The “Tronic drive” has all the advantages of a pedelec. And drives without a Motor like a normal bike. How is that possible?

Eva Stammberger

The traffic light jumps to Green. And immediately the advantage of the “Tronic drive”, which was developed by the Munich-based Startup Ridetronic. A, twice in the pedal, other cyclists effortlessly. In addition to the advantage you reap some disbelieving looks. A Mitradler closes and asks: “Is that an E-Bike?” It is. But you don’t see it. Not on second glance. The frame itself is no different from the normal bicycles without drive. Battery and engine sit in the front and rear wheel hub.

the idea for The Bike of one of the company’s founder, Tom Janowski had, about three years ago. The mechanical engineer commuted at the time, with his Bicycle every day from Munich to Garching and was upset that he was sweaty there, always out of breath arrived. The existing E-Bikes not convinced him – they were too heavy, too little aesthetic – so he developed with his colleagues at work, Paul clearly höfer, an IT specialist, together with the Tronic drive. An E-Bike, which weighs 13 kilograms, in fact, little more than a conventional Bicycle. Managed the company through a particularly light drive unit – battery and electric motor together weigh just four pounds. The frame itself is made of aluminum. How does it feel?

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Up to 80 km reach

In the Munich Olympic Park in the bike to show what it has to offer, the Tronic drive in comparison to conventional E-Bikes. Because the Betwinner battery and E-Motor are small and lightweight, they provide more Power. The battery provides just under 250 watt-hours, Ridetronic indicates the range with up to 60 kilometers in the highest, and up to 80 kilometers in the lowest drive level. To fully charge takes 2.5 hours.

it is integrated into the Motor, a torque sensor, the wheel itself and progressively to the load – the stronger you pedal, the more the engine pushes. In addition, the Bike can be controlled via an App on taxes, you have to attach your own Smartphone on the Handlebar, mobile phone and Bike to communicate via Bluetooth with each other. This works smoothly, the App is intuitive to use, looks tidy and well thought out and has stood next to battery, to display the engine support a navigation function.

Without Motor support, it drives like a normal Bicycle

The hardness test on the Olympic hill surprised the Tronic drive with normal boost. It could appeal to something more direct, but up to 14% gradient of the climb, the engine supports perfectly. What is striking: Even under full load, the drive is almost impossible to hear. On the next miles of the journey complete without engine support (you can turn it off just through the App), it demonstrates a further strength of the wheel: It drives like a normal Bike, neither an increased step Resistance even in a sluggish driving murky behavior of the driving pleasure as with other E-Bikes, the driving is switched off, support or an empty battery. This advantage is intended to bring the company especially under pedaling commuters customers.

The Tronic drive is not cheap: The base model without gear with belt drive cost is 2750 euros, with a variety of Extras such as a Shimano XT derailleur, fenders, light set, or Bicycle can lock the price up to 3200 Euro to rise. The usual Bike for a City-E -. The wheel in the Test, not only with his driving behavior, the engine and battery power and low weight, also growing convinced parts such as saddle, grips, tires, and disc brakes are consistently of high quality. Especially cuffs for commuters or riders who want to get in the city quickly and comfortably from A to B, is the Tronic drive worth Considering – just as for all those E-Bikes were just too heavy or too bulky for that looked like.