SAVA E-flash, the lightest e-bike ever, hits Kickstarter target

Electric bicycles are often quite heavy. The reason inventors keep thinking about lighter bicycles. And also the reason that the SAVA E-flash from Hong Kong quickly reached the Kickstarter goal. What do you get in exchange for the 2500 euros that this special bike must yield?

SAVA E-flash, light mountain bike

The SAVA, with large wide wheels and an open chain guard, can best be seen as a mountain bike with an ingeniously concealed battery in the frame. The motor is a rear wheel motor. With no less than 22 gears and 5 support positions, you can in principle also handle the most rugged terrain types with this bike.

The motor is spicy with 350 W and actually more than is allowed on the Dutch road for an e-bike. You will therefore have to provide the bicycle with a registration plate as a speed pedelec, also because of the maximum speed of 40 km per hour. Less is the very small battery of only 252 Wh.

The question is whether you will achieve the 80 km range on this bike, which the makers of the bike promise. A quick calculation shows that at maximum power, the motor drains the bicycle in one and a half hours. And that maximum power, as a fanatic mountain biker, you will of course quickly reach that.

But it is also clear why Gary Yang’s team has economized so much on the battery. After all, the battery accounts for a large part of the weight of an electric bicycle. And with a total weight of 11 kg, which also includes the large electric motor, there is not much weight left for the battery. That is why it is so small, and therefore lightweight.

SAVA E-flash mountain bike a joke, or more?

This is an extremely serious project. The group behind SAVA, with director Yang Yiwu (Gary Yang in the Anglophone world) is making good progress. For example, they already registered their brand in Germany in 2005, a Walhalla for e-bike technology. the company has been around for quite some time and they have already developed and sold many models.

The bike is well oversubscribed, with orders totaling eight times as many as the Kickstarter target. SAVA is also developing other bicycles. In that respect SAVA is certainly a serious player.

To buy or not to buy?

Actually, there is one good reason to buy this bike. That’s its amazingly low weight. Are you an avid mountain biker, and do you want to carry fewer kilos during your breathtaking stunts, then this bike is what you are looking for.

But the chances are that you will be happy with an electric mountain bike from Cube. This mountain bike specialist from the Bavarian hill country makes good and cheap mountain bikes where you get more value for money.

These have slightly less motor power, the legal maximum 250 watts for e-bikes, and are heavier, but thanks to the large battery they take you much further. And you avoid the hassle of a non-RDW approved speed pedelec.

And if you don’t only use your bike for mountain bike stunts, but also in daily life, then a Cube is more useful for you. Another good brand for sporty electric bicycles is KOGA. Sparta bicycles are also increasingly taking on a sporty character.

But that low weight is an interesting feature. More information about the SAVA bicycle can be found on their website kickstarter page.