No, people who don’t like to attract attention shouldn’t ride an Esel ebike. Or do you think you can go about your daily life unnoticed on a bike with a wooden frame? However, the Austrian manufacturer isn’t interested in generating as much publicity as possible for its ebikes or its customers. It uses the material because it considers it an excellent choice for a bicycle. This is also the case with its new city ebike – the Esel eUrban.
1. Why aluminium when it can be wood?
2. Wooden frame both eco-friendly and comfortable
3. Esel eUrban hollow inside
4. Effective all-weather protection for the city ebike
5. Rear-wheel hub drive on the Esel eUrban
6. Lightweight battery for a sporty riding experience
7. Wood – plus more or less carbon
8. Esel: experienced manufacturer with a clear motto
1. Why aluminium when it can be wood?
The modern cycling world is familiar with numerous materials that can be used to manufacture frames for ebikes and bicycles, even on an industrial scale. You probably know a great deal about aluminium, carbon, steel and titanium yourselves. Other materials, such as the polyamide used in the frame of the Mocci or the plastic granulate of the Advanced Reco One, which consists of 40 per cent recycled carbon fibres, are somewhat more unusual.
And wood is also considered unusual, though it is of course not entirely new to the industry. Just under five years ago, we reported on Twmpa Cycles and their e-gravel bike. Since then, the ebikes have disappeared from the Welsh company’s range. However, they continue to use ash as a frame material. This wood seems particularly popular. After all, the Tuscany-based brand Ornus also works with it. They too produce gravel bikes, amongst other things – though without an electric drive.
2. Wooden frame both eco-friendly and comfortable
Esel frames also contain some ash. However, unlike the previous examples, the manufacturers rely on a mix of different woods. Ash forms the outer layer together with nut. Inside, the team led by company founder Christoph Fraundorfer uses the lighter birch. In addition to the properties of the trees, it is important to him that they come from the region and can grow there slowly under controlled conditions. Esel can demonstrate this through certification by the Programmes for the Endorsement of Forest Certification – PEFC for short. This certifies that the wood comes from ecologically, economically and socially sustainable forest management.
So, to summarise, hardly any other frame material can claim to occur naturally, be renewable and be found almost on one’s own doorstep. But what makes wood fundamentally attractive for frame construction? Well, it combines properties that, in other materials, must first be specifically created through complex manufacturing processes. Wood absorbs shock, dampens vibrations and is quite stable relative to its weight. Depending on the tree, this applies to varying degrees. That is why, as mentioned, Esel combines three different types.
3. Esel eUrban hollow inside
The manufacturer takes a correspondingly innovative approach to this. To achieve the lightest possible frame weight, Esel’s wooden frames are hollow on the inside. Two half-shells are created from the composite wood. How they are joined together is a trade secret. The manufacturer does, however, reveal to us that they use form-fitting joints, dowels and a special permanently elastic adhesive system.
This results in unique frames, each with its own grain pattern. Not only are the cables and wires routed internally, but the battery is also integrated into the down tube. However, Esel does not take this love of wood to extremes. With the carbon fork and the aluminium head tube, there are two components that utilise other materials. The reason for this is the forces acting on the fork and the handlebars. These forces need to be transferred to the wooden frame as effectively as possible. At the same time, the manufacturer aims to keep the frame slim and robust. Several frame tests have shown that the combination of wood, aluminium and carbon achieves the best results in terms of structural strength and robustness. Theoretically, it would certainly be conceivable to manufacture not only the fork and head tube, but even the handlebars and rims from wood as well. However, the current solution would offer the greatest technical added value.
4. Effective all-weather protection for the city ebike
As soon as a wooden frame is mentioned, some of you may wonder whether it suffers from rain, snow, intense sunlight, rapid temperature changes or even road salt in winter.
After all, we know from our own experience how quickly and severely wood can weather in some cases. Don’t worry, the Esel eUrban is an ebike for all weathers. The manufacturer coats the frames with a protective layer that provides four layers of protection:
- Wood preservative: active ingredient against blue stain and wood-destroying fungi
- End grain sealing: protection against capillary water absorption
- Primer for wet adhesion and resistance to UV radiation
- Top coat: protection against weathering and UV radiation, scratch-resistant, block-resistant, chemically resistant
As befits an urban ebike, the Esel eUrban’s frame also features mounting points for mudguards and a rear rack. When ordering, customers can add various accessories to the bike. A range of packages is available. Any additional items you order are fitted at the factory at the company’s headquarters in Traun, Upper Austria. This can also include a GPS tracker, which Esel always offers as an option.
5. Rear-wheel hub drive on the Esel eUrban
Esel doesn’t just go its own way when it comes to the frame. The eUrban’s ebike system, featuring a rear-wheel hub motor, is also an in-house development. This is relatively unusual for a smaller manufacturer. After all, there are numerous well-known suppliers such as Mahle, FSA, Bafang and others who offer tried-and-tested systems in various power ratings. However, Esel prefers to rely on its own solution so that it can respond flexibly to the requirements of its own ebikes. When it comes to aspects such as motor power, the winding, the control of the controller and torque, as well as battery size, the company has significantly more scope with its own system. Any purchased option would, at some point, mean a compromise and a deviation from its own ideal.
Esel obviously considers a rear-wheel hub drive with a torque of 42 Newton-metres to be ideal for the eUrban. This torque is applied directly to the rear wheel and is not a theoretically calculated value. Combined with the moderate capacity of the battery – available in either 250 watt hours or 350 watt hours – this complements the lightweight construction and handling characteristics of the ebike very well at speeds exceeding 25 kilometres per hour. It was important to the manufacturer to make the transition beyond this threshold as smooth as possible, so that you can easily cross it and ride faster.
6. Lightweight battery for a sporty riding experience
Esel has integrated a torque sensor into the bottom bracket for the system. This allows the electric drive to detect your pedalling motion and react accordingly. In practice, this means: The harder you pedal, the more powerful the motor’s assistance. This can be adjusted across five assistance levels. You can switch between these at the touch of a button via a display mounted on the handlebars. The motor draws its power from the battery hidden in the down tube. Its capacity of 350 watt-hours is on a par with what Mahle offers with the iX350 for the X20 drive. It is said to be fully charged within four hours. Alternatively, a smaller battery with a capacity of 250 watt-hours is apparently available. This is already familiar from the Esel eGravel. However, it cannot currently be selected when ordering the eUrban on the Esel website.
Despite all the emphasis on independence, the company of course works with partners. For the production of the motor, for example, Esel cooperates with Aikema. The Chinese company is regarded as one of the world’s largest manufacturers of hub drives. It manufactures the systems to Esel’s specifications. The cells for the battery, on the other hand, come from Panasonic.
The lighter motors and batteries are features that distinguish the sportier eUrban from the earlier E-Tour. The latter is primarily designed for longer tours, has the geometry for a more upright riding position and weighs around 21.5 kilograms with the premium spec.
7. Wood – plus more or less carbon
That is exactly five kilograms more than the lightest eUrban weighs. According to Esel, you yourself can weigh up to 120 kilograms without overloading the city ebike. If you use a rear rack, you can load it with an additional 27 kilograms. In total, this results in a maximum permitted total weight of 163.5 kilograms. Many a lightweight urban ebike from the competition, with an aluminium or carbon frame, could learn a thing or two from this. And should you ever hear an ominous crack in the frame – Esel offers a five-year warranty against frame breakage.
If we’re talking about the lightest eUrban Esel, then logically there’s also a slightly heavier version. The manufacturer is launching two different models: the Esel eUrban Performance and the Esel eUrban Basic. The 1,000-euro price difference between the two is primarily due to the respective wheel set, the derailleur system and the seatpost. For 4,990 euros, the Esel eUrban Performance comes with wheels featuring carbon rims from the Austrian manufacturer Panchowheels. It also features a carbon seatpost. Esel has fitted the Shimano Deore XT groupset here, in the 11-speed version.
The Esel eUrban Basic is one step down the Shimano product ladder. Here, you shift gears using the Shimano Deore, which has only ten sprockets on the cassette. The wheels and seatpost are made of aluminium and are therefore correspondingly cheaper. However, the manufacturer makes no compromises on other important details such as the brakes, tyres and fork, equipping both models identically.
Esel eUrban at a glance
- Models: Esel eUrban Performance, Esel eUrban Basic
- Frame: Esel Hollow Tec wooden frame
- Frame sizes: S, M, L, XL
- Fork: Carbon fork
- Motor: Rear hub motor, 42 Nm
- Battery: 350 Wh, optional 250 Wh
- Drivetrain: Shimano Deore XT, Shimano Deore
- Weight: from 16.5 kg
- Brakes: Shimano MT410
- Maximum permitted total weight: from 163.5 kg
- Prices: from 3,990 euros
8. Esel: an experienced manufacturer with a clear motto
For company founder Christoph Fraundorfer, bicycles are, in his own words, more than just a means of transport to get from A to B. He sees them as a statement of design, sustainability and a unique riding experience. In line with this motto, Esel has already been developing and selling bicycles and ebikes since 2016. The range now includes four ebikes with various specifications and, in some cases, different frame shapes. In addition to its own rear-wheel drive, the EP600 mid-drive motor from Shimano is used as an ebike system.
Pictures: My Esel GmbH