Decathlon offers an electric VTC with a stunning engine

The Rockrider E-ACTV 900, a new electric VTC model from Decathlon, stands out for its Owuru automatic motor and its comfort of use. Powerful, responsive and equipped with innovative technology, this bike stands out as a serious competitor in the mid-range or even high-end electric VTC sector.

In Decathlon's electric VTC category, the Rockrider E-ACTV 900 is one of the sports brand's most high-end models. If it doesn't go as far as the Rockrider E-FEEL electric mountain bikes in terms of equipment, it certainly has what it takes to hurt the competition.

Available with an open or closed frame and a weight varying between 27 and 27.5 kg depending on the size, this bike is available in several colors. The open version (from S to L) is available in gray or green, while the closed version (from M to XL) is available in champagne. With an introductory price set at €2,699, it represents a significant investment, but its quality-price ratio amply justifies this sum.

Technology: Owuru, the magical automatic engine

After integrating it into its Btwin LD 920E model, Decathlon is repeating the experience of the Owuru motor, designed with the Belgian startup E2 Drive. This engine is notable for its lack of conventional gears. Thanks to a system of integrated belts and planetary mechanisms, it offers a continuously variable transmission.

Concretely, this motor automatically adjusts the pedaling resistance to maintain a regular cadence, whatever the terrain or conditions (wind, climbs, descents). The rider simply chooses their cadence on the control screen, and the motor does the rest.

The motor has a maximum power of 600 W and a generous torque of 65 Nm. Decathlon has optimized its mapping for balanced daily use. The associated color screen, easy to read and intuitive, displays all the essential data (speed, distance, range). However, its location lacks practicality, especially for navigating between the different tiles. These tiles offer everything you could hope for, or almost: speed, distance, remaining autonomy and so on. Only missing a guidance system, although the bike is connected.

In addition, there is a three-button control located alongside the left handle of the bike. This allows you to juggle between the four levels of assistance or even change the target cadence for pedaling.

For the battery, there is a 694 Wh module, a fairly large capacity which allows you to reach 130 km of autonomy in Eco mode. This battery is housed in the downtube of the frame with an opening located in the side. A very practical location to dislodge it quickly.

In terms of connectivity, the Rockrider E-ACTV 900 can communicate via Bluetooth with any Android or iOS smartphone where the Decathlon Ride application has been installed. This offers several interesting features with, to begin with, the possibility of activating a fifth assistance mode called Automatic Mode. This mode will actually allow you to automatically switch from one assistance mode to another depending on needs. We tested it, it's rather responsive and well made.

It is also possible to adjust some parameters relating to the behavior of the engine, so that it is more or less gentle in use. Without going as far as what is offered by Bosch on eBike Flow, it is rather convincing, allowing each cyclist to opt for the setting that suits them best: a bike with more progressive or more sporty assistance.

Outing tracking is also offered, which allows you to have a report on your outings. Nothing really new here, except that we will find some interesting information on the average cadence or the muscular power actually released by the cyclist. Finally, it seems that Decathlon is now looking at a route system that will allow the import of GPX tracks and, finally, offer GPS navigation! We can't wait.

Comfort: the art of compromise

Dedicated to venturing into town as well as hiking on more or less rugged terrain, the Rockrider E-ACTV 900 is based on a semi-rigid aluminum frame. The front fork is in-house, a Rockrider Carry with 63 mm of travel provided by a spring. A travel that we found a little tight once we leave the cycle paths and other smooth paths. The return on the arms is often a little too dry, a travel of 100 mm would undoubtedly have provided more versatility.

And if the Selle Royale RoyalGel saddle offers a wide and very comfortable seat over time, it is not enough to make you forget the sharp returns in the lower back. This is really the big lack of this bike which only has the right to a very classic rigid seat post. Decathlon should really have opted for a suspended seat post to offer unfailing comfort to this E-ACTV 900. We also did a few outings with an SR Suntour SP12-NCX attached to it and we were treated to an experience otherwise incredible.

We can console ourselves a little with the presence of 28″ wheels fitted with Rockrider Protect+ tires with a section of 1.75″. These tires have reinforced protection against punctures, via a polyamide strip which reinforces the 3 mm rubber layer. The sidewalls of these tires are also covered with reflective strips, providing good lateral visibility at night.

The handlebar grips are of the ergonomic type, with a kind of coating that visually resembles cork. These avoid the effect of breaking the wrists, but are a little hard, which does not help to absorb the jolts caused by the road. At their ends, bar ends allow you to alternate hand positions during long outings. Pretty nice.

Equipment: a bike that lacks practically nothing

The bike comes with decent equipment. First of all, we have well-enveloping mudguards which do their job very well when driving on muddy or slightly wet roads. The rear rack is compatible with MIK accessories and can support a maximum weight of 27 kg, making it, in fact, compatible with baby carriers.

The side stand, positioned alongside the rear wheel, is height adjustable and provides excellent stability to the bike. The lighting is classic at the rear, without brake light. At the front, the 30 lux torch offers a powerful and fairly wide beam. Fixed on the head tube, it does not, however, turn with the handlebars, which is sometimes a little annoying when cornering when traveling at night in a very poorly lit area.

For the finish, we can praise the effort of integrating the different cables which results in a bike that is pleasant to look at. The welds are unfortunately very visible. This certainly takes away from the charm of the whole thing, even if the painting is of excellent quality. Finally, it certainly lacks a wheel lock type anti-theft device (which can be retrofitted) to enable it to be the ideal everyday companion with minute stops.

Driving: a pure delight

Riding the Rockrider E-ACTV 900 is a pure delight, whether in town, on cycle paths or even on trails. Starts are quick, not requiring too much force to reach 25 km/h. This bike is therefore ultra playful, perfect for sneaking around quickly or having fun while hiking.

The engine once again works miracles here, offering responsive and powerful pedaling assistance as desired. We were thus able to climb particularly steep climbs, both on asphalt and on forest tracks.

It's all the more impressive as the transmission here is single-speed, with the engine's automatic system working perfectly. And if the purring of this pedal unit is very light, we cannot miss the recurring rumble that it produces around 20 km/h or when you push harder on the pedals. A sort of whirring sound that we also feel at the pedal board. Not disqualifying, but a bit of a shame.

The fact remains that the bike will take you everywhere, within the limits of the comfort it provides on rough trails of course. Its tires are convincing, with short braking distances without loss of control, including on wet roads.

The Tektro T280 brakes, with 160 mm discs at the front and rear, convinced us. If we maintain a preference for the Shimano MT200 which compete in the same category, here they offer quite biting braking and with correct progressiveness.

Autonomy: long distance, but be careful of breakdowns

The autonomy of this electric bike is certainly one of its strong points. With the assistance pushed to its maximum, on mixed terrain including both steep climbs on sandy paths and hilly sections on cycle paths, we reached a little less than 60 km. We will thus easily reach the promised 130 km in Eco mode.

But watch out for running out of fuel! In fact, Decathlon had the bad idea of ​​programming the assistance to cut off as soon as 5% of the remaining battery is reached. Disconcerting when you don't know about it and find yourself having to pedal in muscle mode 8 km from your home. Yes, we will remember it.

The problem comes mainly from the fact that when the battery runs out, the bike is, on the one hand, quite heavy and its single-speed transmission requires you to work quite hard to maintain a pace of 15 – 20 km/h. We will then play with the cadence change system to have more or less resistance to pedaling, but it remains of little use. In short, below 15%, switch to Eco mode!