Specifications and features
Motor and battery
The Fazua Ride60 is one of the most understated e-bike setups we’ve ever seen. Both the motor and the battery are hidden in the down tube. A small plate on the bottom of the downtube, just above the bottom bracket, can be removed to service the motor and/or battery.
While the Fazua Ride60 is designed as a 250W mid-engine (nominal), it offers 350W at peak power, but with a catch. Fazua offers a boost function that allows the Ride60 motor to generate up to 450W for short bursts. And despite its small size, the engine produces a significant 60 Nm of torque, giving it impressive acceleration and excellent climbing ability.
The estimated 60+ miles. The range may seem optimistic at first glance, for the simple reason that we usually see such range values on batteries that have a capacity of 720 Wh or more. It’s important to remember that the 250W mid-motor with a 430Wh battery can do more than larger motors, as explained in Our guide to e-bike batteries.
frame and fork
The Santa Cruz Skitch features a carbon fiber frame and fork, which, while more fragile than aluminum, offers an incredible strength-to-weight ratio and can help a manufacturer save weight on an e-bike.
Without the Skitch being made from carbon fiber, like almost every other Santa Cruz model, the Skitch would be much heavier. And that’s one of the most amazing details about the Skitch: Santa Cruz offers the Skitch in four different styles, and all weigh 30 pounds, give or take an ounce or two.
Santa Cruz produces the Skitch in five different frame sizes, from small to XL. Santa Cruz estimates that each size can accommodate a height of 5 inches per size, as they have a credible reason for claiming that the Skitch can fit riders as tall as 5’1 and as tall as 6’6.
Components
As we mentioned at the beginning of our review, Santa Cruz is known for producing high-quality bicycles and e-bikes for enthusiasts. Broadly speaking, Santa Cruz produces the Skitch in two versions – one with flat bars for commuters and one with drop bars for gravel riders. Each of these two versions is available at two different prices, so there are four variants in total.
In fact, none of these four is better for gravel riding or commuting than the other. A rider can easily ride down a gravel road on either flat bar version of this e-bike, just as they can commute to work on the drop bar versions of the Skitch.
The four different setups in which the Skitch is offered include SRAM’s Rival AXS, Apex and GX AXS groups. These are relatively expensive e-bikes, and the Rival AXS and GX AXS groupset help drive this point home with their wireless electronic shifting and 12-speed transmissions (cassettes).
What all Skitch variants have in common are hydraulic disc brakes paired with 160 mm brake discs. While we often advocate for 180mm discs, 160mm discs in this setting are a great thing because they give the rider a better ability to modulate braking and scrub speed before corners, as hydraulic disc brakes with a smaller disc are less grippy.
The Skitch also features a solid all-around tire, the Schwalbe G-One Overland Evo, a 700C x 45mm (1.9-inch) relatively low-profile tire that’s great for roads, paved or not.
Other components include Praxis cranks, either Zipp, SRAM or Race Face handlebars and stems, WTB rims and saddles and DT Swiss hubs. These are premium designs that don’t stop the rider from going where they want, a point reinforced by the 12-speed transmission.
electronics
The Fazua Ride60 system offers riders three riding modes. “Breeze” is the all-day setting if you want to go 60 miles. (or more). “River” is the middle setting, splitting the difference between endurance and breathtaking power. “Rocket” is the setting that needs no explanation.
One of the selling points for Fazua systems is the claim that the motor introduces no resistance into the drivetrain, so if someone wants to pedal for a while without the battery – perhaps to conserve it – or wants to discharge it before getting home – The engine-drivetrain interface does not slow the driver at all.
There is a battery indicator on the top tube that not only shows how much battery is left, but also what mode the skitch is in. It can be folded up to reveal a USB charging port for electronics, while the charging port for the battery is molded into the carbon fiber directly above the bottom bracket.
