Harley-Davidson’s Serial 1 brand unveiled its latest ebike model on Tuesday, and it’s been a bit of a head-scratcher. The company describes the Bash/Mtn as a mountain bike, but unless you have the technical skills to under-ride it, you probably won’t want to take its latest ebike on anything but the most forgiving single track.
That’s because the Bash/Mtn has a fully rigid aluminum frame and fork, with no front or rear suspension. It also does not come with a dropper, and as far as I know there is no elegant way to add one yourself. The only shock absorption this bike comes with is the SR Suntour NCX seatpost, which offers up to 50mm of travel.
Harley-Davidson claims that those missing features are actually the reason for buying the Bash/Mtn. “No difficult suspension to tune, no finicky drivetrain to adjust — just two wheels, one gear and one target, to provide the most direct connection between you and the trail,” the company said.
Once you get past the unorthodox design, the Bash/Mtn looks like a decent e-bike. It has a removable 529Wh battery that the company says will provide a range of 30 to 95 miles, depending on the terrain and riding mode you’re using. It takes just under five hours to fully charge the battery, although you can get to 75 percent in about two and a half hours. As a class 1 e-bike, the Bash/Mtn will stop assisting you once you reach a speed of 20 miles per hour. To complete the package are TRP hydraulic disc brakes and 27.5-inch tubeless-ready tires from Michelin.
At $3,999, the Bash/Mtn is on the more affordable side of what you can expect to pay for an electric mountain bike from companies like Canyon, Giant, and Trek, but then those models are completely different bikes. Harley-Davidson plans to produce just 1,050 units of the Bash/Mtn, with 525 units slated for sale in the US.
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