Sporty and electric, that's the Ridley E-ASTR, the new e-gravel bike from the Belgian brand

In the world of road and gravel cycling, e-bikes are still associated with touring and road models for those who either do not have the appropriate physical condition or do not have greater aspirations than spending a good morning pedaling. Ridley breaks with this image of electric bicycles with the second generation of its e-gravel, the E-ASTR, a premium performance bike with that extra assistance that makes your rides much more fun.

Push yourself and enjoy to the fullest with the new Ridley E-ASTR

Just one year after launching its sporty gravel bike ASTR RS, Ridley takes this as inspiration to create an e-gravel with similar characteristics in terms of performance and handling, qualities that can be taken much further thanks to the electric assistance provided by the lightweight TQ HPR40 motor.

This choice is not random, as the subtle and natural assistance provided by this motor, its lightness, and a size so small that you have to look closely to discover that you are facing an e-bike and not a conventional bike make this new Ridley E-ASTR a model with behavior like any other bike, more like a competitive bike but with that extra help when needed, practically unnoticed the rest of the time.

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A TQ HPR40 motor that is currently the best weight/torque ratio in its class, capable of providing 40 Nm, a modest figure compared to the powerful motors used in mountain bikes but more than enough to give us that extra boost with natural assistance without losing the feeling of riding a real bike. This figure is combined with the 1.2 kg weight of the motor and the 1.42 kg of its 290 Wh capacity battery. If this battery is not enough for our usual routes, we can install an external battery that provides an additional 160 Wh.

As we mentioned, Ridley's bet is to make this E-ASTR model practically indistinguishable, in terms of behavior, from its sister ASTR RS. To achieve this, the geometry of both bikes is identical with parameters that clearly show the sporty concept of this bike, such as a fairly tight steering angle, 71.5°, or chainstays of only 425 mm.

Ridley continues the trend in this E-ASTR of allowing the use of larger volume tires. In this case, 52 mm, which are already interesting in terms of comfort and rolling resistance in a conventional gravel bike, are even more so in an e-gravel, providing perfect support to the bike without the need to increase pressure to accommodate the extra weight of the electric system.

In summary, a bike that consciously opts for light electric assistance so that the cyclist remains the protagonist of the pedaling but at the same time has that subtle help that allows them to enjoy the best experience on the bike.