New Haibike LYKE SE 2023 light eMTB with Fazua Ride 60 motor first ride review – #thefreedomoflight

Haibike are fully committed to the ebike cause. However, up until now, the sporty eMTB section in their portfolio still had a blank page, which was reserved for Light-E-MTBs. Not only does the new LYKE SE with Fazua Ride 60 motor bring some colour to that desolate page but also realigns the brand identity of the German bike manufacturer. We’ll tell you what the lightweight LYKE SE is capable of.

Haibike is synonymous with ePerformance: the German manufacturer has been committed to integrating electric motors into mountain bikes for a whole decade. For the motors, Haibike rely on Bosch, Yamaha and TQ, with a preference for the most powerful models available. Nothing unusual so far. However, Haibike don’t like to swim with the tide and strive for disruptive innovations instead, always questioning and overturning existing trends. A prime example of this is the Haibike Flyon, which proudly displays its motor instead of hiding it inside its frame. But with the new LYKE, Haibike has just opened a whole new chapter in their company’s history. Light eMTBs are all the rage this year: with the launch of the TQ HPR 50 and Fazua Ride 60 motors, manufacturers were given an opportunity to design even slimmer, lighter and more discreet eMTBs, which are becoming increasingly reminiscent of analogue bikes, both in terms of appearance and handling. With the new LYKE, Haibike relied on a Fazua Ride 60 motor and 430 Wh battery to build an agile and light-footed eMTB that is aimed primarily at sporty riders and doesn’t exude “E!” from all angles. Haibikes new light eMTB combines a stylish full carbon frame with 29” wheels and 140 mm travel. In size L, the LYKE tips the scales at 18.7 kg. And while the key data alone reflect the typical light eMTB understatement, the € 10,000 LYKE SE (Special Edition) has a few more tricks up its sleeve, including a handful of innovations that have the potential to shake up the established light eMTB norms.

The new Haibike LYKE SE in detail

Although the new LYKE SE is distinctly recognisable as a Haibike, it’s far more discreet than its full-fat counterparts, favouring a slim and classy silhoutette over beefy and imposing looks. At the transition between the head tube and top tube, a mosaic of triangular patterns makes for an exotic origami look. The cables disappear into frame through the special Acros headset, ensuring a tidy cockpit and highlighting the clean silhouette of the LYKE. On the down tube, Haibike ditched their proprietary Modular Rail System and replaced it with a closed down tube design, which reduces weight and ensures an overall tidier look. However, the frame still has a bottle cage and tool mount on the down tube – an almost indispensable feature for modern sporty riders. The colour accents of the paint finish, decals and the Fox suspension are beautifully matched. In some places, raw carbon fibre pops out from under the elegant blue and coffee brown finish – but the real highlight is the integration of the motor system.

Haibike’s development team dug deep in their box of tricks to make it possible to remove the battery despite the closed down tube design. The hardware of the Fazua Ride 60 motor mainly consists of the motor and battery. Unlike its predecessor Ride 50, the new Fazua system allows engineers to integrate the motor and battery into the frame independently. The motor of the LYKE sits upright above the bottom bracket and is completely integrated into the wide seat tube, thus clearing the way for the 430 Wh battery, which can be removed from the bottom of the down tube. To do this, you’ll have to remove the skid plate by unbolting a mini thru-axle. The battery itself is securely held in place by a second mini thru-axle. Both the skid plate and the battery can be easily removed using a 5mm Allen key.

To save a few more grams, Haibike opted for the battery model without Fazua’s proprietary charging port and carrying handle. If you want to charge it externally, you’ll have to use an adapter between the charger and battery, which Haibike includes in the package. Apart from saving weight, the shorter battery without the charging port can be removed from the bottom of the down tube without having to put the bike on its side or upside down. As usual, there’s a charging port on the bottom bracket that allows you to charge the battery on the bike. Unfortunately, to charge our LYKE test bike we had to wait around 5 minutes for the motor to fall into deep-sleep mode. However, there’s clearly a bug in the motor system of our test bike, which FAZUA will address with the next software update. The Haibike LYKE will also be compatible with Fazua’s Range Extender, which sits on the down tube instead of the bottle cage and expands the battery capacity by an additional 210Wh. Another hot tip for all lightweight fans: Haibike’s developers revealed that the LYKE also works with the range extender alone, without the main battery in the down tube, which allows you to shave off around 1kg for fast-paced post work rides.

The new Fazua Ride60 motor of the Haibike LYKE SE

Not only is the compact and lightweight Fazua Ride60 motor a perfect match for the light eMTB concept of the LYKE SE, but also offers the suitable riding characteristics for Haibike’s light-footed eMTB. With 60 Nm torque and 350 watts max. output, the motor is relatively powerful for such a small unit. When riding in the strongest of the three support levels, Rocket mode, you won’t even break a sweat on tours with gentle gradients. When you come across an unexpected steep climb, you can activate the boost function from Fazua’s Ring Control Remote. This churns out an additional 100 watts for a total of 12 seconds, which also comes in handy for quick overtaking manoeuvres. That being said, what feels like (relatively) a lot of power for a light eMTB motor comes at the expense of a natural ride feeling. In the standard settings, the Haibike LYKE SE struggles to hide its electric nature, with the motor engaging and disengaging noticeably and kicking in with a slight delay. However, Fazua’s app and software allow you to fine-tune and reduce the responsiveness of the motor. Unfortunately, the software version of our test bike still comes with the delay. Under load, the motor also develops a high-pitched buzzing noise, but this is quickly drowned out by surrounding ambient noises. Fazua are currently working on an update that should ensure a more natural ride feeling and at the same time reduce the noise level. Needless to say, we’ll keep you updated about future updates.

Our test bike: The Haibike LYKE Special Edition

Our test bike retails at € 9,999 and relies exclusively on high-quality components. The high-end FOX Factory suspension consists of a 36 FLOAT fork and FLOAT X shock, which both control 140 mm of travel and allow for countless adjustment options. Braking and shifting is taken care of by Shimano. Shimano XTR four-piston brakes with 203 mm IceTech rotors provide powerful deceleration and excellent modulation. For the drivetrain, Haibike combine an XTR rear derailleur with matching shifter and a chain/cassette combo from the cheaper XT series. While Haibike tend to use in-house components for their bikes, the flagship LYKE model comes equipped with components from popular third-party brands. For example, Race Face supply the grips, stem and carbon handlebars while French wheel specialist Mavic provide the lightweight E-Crossmax carbon wheelset. For the tires, the Germans rely on a lightweight and relatively shallow-profiled MAXXIS DISSECTOR, both front and rear, combining the hard MaxxTerra rubber compound and weak EXO/EXO+ casing, which make for the first negative impression in this test. With heavy and aggressive riders, this tire combo offers little puncture protection and lacks traction on demanding trails.

Other spec tiers of the new Haibike LYKE 2023

Alongside the LYKE SE flagship model, Haibike also offer the LYKE 11 and LYKE 10, which retail at € 7,500 and € 6,500, respectively. All models share the same full carbon frame, which is then specced according to the price point. According to Haibike, the choice of components has a big impact on the weight of the bike. For example, the SE flagship model in size L in this test weighs in at 18.7 kg while the LYKE 11 tips the scales at 19.22 kg. It’s worth mentioning that the spec of our test bikes doesn’t entirely reflect the production bike either, which means that the final weight specifications could deviate from these values by several hectograms. As a result, you should also treat the spec list below with some degree of caution.

The geometry of the Haibike LYKE SE

The new Haibike LYKE is available in four sizes, S to XL. At 77.3°, the seat tube angle is relatively steep, which together with the rather low front (629 mm stack height), makes for a somewhat front-heavy pedalling position that puts more pressure on your hands than on the saddle. If you’re planning to use the Haibike LYKE primarily on long rides, we recommend stacking up all of the spacers under the stem and pushing the saddle back. The 170 mm dropper post in size L can be inserted all the way into the frame without this touching the vertically-mounted Fazua Ride60 motor. However, at 470 mm in size L, the seat tube is relatively long, making it hard for short-legged riders to upsize without the saddle getting in the way.

Size	S	M	L	XL
Top tube	562 mm	592 mm	622 mm	652 mm
Seat tube	410 mm	440 mm	470 mm	500 mm
Head tube	110 mm	120 mm	130 mm	140 mm
Head angle	65°	65°	65°	65°
Seat angle	77.3°	77.3°	77.3°	77.3°
Chainstay	450 mm	450 mm	450 mm	450 mm
BB Drop	25 mm	25 mm	25 mm	25 mm
Wheelbase	1,195 mm	1,227 mm	1,259 mm	1,290 mm
Reach	424 mm	452 mm	479 mm	506 mm
Stack	611 mm	620 mm	629 mm	638 mm

What’s the Haibike LYKE SE capable of on the trail?

When climbing, the lightweight Haibike SE delivers an impressive performance. Uphill, the biggest challenge is to maintain a constant pressure on the pedals to make sure the motor keeps pushing forward. If you stop pedalling for a moment to clear an obstacle, when you start pedalling again the FAZUA Ride 60 needs to think for a second before resuming assistance. If you keep the Haibike LYKE and its motor in constant motion, the Fazua Ride60 motor churns out enough torque to master even technical climbing sections.

Downhill, the Haibike shows its playful side and behaves exactly as you would expect from a light eMTB. Unlike the full-fat eMTB all-rounders around 25 kg, which provide a little more riding stability due to the higher inertial mass alone, the Haibike is agile and lively. With its strikingly high bottom bracket and relatively low front, the LYKE positions you on top of the bike rather than integrating you deep into its frame. With the nimble LYKE, skilled riders will be able to pump through fast berms and rollers. The front-heavy riding position makes it easy to unweight the rear wheel and throw it around narrow switchbacks and technical trail sections. The suspension offers enough support to pull off ledges, allowing you to play with the trail features on manicured flow trails from the second you drop in. The LYKE is also a great option for car park acrobats who love to entertain their riding buddies while they’re getting ready. The LYKE implements direction changes willingly and is easy to pull onto the rear wheel for an eMTB.

As the trail gets tougher, you should step off the gas. The suspension offers sufficient reserves for the occasional root carpet and even bails you out if you get yourself into a pickle with smaller jumps. Skilled riders are better off gapping obstacles rather than ploughing through them. However, the LYKE leaves its comfort zone on fast, demanding and steep descents, where you have to commit to your line and ride clean to ensure maximum traction. On loose and wet terrain, the shallow-profiled MAXXIS Disscetor tires fail to generate sufficient traction, turning the agile character into unpredictable sketchiness.

Tuning Tip: Tourers should push the saddle far back and stack all spacers under the stem. Rowdy downhill enthusiasts should upgrade to more robust tires.

Our conclusions about the new Haibike LYKE SE

Haibike reloaded! With the new LYKE SE, Haibike are redefining their brand image. The appealing silhouette and clever motor integration around the Fazua Ride60 drive ensure a new sporty look but the motor software still needs tweaking – a few updates should do the trick! With its light and playful handling, the LYKE is already a great ride in its current form, provided you keep away from very rough bike park tracks and demanding Alpine enduro trails.

For more info visit haibike.com

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Words: Rudolf Fischer Photos: Peter Walker, Manne Schmitt