Commute-focused and urban electric bikes have evolved quite a bit in recent years. Having borrowed traits from their sporty cousins, i.e., road and mountain bikes, commuter bikes are a lot more ergonomically optimized, performance-oriented, and efficient than ever before. This is especially true when it comes to the latest crop of electric bikes in the market, one of which is the Gravital Naked SL 4.
A product of Crow Bicycles, the Gravital Naked SL 4, as its name suggests, is a naked bike—meaning it’s stripped of any non-essentials when it comes to providing a no-frills urban riding experience. With a price tag of $3,670, it’s by no means a budget-friendly option, but there are several reasons why this bike may just be worth that hefty price tag. Perhaps the biggest reason is that thing sitting in the bike’s downtube, a Fazua Drivepack.
Now, Fazua has made quite a name for itself in the e-bike scene despite being a relatively newer player to the game versus the likes of Bosch and Shimano. What sets the Fazua Drivepack apart is its compact construction wherein the motor and battery are all built into one assembly housed on the bike’s downtube. It makes use of a special bottom bracket to drive the cranks, and when switched off provides zero pedal drag, allowing you to operate your e-bike like a non-e-bike. As for sheer performance figures, the Drivepack in the Gravital Naked SL 4 is tuned to churn out 58 Nm of torque and return a claimed range of 75 miles on a single charge.
As for the other parts of the Gravital Naked SL 4, Crow Bicycles has turned to none other than Shimano for the bike’s underpinnings. It’s packing a nine-speed drivetrain with an 11-49T cassette, and hydraulic brakes to confidently bring this e-bike to a stop. It also packs some premium components like Schwalbe Kojak tires, handlebars, grips, a stem, and seatpost from Ritchey, as well as a carbon-fiber fork manufactured in-house by Crow.
