VanMoof S5 e-bike assessment: good however twice the worth

“Generally it’s important to kill your darlings,” is a phrase utilized by designers to justify the removing of parts they discover personally thrilling however fail so as to add worth.

The final time I heard it was in April, 2022, after I rode pre-production variations of VanMoof’s new full-size S5 and smaller A5 electrical bikes. The phrase was uttered by co-founder and CEO Taco Carlier to justify the removing of VanMoof’s iconic matrix show for a brand new “Halo Ring” interface. 

One 12 months later and each e-bikes at the moment are — lastly — being delivered to clients, properly after their unique goal of July 2022. The value has additionally been raised to $3,998 / €3,498 from an early preorder value of $2,998 / €2,498, which was already rather more costly than what you’d pay for VanMoof’s earlier era e-bikes — the VanMoof S3 / X3 — when launched for a moderately exceptional value of $1,998 / €1,998 again in 2020.

Look, every thing is dearer in 2023, e-bikes included. However by way of worth for cash, the $4,000 VanMoof S5 must be twice pretty much as good because the $2,000 S3, proper? In any other case the newest flagship e-bike from this former funding darling is perhaps useless on arrival. 

If solely it was that easy.

Though the S5 and A5 pedal-assisted e-bikes nonetheless appear like VanMoofs with that prolonged high tube capped by entrance and hind lights, every thing from the body right down to the chips and sensors have been reengineered. The corporate says that solely a “handful of components” had been carried over from the earlier fashions. 

Listed here are a few of the most notable adjustments:

• New LED Halo Ring visible interfaces flanking each grips.
• An built-in SP Join cellphone mount (you present the case) with USB-C charging port.
• New nearly utterly silent Gen 5 front-hub motor with torque sensor and three-speed automated e-shifter (the S3 / X3 had four-speed e-shifters).
• New multi-function buttons have been added under the bell (subsequent to left grip) and enhance (subsequent to proper grip) buttons.
• The enhance button now provides extra oomph with torque rising to 68Nm from 59Nm.
• The S5 body which has been criticized for being too tall has been lowered by 5cm (2 inches) to higher accommodate riders as tall as 165cm (5 ft, 5 inches), whereas the A5 caters to riders as tall as 155cm (5 ft, 1 inch) and permits for a neater step-through than the X3 it supersedes.

These be part of a really lengthy listing of ordinary options discovered on VanMoof e-bikes like a properly designed and helpful app, built-in Kick Lock on the rear wheel, baked in Apple Discover My assist, hydraulic disc brakes, muscular metropolis tires, brilliant built-in lights, mudguards, and a sturdy kickstand. And since it’s VanMoof, you can even subscribe to 3 years of theft safety ($398 / €348) with assured restoration or alternative inside two weeks, and three years of upkeep ($348 / €298) in choose cities.

I picked up my darkish grey (additionally accessible in mild grey) VanMoof S5 loaner in late March however I bumped into a couple of points that delayed this assessment. These included intermittent connectivity failures between the app and bike, a Kick Lock that didn’t all the time disengage, and an alarm that will briefly set off for no obvious purpose. These points had been all corrected by an over-the-air firmware (v1.20) replace launched in mid-April earlier than I may even report them again to VanMoof assist.

I’ve combined feelings about this. In March the S5 and A5 began delivery in amount — albeit, eight months late — so that you’d assume they’d have had time to type out any points in VanMoof’s new testing labs. That’s annoying given VanMoof’s historical past of preliminary high quality points and assurances supplied by the corporate that they wouldn’t be repeated. Then once more, premium e-bikes from corporations like VanMoof are more and more advanced machines, and seeing the corporate remedy points so rapidly is commendable.

One subject that hasn’t been mounted is idle battery drain, however VanMoof tells me {that a} firmware replace is coming to unravel it in “two weeks” time. In my case, the problem induced the idle S5’s battery to empty from 86 p.c to 65 p.c over a interval of 10 days. I usually lose about two p.c cost every day whether or not I trip it or not.

Oh, and since I’ve put in a number of firmware updates within the final month (I’m at present at v1.2.4), I would like to say this: the S5 performs a jaunty little tune the complete time the firmware is being put in. It was cute at first, my daughter even provided slightly dance to go along with it. Nevertheless it takes 5 to 10 minutes, and after the primary time you hear it, it’s simply annoying and there’s no method to flip it off. 

Concerning new options, the Halo Rings subsequent to every grip are essentially the most seen change from earlier VanMoofs. At the least till you hit daylight and people weak LEDs washout nearly utterly. The Halo Rings are supposed to present pace, cost remaining, present pedal-assist energy degree, and extra via a collection of sunshine bars and animations. General they’re fantastic, if gimmicky, however I don’t have a lot of a necessity for standing data when bicycling. I additionally didn’t miss the previous top-tube matrix show.

Driving a 23kg / 50.7lbs VanMoof S5 looks like an S3 albeit with fewer shifts and a lift button that gives extra torque when making an attempt to move somebody or get an early bounce off the road. The fifth era 250W motor of VanMoof design is totally quiet, even at its high pace of 25km/h in Europe (which will increase to 20mph within the US). And the brand new three-speed e-shifter does a greater job of precisely discovering the proper gear than the S3’s four-speed e-shifter did. I nonetheless felt a couple of clinks and spinning pedals, particularly when mashing down laborious on the cranks when in a rush. However total the S5’s predictive shifting is way improved, particularly when rolling alongside at an informal tempo. Nonetheless, it’s not as clean as the automated shifters from Enviolo, for instance, so there’s nonetheless work to be accomplished.

It’s a disgrace VanMoof doesn’t provide a easy belt-drive possibility for its e-bikes. That coupled with the S5’s torquey enhance button would obviate the necessity for any gears when using in all however essentially the most hilly environments. That’s why I’m an enormous fan of the premium belt-driven pedal-assist e-bikes bought by Ampler and Cowboy. They value lower than the S5 however are additionally extra enjoyable to trip because of their lighter entrance ends (each manufacturers use rear-hub motors).

As to vary, VanMoof says I ought to be capable of get 60km on full energy mode. Nonetheless, I used to be solely capable of eke out 48.6km (30.2 miles) from the S5’s 487Wh battery when using in full energy mode and ceaselessly urgent the enhance button, in temperatures that ranged from freezing to 15C (59F). That’s about the identical vary I received when testing the VanMoof S3 — 47 km (29.2 miles) — and its larger 504Wh battery. The difficulty that at present causes the battery to lose power in a single day actually didn’t assist my vary. The battery could be charged from zero to one hundred pc in a really gradual 6 hours and half-hour by way of the included charger.

I had been questioning how VanMoof would use the brand new multifunction buttons positioned just under the bell and enhance buttons. The small button on the proper (under the enhance) let’s you alter your motor energy on the fly, whereas the one on the left (under the bell) makes your lights flash, as some sort of warning to folks round you. Each of those options tick containers on advertising and marketing sheets however aren’t very helpful in on a regular basis utilization.

And since it is a VanMoof, the battery is built-in and might solely be eliminated throughout upkeep. The corporate does have a brand new “click-on” model (no velcro!) of its prolonged battery coming for the S5 and A5 which you can cost inside the house.

I’ve had a nagging concern about VanMoof e-bikes for the previous couple of years that I even talked about in the S3 assessment. Are they getting too advanced for their very own good? 

Electrical bikes — particularly commuter e-bikes just like the S5 — are subjected to day by day put on and tear in all types of climate circumstances. Even primary bikes are troublesome to take care of when used on a regular basis and VanMoof’s e-bikes are costly rolling computer systems. 

Actually, I may do with out the flamboyant automated chain-driven three-speed shifter, superfluous multifunction buttons, programmable digital bell, Halo Ring interface, Apple monitoring, and perky sounds for startup, shutdown, and firmware updates. Give me one gear and a maintenance-free belt drive alongside that torquey enhance button on a pedal-assisted e-bike that can get me backwards and forwards to my workplace day by day, it doesn’t matter what, in type and with out fail. However that’s not the S5.

Don’t get me improper, the VanMoof S5 is an excellent electrical bike with an extended characteristic listing than another e-bike I can identify. It additionally has among the finest networks of service hubs accessible in cities around the globe. That’s vital as a result of most S5 / A5 components are solely accessible from VanMoof so ensure you have a service middle close by for those who’re excited about shopping for.

VanMoof for all its early covid successes bumped into monetary points on the finish of 2022 when it was compelled to ask buyers for an emergency injection of capital simply to pay the payments. However your complete e-bike trade was struggling post-covid as gross sales plummeted and provide chains wobbled. Rivals like Cowboy and trade large Stella additionally needed to elevate money to deal with overstock after e-bike inventories swelled. 

Pretty much as good because the S5 is, the characteristic set is verging on gimmickry, in my view, maybe in an try to justify its new larger $3,998 / €3,498 price ticket. They’re cute, entertaining, and positive, a tad helpful at first. However many simply aren’t wanted for normal commuters. The S5 has too many darlings, and never sufficient killing.

For context on that value, the VanMoof S5 is at present $500 dearer than the comparable Cowboy 4 collection and $1,000 greater than the less complicated Ampler Axel. Seen in these phrases, VanMoof’s pricing appears about proper.

Is the S5 price it? I’ll go away that so that you can resolve on this unsure and inflationary world. Whereas it’s positively an enchancment over the S3, it’s not twice the bike.

All pictures by Thomas Ricker / The Verge