Leitner Ultimate Mid-Step

Leitner Ultimate mid-step e-bike - light, good to ride and affordable – After some months of looking at virtually every e-bike on the market, I eventually decided that the Leitner Ultimate mid-step fulfilled the majority of what I wanted. One of the factors that influenced that decision was that many e-bikes are incredibly heavy, often 26 kg plus, are simply awful to ride and badly balanced. The Ultimate is around 17kg and, apart from being a bit tail heavy ( the motor is in the back wheel), basically it feels like a regular bike. The finish is excellent and, although much of the running gear is mid market (e.g. Tektro mechanical disc-brakes) every thing works very well. Unlike many e-bikes, the Ultimate is equipped with quite narrow tyres (700c x 38mm) which certainly means it does run easily and smoothly. One of the most interesting features of the bike is that the battery is located in the down tube so the Ultimate can easily pass as a conventional bicycle. The battery certainly provides plenty of power, although setting number 1 doesn’t seem to assist, number 2 is helpful but when 3, 4 or 5 are used, the power is amazing.

PURCHASING. You can only purchase the bike on line which does present some problems. Firstly, although Leitner’s advertising material provides quite a lot of information, particularly details regarding bike dimensions, rider height etc, you can’t actually see the bike in the flesh. It also comes in a box, although pretty much assembled and all the tools needed are provided. The manual included is excellent, far better than any I have seen with clear information regarding assembly, charging and general maintenance. If you haven’t got a torque wrench, you would be wise to get one! However, if you have limited skills regarding bike maintenance etc Leitner suggest you take it to a bike shop. Possibly the only thing I don’t like about the bike is that the LCD display is very small and the power assist figures (1-5) are microscopic. This unit also has the power up and down buttons which are also fairly small, although they work well when you get used to them. Let’s face it, no manufactured item is always perfect. In this case, I noticed a problem with the way the fork was fitted. After contacting Leitner, they arranged to have the fork inspected at a local bike shop who rectified the problem, all at no charge to me. There was no hassle, any communication with the company, by e-mail or phone was answered promptly, courteously and positively. In fact I have never found staff anywhere who are as helpful and understanding as the staff I dealt with at Leitner VALUE FOR MONEY. I guess this was my second criteria in purchasing this bike ( second, perhaps should have been first) but the only e- bike I found which was light (approximately 14 kg) was also more than double the price of the Ultimate - better running gear but………. Overall a great product, good backup and great to ride!