Updated 28 Sep 2017
Smartmotion
Pacer GT
Bottom line: The SmartMotion Pacer GT is a good bike with an OK motor system. It is more suited to riding around town or commuting than on cycle trails.
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Test results
Overall score
Motor system
Bike style
Good points
- Good motor responsiveness.
- Excellent motor assistance at speed.
- Motor assists to 40km/h.
- OK display and controls.
- OK battery and charging.
- Bike is easy to pedal quickly.
- Bike has OK slow speed balance.
- Bike handles well on rough surfaces.
- Has rear rack, plastic mudguards and a rear-mount kickstand.
- Has built in lights.
- Has hydraulic disc brakes.
- Has a suspension fork.
But
- Just OK assistance climbing hills.
- Doesn't have a frame lock.
- Comes as a full frame only.
Extended review
Our testers had a love/hate relationship with the SmartMotion Pacer GT. As a high-speed, long-distance commuter, it was brilliant. It felt solid and stable at speed, the motor-assisted pedalling up to 40km/h and the ride position made it comfortable to pedal, the 522Wh battery was bigger than average, and we generally liked the continuously variable manual gears. However, climbing hills was a different story, where it felt underpowered, heavy and sluggish. Testers also thought the overdetailed display was poorly positioned on the frame top tube, and the harsh-feeling suspension fork with uncontrolled rebound did more harm to the ride than good.
How we test
Each e-bike was taken on a test route by two riders. The 5km route in and around Wellington’s CBD included city traffic, fast flat roads, hills, kerbs, wooden bridges and a busy waterfront path shared with pedestrians.
We also put the e-bikes through a gruelling 20km route around Wellington’s Wadestown and Northland suburbs. The main challenge was climbing a 2km-long hill five times at a steady 20km/h (a kilometre of vertical ascent) and descending the same twisty narrow road between climbs. It also included a short, steep section of rough path with a narrow barrier negotiated at walking pace, an undulating 5km of suburban streets, and a steep descent requiring brakes to keep the e-bike to the 50km/h speed limit.
Our riding tests, along with a static assessment of the features and functions of each e-bike, were used to score the performance of the motor system and the bike. Overall score includes:
Motor system (50% of overall score)
- starting, stopping and responsiveness (30% of motor system score)
- hill climbing assistance (30%)
- controller and display (20%)
- high-speed assistance (10%)
- battery and charging (10%).
Bike (50% of overall score)
- uphill and slow riding performance, ease of mounting and dismounting, off-bike handling (50% of bike score)
- downhill and fast flat riding stability, safety and comfort (30%)
- comfort and safety on bumpy and rough surfaces (20%).
