Review of the A2B Metro electric bicycle

Photo by David Herron

This review of the A2B Metro bicycle is the first part of three articles making a head-head comparison of two high end electric bicycles.  (part 2 Review of the E+ Motion Systems Elite electric bicycle) The A2B bicycle has been on the market for a couple years and established a reputation for ruggedness.  The big beefy tires, the oversized frame, the suspension, the unique shape, all speak of ruggedness.  Additionally with a powerful 500 watt electric motor it has the potential for climbing serious hills.  The combination would tend to make it suitable for off-road riding but the name, Metro, speaks of city use.  The ruggedness can handle pothole filled roads as well as gravel paved hiking trails.   This bike does not disappoint.

Riding the A2B is very simple, turn on the drive system and start pedaling and twist the throttle when you want to go faster.  Acceleration is strong and the top speed is very good.  There is no speedometer but it felt like the rated 20 miles/hr.  The A2B has only a throttle to control power unlike some other electric bicycles that detect when the rider pedals and automatically adds assist.  Ultra Motor also sells the A2B Hybrid with a less beefy frame which has a pedal assist system rather than a throttle.

The bike is ruggedly built with a beefy frame and steep suspension.  The frame beefiness is partly because the battery and controller are buried inside.  The dual suspension system allows for huge movement of the wheels that will smooth out the most rugged terrain.  The 3" wide tires, too, would make for a solid footing on the terrain though they are definitely street tires rather than knobby ones you'd take for serious off-road riding.  The wheels are alexrims DX32, intended by alexrims for downhill racing.  Finally it has disk brakes front and rear.

Testing involved both around town riding and a trip to a local park with hiking trails and a big hill.  The A2B easily handled every bit of urban ruggedness available from bumpy roads to riding off curbs.  It quickly accelerates to speed and maintains the speed very well.  The throttle is a comfortable half-twist style where the active throttle part is the inner half which one can easily twist with the thumb end of your hand.  There is a short pause between twisting the throttle and response in the motor, this is disconcerting and we prefer a more responsive throttle.  At low speed there is an almost annoying growling sound coming from the motor that fortunately disappears pretty quickly.  The brakes give great stopping power, essential for a high speed bicycle.

Taking it on the hiking trail fully satisfied expectations.  The hill in question has a spiral going around to the top and it zoomed right up.  Despite being a gravel trail handling was very good.  Riding back downhill the brakes did a great job moderating speed.  It easily handled all the trails and felt very much at home.  A second, unpowered (no throttle), climb of the hill was fairly easy and, of course, required low gear. 

The A2B is easy to ride unpowered (or zero throttle) which has an interesting effect to lessen range anxiety and allow the rider to extend total range.  The more the rider does so unassisted the longer the total range, and the less anxiety there is over running out of power.

It is a fairly heavy bike weighing in at 72 lbs, quite a bit of that being the motor in the rear wheel (20 lbs for motor and wheel).  One doesn't notice the weight while riding, even unpowered (no throttle), making it feasible to ride unpowered (no throttle) depending on your preference.  The weight will make it more difficult to lift onboard a train or bus, tending to limit commute use to a direct-to-destination trips rather than multimodal trips combining mass transit. 

Behind the seat is a beam which one would think is a luggage rack.  Instead the rack is designed to hold an A2B specific proprietary secondary battery pack, not for luggage.  The keyswitch has A and B settings, selecting which battery pack to use.  The A battery is built into the frame, while the B battery can be slid onto the rear.  If the main battery runs low, reach down flip the switch and you're on a fresh battery, which you can think of as a "reserve tank".  Because the B battery is removable you can leave it off for shorter rides.  The Ultra Motor website does discuss some "accessories" which will be available "soon", and at the Interbike trade show last fall they were demonstrating some luggage accessories, but those are not listed on their website.  The result is that, like many bicycles, the only cargo one can carry is whatever fits in the backpack.  Instead of the flexibility to carry cargo it has the flexibility of extra range by adding a secondary battery pack.

The A2B Metro is a marvelous electric bicycle.  Sturdy and powerful it is equally at home in city and rural environments.  The test bicycle was furnished by ELV Motors of Santa Clara.

• Maximum road speed under power – 20 mph
• Up to 20 miles* unassisted range (extendable to 40 miles**)
• Battery chemistry: lithium ion
• Nominal voltage: 36 volts
• Continuous power output: 500W
• Real-time state-of-charge indicator
• Frame: TIG welded 6061 aluminum
• Suspension (front): Ultra Motor shock-absorbing front fork (80mm travel)
• Suspension (rear): Ultra Motor shock-absorbing swing arm (30mm travel)
• Tires: 20 x 3.0 Kenda Kraze
• Gears: Shimano Alivio Derailleur with 7-speed twist shift
• Brakes (front and rear): Avid BB5 disc brakes
• Saddle: oversized Ultra Motor comfort saddle
• Weight of A2B Metro with battery: 72lbs
• MSRP: $2699 USD

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