Using a Moustache Samedi 27 E-bike for 2026

January 31, 2026

For years I spent a day a week on my bike in West Sussex, Hampshire or Surrey, but the enjoyment gradually tapered off. Partly due to worsening road surfaces (budget cuts), but also the 30-35 mile loops became too repetitive. So from 2014, Sunday mornings saw me loading a sea kayak onto the car for a day on the Thames or on the South Coast with kayaking friends and more challenging objectives. But November through to March is a low season for paddle trips and the heavy rainfall rules out paddling on local rivers, so the bike has been making a big comeback. But I don’t enjoy finishing rides just as darkness falls, and the fix for that is better fitness and some help on the hills - which is where an e-bike would help, hopefully enabling fitness for a ten-day bike tour. Market research started at FW Evans, the shop for discerning people looking for a quality version of the bikes stocked by sports stores Decathalon and Halfords. Evans are having a lean start to the year. Browsing online, I found e-bikes similar to the ones we rented for our 10-day Puglia bike tour three years ago, but in the store the special deals were for low-end models with unbranded Chinese motors and batteries. For the high-end bikes, I’d expect to do nearly all of the maintenance and servicing myself - would I trust the store with the motor/sensor/transmission problems that I would not have the diagnostic equipment to fix?

Next step was to visit e-bike specialists Fully Charged in Guildford, who would rent out an e-bike to me for a day long trial according to their website. Owner Chris rummaged in his stock room and produced a five year old 450-watt 7-speed KTM hybrid bike, the KTM Macina Cross 10. This e-bike is built around Bosch E-Bike System (BES) components which they have committed to provide support for but which are no longer used on new models. I drove it to Ropely and manhandled it out of the van for a 35-mile ride around the Meon Valley. First observation: the e-bike would be really difficult to transport in a hatchback or an estate, because it weighs in at around 22 kilos (55 lbs), transportability is not a priority requirement or manufacturers expect owners to ride from home (and not to have to carry their e-bike up and down stairs).

Despite rain, the ride went really well. The KTM and e-bike was better than the one used in Puglia: the huge (to me) tyres and front suspension handled potholes and loose gravel really well, the hydraulic disk brakes stopped the bike in two thirds of the distance of my usual rim brakes and I found Eco and Tour mode really helpful for climbing up Beacon Hill (261m). There are many short climbs up hangers on this route and although my heartrate was into the aerobic exercise range, the e-bike was an immense help. Unfortunately the battery ran flat at the 34-mile mark and the last mile was really hard work with this bike - it just wasn’t geared low enough for its 22kg weight.

As I hoisted it into the van at the end of the ride, I began to appreciate that its dead weight is a real problem. Perhaps the design team built the frame this strong and heavy to alleviate the risk of a battery fire after an accident, or more likely they decided that weight isn’t an issue for e-bikes. It is an issue for me, though. This model retails for around £2000 online now, and has its battey externally mounted on the frame. Research online suggests that internal frame batteries are a good innovation, being more theft-resistant, but bikes with 500+ Watt batteries seem to retail for over £3000 - way over what I would pay to ride with a range of less than 35 miles. The YouTube videos by the Global Cycling Network on e-bikes are helpful.

I took the machine back to Fully Charged after the weekend and had a longer discussion with Chris, who to his credit was very helpful without being pushy. I had browsed through the on-line stock list for the stores before returning and I could see that all of their newer bikes were unaffordable. But - Chris did have a nearly new Moustache Samedi 17 XRoad 3 with only 630 miles on the clock that he had accepted as a trade-in from another customer. This ticked more of the boxes. Looking through the Bosch online catalogue, I had been struck by the similarity of bikes from different manufacturers; they only seemed to be differentiated by frame colour and component choices. 3,042 different models! 1,027 Trekking e-bikes! I didn’t discover any UK manufacturers, perhaps Brexit has made things very difficult from a trading perspective? Also, the 2026 bikes seem to have shrunk battery capacity from 550W or greater to 400W, suggesting perhaps that they are selling you less for the same money in an effort to keep sales volumes up.

What does differentiate is the type of engine/battery/head unit for each model of e-bike using the Bosch system. The KTM Macina that I hired used the original Bosch e-bike System or BES1 - initially attractive because later bikes are fitted with the Smart System, meaning that they pair with an iPhone or Android which can be used to record trip statistics, remotely lock the bike, and more. I generally avoid anything that needs to pair with my smart phone to work, because it introduces the dynamic of being taxed for functionality (once registered on the Bosch website) and risking obsolesence when the manufacturer brings out a new system. Indeed, the BES bikes cannot be upgraded to the Smart System, Bosch expect customers to bin their bike and buy a new one, for another £4000 for some of the models, which is madness. The benefit of the Smart System is a bit of a puzzle to people who already have a Garmin smartwatch and possibly some other navigation going on with a bike-mounted GPS. Do you see Bosch taking a slice of the fitness / mapping market from Garmin, Komoot, Beeline, and the others? I don’t.