For many, their passion for sports cars and supercars bleeds into a love for bicycles. It’s the reason that so many automakers also make bikes. Now, McLaren has decided to enter the fray and it’s doing so with a full lineup that includes two power levels, a hardtail, and a full squish (full suspension for you non-riders). Interested parties just need to be ready to open up their pocketbooks. The entry-level price is US$ 7,950.
Dubbed the Sport and the Extreme, these
two models cover what just about any e-bike shopper could want. Each one comes
standard with a carbon fiber frame and a set of custom handlebars that
incorporate a digital display. The frame also has integrated LED lighting for
riding in less-than-ideal lighting conditions. According to McLaren, it spent
over 1,000 hours to design the frame itself.
That’s right, this is a fully in-house
product. The motor comes with two different power levels. The base model,
dubbed 250 for both the Sport and Extreme, makes 121 Nm (89 lb-ft) of torque
and 250 watts of power. It leverages a 12-speed SRAM drivetrain, a 36-volt 15
AH battery, and Pirelli Scorpion Enduro tires. The shocks for both bikes come
from RockShox.
The upper trim includes a 48-volt 14.5 AH
battery, a 600-watt motor, and up to 161 Nm (118 lb-ft) of torque. Unsurprisingly,
it’s called the 600. These bikes also have various power modes including Off,
Eco, Trail, Sport, and Race. The 600 versions can deliver up to 852 watts and a
speed of up to 20 mph. That might not sound like much but consider this. The
average power of a professional cyclist is a little south of 500 watts. These
stats make the 600 versions of the Sport and Extreme the most powerful street
and trail-legal ebikes ever made. That said, they’re going to be available in
the USA.
The Sport 250 kicks things off at a cool US$ 7,950, with its bigger brother, the Sport 600, rolling in at US$ 8,950. The
Extreme line demands a bit more respect, with the 250 starting at US$ 10,950 and
the 600 nudging the needle to US$ 11,950. For those unfamiliar, they might seem
exorbitantly priced. However, you might be surprised to learn that these prices
are actually in line with many higher-end ebikes in the market.