rider and luggage. Air suspension forks can do this much better than steel suspension forks. A fork pump can be used to precisely adjust the internal pressure - and thus the usable suspension travel - to the system weight. With pure steel suspension forks, only the initial stiffness can be adjusted via the preload. Air suspension forks should actually be standard in the € 4,000+ price range. We missed them on the Advanced and the Specialized.
Touring e-bikes: sensibly powered
With the exception of one motor, all the drives on our test bikes come from Bosch. The Specialized 2.0 motor system on the Specialized Vado 4.0 is actually a Brose Drive S Mag, but the motor control software comes from Specialized. Its maximum torque of 70 Nm lies between that of the Bosch Performance (65 Nm) and the 85 Nm of the Bosch Performance CX. The Specialized system has a 710 Wh battery and a colour display with a great depth of information. This puts it on a par with the Bosch systems in terms of features and performance. Another difference between the Specialized and the other pedelecs in the test field: instead of 28-inch wheels, the Vado 4.0 rolls on 27.5-inch tyres. These make the pedelec somewhat more agile despite the wide tyres.
For our touring bike test, we only selected bikes with derailleur gears. In the mid-price range, they offer more sensibly graduated gears than bikes with geared hubs. Removing and installing the rear wheel is also much easier with derailleur gears. However, maintenance and wear are higher. Despite powerful motors and large batteries, touring cyclists should look for gears with the highest possible gear range. This helps on steep climbs and makes the use of your own muscle power more efficient when required. Because the centre motors of the test bikes do not allow a second chainring, the derailleurs from Shimano and Sram provide ten to twelve wide-ranging gears. Their gear range should be sufficient for most tours with luggage. For ambitious touring cyclists, the XT rear derailleurs from Shimano (Cube, Scott, Stevens) are the first choice.
Test summary of the touring e-bikes
Stevens and Scott scored top marks for riding safety in particular. The Cube and the Scott offer the best riding comfort, while the Stevens is ahead in terms of drive. The Advanced Trekking Pro secures the top service rating with a 30-year warranty on the frame.
Battery sizes with at least 625 Wh are now standard in the upper mid-range, with two pedelecs in the test even achieving over 700 Wh. The ranges achieved are correspondingly long. The only outlier is the Stevens with a "small" 500 Wh energy source. The lightweight and smooth-running pedelec manages just under 80 kilometres. We measure the ranges on our roller test bench. There, the pedelecs cover a realistic route profile. The range achieved is included in the drive rating together with the energy consumption.
You can download the complete comparison test of touring e-bikes from MYBIKE 4/2022, including all individual evaluations, for a fee. here download as PDF.
