BH iLynx Trail Carbon 2022 with proprietary motor first ride review – Undercover eBike?

In times where Light eMTBs are becoming increasingly popular, Spanish manufacturer BH has unveiled the iLynx Trail Carbon, which relies on a proprietary motor and breaks under the 20 kg barrier. At first glance, the iLynx could be easily mistaken for an analogue mountain bike, despite using a 540 Wh battery. But how did it fare on the trail?

BH is a Spanish bike manufacturer with over a century-long history that has been active in the racing scene since the early days of road cycling and lately also jumped between the tapes at mountain biking races. Last year, the historic Basque brand unveiled its lightweight iLynx Trail carbon eMTB, which offers 150 mm travel front and rear. When BH first introduced the iLynx, we’ve already provided you with our first impressions and now we’ve finally tested a rideable version of the €9,099 iLynx Trail carbon.

The proprietary motor of the BH iLynx Trail Carbon

For the iLynx Trail Carbon, BH dug deep into their box of tricks to develop their own motor, the BH2 EXMAG. This tilts the scales at 2,1 kg, churns out 65 Nm torque and draws its power from a 540 Wh that can be complemented by BH’s proprietary Xpro 180 Wh range extender. This weighs an extra 975 g, fits into the bottle cage of the iLynx and comes as standard with all Pro models in the iLynx range. With all other models, you’ll have to buy it separately for an additional € 349,90. With the full-Monty battery setup, the iLynx has a total capacity of 720 Wh, which should provide a very decent range in combination with the small motor. With the range extender installed, the BH iLynx Trail Carbon 2022 tilts the scales at just 20,4 kg.

At first glance, it’s hard to tell the electric nature of the BH iLynx Trail carbon, which, thanks to the slim downtube, could easily be mistaken for an analogue mountain bike with a futuristic water bottle. Speaking of which: while you can use a water bottle instead of the range extender, there’s only limited space in the main frame triangle, meaning that bigger water bottles need a bit of convincing to squeeze in, even on the Large frame.

The charge port is elegantly concealed inside the main pivot point on the swingarm while the motor is controlled by a minimalist remote with coloured LEDs on the handlebars. The iLynx forgoes a display altogether, which emphasises the stealth eMTB look of the bike but also makes it a little less intuitive to operate. However, once you get used to it and know which LED colour means what, this is no longer a problem. The remote is positioned at the end of the left grip and provides haptic feedback via vibrations in the buttons. This is definitely a cool little feature but doesn’t bring any benefits to the trail, because the vibrations are hardly perceivable. Moreover, the LEDs on our test bike have poor contrast and are rateher difficult to see. However, BH assured that they’ll improve readability on the production bike.

The BH2 EXMAG motor has a total of four support modes that can be adjusted using the app. The latter is rather basic but very functional, allowing you to adjust the strength of the support modes, acceleration factor and colour of the LEDs. By default, the four support modes are set to 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% respectively but can be adjusted freely and individually. Straight out of the box, the acceleration factor is set to 100% in all modes and can be changed between 30%, 60% and 100%. Moreover, there’s an automatic mode which is supposed to deliver the power more progressively but actually feels like the strongest support mode. There’s also a walk assist, but this shuts off regularly after just a few seconds, which makes it annoying to use – and totally pointless. If you feel totally lost without a display, you can connect the remote to your Garmin via ANT+.

All cables are routed internally and disappear into the frame through the head tube, ensuring a tidy cockpit, while a built-in knock stop prevents the bars from turning beyond 75° in both directions. More cool features are the seat clamp integrated in the frame and the mini tool hidden inside the steerer tube. Unfortunately, the latter was missing on our test bike, so we can’t tell you how well it’s integrated into the bike. While a chainstay protector is meant to prevent chainslap, this is rather short and led to visible paint chips on our test bike. However, a generous portion of mastic tape will solve the problem.

As a special feature, the iLynx relies on a Superboost rear end, which is supposed to improve stability. However, this is only used by a handful of manufacturers, which makes it harder to source spares. This can be a real pain and in our opinion the extra stiffness isn’t worth the hassle.

The spec of the BH iLynx Trail Carbon 2022 8.9

The BH iLynx Trail Carbon 8.9 comes equipped with a FOX Factory suspension consisting of a 36 FIT4 fork and the Float X shock, both controlling 150 mm travel. While the FIT4 damper is slightly lighter than its GRIP2 counterpart, it offers less adjustment options and inferior small bump sensitivity, which comes at the expense of trail performance. Shimano supply the four-piston XT brakes with 200 mm rotors front and rear. Due to the current stock shortage, our test bike came with two different rotors but the production bike will be delivered with high-end Ice-Tech rotors front and rear. Shifting is taken care of by a butter-smooth Shimano XTR drivetrain with a 34t chainring.

FOX also supply the 150 mm Transfer dropper post, which can be inserted all the way into the frame but is still too short for a modern trail bike in size L, thus restricting freedom of movement on the trail. For the wheels, the Spaniards rely on a Race Face Turbine alloy wheelset and MAXXIS tires, combining a 2.5″ DHF at the front and 2.4″ DHFII at the rear, both in the puncture-prone EXO+ casing and hard MaxxTerra rubber compound. We recommend upgrading the tires to a more robust model with tough DoubleDown casing at the rear and softer MaxxGrip rubber compound at the front as this combination does more justice to the character and intended use of the bike.

The geometry of the BH iLynx Trail Carbon 2022

The BH iLynx Trail Carbon 2022 is available in four sizes, S to XL. Our test bike in size L combines a conservative 475 mm reach and 440 mm long seat tube. The latter is pleasantly short and would ensure good freedom of movement if it weren’t for the short-travel dropper post.

size	S	M	L	XL
Top tube	582 mm	599 mm	624 mm	643 mm
Seat tube	400 mm	410 mm	440 mm	480 mm
Head tube	95 mm	100 mm	110 mm	125 mm
Head angle	66°	66°	66°	66°
Seat angle	75,5°	75,5°	75,5°	75,5°
BB Drop	339 mm	339 mm	339 mm	339 mm
Chainstay	451 mm	451 mm	451 mm	451 mm
Reach	427 mm	453 mm	473 mm	488 mm
Stack	609 mm	615 mm	624 mm	638 mm

The BH iLynx Trail Carbon 2022 on the trail

But enough with numbers, data and details and let’s get straight to the most important question: how does the iLynx perform on the trail? Will it put the Orbea Rise to shame? And what’s BH proprietary motor capable of? The first impression is very pleasant indeed. On level ground, the pedalling position is very comfortable and doesn’t put too much pressure on your hands. Going uphill, the iLynx is still comfortable and only on very steep climbs do you have to actively weight the front wheel to prevent it from lifting. The motor announces its presence with a faint humming noise that gets louder as the load increases, but still remains discreet in the background. The ride-feel of the motor isn’t the most natural and the motor tune in particular still leaves some wishes open. Especially when pedalling on the flats, the motor kicks in abruptly, resulting in a slightly rough ride especially when pedalling out of the saddle. The same happnes at the 25 km/h threshold, where you can clearly feel the motor disengage. Once you’re moving, the motor reacts to the slightest touch of the pedals, making you feel as if the bike is trying to slip out from under your groin. Even when you stop pedalling, the motor keeps pushing for quite a while. While the long hysteresis might be annoying in some situations, it has its perks on technical climbs, providing additional momentum to overcome larger steps and obstacles. When setting off from a standstill, you wonder whether the motor is still working, because this only kicks in after a full crank spin. On very steep climbs, the cranks have a slight drag and you can almost feel the gears meshing inside the motor. On top of that, the motor is clearly struggling. A smaller chainring would already improve this, relieving the motor and getting you up even steeper climbs. By the way: when the battery charge falls below 20%, the motor gradually reduces its assistance to prevent the battery from draining too quickly. With less than 5% charge, the motor no longer provides assistance.

When you point its nose downhill, the iLynx Trail is intuitive and easy to ride, feeling incredibly nimble for an eMTB, which is partly due to the low system weight of 19.4 kg (without range extender). Unfortunately, there’s an annoying rattling noise coming from inside the motor when descending. The rear suspension is quite plush and tends to sink into its travel, offering little support in big compressions and when pulling off ledges, even if you’re running less sag than usual. This makes you feel disconnected from the trail and causes the rear wheel to lose traction easily, especially under braking, thus robbing you of confidence on steep descents and rough terrain and forcing you to actively weight the front wheel to keep it tracking. Needless to say, this exposes the dark side of the harsh Fit4 damper and hard MaxxTerra rubber compound of the MAXXIS DHF front tire.

Tuning-Tipps: Frame protection or mastic tape on drive-side chainstays | Tires with more robust casing and softer rubber compound at the front for maximum trail performance | Smaller chainring if you ride a lot on steep and technical climbs

BH iLynx Trail Carbon vs. Orbea Rise

On the paper, the BH iLynx Trail Carbon lies right between the carbon Orbea Rise and its alloy counterpart. The BH has a carbon frame but shares the same-size battery as the alloy Rise. Amongst the most striking features of the iLynx are the low system weight, the proprietary motor and the discreet, tidy look. However, the motor tune and rear suspension still leave plenty of room for improvement.

While the Rise is heavier and has fewer special features as the BH, it’s far more sophisticated and fun on the trail, whether you’re a beginner or experienced rider.

The BH iLynx Trail Carbon 2022 combines promising key data, a cool concept and a tidy streamlined silhouette. On the trail, it’s nimble and intuitive to ride but isolates you from the trail with its plush rear suspension, offering little support when it really matters. While the iLynx Trail Carbon has great potential, the motor and rear suspension are far from being perfect. For ambitious trail riders there are far more sophisticated Light eMTB models out there!

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Words: Simon Kohler Photos: Mike Hunger