Behold the Audi electric mountain bike
The list of Audi Genuine Accessories just got longer. And pricier
In case you hadn’t noticed, electric bikes are all the rage at the moment. Of course, you will have noticed if you live near any halfway nice bit of countryside, because you can hardly move for the things. Typically, they’re being aimed up an unlikely gradient by a middle-aged chap who appears to have spent most of his life waiting for a takeaway pizza. And more power to him: one of the nice things about getting older is that you tend to have got a bit more cash to throw around - why not blow some of it on a bike that’s going to spear you up a hillside like Mark Cavendish? Carmakers have been selling expensive things to this crowd for years.
Accordingly, the desirability of electric bikes has not gone unnoticed in the conference rooms of the mighty - nor has the fact that they tie quite nicely into the e-mobility theme that most prestige manufacturers are currently preaching. Audi is therefore not the first to plaster its brand DNA all over a mountain bike (far from it) but it is the very latest. Said to be inspired by the RS Q e-tron Dakar racer (well, the livery at least) the limited-run, Öhlins-sprung jobbie is actually the work of Italian firm, Fantic, and is said to be at home on ‘a variety of terrain but its greatest strength is downhill riding’. And going back up them, of course.
“At Audi, we’ve been bold in our commitment to becoming a leader in providing sustainable premium mobility,” noted Andrew Doyle, Director Audi UK. “The Audi electric mountain bike in cooperation with Fantic is another fantastic example of how we can expand our mobility offering to customers that extends beyond the award-winning models they drive.”
That’s it in a nutshell, really. The bike, available in three sizes, is based on one of Fantic’s aluminium enduro frames, and gets a 720Wh battery alongside a Brose S-MAG 36-volt 250-watt motor, which is apparently good for 66lb ft of torque. But what it’s really good for is being available to buy (or register your interest, for now) on the Audi Genuine Accessories website. This ought to prove a nicely joined-up option for someone in the market for say, an Audi SQ8 e-tron. Not only might they be partial to a bike with four levels of electric assistance and Audi branding, they’ll probably also have resources to meet the £8,499 starting price.
Forums | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff