Gazelle Eclipse Review: A Luxury Dutch Electric Bike Leave a comment

In the event you’re trying at bikes on-line—or something, actually, whether or not it’s headphones or screens—you must think about worth versus payoff. Gazelle has billed its latest ebike, the Eclipse, as a long-range consolation cruiser. It’s mainly the costly Dutch model of the direct-to-consumer (DTC) Rad Energy Bikes’ Radster Street (8/10, WIRED Recommends).

I brooded over that worth distinction whereas I used to be driving, till I noticed that I actually was far more snug, and for a very dumb cause. The handlebars on the Eclipse are a lot narrower than the Radster’s, in addition to the opposite DTC bikes that I’ve examined. Most bikes have smaller components for smaller frames, however in case you’re a smaller or newer bike firm, you may standardize your handlebar sizes on account of restricted provide or economies of scale. That is simply not one thing you’ll do in case you’re Royal Dutch Gazelle, which has existed for greater than 130 years and holds the royal warrant within the Netherlands as a distinction of top quality.

You possibly can swap out handlebars fairly simply on acoustic bikes, however doing so on an electric bike is a extra difficult matter. Discovering a narrower handlebar was such an sudden consolation. It is simply … a very nice bike. Even the paint job is nicer than different bikes I’ve, with 4 hand-applied coats and dimensional shading to make it look slimmer. In the event you’re not attempting to pinch pennies, there are numerous very nice issues concerning the Eclipse.

So A lot Info

There are two totally different fashions of the Eclipse. Each have an aluminum body, however the T11+ HMB has a Shimano Deore XT derailleur gear, whereas the model I examined is the C380+ model, which has the Enviolo CVT gear hub and a low-maintenance Gates belt drive. Could I by no means have a series drop out whereas crossing a busy avenue once more!

Each are available a step-over and step-through model with three totally different body sizes, with the smallest being a 46 centimeters. I’m 5’2″ and was positively thrilled to discover a Dutch bike that is available in a measurement this small because the Dutch are tall individuals and that is uncommon. After all, the bikes all have UL certification, which signifies that the bike has been licensed to adjust to Underwriters Laboratories security requirements and will not inadvertently set your storage on hearth.

Most likely the very first thing you’ll discover is the brand new Bosch system. It has a Bosch Efficiency Line motor with 85 nm of torque and a 750-Wh ginormous battery built-in into the downtube. After about 45 miles of biking up hills and hauling gear, I solely bought the battery right down to 45 p.c. It’s a class 3 ebike with a most velocity of 28 miles per hour.