Electric bicycles that blur the line with electric motorcycles and mopeds are an increasingly popular category of the e-bike industry. The latest new e-bike to take a full-throttle approach to this design philosophy is the C3STROM Astro.
Available in both the Astro and Astro Pro models, C3STROM is definitely packing both high-power looks and the high-power performance to match.
And that was by design, as C3STROM CEO Harry Chan explained in a statement provided to Electrek:
The Astro’s release marks a new level for the all-in-one electric bike. The story here was just us asking, ‘Why are riders supposed to choose between looks, comfort, speed, and adaptability?’ They shouldn’t have to.
So far, it seems like Chan’s statement rings true. The motor may be listed as a street-legal 750W power plant offering a top speed of 28 mph (45 km/h) to score the bike a legal Class 3 designation, but it can be unlocked to achieve 32 mph (52 km/h) in off-road mode. The front suspension fork should help with bumps to a degree, but the lack of rear suspension could make any decent-size potholes or obstacles quite a doozy at top speed.
To come down from such high speeds, the bike includes four-piston hydraulic disc brakes on both the base level and Pro models. Both bikes also feature wide tires to allow on and off-road riding possibilities.
Built into a motorcycle-inspired frame, the battery is wrapped in the frame tubes in a way we’ve rarely seen before.
E-bike batteries often play double duty as motorcycle-inspired top tank design notes, but to build the frame entirely around the battery, which itself is suspended from the top tube, is an uncommon design choice that further differentiates the C3STROM Astro from other moped-style electric bikes.
That’s no small capacity battery, either. If they’re going to build a moto-inspired and presumably heavy e-bike, they better give it some serious battery capacity. The base level model will carry a 780 Wh battery, while the Astro Pro will come outfitted with a 1,040 Wh battery. Both are built using Samsung 21700-format lithium-ion battery cells.
A smartphone app will also be included to provide connectivity with the e-bike and allow riders to view important riding data as well as make changes to the bike’s performance parameters.
The C3STROM Astro will soon become available for a starting pre-order price of $1,699, meaning it should compete favorably in the category – at least on cost. Heavyweights in the electric moped industry like Juiced Bikes and SUPER73 may not have too much to fear if the final price jumps up in the future, but the promotional pricing sure puts it in the lower end of the price range compared to today’s top options.
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Author: Micah Toll
Source: Electrek
