Elian Cycles set themselves apart in the cargo bike world with their unique, high-performance Classic Cargo featuring an in-house hub steering concept. Now working with Swiss cargo specialists Obst&Gemüse celebrating a 10th anniversary, Elian redeveloped the classic into the Ultimate e-Cargo, a bike that mixes their lightweight steel space frame with an e-bike motor assist and more tire clearance to leave tarmac behind.
Obst&Gemüse + Elian Cycles Ultimate e-Cargo bike
It’s hard to argue a better application for an e-bike motor assist than in a cargo bike that will be hauling around some heavy freight. And with Obst&Gemüse based in Basel, Switzerland at the base of the Jura Mountains, 95% of the bikes they sell come with an electric motor to conquer the hilly terrain.
So the limited edition Elian Cycles + O&G Ultimate e-Cargo bike was developed as a premium car killer. It is a totally custom bike, made by hand in The Netherlands. With that comes a hefty pricetag – 13,000 Swiss Francs to be precise (~ $13,000 or 11,500€).
But if you are talking about offsetting the need for a car, especially in pricey Switzerland, maybe that becomes more palatable.
Elian Ultimate e-Cargo – tech details
What does 13,000 Francs get you? A fully custom-sized, made-to-order cargo bike frameset TIG welded & fillet brazed from lightweight steel tubing with a large, low load platform and clearance for up to a 45mm tire on the 27.5″ rear wheel (or 50mm+ on the 20″ front.)
That opens you up to riding pretty much any surface, whether you are hauling kids or groceries in or out of town.
At the heart of the Ultimate e-Cargo is the patented Elian Steering Hub, central hub steering system. Elian developed & builds the linkage-based steering setup in-house to provide smoother, more reliable handling control under load and when braking, also lowering weight over a conventional fork design.
The drive system is a Maxon MX25 Boost rear hub motor getting weight low and back to balance with the front load platform. Power is supplied from a seat tube mounted BX 500Wh battery pack for pedal-assist speeds of up to 25km/h.
The bike comes built up with a premium kit, including Chris King headset & BB, plus a full SRAM GX Eagle 1×12 drivetrain giving you a huge gear range to go with the e-bike assist. Cockpit is equally fancy, with Shimano Zee hydraulic brakes on ENVE carbon vars, stem & seatpost, plus a carbon structured Fabric Alm Ultimate saddle and Spurcycle’s excellent bell.
The limited edition e-bike is available exclusively through Obst&Gemuese in this matte army green powdercoat finish with brazed-on graphics. Just 20 of the Ultimate e-Cargos will ever be made, with O&G quoting a lead time of 8-12 weeks for production of the made-to-order cargo bike.
