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What do you get when you have two time-pushed Dads struggling to find the opportunity for a proper mountain bike ride, goaded by some of the best mountain biking in the Lake District right on their Wheelbase HQ doorstep? You get two e-mountain bikes and you hurriedly hatch a cunning plan for a dawn raid…
…At 6.30am on a Saturday morning guaranteed to be cloudless with blue skies Toby Dalton, Wheelbase Operations Director and I (Johnny Dodgin, Wheelbase Digital Marketing man and author of this feature) headed out of Glenridding on the shores of Ullswater and in the shadow of Helvellyn with a plan to summit the mountain before breakfast and then take on the challenging but super-fun descent of Sticks Pass.
With a plan to get to the top of Helvellyn as quickly and efficiently as possible the Scott Patron eRide 910 easily met the brief.
Just a week before this ride Toby could be seen manning the bike cleaning hose for two full days, helping to keep the wheels turning at our busy Wheelbase BIG DEMO Weekend while I was running around with DMTWO Media making a video to capture the vibe of this brilliant event. As we collected our thoughts after the manic weekend we realised that yet again, we’d been too busy to get the chance to ride some of the very best mountain bikes and eMTBs from our favourite brands. Happily our friends at Scott Sports UK had left us with a very special demo eMTB – the brand new Scott Patron eRide 910. It was a chance too good to miss; I would pilot this powerful eMTB to the summit of Helvellyn while Toby would jump on a very capable Cube Stereo Hybrid 140 HPC Action Team 625.
The Cube Stereo Hybrid 140 HPC Action Team 625 made short work of the arduous climb.
We’d promised our families that we’d be back by mid-morning so a dawn raid with EMTBs allowing us to cover the uphill terrain a little more efficiently was an inspired plan; I was interested to see exactly how much more rideable the route to the summit of Helvellyn would be on an eMTB compared to my usual ‘acoustic’ mountain bike. I’ll admit that on previous Lake District adventures I find the ‘hike a bike’ stretches that inevitably occur when negotiating this kind of terrain on a non-e mountain bike less than inspiring. It doesn’t matter how fit you are, when the gradient reaches a certain steepness and the ground beneath you gets particularly loose and rocky the laws of physics come into play and before you know it you’re dabbing your feet and getting off to push. In some cases it just starts to feel like you’ve taken your bike out for a walk!
Two time-pushed Dads on top of the World!
On this eMTB-fueled ride those uphill frustrations just never materialised; both Toby and I managed to climb up the valley and onto the infamous switchback climb up to Keppel Cove feeling fresh and carrying plenty of momentum into this difficult stretch of super-steep, loose track. Compared to previous efforts on our non-eMTB bikes we were able to hold traction and hold our line through even the blockiest, roughest tight turns. There was one corner which caught us both out as we spun out but otherwise the route to the VERY windswept ridge of Keppel Cove was completely rideable!
The switch from open terrain at the top of Helvellyn to the tight singletrack trails of Sticks Pass was a bit of a wake up call…
It’s easy to fall into the trap of being a mountain biking purist and to dispel eMTBs as something that ‘cheats the system’ and I’ll admit, I’ve been guilty of that sort of mindset in the past. However, a ride like this encouraged me to reconsider my stance; is riding an e-mountain bike physically any easier? Is it lazy? No, not really. As my Garmin Connect files can attest, my heart rate was just as high as on any non-eMTB ride and I was definitely riding hard. The clearest way I can break it down is this – it’s still a hard and rewarding ride, it’s just that you’re able to ride more efficiently with the eMTB making terrain that you may have previously deemed unrideable as rideable; the eMTB made this grueling mountain climb a realistic goal. Suddenly I was having as much fun trying to ride cleanly to the top as I would be trying to ride smoothly downhill.
…and I rather inevitably had the odd ‘bobble’ on the way down.
We then turned left and climbed up over Whiteside Bank, fighting against some unbelievably strong winds and onto the steep, precarious climb up Lower Man. It was at this point that we both had to use ‘Turbo’ mode on our Bosch powered eMTBs and the affects were almost unbelievable; both of us couldn’t help laughing out loud at just how capable these bikes were as we continued well past the point where we’d expected we’d have to dab a foot and begin to push. Admittedly a final couple of tight bends caught us out but setting the eMTBs to ‘Walk’ mode meant there was a useful amount of assistance while pushing the bikes, meaning you never had to deal with the dead weight of the bike.
The Scott Patron eRide 910 was super-fun on the downhills and definitely enhanced my descending abilities beyond what I’m normally capable of.
Shortly after we peaked the summit, captured the views for the ‘Gram’ and headed back down toward the super-fun Sticks Pass descent. This technical singletrack pitches steeply downhill in sections and includes plenty of tight, rocky turns to keep you focused all the way back down to Glenridding. The Scott Patron eRide 910 had already proved its self on the uphill thanks to that powerful Bosch motor, but when I pointed it downhill I quickly appreciated just how capable this 160mm travel trail bike was. On that note lets take a closer look at the bike…
Heading back down on dry trails, bathed in sunlight and it’s only 9.00am.
At our recent Wheelbase BIG DEMO Weekend the Scott Patron eRide 910 was most certainly one of the ‘stars of show’ garnering loads of attention and facing a very long queue of pre-booked test rides over the two days. That long queue of expectant riders extended beyond our customers to a whole bunch of Wheelbase Lake District staff eager to get a feel for this cutting-edge eMTB.
So why did this bike pique so many people’s interest? Well, just look at it! The Patron eRdie 910 has a unique appearance and a very stylish aesthetic thanks to some clever integration and Swiss engineering. First off, let’s talk about the ‘invisible shock’ stowed neatly into the Patron’s top tube; in a similar move to Scott’s Spark cross country mountain bike the rear shock has been placed internally, giving 160mm of smooth travel while being protected from the elements.
Photo by James Vincent
At the heart of this capable eMTB is Bosch’s Performance CX motor controlled by their Smart System via a Bosch LED Remote & Kiox 300 display. With Eco, Touring Plus, E-MTB and Turbo modes users are able to dose the power to the motor intelligently through their ride, using just the right amount of pedal assistance for each riding scenario. Scott have fitted the Patron eRide 910 with Bosch’s biggest 750Wh PowerTube internal battery; this latest iteration of Bosch battery increases capacity and ride range encouraging you to explore further on one charge. It’s interesting to note that on our ride up to the summit of Helvellyn and back down to Glenridding the efficient 750Wh battery on the Patron was left with a whopping 55% of charge!
Some of you may have noticed that on some rival eMTBs from other brands when a 750Wh Power Tube internal battery is spec’d the frame configuration can look a little janky; as batteries become more powerful they inevitably have to get to bigger, or in this case longer. To compensate for this Scott came up with a clever solution to keep the look of the bike right. By simply rotating the Bosch Performance motor Scott were able to drop the longer battery lower, placing it underneath the motor at the bottom bracket. This is not just an aesthetic solution though, this clever configuration also re-distributes weight creating a lower centre of gravity for enhanced handling and a more stable ride quality, something I can attest to having got some serious speed up on the loose, rocky tracks off the top of Helvellyn.
Photo by James Vincent
Full Specification:
- Frame: Alloy Frame & Link, Virtual 4 link kinematic VLK, 29×2.6 / Boost 148x12mm UDH, 160mm travel / Bosch Gen4 / Integr. removable Battery, 1.8″ Headtube, Central Kickstand Mount, Integr. Cable
- Travel: Front: 160mm / Rear: 160mm
- Rear Shock: FOX Float EVOL eRIDE Trunnion, 3 modes / Lockout-Trail-Descend DPS / Reb. Adj. Travel 160mm / 205x60mm
- Fork: FOX 38 Perf. Air / eMTB+ / FIT4, 3-Modes with low Speed adj. / QR Axle 15x110mm axle, 44mm offset / tapered steerer / Reb. Adj. / Lockout / 160mm travel
- Remote System: SCOTT TwinLoc 2 Technology, Suspension & Dropper Remote, 3 modes
- Drive Unit: Bosch Performance CX, EU: 25kmh / 15mph
- Battery: PowerTube 750Wh
- Display: Bosch LED Remote & Kiox 300
- Charger: 4A Charger
- Rear Derailleur: Shimano XT / 12 Speed
- Shifters: Shimano SL-M8100
- Crankset: FSA CK-745 165mm / 34T
- Chain Guide: e*thirteen / e*spec Slider
- Chainring: FSA WB604 / 34T / DM / Steel
- Chain: Shimano CN-M8100
- Cassette: Shimano CS-M8100 / 10-51 T
- Brakes: Shimano SLX / BR-M7120 4 Piston
- Rotor: Front & Rear: SM-RT70 CL 203mm
- Handlebar: Syncros Hixon 1.5 / Alloy 7050D.B. 12mm rise / 9° / 780mm
- Grips: Syncros Pro Lock-on
- Handlebar Stem: Syncros AM1.5 / 7050 Alloy, 31.8mm / 4° / 1 1/8″
- Seatpost: Syncros Duncan Dropper Post 2.5, 31.6mm / S size 125mm / M & L size 150mm / XL size 170mm
- Saddle: Syncros Tofino 1.5 Regular, Titanium rails
- Headset: Acros / 1.8″ ZS66 OD74 / integr. Cable
- Hub: (front) Formula CL-811 / 15x110mm
- Hub: (rear) Formula ECT-1481 / Boost 148x12mm
- Spokes: Stainless Black
- Rims: Syncros MD30 / 32H / 30mm / Pin Joint, Tubeless ready
- Front Tyre: Maxxis Dissector 29×2.6″ 120TPI Foldable Bead, EXO+ / TR Tubeless ready, 3C Maxx Terra
- Rear Tyre: Maxxis Dissector 29×2.6″ 120TPI Foldable Bead, EXO+ / TR Tubeless ready, 3C Maxx Terra
- Lights: Bosch Light Cable pre-installed F&R
- Approx Weights In KG: 26.10kg
- Approx Weights In LBS: 57.54lbs
- Max. System Weight: 128kg The overall weight includes the bike, the rider, the equipment, and possible additional luggage.
Written by Johnny Dodgin
Riding Photos by Toby Dalton
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