Moustache Game 160.9 review

For taller riders who like to ride ebikes at pace, uphill and downhill, with the brakes off, not-dabbing, the Moustache Game 160 is just great.

• Brand: Moustache
• Product: Game 160.9
• Price: £8,299 w/ 750Wh battery (currently on sale £7,049)
• From: Moustache Bikes
• Tested by: Benji & Aran for 3 months

Pros

• Excellent at pace both uphill and downhill
• Suspension feel is well matched to geometry and handling
• Excellent standover and dropper insertion

Cons

• Long chainstays won’t suit smaller pilots
• Long chainstays won’t suit super-steep-tight descents
• Top-end model not great value (but lower tier models look great VFM)

While the majority of the e-bike world is busy trying to pretend their bikes aren’t e-bikes – tucking batteries away, shrouding motors, hoping nobody notices the extra 20lbs – French alloy eeb specialist Moustache has gone the other way entirely. The Game range of bikes are unapologetically CAPS LOCK E-BIKES. Whopping big down tube. And a Bosch motor tilted pretty much 90° from its standard orientation, which reduces how much the chainset ‘hides’ it.

The Game 160 is Electric and proud. And I’m here for it.

It’s very probable you may never have heard of Moustache. It’s a French brand. From the Vosges area specifically, which I think is relevant. If you’ve been lucky enough to ride in the Vosges you’ll know what it’s like. It’s a bit like Snowdonia but there’s a heck of a lot more trees. It’s one of the best places I’ve ever ridden mountain bikes. It has that magic element of being able to ride pretty much all of the trails on-sight and at a decent lick whilst still being natural, narrow and a bit nadgery. It’s never predictable but it’s never really dangerous either. Amazing place to ride.

I mention all of this because the handling of the Moustache Game 160 feels extremely ‘Vosges’. Essentially, the Game 160 is long in wheelbase, not overly low in BB height, has masses of standover and a suspension kinematic that prioritises forgiveness and traction (with the damping dials set to minimum anyway).

I’m getting ahead of myself here. I’ll go more into how it rides later on. I should delve into the nuts and bolts and numbers of the bike first.

Nuts, bolts, numbers

The bike we tested was the Game 160.9 top end model. There are several Game 160 models below this that offer a better value proposition in my opinion (the Game 160.7 with 600Wh battery is currently on sale for £4,929 for example). There are also Game 150 models in Moustache’s range and although I’ve not ridden one of them, I can’t really see why you’d go for less travel whilst still retaining the sort of weight/power combo of the Game 160 bikes.

As with every bike that Moustache makes, the Game 160 is an all-alloy affair. There’s no carbon fibre in sight on the bike. I tell a lie, the wheels are carbon. Which, as I’ve said on numerous occasions in the past, is the only place where I think carbon makes sense.

Before we delve into the geometry numbers, let’s quickly go over a few fabrication features that are worth highlighting.

Starting at the front of the bike, I’m pleased to say that the brake hosing and gear cabling are not routed through the headset. The cable that runs from the Bosch Purion 400 display to the motor does pass through the Acros headset top cap which is just about acceptable I think (if it were my bike I’d maybe re-route that cable through one of the ports of the side of the top tube).

The rear shock is slightly offset (about 15mm) to the leftside of the bike. Presumably this is done so that the O-ring on the shock shaft sits closer to the genuinely useful sag-o-meter decal on the lefthand side of the top tube. The red line on said decal is the ballpark sag. Personally, I found running sag a bit deeper than the red line felt a bit more suited to me. Regardless, sag-o-meter decals are great. Kudos.

The rear suspension is a variation on the yoke-driven Horst-link four-bar. I hesitate to say stuff like ‘proven’ or ‘tried and true’ when it comes to describing four-bar designs because they vary so much and have pros and cons just like any other design. This four-bar gives out around 18% progression, which I think is a good formula for this bike; not overly soggy/rampy but also not prone to bottom-out banging.

Bosch!

The Bosch Performance Line CX is mounted rather differently in the frame to the trad way you usually see it. It’s been rotated almost 90° up into the main triangle/seat tube area. Why? I suspect principally ‘just because’ point-of-difference is a reason but there are theoretical advantages to have the motor this way. Namely, improved cooling (hot motors run weaker and drain power quicker) and a lower positioned battery.

A quick word about the charging port cover. It’s weird. It’s a quarter turn plastic-and-metal cap anchored to the frame with a bit of string. When you’re charging the bike (or running a Bosch range extender battery into the charge port) this cap adheres magnetically to a point on the frame. I mean, functionally it’s fine. It’s all just a bit… odd.

The battery is technically removable but it’s not something you’d do very often as it requires a few steps (and a battery key): remove the skid plate, remove the battery thru-axle (requires a key), unplug the motor connection, pull the battery out. Somewhat amusingly (to me at least), on the end of the battery is a little canvas storage bag for inner tube and multitool etc. I can’t imagine very many folk using this feature instead of a frame bag or hip pack. But hey, another bit of oddness that further endears the esoteric Moustache brand to me.

The test bike we received came with the 750Wh battery upgrade. I realise this is very much What The Customer Wants but personally I’d really recommend getting the 600Wh battery and saving some weight whilst retaining hods of range anyway. There are always range extenders available for the infrequent massive epic adventures.

Essentially I guess I’m saying that I’d go for one of the cheaper Game 160 models, with 600Wh battery and get a 250Wh range extender at some point. You may disagree.

Geometry chat

Right then, geometry time. As I’ve already intimated, the Moustache Game 160 is a long bike. I wouldn’t say it’s ‘low’, because at 353mm the BB height is not low. But I would call it ‘low’ in terms of standover. The top tube is low slung and the seat tube (on our Large) is a modest 435mm. So long dropper posts fit fine (we used a 230mm cable actuated and 200mm electronic droppers).

Length then. The reach is a pretty standard-for-L 480mm. The chainstays are where the length is… er, long. All sizes of Game 160 have 462mm long chainstays. To cut a long review short, it’s the chainstays that dictate the bulk of how this bike rides. And you’ll either love it, or you won’t.

I for one, am in the lovin’ it camp. The length of this bike makes it an incredible climbing bike. Whether it’s seated plodding or super technical scrambling, the Game 160 excels. The not-low BB and not-long 165mm cranks also help when negotiating tussocky, lumpy, rutted terrain. The rear suspension also seems to avoid excessive trapdoor sinking under pedal load too.

The latest firmware from Bosch also is a significant improvement in terms of pedal response, predictability and control. The 120Nm of torque is no doubt a factor as well but it’s the delivery of the power that’s more relevant.

In terms of descending, the Game 160 is about not-going-slow. I wouldn’t say it always about only going all-out fast; the bike thrives with the brakes off, at mid- to high-end trail speeds. It’s those chainstays again. If you’re preferred type of riding is super-tight, slomo tekkers, or Insta-pleasing jibbery, the Moustache Game 160 is not for you. Especially in the Small and Medium sizes.

I mean, with a higher rise bar swapped in, the bike was okay on super steep techincal tracks but that long back-end (and 29in wheel axle height) did make it feel rather too much of a handful. To be frank, there ain’t many full-fat 24kg+ eebs that feel nice on such terrain! We did experiment with running a 27.5in rear wheel but long chainstays are long chainstays. Running the bike as mullet just impaired its climbing chops. Full 29in suits this bike.

Enough about the sliver of the riding spectrum that isn’t this bike’s forte (steep and/or slow), what about the other 99% of mountain biking?

All of the mountain, all of the time

The Game 160’s stability and pedal clearance make for an all-day ride experience that’s just really excellent. It’s one of those bikes that you don’t really find yourself stopping very much. You can ride for 10km or whatever without ever taking a foot off the pedal. As such, you can get into some real flow and groove. Leaving the motor in Auto mode and just riding, riding, riding. Just lovely really. In such scenarios we could easily do 2000m of ascent off a full 750Wh battery. More often though we were doing 1000m ascent rides and finishing with 50% battery remaining. So yeah, I’d still recommend thinking about going for the 600Wh battery.

In terms of angles, there’s nothing particularly standout here. In fact, you could argue that the 64.2° head angle and 75.8° seat angles are rather conservative. But in conjunction with the decent reach and lengthy chainstays, it all works together very nicely.

Overall

Reader, I’ve had a total blast on this bike. As a taller rider who likes to rides ebikes at pace, uphill and downhill, with the brakes off, not-dabbing, the Moustache Game 160 is just great. It will despatch flat sections swiftly – due to the Bosch motor – and feels very much like an ‘All Mountain’ machine. It likes going uphill for extended periods, having a rest for a few seconds, and then hurtling down maximum value-for-money descents with engaging nature. (Note: look at the £5,799 Game 160.7 version. Oof! Tempting.)

Moustache Game 160.9 specification

• Frame // 6061 T4-T6 alloy, 160mm travel
• Shock // Fox Float X Factory, 230x65mm
• Fork // Fox Float 38 Factory GRIP X2, 170mm
• Wheels // Moustache Asymmetric Just_Carbon w/ Mavic hubs, 28 spoke
• Front Tyre // Maxxis Assegai 3G MaxxGrip EXO+ 29×2.5
• Rear Tyre // Maxxis Assegai 3G MaxxGrip DD 27.5×2.5
• Chainset // FSA, 165mm, 36T
• Brakes // Shimano XT M8120, 220/203mm
• Drivetrain // SRAM Eagle XO AXS Transmission, 10-52T
• Stem // Moustache Alloy 35, 40mm
• Handlebars // Moustache Alloy 35, 780x35mm
• Grips // SB3 Hornet Lock-on
• Seat Post // Fox Transfer 180mm, 31.6mm
• Saddle // Fizik Terra Aidon X5
• Motor // Bosch Performance Line CX, 120Nm
• Battery // Bosch PowerTube 750Wh
• Sizes Available // S, M, L, XL
• Size Tested // L
• Weight // 24.3kg

Geometry of our size Large

• Head angle // 64.2°
• Effective seat angle // 75.8°
• Seat tube length // 435mm
• Head tube length // 130mm
• Chainstay // 462mm
• Wheelbase // 1,295mm
• Effective top tube // 645mm
• BB height // 353mm
• Reach // 480mm

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