As a freerider, touring mountain bikes were of no interest to me for a long time - until I was allowed to take part in the MTB tests for E-BIKE. Enthusiasm! I used the Focus Thron from the 2/2014 test field, which cost €3,799 when new, for commuting to work (20 kilometres, 16 of which were on forest tracks and forest trails) and trail tours at the weekend. The wide handlebars and short stem give me confidence; the suspension isn't outstanding, but it's good. I would have liked more braking power on steep descents. The range: a blast! Even on 100-kilometre laps with 600 metres of climbing, I didn't manage to run the battery down in Tour mode. The display showed an average remaining range of 60 kilometres in Eco mode.
But: I missed the option of mounting a water bottle. Otherwise: After 300 kilometres, the crank began to creak. It was disassembled, cleaned, reassembled - and continued to creak. The bike otherwise ran smoothly up to kilometre 1,100. Then, out of nowhere, the engine jerked out of freewheel when restarting. The series of breakdowns began from kilometre 1,400: the engine jerking occurred once to three times on every 60-kilometre tour. At kilometre 1,460: slight play in the left crank; after 1,500 kilometres: play in the chainring spider. At kilometre 1,600: axial play of 0.7 millimetres in the bottom bracket, traces of corrosion on the charging bush. The crank play kept increasing, causing the crank bolt to come loose again and again. This ultimately led to the test being aborted at kilometre 1,792 km.
"It's a mystery to me why square cranks are still used on MTBs! It's no secret that these things can't withstand these loads in the long term." Andreas Schüler
THE BALANCE SHEET
Conversions none
Wear and tear Play in crank, chainring spider, bottom bracket; corrosion on the charging socket
Defects Engine jolting from 1,100 km; crank bolt loosens
Average consumption 5.4 Wh/km
Electricity costs 13.5 cent/100 km
+ Range, handling
- Rapid wear of the crank; frequent engine jerking in Tour mode with no recognisable cause
