A test field could hardly be more diverse: After unloading in the hotel car park in Torbole on Lake Garda, all 17 test bikes are lined up for the first time. Eight of them are e-bikes, mostly with angular frame profiles of unprecedented dimensions. Next to them, the nine classic touring bikes look almost starved: much slimmer tubes, traditional silhouettes, filigree rear triangles.
The tyres are also very different: The e-tourers are fitted with thick tyres, hardly any of which are less than 50 millimetres wide. The muscle-powered bikes, which are also stingy with weight, roll on tyres that are between 32 and 47 millimetres wide. The simple equation: narrower tyres are lighter and less mass is easier to accelerate.
A touring bike simply has to be a good bike - with or without a motor
Admittedly, we have chosen an unusual approach for this test - but somehow it is also obvious: a touring bike simply has to be a good bike. Whether with or without a motorised drive is irrelevant for the time being.
After all, how many couples, how many groups of cyclists have not already been travelling "mixed" in peaceful coexistence? E-bikes are ideal for levelling out differences in performance between different cyclists. The choice of assistance level is a suitable means of finely regulating the speed while maintaining the same level of power.
If you feel fit and have enough energy, you will prefer the non-motorised touring bike
"Me and the landscape" - a competition that can have existential traits. What counts as a directly tangible measure of personal performance is when you manage a certain climb, a certain distance with a certain amount of physical effort. The fact that this can sometimes hurt a little is part of it. The fact that you benefit in the long term from challenging yourself from time to time (in moderation) falls under the positive side effect of "training".
For less trained cyclists, on the other hand, the motor assistance helps them to lose their fear of inclines or long distances. And to train themselves as well, because the body and mind grow with every endurance exercise. The intensity is secondary.
For some, a "tour" means a twelve-kilometre ride with the family to the nearest swimming lake on a Sunday afternoon, picnic and swimsuit included. For others, it's a 120-kilometre journey over hill and dale.
What they all have in common is that your touring bike must be able to transport luggage safely
A requirement that our test bikes have now mastered to a high level. Just a few years ago, considerable restrictions due to a lack of lateral stiffness on the pannier rack, rear triangle and front frame or handlebars were normal. Slowly but steadily, many things have changed for the better. This is particularly true of the e-bikes of 2018. The development towards the integration of the motor and battery, both visually and in terms of design, has led to eminently larger tube or rather profile cross-sections. With e-bikes from Riese & Müller, Stevens or Simplon, you no longer feel the weight of the luggage when riding ...
The full article was published in MYBIKE issue 3/2018. You can download the issue in the MYBIKE app (iTunes and Google Play) or in the DK-Shop order.
