A super-light e-bike motor system from Mavic? Wow, we weren't expecting that - but we've ridden the X-Tend and found there's a whole lot to like here cycling
Mavic has unveiled an e-bike motor called the X-Tend. No, we weren’t expecting it either. But it’s something it has been working on behind the scenes for a long time, and the time has come to show it to the world. But not because you’re going to be able to buy a bike with one fitted any time soon. More on that in a bit.
The Mavic engineers told us that they did think about making the system with a hub motor “for a few moments” but they were pretty sold on a mid motor from the start: it’s better for weight distribution and handling, it makes wheel changes simple , and the fact that the motor speed is linked to your cadence and not to your wheel speed means that it can be made more efficient and more powerful at lower speeds, which is good news for climbing.
Mavic has been working with BMC, just over the border in Switzerland, to develop the prototype frames we saw; they’re adapted from the BMC Roadmachine with the larger bottom bracket and a modified down tube and top tube to accommodate the battery and the control unit. The only other change is the incorporation of a speed sensor in the chainstay, triggered by a magnet in the disc rotor.you can see that there are cutaways underneath that expose fins on the motor body to help with heat dissipation.
The battery wasn’t a part of the system that Mavic dwelled on too much, save to say that its extensive experience of aluminium extrusion means it has created a super-light enclosure for the cells. But what is significant is the size of the battery: in the X-Tend system you’re getting a 360Wh battery as standard, which is significantly larger than similarly light systems. The ebikemotion X20, for example, weighs the same but the motor is 70% the capacity, at 250Wh.
First things first: it’s a likeable system. In a bike that weighs just 10kg, it’s not really a noticeable extra weight except when you’re physically picking the bike up, and the clutch system works really well: when the motor’s off the cranks aren’t driving anything other than the rear wheel. That’s a noticeable advantage over, say, the Fazua system where you can drop the battery out to save weight, but the gearbox stays in place, and you can definitely feel it when you’re pedalling.
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