Roadmachine electric bike debuts with Mahle’s new lighter-weight motor assistance
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BMC has entered into the performance electric road market with the Roadmachine AMP, an all-new bike modelled on the Roadmachine endurance bike.
The Roadmachine AMP’s silhouette very closely matches the non-electric version and the bikes share the same fork. The Roadmachine’s endurance-biased geometry carries over to the AMP version too.
The difference in weight between the framesets is only 60g. That means, when combined with the new Mahle X20 rear-hub motor, plus battery, wiring, control and bottom bracket, it makes for a complete bike weight of 11.8kg (size 54cm).
That figure is comparable to some of the best electric road bikes such as Scott’s Addict eRIDE Premium, Wilier’s Cento10 Hybrid and Cannondale’s SuperSix EVO Neo.
All of those bikes are equipped with Mahle’s X35 rear hub and a smaller-capacity battery (250Wh), which makes the Roadmachine AMP’s relatively low weight all the more notable.
The battery is replaceable, so in theory you could switch out the larger 350Wh unit for the lighter 250Wh unit and save another 250g from the total weight should you not need such an extensive range.
Mahle says it has done a lot of work on the X20’s operation. An all-new AI is designed to allow the bike to auto-adapt to the rider, the environment and the effort, for a consistently natural feel.
As you put pressure through the pedals, the new Mahle bottom bracket measures both cadence and power (watts), and through the system’s software it optimises the power assistance being delivered irrespective of which of the three power modes you’re riding in.
The power measurement at the bottom bracket is shown on either the app or a connected head unit. Mahle hasn’t ruled out a metric showing your effort and the bike’s assistance level being available in a future firmware update.
The new motor, built into a wheel, doesn’t require a different dropout to take a threaded bolt-on axle, something that was a bit of a bugbear with the X35 and other rear-hub motor systems.
The X20 fits with a standard thru-axle and is said to be no more difficult to remove than a standard wheel. The connection between hub motor and power line comes from a quick-fitting connector that sits in a special mould on the non-driveside dropout. You just need to align the hub with the connector on refitting.
Alongside the basic system, Mahle offers a new optional head unit, remote control buttons and a 173Wh range-extending battery designed to fit on standard bottle cage mounts. The battery cage can be used with a standard bottle when not being occupied by the battery.
Like the older X35 motor, the new X20 makes use of Mahle’s app. It can be used to adjust motor map settings, monitor and analyse energy consumption, and even link to your heart rate monitor, delivering power to keep you in the HR zones of your choosing.
Full route data can also be recorded through the app, making for much more in-depth analysis of your ride.
The X20 promises 55Nm of torque and is compatible with the EU (25km/h) and US (20km/h) limits.
Charging comes via a new smart charger that BMC says can deliver 80 per cent charge in just two hours, with a full recharge in just shy of four.
The new charger also has a USB port so you can download any firmware updates to a USB stick and perform upgrades to the system at home without the need to take your bike to an authorised Mahle shop.
BMC and Mahle remain tight-lipped about the bike’s range because it’s dependent on rider size, plus where and how it’s being ridden. However, they have provided a couple of case studies.
It’s claimed a 94kg rider on flatter roads using full assist mode could expect a range of around 136km, with a total elevation of 2,050m. A 78kg rider on a hillier route is said to be able to achieve around 78km, with 1,678m of total elevation.
BikeRadar’s senior technical editor Warren Rossiter rode the BMC Roadmachine AMP on the steeper parts of the Tour de Suisse stage three. You can read his BMC Roadmachine AMP One review for an idea of the range and performance available from the compact motor and 350Wh iX battery.
Warren Rossiter is BikeRadar and Cycling Plus magazine’s senior technical editor for road and gravel. Having been testing bikes for more than 20 years, Warren has an encyclopedic knowledge of road cycling and has been the mastermind behind our Road Bike of the Year test for more than a decade. He’s also a regular presenter on the BikeRadar Podcast and on BikeRadar’s YouTube channel. In his time as a cycling journalist, Warren has written for Mountain Biking UK, What Mountain Bike, Urban Cyclist, Procycling, Cyclingnews, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike and T3. Over the years, Warren has written about thousands of bikes and tested more than 2,500 – from budget road bikes to five-figure superbikes. He has covered all the major innovations in cycling this century, and reported from launches, trade shows and industry events in Europe, Asia, Australia, North American and Africa. While Warren loves fast road bikes and the latest gravel bikes, he also believes electric bikes are the future of transport. You’ll regularly find him commuting on an ebike and he longs for the day when everyone else follows suit. You will find snaps of Warren’s daily rides on the Instagram account of our sister publication, Cycling Plus (@cyclingplus).
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