The alloy framed Storck Raddar Multitask is based around Storck’s excellent city bike platform.
The frame is as beautifully put together as we’ve come to expect from Storck. Fitted with wheels based around Mavic A317 700c disc rims and big volume Schwalbe Big Apple tyres, it's capable of hitting the paths and trails as well as the commuting roads. The Multitask comes fully equipped with dynamo lights, full mudguards and a rear rack.
The advantage of the Multitask over its rivals is that its actually based around a damn good bike. The Multitask handles brilliantly, it rolls like a lightweight 29er and the low rise bar gives predictable but nimble handling. The drivetrain is all from Shimano’s Deore group including disc brakes.
The Raddar system features a Swiss built electric motor built into the rear hub that provides 60nm of torque. The usual e-bike regulations apply, limiting assistance up to a maximum speed of 24.9kph (15mph). Run the system as a pedelec - where you have to pedal in order to get motorised assistance - rather than an e-bike and that rises to a healthy 40kph.
Where Storck have got the Raddar system right is in the way it delivers the assistance. Rather than being a thump of off-on assistance we’ve seen on cheaper e-bikes the Raddar feeds in the power on a curve. It’s a feeling akin to being pushed from behind up to cruising speed.
The knack of riding an e-bike is to let the bike do the work, approach it like you would on a normal bike. If you’re a cyclist, it's easy to achieve the cut-off so rather than being swiftly assisted, you're more likely to be constantly jumping past the cut-off, meaning you're hauling a heavy bike around. Better to drop down to a slower cadence and let the bike do the work.
The strength of the Raddar system is a real bonus, we tested the Multitask with fully laden panniers, towing a child trailer and child and it still pulled at a decent pace. The range was impressive too. We managed around 90km before the battery needed a full recharge (aided by the regen under braking).
The Raddar system is also essentially an add-on to a great bike, so if we were living with the Multitask long term we would certainly buy a replacement standard rear wheel. That would give an easy commuter, shopper or school run bike during the week and whip the battery off and switch the rear wheel and you’ve an extremely capable bike for the weekend.
