I've long been a fan of electric mountain bikes. They don't just ease the burden of biking, but are a tool to let you go farther, and explore more of the world around you.
And in the immortal words of the late, great Ken Block, who I spoke to just before his passing, "If I can go twice as far with the same pedal, hell yeah, I would go twice as far with the electric bike." I echo his sentiments.
That said, I'd snag one of these Porsche Design e-mountain bikes just based on the color options alone. Hot damn, are these some sick-ass color combinations.
Porsche has been selling e-bikes for a minute now, with its latest being the Cross Performance EXC. It's an e-mountain bike co-developed with Porsche and Rotwild Bikes out of Dieberg, Germany, which is just north of Porsche's Zuffenhausen complex.
As you'd expect from the sports car manufacturer, as well as Rotwild, the bike features a lightweight, but incredibly strong carbon fiber frame and handlebars, a 630-watt battery sourced from Shimano, as well as a Shimano EP801 motor pumping out a max 85 nm of torque (62 lb-ft). Fox 34 Float forks are up front, while a Fox Float DPS damper is at the back.
Both are adjustable.
Magura brakes are both front and rear, with each offering 4-piston calipers to halt whatever momentum you have going downhill, and Crankbrothers supplied the telescopic seat post, its carbon wheels, and the handlebars.
To ensure everyone is using the right bike for their size, the Cross Performance EXC comes in three sizes; Small (27-inch wheels, with rider heights from 156–170 cm), Medium (29-inch wheels with heights from 168–182 cm), and Large (29-inch wheels supporting heights from 180–194 cm).
And then you get to the colors...
OK, so I'm partially color-blind. Yes, I can see colors, but I don't really see them like you and others do. More easily put, I see everything sort of desaturated and gray compared to others with normal eyesight. So when I'm presented with bright and bold colors, I'm naturally drawn to them as I can sorta see them better. Which is why I love Porsche's colorways for the Cross Performance EXC.
There are currently six colors to choose from, including sternrubin neo (pink), eisgraumetallic (silver metallic), oakgrünmetallic neo (forest green metallic), karminrot (red metallic), shadegreenmetallic (light green metallic), and sharkblue (blue). I'd personally pick the pink, forest green, or blue, but that's just me and my bad eyes. I do, however, wish I could get some of Porsche's other paint-to-sample colors, though, like the lime green seen on its GT cars. Or a hot orange.
Now, as you'd expect given such a collaboration and the parties involved, the Cross Performance EXC ain't cheap. It'll set you back $15,665. That might sound like a lot for the uninitiated, but most top-spec electric mountain bikes sporting similar tech and capabilities will set you back a similarly large sum.
So it's not out of the realm of reality. It might be for me, but I'm not everyone.
But which one would you get? And would you try, like me, to get Porsche to paint it some other color? Sound off in the comments below.
