How long would it take you to get from one side of the Alps to the other on a mountain bike? The classic TransAlp route runs from Oberstdorf, Germany, to Riva del Garda, Italy, and is 400km long with 16,000m of vertical climbing. But thanks to the assistance of the new Raven2 e-MTB, Focus professional riders Florian Vogel and Markus Schulte-Lünzum knocked out the ride, which normally takes 5-7 days, in just 27 hours and 20 minutes. That's some ride!
The ride was organised by Focus to showcase their new e-MTB, the Raven2, and the riders encountered all four seasons on their trip to the coast, from trudging over snow-bound passes to freewheeling into sunlit valleys. We're not jealous at all...
At the finish, Flo Vogel said: “The biggest challenge was to stay concentrated", said Florian Vogel of the ride. "Thanks to the e-bike, the physical part was not such a big deal, as it really powers uphill! But it was difficult to maintain concentration all the time, especially as the
course was off-road and full of demanding descents.”
Markus Schulte-Luenzum added: “Weather was a huge challenge as it got really cold
during the downhills. The best moment of the Transalp was riding the tunnel at
Tremalzo Pass and knowing that we would descend to Lago di Garda afterwards. We
even watched the sun rise when we arrived at Tremalzo, which was a fortunate
coincidence. Despite our tiredness this was the most stunning moment of the trip.”
Florian and Markus wer both riding the new Focus Raven2 Pro, a £5,999 carbon e-MTB hardtail with the Fazua Evation drive. This bike is the culmination of the Project Y e-MTB that we told you about in July of last year. That prototype had a sub-13kg weight and the production bike won't be far off that, so it's a manageable weight even when not under power.
What's not revealed in the film is how many batteries the riders got through: with a 250Wh battery pack the Fazua drive isn't going to get you from one end of the Alps to the other on one charge. But the atmospheric film certainly gives a great impression of what the riders encountered on their odyssey. And motor or not, 400km in 27 hours across some of the highest passes in the Alps is some undertaking.
