frame and fork
We are referring to e-bikes like the Electra Ponto Go! as being designed after mopeds and motorcycles and not other e-bikes for several reasons having to do with the frame design. While a traditional bicycle frame features a single top tube and a single down tube, moped-influenced designs use what is known as a box frame. Generally, two tubes run parallel from front to back. This was intended to create a stable mount for the engine and the width of the box frame determined the width of the seat.
What purpose does such a design serve? It has pedals, so it’s meant for pedaling, right? Not necessarily. The design itself tells us who will like it the most. Many e-bike riders are not interested in pedaling so much. They like the activity and don’t mind pedaling a bit, but they don’t want to become a weekend athlete. So the thumb throttle is more important than the pedals.
There are many drivers who want to keep both feet flat on the ground when stopping. A low bench with a fixed height fulfills this wish. However, a trade-off arises: most bench seats are so wide that pedaling is not particularly comfortable, and it can be difficult to find the right balance between reach to the handlebars and distance from the pedals for comfortable pedaling. That’s why the saddle on most e-bikes can be raised or lowered and the saddle nose is quite narrow. But that brings us back to the idea: what could an e-bike look like if the goal isn’t to pedal a lot?
The Electra Ponto Go! uses an innovative approach to its “box” design. The frame starts with a traditional head tube welded to a down tube and the seatstays and chainstays that form the box that is separate from the down tube. This means the frame uses fewer tubes and less metal, which means less weight. At 80 pounds. This e-bike is not light, but with a more traditional design it would have been heavier than it is.
Of course, an e-bike frame with a fixed seat height is one way to get around the problem of a one-size-fits-all e-bike. The reason for the different frame sizes is to give riders the opportunity to purchase an e-bike that gives them enough leg extension to pedal comfortably and just the right reach to the handlebars. If the driver mainly uses the accelerator, the seat height doesn’t matter as much.
The frame is made of 6061 aluminum and is matched to a suspension fork with 80 mm travel and coil spring. The fork does a good job of removing the edges of road cracks, potholes and driveway edges.
Motor and battery
There aren’t too many compelling features for a moped-style e-bike, but if you want to use more gas than pedals, you need to have enough power in the motor. Electra chose a 750W brushless geared hub motor that can turn the wheel with 60Nm of torque – enough to get up a hill or away from a traffic light in front of most traffic.
With such a powerful engine, the battery had to offer enough capacity so that the driver did not worry that he would not have the necessary range for the desired journeys. With the Ponto Go! Electra has equipped it with a 650 Wh battery. Electra suggests drivers can enjoy a range of up to 60 miles, but that number seems generous. Our experience with other e-bikes with similar motors and batteries suggests that although 60 miles. Maybe that’s possible, but it’s only realistic if the rider pedals all the time and limits the motor to PAS 1. Drivers whizzing around with the throttle at PAS 5 may not even see half of it in the real world.
Buyers are wondering what speeds they can get with the Electra Ponto Go! can expect. You can expect to reach a speed of 20 mph with the help of the throttle, and if you pedal hard you can expect to reach a maximum assisted speed of 26 mph, making it an E -Class 3 bike makes.
Components
A remarkable component that Electra has developed for the Ponto Go! has selected. What might surprise buyers is the fact that they chose a torque sensor instead of a cadence sensor. For e-bikes where the rider is expected to favor the accelerator, a cadence sensor can be handy as it allows the rider to pedal without much effort but leave the motor on as the cadence sensor detects the detects ongoing movement in the pedals.
With a torque sensor, riders enjoy a more dynamic pedaling experience; The harder the rider pedals, the more the e-bike accelerates. The e-bike responds beyond the PAS level selected by the rider.
Compared to some bench seats we’ve seen on some moped-style e-bikes, the seat on the Ponto Go! is slightly slimmer and narrows slightly in the front of the seat, making pedaling easier than some similar models.
Electra expects drivers to have a passenger with them at all times. The bench is divided into two different seats to better support each rider. A rear grab handle gives the passenger a place to hold on and folding footrests give them a safe place for their feet. A transparent plastic wheel skirt also prevents the passenger’s feet from being kept away from the rear wheel.
The raised handlebars can be rolled either forward or backward to give the rider a greater reach from the saddle. The Electra comes with front and rear lights as well as mudguards and a stand. However, due to the frame design, a luggage rack is not included and a luggage rack cannot be added. What they do offer is a front rack that can be added for those who need to carry a load that won’t fit in a backpack.
Drivetrain, brakes and wheels
Riders who plan on pedaling, whether climbing hills or accelerating out of a stop, will appreciate the Microshift 8-speed drivetrain. It features an 11-34 cassette, meaning it has a wide enough range of gears to make a difference on hills. Microshift as a brand doesn’t get much attention, but they make solid components that perform well. And because they don’t have the name recognition of Shimano, their components tend to be cheaper, helping to keep your e-bike as affordable as possible.
When an e-bike weighs 80 pounds, we want to see good brakes, and Electra went with Tektro hydraulic brakes with cut-off switches in the levers and paired them with 180mm rotors – a robust setup.
As we mentioned in our opening, the Electra Ponto Go! is equipped with 20 inches. Wheels that help keep the e-bike maneuverable and keep the rider closer to the ground. It ensures a very safe driving experience. The challenge with 20 inches. Wheels is that we don’t often see them with tires wider than 3 inches. The Ponto Go! rolls on 4-inch wide tires that can be ridden at lower pressures than narrower tires, and due to the lower pressure a large tire can provide and the larger tire contact patch, traction is better than e-bikes with smaller tires.
