Unlike the Nakamura E-Fit 50, the E-Fit 150 does not just have a rear hub motor and benefits from a central motor, much more pleasant to use. The assistance is thus more natural and responsive, directly helping pedaling and delivering torque proportional to the pressure exerted on the pedals thanks to a force sensor. In other words, the harder we press on them, the more the motor helps us to pedal.
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Here you can choose between 4 levels of assistance. From the first, you get a good boost at startup, but you have to press hard enough to get help as soon as you pick up speed. Conversely, mode 4 provides maximum assistance without the need to force. The difference in assistance when switching from one mode to another is not very noticeable, however. Since the bike always starts in mode 1, we will often only change it when climbing slopes, or to ride at a brisk pace without needing to strain our legs a lot.
Speaking of speed, we observed on our test model (new) that the assistance remained strangely active up to 27.5 km / h on the odometer. A very real speed that we were able to verify using a smartphone application and a bicycle GPS. However, European legislation imposes a cut-off of assistance beyond 25 km / h. The E-Fit 150 being well approved, it is surprising to see Nakamura take so much freedom on this point.
Still, the assistance of the Naka E-Power engine from Nakamura – probably a 60Nm version of the Chinese engine Ananda M80 BBTR – is both coupleuse and gentle. You can feel it start and stop with a slight delay, but you maintain a natural pedaling, without having the impression of being constantly propelled by the engine. We approach here a Bosch Active Line Plus motor in terms of feeling and the same goes for noise pollution. The engine gets along, but remains discreet. It does not brake either when it comes to driving beyond the speed at which the assistance brings us, allowing to drive without great effort up to 30 km / h on flat road, despite the 24 kg of the bike (for our copy in size L).
The Shimano Altus 7-speed drivetrain (14 to 28 tooth sprockets and 44 tooth chainring) offers sufficient development range not to struggle too much uphill and avoid spinning if you want to roll fast enough downhill. Entry level requires, however, do not expect a very fast or very smooth shifting. We will avoid pressing too hard on the pedals by changing the gear so as not to prematurely wear out the chain and cassette, already subjected to severe testing on electrically assisted bicycles with central motor.
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The assistance is controlled via the “+” and “-” buttons of the small control attached to the side of the left handle. It is also on this command that you can force the lighting of the headlights, automatic by default, by keeping a dedicated button pressed for a few seconds. There is also a button to activate the walking mode, thanks to which the motor alone drives the bike up to 6 km / h.
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Finally, a last button is used to switch off the bike (long press) or to switch from one display mode to another on the on-board computer (short press). In addition to the time display, it also unfortunately lacks the estimate of the number of kilometers that can be traveled depending on the remaining battery level. You therefore have to be content with a 5-segment battery gauge and already have a first idea of the range of the bike depending on the assistance mode used.
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When it comes to braking, the Shimano MT201 160 mm disc hydraulic system is quite effective once the discs and pads have been broken in. The bite is not extraordinary, but the progressiveness is appreciable and you can brake hard enough as long as you press the brake levers. Launched at 26 km / h, the cumulative 110 kg (bike, cyclist and equipment) can be stopped in just 4 meters during emergency braking on a dry road, the bike remaining fairly stable. There is no doubt that the result would have been better with wider and more gripping tires.
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