For a company with a truly international presence, Decathlon is surprisingly coy when it comes to their new e-bike releases. It took a fair bit of research to establish that the French sports retail giant has just had the continental European launch of a sleek and lightweight looking single speed e-bike, the Speed 900E (we are sticking with Speed 900E here for simplicity's sake even though sources seem to add B'TWIN or Elops or even Connect somewhere in the title...) It also turns out they have a new e-cargo bike in the pipeline as well.
Add in the fact that the Speed 900E uses the highly respected and high quality Mahle rear hub system and it is kind of amazing they haven't made more of a song and a dance about it.
Even though the bike won't arrive in the UK until 'January to March 2024' (according to our investigations), it's still surely something plenty of wannabe UK electric single-speed riders would be interested in learning about.
The spec
The quoted weight for the Speed 900E is a very respectable 15kg (for comparison purposes, the Raleigh Trace uses the same motor system and weighed 16.5kg on our scales - though you get a decent 9-speed derailleur setup on it, which makes the 900E claimed weight entirely believable).
The rest of the spec looks of appropriately high quality to match the Mahle system's credentials, which have earned it use on a string of e-road bikes from various prestigious brands. There are Tektro TKR R280 hydrauilc disc brakes, hardwired LEDs (the front one with a 40 lux rating), mudguards and frame-routed cabling.
It's a fairly subtle power assist setup as befits an urban single speed, with a 40Nm torque rating on the motor and a non-removable, modestly-sized 250Wh battery enclosed in the frame.
There is also a Decathlon Mobility app that connects via Bluetooth, facilitating GPS tracking and alerts of attempted theft.
Decathlon says connectivity is free for the first year and charged at €2 per month after that. Note this is separate to the Mahle app which can also be used with the Speed 900E and whose main purpose is to customise power levels and more behaviour.
And they have a new e-cargo bike too... the F900E
Keeping up the tradition of technical-sounding but actually unfathomably titled machines, Decathlon also just announced their first electric cargo 'box bike', the F900E Velocargo.
It comes in the wake of their longtail e-cargo model, the R500E (which I know to be available in the UK as they had one on display at my local Decathlon branch when I visited recently).
There are fewer details available on this latest model as information appears to have leaked out via a Decathlon in-house press event in France recently. It does however seem to follow the recent Decathlon trend of using more upmarket e-bike technology rather than simply going for the cheapest model segment.
In this case the quality credentials are confirmed by the presence of a potent-sounding Brose S-mag mid-drive, offering a claimed 90Nm of torque, which is allied with a decent-sized 630Wh battery. This is probably a wise choice given the F900E is touted as a true school run replacement with a three-child capability.
There will reportedly be two iterations of the F900E Velocargo: the Family, which we assume will be accessorised appropriately, and the Plateform which, "targets professionals looking for high capacity".
No word on UK availability, or even an exact price, though it is thought it will be in the region of 4,000-5,000 euros depending on spec.
Price and competition
A call to my local Decathlon revealed that - as far as the staff there knew - the speed 900E was due in the UK between Jan and March 2024 and the current price tag showing on their system was £1,600 - though it wasn't possible to actually preorder it at that price. If this is accurate, this sounds good value for such a high quality system as Mahle. (This would make it the lowest priced Mahle e-bike out there, as far as we can tell.)
Probably the stiffest competition comes from the single-speed Tenways CGO600. This uses the excellent torque-sensing Mivice motor system which we loved in our review and it also has a Gates Carbon belt drive, making the current price of £1,499 truly excellent value.
One thing the Decathlon has in its favour though is its UK network of shops which also feature dedicated bike workshops. Tenways is generally a direct from the manufacturer operation so there is no shop/workshop backup in the UK like Decathlon have.
Other single-speeds we have tried and rated pretty highly include the Volt London and the Cowboy Cruiser ST - though both are in a significantly higher price bracket. The recently-reviewed Ado Air 28 is a more competitively-priced option. It is currently selling for £1,399.
