Market / E-Performance: It's no secret that the e-bike sector is currently not only the economic driving force in the bicycle sector, but also the area with the greatest technical innovations. From 2017, this will also include the KTM E30 – a derailleur with 30 gears developed in cooperation with SRAM and Bosch and based on the Dual Drive drive.
It wasn't all that long ago that SRAM presented the first drive specifically for e-bikes with its EX1. Quite surprisingly, the decision was made to limit the number of available gears to eight - with a wide range thanks to the wide range of cassettes. However, the new SRAM E30, which could be examined and tested for the first time at the KTM stand during the Eurobike Media Days, shows that this approach could not appeal to all customers equally.
The new circuit is a reaction to the feedback from dealers: On the one hand, many potential buyers simply still want many gears and not everyone is attracted to the ever-increasing reduction in recent years. On the other hand, the EX1 is also more in the high-price sector and the new E30, on the other hand, should be more in the entry-level and middle-class area. The idea and the technology behind it is based on the Dual Drive from SRAM. Hub and derailleur gears are combined here to achieve a wide range with many gears and fine gradations without having to change the chain ring.
So far, the system was only available with a 9-speed cassette and although it was not specifically designed for this area of use on some e-bikes. That changes now with the E30: Not only is a cassette with 10 sprockets combined with a 3-speed hub (bandwidth 600%!), but thanks to special drive software from Bosch, the circuit harmonises perfectly with the central motor. The big problem so far was that the high-torque e-bike drives like the Bosch Performance CX were above the load limits for the hub gears. That hasn't changed and the E30 is therefore also combined with a 'normal' performance drive at KTM, but thanks to the special software the characteristics correspond to those of the MTB model CX, even if some power is missing.
Handling the gears is easy during our short test ride: Two triggers shift the hub or derailleur gears - just like you are used to from the front derailleur. The fact that the motor takes a short breather during the shifting processes on the hub is intentional and due to technical reasons: all e-bikes with hub gears have this small problem in common. The bandwidth of the shifting is gigantic and the gradation fine: You can find the right gear ratio for every terrain and every requirement and thus not only protects your own strength, but also the battery.
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