Stealth F37
The Stealth F37
Chuck Hildreth
Voltaire Cycles of Central Oregon
Over a year ago I wrote about the Stealth P7R. Since then Ive graduated to riding a Stealth F37.
For those of us whom are comfortable with mountain bike geometry’s the F37 provides a middle ground for those seeking something closer to Powersports. The F37 comes with a weight price of 105 pounds in which the 75 pound P7R handles much more like a mountain bike. The F37 is still much lighter than a dirt bike and hence much nimbler than the traditional dirt bike.
The 3800 watt hub is sufficient for most hill terrain that I ride out my back door. It’s power band seems to start around the 14 mile an hour area which is fairly high on my cadence in the low pedal gear. For tight, windy, steep hill, single track, the hub struggles with the lower speed to maintain the trail and significantly uses up energy. There is low and high pedal gearing actuated by your heal on the crank arm. In high gear my cadence sits in the 22 to 25 mph zone.
On my last ride I was out 2 hours and I depleted the battery close to 30 percent at just under 25 miles. I was mindful of the energy consumption. Most of the terrain is single track in which I achieved an elevation gain of close to 3000 feet. The range performance is slightly less compared with the likes of E Mountain Bikes equipped with the common Bosch, Yamaha, Shimano, and Brose power-plants that I’ve taken out on the same course. The climb depletes the battery quicker on the Stealth. In contrast the Stealth easily outpaced all bikes I’ve ridden in this terrain. A downside to the Stealth F37 is peddling is really not an option without assistance. It better be downhill to get back if you completely deplete your battery.
Comparing the F37 to the likes of the Jeep and the other 1000 watt Bafang mid drives the range is exactly on par with the 700 to 800 watt hour set ups that come with the Jeep and others. The F37 pace can be significantly faster than the 1 KW mid drive power plants. While the likes of the Jeep is significantly heavier than the market leader E Mountain Bikes it in contrast to the F37 can be pedaled upon battery depletion.
Until higher powered mid drive options become more common the Stealth F37 and B52 hold an apex niche in the high powered electric mountain bike channel.