Triumph Motorcycles surprises with launch of its first electric bike

The British motorcycle company Triumph has just launched the company’s first electric bike – as in “bicycle.” The new e-bike is known as the Triumph Trekker GT.

Triumph Motorcycles is of course known more for its gas motorcycles, despite showing signs of life for an EV corner of the R&D department.

The company has actually been testing the waters regarding a potential electric motorcycle, but now it seems the first electric Triumph is a two-wheeler of a different variety.

The Triumph Trekker GT was just unveiled today as a road-oriented commuter e-bike. Its hydroformed 6061 aluminum frame houses an integrated and lockable battery, hiding the most common giveaway on e-bikes: a giant battery bolted to the frame.

Power comes from a Shimano E6100 mid-drive motor putting out 250 “nominal” watts, but widely known to peak somewhere above 500 W.

The integrated battery is a Shimano E8035 model with 504 Wh of capacity. Triumph rates the Trekker GT for 150 km (93 miles) of range on a single charge, but that’s in the lowest power mode under ideal conditions.

I rocked a similar Shimano mid-drive and battery setup and found that I could get close to that range in the lowest power mode, but that I wound up in medium power more often to save my legs some effort.

Expect closer to 50-75% of the published range on medium levels of pedal assist in real world conditions.

The hardtail Triumph Trekker GT gets a RockShox Paragon fork upfront with 65 mm of suspension travel and rolls on Schwalbe Energizer Green Guard 27.5 x 2.0 tires.

The Trekker GT also includes a set of Shimano Deore M600 hydraulic disc brakes, LED lighting, a set of full-length fenders, kickstand, pannier rack, ABUS Proshield rear wheel lock, and a Selle Royal Vivo saddle.

The nice combination of components and the Shimano drive system end up boosting the price to a rather tall £2,950 including VAT, or about US$3,700.

The Triumph Trekker GT is now available in the UK, EU (except for Germany and Austria) and the US. Availability in Asia is “still to be defined.”

Electrek’s Take

As an electric bike, it’s actually pretty nice. The Trekker GT features a good combination of bike components and drive system (I’m definitely a fan of the Shimano STEPS system).

The price is a bit rich for my blood, but then again I’m a millennial that stares at e-bikes all day professionally, and so perhaps it takes a lot to impress me at this point.

For someone who wants a sturdy, dependable e-bike, this could be a good option. At this price, I would have loved to see a belt drive and internally geared hub to add to the low maintenance of the brakes and powertrain. The Shimano Deore drivetrain is still of good quality and decently high up the Shimano parts hierarchy, but I’ve been spoiled by belt drives and IGHs too much as it is.

I still have one question though: Who makes this bike? Triumph isn’t mentioning any brand partnerships, which is a common way for automotive and motorcycle companies to get into the e-bike scene.

Some auto companies have actually produced their own original electric bicycles, but that hasn’t always ended well. There’s a significant investment involved in designing an e-bike from scratch.

If anyone recognizes the Trekker GT e-bike or its OEM, please let me know in the comments!