Product news/First Ride: The traditional French manufacturer Mavic is primarily associated with high-quality wheels for racing bikes and mountain bikes. In recent years, other segments such as urban or gravel have already been opened up and we would like to steadily expand our portfolio in the future. Nevertheless, it was a big surprise when we were presented with a new e-bike motor during our visit to the company headquarters in Annecy. At first glance, however, the new Mavic X-Trend drive concept seems to be far more than just another motor on the market, but promises a real innovation with new technologies and an extremely light system weight of 3,2 kilos, especially in the light segment be. We had the opportunity to test drive one of the prototypes for a few kilometers.
With the Mavic X-Tend e-bike drive, the French manufacturer comes with a compact system that has an innovative cycloidal gear. With this, one wants to strive for a revolution in the areas of racing bikes and gravel in the first place and not only reduce the weight to a minimum, but also keep the entire riding experience as natural as possible.
The new Mavic X-Trend can deliver up to 50 Nm peak power and 37 Nm continuous power and is equipped with a 360 Wh battery capacity, with a total weight of 3,2 kilos, the numbers are promising. The biggest special feature, however, is the drive mechanism, which works like a gear directly on the crank and thus causes as little or no additional friction as possible, which not only offers great added value for the driving experience, but should also be extremely efficient. According to the manufacturer, rides of up to 3000 meters in altitude on the racing bike are already possible with the setup.
A total of 15 patents for the new Mavic X trend have already been registered. Because even if the drive is still in the prototype phase, it has already covered 120.000 kilometers and has carried out numerous tests together with BMC over the past four years in order to now go public with a first version. Thanks to this development process, it has already been possible to build a racing bike with an X-Trend drivetrain that weighs less than 10 kilos, which also benefits from the fact that the motor is integrated directly into the frame without affecting the original frame design. Parts of e-bikes are often removed in favor of the motor or battery to create the necessary space. This ensures significantly better stability and higher rigidity of the bike, which should have a noticeable impact on the driving experience and power transmission.
Mavic X-Trend – details at a glance
- Weight drive: 1200 grams
- Weight battery: 1800 grams
- System weight: 3,2 kg
- torque: 37 Nm, boost up to 50 Nm
- continuous power: 250 watts
- Top performance: up to 390 watts
- Battery capacity: 360 Wh with range extender 180 Wh extra
- Made in France
Mavic X Trend – First Ride
We already had the opportunity to test drive the new Mavic X-Trend. In a modified BMC Teammachine weighing 9,7 kilos, it was possible to control the drive via an iPhone and the interface on the frame.
At the beginning of our ride, we first wanted to feel how the bike would behave without support. Due to the "decoupled" state, you are actually on the road without any resistance and only have the additional weight in your luggage. A look at the speedometer reveals that we have long since exceeded 30 km/h on the flat, which allows us to quickly confirm that with this setup you can ride almost like a normal racing bike.
If you turn on the engine, it's time to step on the gas, the drive delivers real thrust and propels you forward. Here the X-Trend is relatively loud and has to work hard. However, over longer distances on moderate climbs, for example, you only hear a slight whirring from the engine. Only another look at the speedometer reveals that the drive is doing its job, because driving uphill at 21 km/h is rather a rarity. Compared to other models, the handling on descents is also extremely pleasant, because you get classic and natural handling. The additional weight is hardly noticeable and braking processes are not affected in any way.
We still see the speed of the decoupling mechanism on the prototype that needs improvement, because it feels like it takes a fraction too long to switch to the natural ride. But these are certainly minor details that will still be addressed before market entry.
In our opinion, a great concept that can shape the e-road bike and e-gravel sector. We hope that Mavic will soon get the chance to electrify a frame manufacturer.
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