The Greyp G6 at your fingertips: the intelligent electric bike, redefined

How can a bike become smart?

The Greyp G6, a battery powered bike launched on Friday, March 15, brings a new answer to this question. It raises the bar for all other electric bike manufacturers with a ton of original features that turn the bike into a powerful high-tech gadget.

During the weekend, I had the opportunity to try the G6 on the beautiful trails of the island of Brač, Croatia. It turns out that it is also incredibly fun to drive.

Greyp is a sister company of Croatian hypercars manufacturer Rimac Automobili, which shares the same DNA. Neither company wants to do anything that has been done before, and both build high-end products that may not be for everyone, but surely will please everyone who is crazy about technology.

The first Greyp bike, the G12, was launched in 2013 and it was a totally different animal. It was a half-electric and half-electric motorcycle, fast and powerful – so much so that it was not quite legal in the street just as much as a motorcycle. ordinary bike.

The G6 is available in three versions: G6.1, G6.2 and G6.3. This is an electric bike, type MTB (eMTB). But it also has a duality that makes it difficult to categorize, simply because there are not many (or none) of similar motorcycles around.

Image: Stan Schroeder / Mashable

On the one hand, the G6 is an upscale mountain electric bike with a 250 W MPF engine and a 700 mAh battery providing extra power when you step on the pedal but he never behaves like a motorcycle. It has some of the finest components imaginable, including a carbon fiber reinforced frame, a 150mm enduro-oriented dual suspension and top RockShox parts, as well as SRAM EX1 shifters, a cbadette and a chain, for even better performance. to name a few. If you do not recognize these components, just say that you will find them on the best enduro and off-road bikes. Check out the complete specs of the three Greyp models here.

Everything and the kitchen sink

You may have already seen similar electric bikes from companies such as Giant, Cannondale and Specialized, but that 's where the similarities stop. First and foremost, Greyp took advantage of Rimac's battery expertise to create its own custom battery, offering a battery life of about 100 km. Given the short time I spent with the bike, it is difficult to judge its advantage over other brands. But after seeing Rimac's battery badembly plant, and considering the fact that the company is providing its expertise in batteries and spare parts of some of the fastest supercars in the world, I would say that these people know their battery technology. Another detail distinguishes the G6 from many competitors: the battery is visible (and not integrated into the frame) and easily detachable; you charge it at home with the Greyp custom charger.

But the biggest difference between the Greyp G6 and most other e-bikes is that instead of relying on additional sensors and smartphones to provide additional functionality, the G6 incorporates all of this. The bike is equipped with a GPS chip, a 3-axis gyroscope and accelerometer, and even a barometric pressure sensor. It has two 1080p wide angle cameras (front and rear). It has a 3-inch TFT screen, designed to be readable in sunlight, with a resolution of 240×400 pixels to display basic information such as battery life and speed. In terms of connectivity, the bike is equipped with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and a USB-C port. More importantly, it is permanently connected to the Internet via an integrated e-SIM, Greyp covering data costs up to 2022 at least.

Image: STAN SCHROEDER / MASHABLE

If you think that looks like a list of specifications for a smartphone rather than a bike, well, you're right, that's a bit of the case. I have checked many competitors and I have not found an electric bike with all of these features, even on more expensive models (although the G6 itself is not cheap; we will come back to this later). later).

While the bike is fully functional as is – the basic functions are accessed via sturdy and waterproof buttons on the left handle – the real fun begins when you connect a smartphone and place it in a special holder over the bike. integrated screen. Then you start the companion application of Greyp (only for Android, for now, support for iOS arrives this year) and get features such as navigation, a live video stream from the front or rear camera (See what's behind it can sometimes be very convenient), or detailed information about your ride. You can even put an integrated heart rate sensor on your wrist (it comes with the bike) and adjust the bike so that it provides more power when your heart rate increases and less when it drop, allowing you to stay warm spot all the time.

Yes, this thing is smart.

It does not stop there. When it is not plugged into the bike (the bike battery charges the phone, so you do not have to worry about the death of your phone), the smartphone app the G6 turns into a kind of remote control for cycling. If someone touches your bike, for example, you will be notified. You can then warn them remotely via a text message on the bike screen, take a photo with the motorcycle's cameras or disable it completely and track its position via the G6.

Between the bike itself and the badociated application, the list of features is too long to name them all. Still others are coming because the motorcycle software can be updated with over the air (OTA) updates. But enough lists.

Make a beginner a pro

Unlike some of the prototypes we've seen, the Greyp G6 is a finished product that can be pre-ordered now and will begin shipping to customers in a month or two. I had the rare opportunity to test it right after launch, on a variety of terrains and in two different configurations – the G6.2 and the most powerful variant, the G6.3.

Image: Stan Schroeder / Mashable

As a pure mountain electric bike, the G6 is simply fun. If you've never used Pedelec Electric Bike – a bike that helps you pedal instead of driving like a motorcycle – it has two important features. First, yes, it makes driving easier by helping you on these steep climbs. If you are not very experienced or if you simply can not ride a normal bike, the engine of the G6 will make you feel like a professional by providing all the power you you need.

But if you are experienced and looking for a challenge, the electric bike will not make you feel soft and lazy. You can ride as hard as you want and seriously sweat, but the difference will be that, compared to a conventional bike, the G6 will help you to travel more distance. On a normal bike, riding 20 miles on rugged terrain with high elevation would be a long and painful journey for me. On the G6, I crossed the finish line. In fact, a few months with this bike, and I bet I would test the 62 km nominal range of the G6, which would take me years on a normal bike. Note that once the battery runs out, the G6 becomes a perfectly capable mountain bike, so no problem there.

The G6 excels on bad roads. Its wide, off-road tires and sturdy frame give the bike incredible stability. With the help of the electric motor, I was able to easily conquer a terrain that would be a real challenge on a regular bike. Often, I felt more confident at high speeds than usual; it could mean that I suddenly became a better driver, but it's much more likely that the bike is just right. On an asphalt road, these sturdy tires did not bother me; Again, with the electric motor, I easily reached good speeds, perhaps not comparable to a road bike, but still fast enough for my taste. I've tested both the mid-range G6.2 and the most powerful variant, the G6.3, and honestly, both had a lot of power. I've also tried to completely shut off the power badistance during a steep climb – and I quickly realized that I did not feel like this bike was giving me the impression of having a bike. to be in.

The brakes, the shifters and the suspension all worked perfectly on the two motorcycles that I tested. The G6.3 has slightly better parts than the G6.2, but they are all upscale things that are much better than anything I usually drive. An interesting feature was the ability to change the height of the seat with a switch, halfway. The control buttons of the smart functions of the bike seemed pretty robust, but their use on rough terrain was not always easy.

Technological platform for the future

With the G6, the ride itself is only half the fun. I also liked playing with the extra features provided by the smartphone app. Some, like navigation, were the most useful during a break. While driving, I mostly had the camera, because it's so cool to have an HD stream of your output in front of you. And you can save it to your phone anytime.

Image: STAN SCHROEDER / MASHABLE

There were some insects. Sometimes the video stream was significantly behind schedule and sometimes the app crashed – but these issues were only present on an older Android model, the Galaxy S8 +, which was installed on the bike that I tested. This is compounded by the somewhat odd decision of placing the phone holder so that the phone covers the bike's built-in screen. If the phone application dies, you lose access to all the information about cycling and driving (besides, as a technician, I like the idea of ​​being able to see two screens at the same time).

The next day, the Greyp team equipped me with a different bike equipped with a newer Android phone, and I have not encountered any problems at any time. 45 minutes ride. The 3G signal was poor in some parts of the trails, which was also a problem for the still connected G6. I spoke to the people of Greyp; they are aware of these problems and are working to resolve them before the product reaches the end users.

The most interesting aspect of the bike however lies in the upcoming features. Some, like the possibility of getting a video replay of a minute (useful in case of an accident), are almost there, but are not fully implemented. And some, like gamification and running against other runners, I could not test. But the possibilities of this platform are really endless. Notifications if you get out of the way and separate from your group? Warnings of bad weather? Streaming music? With the technology of this bike, anything is possible.

Why has not anyone already done it?

You can take a regular bike, add third party gadgets and create some kind of improvised version of the G6. Use a phone for the information screen, a headset camera for video recording, a sports watch for measurements and stick many sensors on the bike. But it will never work as well as when cameras, sensors and connectivity are all integrated into the bike.

Image: STAN SCHROEDER / MASHABLE

The truth is that once you get used to it – and you get used to it quickly – you start to wonder why other electric bikes do not have these features. Mate Rimac, CEO and founder of Greyp and Rimac Automobili, tells me that the secret is simple. "We are first and foremost an engineering company, innovation comes first, we are not looking to build another bike, we are trying to find out where to get the idea of ​​cycling."

I really think we will see more and more of these smart features on e-bikes. After all, when you have this big juicy battery, why not feed it instead of helping the bike move forward?

There is another reason why not all e-bikes are as advanced as that, and that's the price. Starting at € 6,499 ($ ​​7,359), G6.1 is not cheap. G6.2 costs € 6,999 ($ ​​7,925) and G6.3 costs € 7,499 ($ ​​8,491).

While prices can be confusing for a regular bicyclist in the price range of less than $ 1,000, when comparing apples to apples, Greyp pricing makes sense. The electric bikes of major bike brands like Specialized and Cannondale, whose equipment is comparable, are priced at similar prices, and they do not have all the features of Greyp.

The Greyp G6 can be ordered now on the Greyp website and is expected to reach resellers in Europe in the coming months.