Smartehop UC01 Single-Speed: ChooseMyBicycle.com Expert Review

The Smartehop UC01 Single-Speed comes with an Alloy frame. At the first glance you might think the E-Bicycle looks heavy, because of the battery pack installed on the bottom tube. But this Electric Bicycle feels light and that’s mainly because of the Alloy frame. This Alloy frame is still strong and welded smoothly and is capable of taking lot of hard hitting of both tarmacs and trail surfaces. The frame build has been done keeping in mind the battery pack and thus keeping the weight distribution on point. The front suspension fork was more than sufficient to handle bumps and potholes on city roads.

The Smartehop UC01 Single-Speed which I test rode came in a Red primary colour and White and Black as the secondary colours. These colours blended in perfectly thanks to the neat gloss finish paint job. The battery pack was compact in design and sits well on the down tube thanks to the sturdy battery holder. The front LED lights and the LED display does improve the aesthetics of this E-Bicycle.

This Electric Bicycle comes with a Single-Speed drivetrain. There is no compulsory need for an Electric Bicycle to have gears as the battery is going to over-power the gears at most times. For short commuting needs there will be no necessity of gears and this Single-Speed drivetrain is also easy to maintain. The lack of gearing components also decreases the weight of E Bicycle.

The battery and the motor is what really makes this an E-Bicycle and is the lifeline of its functionality. The Brushless 250W hub motor is located at the rear wheel and is powered by a Lithium-Ion battery which has a capacity of 10.5Ah. During our extensive test ride the battery was averaging 35-40km on Throttle Mode and 40-45km on Pedal Assist Mode, on one full charge. It took about 3.5hrs to 4hrs to fully charge it from 0 to 100%.

There are 2 electrically powered driving modes. The 1st mode is the Pedal Assist which has 3 levels. Each level determines the push you get from the motor for each pedal. Higher the assist number more the power output given. At Pedal Assist High (3rd level), I was able to reach 25kmph speed with slow pedalling. The 2nd mode is to just use the accelerator on the right hand side handlebar grip which works like your normal scooter or motorbike accelerator. This also gives a maximum speed of 25kmph without pedalling. The pickup was decent and was perfectly suited to maneuver through traffic and also helped climb city flyovers with ease.

Brakes play a much bigger role on an E-Bicycle which has a maximum speed of 25kmph with quick acceleration. The Smartehop UC01 Single-Speed comes with front and rear Sprandom branded Mechanical Disc brakes. These brakes were enough to make the E Bicycle come to a sudden halt even at 25kmph. It also reacted well to quick interval braking in traffic.

The handlebar was lengthy and gave a comfortable riding posture. The switch on the left handlebar grip for changing the pedal assist levels and the accelerator on the right handlebar grip were comfortable to use.

The Smartehop UC01 Single-Speed comes with a pair of Ralson Micro Octave 26” x 1.95” MTB tires. Because of its 26 inch circumference these tires were good for city roads and sometimes very useful to get on and off curbs. The 1.95” width along with the heavy treading gave great traction on both rough urban roads and flat trails.

The stock saddle had enough padding on the widest parts and was comfortable to sit during a bumpy city commute.