We’re at the Eurobike Show this week and before we’d even got in the door we spotted the chaps from Relo, so we had a quick ride around on their system. The Relo drive can be fitted to pretty much any bike with a standard bottom bracket. There’s a gearbox with a drive that fits to the non-drive-side axle, and a clever concertina gearbox that means you’ve got a bit of leeway with the fitting of the system to the down tube.
The gearbox stays in place and it contains a freewheel mechanism so that it doesn’t drag. It only weighs 1.5kg so it doesn’t add too much weight overall; you can still use the bike without the motor.
The motor and battery are modular, and fit to the gearbox. The standard system is a 100Wh battery and a 250W motor but there’s a lighter, less powerful motor available too, as well as a bigger (and heavier) battery. It’s all very nicely machined and pleasing to look at.
The system isn’t torque sensing: it starts working when you start pedalling and then stops when you do. Actually it doesn’t stop until you apply a bit of back pressure, so if you’re careful you can slip your feet off the pedals and they’ll merrily carry on spinning on their own, which is fun. There are three levels of assistance, which you can choose from a handlebar remote or a dedicated computer (made by O-Synce). The other option is to use a smartphone app via Bluetooth, which also gives you access to various configuration functions and mapping.
The benefits of the Relo system are that it’s simple to fit and lightweight: the whole lot weighs in at less than 4kg. The main drawback is range: the 100Wh battery isn’t going to get you massively far.
In use the motor is pretty quiet and the power application is smooth. It’s not as powerful as a fully integrated mid motor such as a Bosch, Shimano or Brose system but it’s a helpful shove and the three assistance levels are well spaced. The gearbox pushes the non-drive pedal out a bit so the distance between the pedals is increased, but I didn’t find that an issue. If you’re looking for a simple motor option for a bike you already own then it’s good looking, well made and easy to fit. That German engineering doesn’t come cheap though, with the full system costing around €2,000.
