2016 Haibike SDURO ALLMTN Plus Review

Haibike makes beautiful, purpose built electric bikes that tend to cost more but deliver premium components and drive systems. The SDURO line runs on Yamaha mid-drive motors that can accommodate multiple chainrings, two in this case, providing a wider range of gears. Given the all-mountain design, with longer travel suspension and aggressive trail/mountain geometry, those gears come in handy for climbing and reaching the top assisted speed of 20 mph. Perhaps my largest complaint with the bike is that you truly need to switch gears in order to reach top speed. Unlike some of the other motors I have tested, the Yamaha drive seems to have a limited RPM range. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as there are plenty of riders I’ve met with who love the design. And Yamaha celebrates the zero-cadence start feature of their motors (basically, they are supposed to start faster with electric-assist from standstill vs. making you slog through using your legs). This is a Class 1 electric bike meaning there is no throttle and that makes it permissible on the largest number of trails. It worked great for me in softer sandy terrain at low PSI and I enjoyed the comfort of the plus sized 3″ tires combined with 150 mm travel air suspension by RockShox. You end up with a tire circumference close to 29″ with these larger tires and that improves rolling momentum and gap spanning while reducing deflection off rocks and other obstacles. In short, this is an electric bike that is easy to work on, balanced and stable to ride, relatively lightweight but capable of steep climbs and longer range if ridden properly. There is no shift sensing technology as you’d find with Bosch or Impulse but the price is slightly lower and with a bit of practice you can shift without issue.

Driving the bike is a compact, relatively quiet internally geared mid drive motor from Yamaha. It interfaces with the frame beautifully and does not protrude as much to the sides or down as some other centerdrive systems. Despite a modest 250 watt nominal rating, you get 80 Newton meters of torque which has been plenty to get me up even the steepest climbs, while pedaling in low gears, to the point where the tire would lose traction but the motor would still be trying to go. As a lighter weight guy, weighing about 135 lbs, that might not impress you… but the owner of the Electric Bicycle Center in Fullerton, Sam Townsend, was using this as a demo and reported excellent performance even for his 250 lb body weight. I love that the bike comes in four frame sizes and that the battery design is optimized to slide out from the side vs. pop up because it results in a lower top tube and lower stand over height. It all works to keep weight low and center on the frame and that makes handling easier.

The battery pack itself offers 36 volts and 11 amp hours which is just a touch above average… but ver capable given the way it operates. You can charge it on or off the frame but the plug is an insert, twist and lock style which means it could get broken off, bent or tip the bike if tripped over. Many other premium e-bikes have been opting for the EnergyBus Rosenberger standard in recent years because it pops out easily in these situations without causing harm. The charger itself is kind of large and heavy so I’d be less excited to toss it in my backpack and there are no rack, fender or bottle cage bosses on the ALLMTN Plus so you literally have to wear a hydration pack or backpack to bring gear along. I understand why this is the case given the two longer travel suspension elements and battery but it does come at a cost and some other electric mountain bikes like the Specialized Turbo Levo FSR have made it all fit, even with full suspension and at the same price point. I do appreciate the charge indicator on the battery pack and the way it powers a Micro USB port on the button pad (which is mounted conveniently near the left grip).

Operating this and other Yamaha powered electric bikes from Haibike is fairly straight forward. The All Mountain Plus model comes with an upgraded display panel LCD that shows ride stats, speed and battery charge level. I LOVE that you get 10 tics on the battery info graphic as well as a percentage indicator because it helps you plan rides more effectively. As fun as this ebike is, I still wouldn’t want to run out of battery and have to climb long distances with its ~52 pound weight. To turn it on you simply mount the charged battery then press a power button on the top edge of the button pad. This pad is easy to reach and memorize so you won’t always have to look down when riding. The buttons seem well sealed against water and the pad itself is relatively compact. The display however, is large, making it easy to see but also a bit vulnerable. For this reason, it’s great that they made it removable. Whether you’re stopping for lunch or bombing a large difficult section, being able to take the display off and store it safely could be a big deal. The bars however, are low-rise and help to protect it if you do crash but the stem is angled down slightly so the overall geometry works as expected. This thing is built with performance in mind all the way around and aside from the weight, doesn’t feel dumbed down.

There’s a lot to celebrate about the Haibike SDURO ALLMTN Plus, it’s one of the higher-end offerings with a Yamaha drive system that I’ve tested and I think the larger tires make sense for this sort of application. I love the sturdy and stiff thru-axles, the name brand suspension with full adjustability and especially the seat post dropper. Despite having a front and rear derailleur (which means two sets of shifters), the cockpit stays manageable… You can still reach the dropper switch and the button pad and I like the locking grips they chose. For me personally, the lack of shift sensing was easy to overcome but given how powerful the motor is and what I have heard from owners of Bosch systems (which do have shift sensing) I suspect the chain, sprockets, and derailleurs will need more frequent tuning and I’d approach this bike carefully, perhaps riding on paved surfaces, to get used to it all before charging up steep hills. I don’t love having to shift frequently through a range of gears to hit a certain desired speed but in practice, maybe speed isn’t as much of a focus as instant power and smooth quiet delivery? There are a lot of people who like this setup and are happy to save the $500 to $1,000 vs. Bosch. Ultimately, it’s the kind of thing you might want to try by visiting a local shop if you can. For those who have never ridden an electric bike, this will probably feel amazing… but as someone who tests regularly and likes to spin faster (due to a knee sensitivity) this is not my first choice.

Pros:

• Plus sized tires (those over 2.8″ wide) have caught on with electric mountain bikes because they can run at lower PSI, provide better traction and cushion and reduce deflection and slipping on rocky surfaces, the SDURO ALLMTN Plus uses higher quality Schwalbe tires that are 3″ wide
• Available in four frame sizes, this electric bike offers higher performance and fit, I love how the top tube is angled down for lower stand over height (the battery slides out sideways to help achieve this
• Excellent weight distribution with both the motor and battery mounted towards the center of the frame and kept low
• The motor is powerful and responsive offering smooth starts and stops (measuring pedal cadence and torque to activate), you get up to 80 Nm of torque which makes it an excellent climber if you shift gears appropriately
• Beautiful paint and graphics… Haibike has long been a favorite of mine because they just look cool and professional, notice the fork and saddle are tied in, non-ebikers seem more interested because it looks legit
• Higher-end lightweight air suspension front and rear offers a ton of travel so you can handle a bit of downhill and use it as a true all mountain electric bike
• The battery can be charged on or off the bike frame and is easy to remove (though it does not rattle or feel loose when mounted to the frame), it weighs about 6.5 lbs so taking it off could make mounting the bike to car racks safer and easier (more space in the triangle)
• The Yamaha display system is a real standout to me, this is their upgraded model with a larger LCD which is removable and you also get a remote button pad which is easy to reach while riding and it has a Micro USB port built in
• I’m a big fan of dropper seat posts and love that the ALLMTN Plus comes with one that is preinstalled with internally routed cabling (frankly, most of the cables and wires are internally routed through the custom purpose-built frame)
• Powerful hydraulic disc brakes from Magura offer the precise, smooth stopping power required for true off-road riding, note the four piston calipers and adjustable reach levers
• I’m not sure if this is stock but the ebike I got to test had a kickstand that was rear-mounted, keeping it clear of the crank arms… if you do commute with this thing it could be useful
• Sturdy thru-axles with quick release for easy trail maintenance and quick compact transportability, one big advantage of a mid-drive is that the drivetrain itself is more traditional and easy to work with for regular bike shops
• The Yamaha motor produces less noise than Bosch and Impulse 3.0 in my opinion, it’s a bit less noticeable (especially when riding on a dirt trail where the tires are already making noise just from rolling)
• The pedals you get with this Haibike aren’t half bad… I prefer the wide platform with metal pins to smaller cages which seem to get bent, it’s a minor thing but great for test rides at least
• The cockpit is well thought out, notice the negative angle stem and low-rise bars meant to approximate a flat bar while protecting the display panel in the event of a crash
• Rather than showing your battery percentage by default, the Yamaha display uses little bars on an info-graphic but I love that they have 10 bars (for 10% steps) vs. many other bikes that show just 5 or 6, if you flip through the readouts you can also get percentage which is fantastic but that same display area can be used for odometer, trip distance etc. so I love that you have a choice

Cons:

• Shifting gears is a big part of this electric bike system because it enables the motor to climb or hit higher gears… but I found that the range of motor RPM felt limited so even if I was comfortable pedaling at a higher cadence, I couldn’t achieve top speeds without shifting because the motor would cut out
• Unlike the Bosch and Impulse drive systems, the Yamaha mid-drive doesn’t offer shift sensing which could lead to chain and sprocket mashing, learn to shift as the motor cuts out (when you stop pedaling momentarily)
• The battery charger seems unnecessarily large and bulky compared with some of the other options out there, I wish Yamaha would consider the magnetic EnergyBus port vs. their plug which could get bent or knock the bike over if tripped on
• Haibikes tend to be more expensive and are frequently out of stock in popular sizes, I feel like they spread the line thin with so many options which can be disappointing if you visit a dealer and fall in love with a specific model
• While it’s neat to have 20 gear combinations, I don’t change the front very often and have become a fan of the lighter, less complex 1×11 setups… especially given the non shift sensing mid-drive motor systems
• I like how smooth the motor winds down as you stop pedaling but it isn’t as instantaneous as some other systems, notice how it continues rotating a bit during the ride test in the video review above
• Despite being a more athletic-oriented sporty electric bike, there are no bosses for adding a water bottle, you’ll probably need a hip pack or hydration backpack