Rich Drivers Drive BMWs. Rich Riders Ride This Bike

on April 3, 2015 at 10:27 am

They all start with letter “U”, but Unique is my preferability, not Ubiquitous.

It’s an electric bicycle that can hit 43.5 MPH, can be folded up, and has a price tag of $24,000. Yes, I’m talking about the cafe racer-style e-bike Trefecta.

Designed for military-grade use, this bike reminds me of the Humvees or BMW R75, the motorcycle with sidecar popularized in the inherent mobility of German Army. Unlike those vehicles, which always appear with a heavy-class looking, the Trefecta gives me the feeling of a revolutionary yet smart military vehicle — if our army has ever wanted to use it in mission.

Made from military-spec aluminum, the bike boasts a beefy construction. This ensures it can withstand more than its share of the elements since all sensitive components are housed inside the frame, allowing you to enjoy the ride regardless of terrain or weather conditions. The Trefecta features a 14-speed Rohlof Speedhub, a Smesh Gear transmission, 26-inch carbon fiber wheels, and Schwalbe mountain bike tires. A computer mounted at the center of the handlebars lets the rider control riding modes, suspension, and check several data such as speed, battery level, navigation or distance.

I did an enormous amount of research when evaluating bike repair stands and learned a number of good pointers. When choosing a bicycle repair stand for a mountain bike, you need to keep in mind a few tips, which are not necessarily different than if you own a road cycle but are more prominent and important.

I’ve listed them below in order of importance:

#1 Stability is King

When buying a bike repair stand for any bicycle, you want it to hold your bike stable. Mountain bikes tend to weight more than the urban road cycles and as such you really need to watch that your stand will hold your bike well. Your stand should not tip over, it should not wobble and it should hold your bike solid no matter how much your bike weights. You may need to pay a little more for this quality, but you will be far happier than buying something cheap and having to upgrade later on.

#2 It is All About the Clamp

The second most important feature on a good stand is a good clamp. The clamp is the part of your stand that holds you bike at an elevated level and if you have a bad clamp on a good stand, then you have a bad stand. The clamp needs to be as solid as the stand and be functional enough so you can position your bike any which way you need it. If stability is King, your clamp is queen. For a heavier mountain bike, you again want to pay extra attention to getting a good one as a good stand will make you happy.

#3 Look For a Good Brand

Brand is important when it comes to bike repair stands because you will have so much more support and confidence with a good brand than if you buy a stand from a lesser known brand. A good brand has a reputation to protect, and their reputation depends entirely on you being happy with their product. With a mountain bike this is important because we tend to beat up our bikes on the trails more than our tamer urban brothers and sisters. This means you will use your stand more often, and it will suffer more wear and tear in the long run. If something on the stand breaks somewhere down the road, the company behind the brand will likely fix your stand or replace it for free. Good brands come with warranties. Stands from lesser brands often do not. In most cases, you do get what you pay for.

#4 Read What Others Have to Say

It is hard to test a bike repair stand, especially if you are buying online. Read what others who have used it before you have to say about the product. You should be able to find a stand with an almost perfect review rating, and if you do, you know you will be happy too. If there are a few complaints, unsatisfied customers or heaven forbid comments about their stand wobbling and being flimsy, avoid that one and move on to the next. Good stands are not hard to find, in fact with very little research you can determine the better ones out there by reading the reviews.

If you follow these four simple but useful tips, you should do well. My own personal choice that I can recommend is the Park Tool PCS-10 Repair Stand which met all of the above pointers, and Park Tool is known for being the better brand in the industry. This stand does well, even with the larger mountain bikes and is good for the price. There are others out there too that will work for you if you look around. Use the above guide as well as some common sense and you will find a stand that suits your needs well.

Now let’s talk about power. The bike uses a 4-kW motor, which creates up to 184 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheel, allowing the Trefecta to cruise at top speeds of 43.5 MPH. A pedelec system is integrated in order to help managing the motor output at low speed, adopting a pedal-assist type of operation to minimize battery drain. And as I said at the beginning: this is a truly cafe racer-style e-bike since it comes with a throttle on the right handlebar that you can crank to speed things along on the open road. Very brilliant!

“Trefecta’s aim is to create the game, instead of changing it. By focusing on true innovation, we create the norm and set the standard for the products of tomorrow. In our opinion, the only way to truly differentiate is to start with a clean sheet. This way we stand out from the crowd and make the impact that we envisioned from the start. This vision translates itself in both our product as well as business model,” said Trefecta

As if you’re worrying about space, the bike can even fold down into a compact pile, making it easy to store. Click here to pre-order.