Here at Carbon Fiber Gear, we’re equal opportunity educators. We don’t care if the products are pretty, pretty awesome or the pinnacle of their respective industries. As long as carbon fiber is featured in a positive light, we want to be the ones to tell you about it. That’s why we’ve gone from covering the do-it-yourself, carbon fiber E-bike frame kit to Leaos’s all-inclusive $8,500 solar-powered, carbon fiber-framed E-bike.
“We wanted to create a very nice, clean E-bike that’s not just a design object, [but] a bicycle that you really can use everyday.”
This is how Armin Oberhollenzer, CEO of Leaos, introduces what he currently considers to be the “dream†of his company.
Handmade in Italy for budget-free city slickers, this E-bike was designed to be simple, sleek and sophisticated, a product worthy of Leaos’s passion for high design and fully capable of housing a series of complicated components — components that include a removable and rechargeable 11.6 Ah solar-powered battery, a NuVinci Harmony automatic transmission, Supernova front-and-rear LED lights and a high-tech digital display.
Carbon fiber was the perfect fit.
Its adaptability allowed them to create a linear, monocoque body that hides all the usual E-bike eyesores — including the chain — and adheres closely to the minimalist style often seen in modern museums and high-priced galleries. It’s reliability meant that it was more than okay to include in the entirety of the frame, the fork and the mudflap. And its reduced weight played a part in keeping the item light enough for lengthier trips — up to 56 to 68 miles on a single, sun-soaked battery charge, depending on the speed settings.
Other (non-carbon fiber related) features include milled CNC pedals, 26-inch Schwalbe “balloon†tires, a Selle San Marco leather saddle and disc brakes.
It ranges in size from 61 to 75 inches.
Three years in the making, Oberhollenzer and company set out to provide the “missing link†between mopeds and pedal bikes. By the looks of it, they’ve far exceeded their expectations.
Especially considering that they have another one on the way, the Leaos Solar, with integrated solar panels on either side for easier sunbathing.
All we have to do now is wait for them to wheel their wares on over to the U.S. of A. (Which is happening soon, according to Gizmag.)