The Stromer ST3 Pinion is primarily marketed as a healthy and environmentally conscious alternative to the daily car ride to the office. But it offers so much more fun....
Text and photography: Gerben Bijpost
Of course, anyone buying a bike that, in the case of our test bike, costs just over 10 grand, is probably not doing so purely for fun. Hence, commuters are seen as the target group for this kind of speed pedelecs. Rightly so, because for those who are not afraid of any rain, this ST3 Pinion offers the perfect alternative for daily rides to work, even if that is a considerable distance. After all, at the speed of 45km/h, for which this bike offers support, you'll be there in no time.
But we actually already knew that. Hence, we asked Stromer if we could not try the bike for a while in an area where you encounter everything but office buildings. It became the Haute-Saône, a French region reminiscent of Italian Tuscany, but without the cypress trees. A beautiful rolling landscape, where every hilltop surprises you with new views, ancient mountain villages, waving cornfields, castles, green meadows, lakes and dark primeval forests.
The nice thing about this part of France west of the Vosges Mountains is that nobody knows it. Not even the French. As a result, you can wander along endless winding roads and sometimes meet no one for hours at a time. In short, a wonderful place for lovers of a nice bike ride.
In his element
And you will see them here very rarely, cyclists, alone or in small groups, with inflated calves stamping on the pedals of their slender lightweight two-wheelers. But speed pedelecs... you won't find any here. Although it is also, or even especially, such a perfect setting for this Stromer. Why? First of all because of its stable roadholding and thick Pirelli tyres, which make it almost impervious to the irregularities you regularly encounter in the road surface here. Especially when, as with our tester, the bike is also fitted with a suspension fork (€ 990) and ditto saddle (€ 245).
But of course mainly because of the impressive high-tech that these with Swiss precision built ST3 has Pinion on board. And especially the combination of Pinion gearing and ABS, two options that together add some €1680 to the price of the 'bare' ST3, but certainly come into their own perfectly in this landscape. Indeed, that Pinion 9-speed gearbox comes from motorcycle/car technology and offers a completely new experience for bikes, by enabling smooth shifting at all times. So when you pedal and stop pedalling, but also when you stand still.
Effortless
Useful? Yes indeed, because cruising through a beautiful landscape like this, you sometimes want to stop and dismount to enjoy the view for a while. How ideal it is then when, while getting back on, you can select a lower gear to effortlessly get going from standstill up that treacherously steep hill. And you can count on this being effortless, thanks to the 820W, 44Nm strong motor in the rear hub, powered by the 814Wh strong battery (good for 150km).
Conversely, as you race down a hill at high speed, you discover the safe pleasure of hydraulic disc brakes (calipers with 4 pistons at the front and 2 at the rear) plús ABS on the front wheels, which prevents an emergency stop -an unexpected deer or wild boar sometimes crosses here- from causing the rear wheel to come off the ground and you lose control.
High-tech everywhere
Not to mention things like its maintenance-free Gates belt drive, GPS tracking, dedicated Stromer app for full connectivity, individually customisable bike settings, removable battery and automatic locking via Bluetooth...
In short, this is a bike that will definitely put a broad smile under your bike helmet when you use it for your daily commute. But don't forget to also take it out for a day of cruising on quiet country roads. A finer way to discover new roads is hard to imagine.
The Stromer ST3 costs from €7290. With Pinion gearing from €8118. More info: www.stromerbike.com
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