Ridley's Kanzo E Is a Gravel-Eating Machine With an Electric Kick and Solid Gear

Ladies and gents, Ridley is a bicycle manufacturer from Belgium that initially saw its roots being established back in 1997. Since then, through relentless R&D, this team has grown to be seen alongside bikes like Trek, Giant, Bianchi, and a few others; yes, they place racers on podiums. Since most of their focus is on bikes that rarely leave the ground, I decided to look at the one and only electric bicycle they have for the U.S. market.

Now, Kanzo E is an aluminum bike, but it seems like Ridley has poured all their knowledge into it. One thing I rather enjoyed about the tube shaping is the way it appears to be infused with quite the road bike heritage, pretty self-explanatory considering Ridley's history. Overall, the frame is completed from aluminum, while the fork legs are carbon.

Aluminum is not an issue at all, as once Ridley is done shaping each bike into its respective size, it ends up boasting a weight of 2,112 gr(4.66 lbs) for a medium-sized frame. Add an extra 753 gr (1.66 lbs) of fork weight and 2,865 gr (6.32 lbs) is all you're faced with, just the frameset, of course.

To help you get an idea of what you're looking at and how it may feel between your legs, the medium frame features a head tube angle of 71 degrees, a seat tube angle of 73 degrees, and a reach of 386 mm (15.2 in). Your stack measures 584 mm (23 in).

Since this machine is technically an e-bike, we must look at who or what may be assisting your travels. You may have heard me mention a crew known as Fazua. If you have, it simply means that you're keeping up with autoevolution or are up to date with e-bike systems.

Integrated into the downtube of Kanzo, Ridley has included the Evation drive system. Just to bring you up to date with this drivetrain, most of the system is self-contained in the "drivepack," including a removable motor and battery pack. The only component of the system that is never removed is the special Fazua bottom bracket (BB).

While the motor cranks out 250 watts of power, 60 Nm (44.24 lb-ft) of torque, and is fueled by a 252 Wh battery, once you're out of juice, you can simply remove the battery and motor pack and keep on riding; the BB is unaffected and will perform like a typical gravel bike.

The rest of the drivetrain is furnished by SRAM and includes the Rival setup with 1x11 speeds. This consists of the PG-1130 cassette with 11-42T, rear derailleur, shifters, and brakes. Speaking of brakes, the max rotor size applicable to this bike is 160 mm (6.3 in).

Finally, we can look at a few of the features that help complete the bike. First off are the tires. Ridley is dropping a pair of Vittoria Terreno Dry tires with 700x38c dimensions. It also looks like you add a pair of fenders to this machine; it should be an excellent addition for keeping things clean.

As for the question on everyone's mind, you're being asked to pay 4,319 EUR (4,659 USD at current exchange rates) to own a Kanzo E. While that may sound like quite a pretty penny, at the end of the day, if you're into gravel biking with a kick, this e-bike is one to consider.