Indonesian mountain bike brand, Patrol, joins the e-MTB space race for 2020 with the new Patrol E-Six. An Enduro e-MTB with some serious power.
There are a lot of mountain bike brands around the world but even so, it’s still pretty surprising when a brand pops up that we don’t know a whole lot about. Patrol hadn’t completely escaped our radar, we had seen the FS-Patrol-Funn WC downhill team at Fort William in the past and we had seen some of their range at various shows over the years, but it’s only this year that we’ve gotten to know them better.
Who is Patrol?
For you who haven’t heard of Patrol before here is a quick history lesson. The long and short of it is this. Back in the 1960’s a family of bicycle fanatics opened their own stores in Indonesia. At that time they sold other brands but soon started to manufacture their own bikes. Manufacturing took off and soon they were building bikes for brands that we all know and ride here in the UK. After successfully building bikes for other companies, Patrol was set up as a flagship brand.
Patrol focusses on off-road cycling and in particular mountain bikes. You won’t find road bikes, gravel bikes or city bikes in their range. What you will find are dirt jump bikes, hardtail XC bikes, full-suspension enduro and trail bikes, plus a couple of new eBikes. This brings us neatly to the 2020 Patrol E-Six and E-Six S.
2020 Patrol E-Six e-MTB
2020 sees the first time that Patrol has released an eBike, in fact, they’ve launched 2 models. There’s the hardtail E-Zero and there’s this, a 150mm travel E-Enduro bike. The E-Six shares some of its design traits with the new Patrol 691 ‘mechanical’ enduro bike (more on that bike coming in a few days). It’s nice to see a bike maker develop both motorised and non-motorised bikes in tandem and the idea here was to make an ebike that rides as well as their non-ebike.
While the Patrol E-Six is a first eBike for Patrol, it’s clear from the design that they have been keeping a close eye on the market. Rather than just slapping an external battery to a current frame the Patrol team has actually worked on integrating the battery inside the frame.
As they were working from a blank sheet of paper, Patrol has also been able to work with technology partners to offer a larger internal battery than the models that Shimano offers. The current crop of Shimano internal batteries are around 500Wh, but Patrol has sourced a much larger 630Wh battery. With that big cell attached to the Shimano STEPS E8000 motor you should be looking at a pretty healthy range.
Patrol has ensured that the new Patrol E-Six retains the same appearance as the rest of its full-suspension range. This is great for branding, but it also makes a lot of sense for the layout of the bike too. Keeping the top-tube mounted shock location gave Patrol some wiggle room with standover height, and because the shock is well out of the way you can fit a bottle cage in there too.
Upon meeting Patrol it was clear that although they have a WC race background that they wanted to move away from that and now look at its bikes as a way of getting out into nature and just having fun. It’s evident in the names of each colour too, deep ocean blue, crow black and light oak brown, there’s certainly a nature message in there. Additional frame features include internal cable and hose routing, Boost wheel spacing (the 691 is Super Boost), 3 colour options and 4 sizes.
Patrol says that the geometry of the E-Six has been designed with eMTB in mind. Now depending on the brand, this could set alarm bells off. We’ve seen brands try to convince us that super short is the way to go on eBikes and others say super long is the way forward. Patrol sits somewhere in between, with reach figures ranging from 435mm to 475mm. During the launch, I actually switched between a large and XL, and at 178cm both were comfortable, great if you fancy sizing up or down.
2020 Patrol E-Six Geometry
2020 Patrol E-Six S and E-Six
Each of the two models in the E-Six line-up uses Fox Suspension front and rear for 150mm of rear-wheel movement and 160mm at the front. Mix this with those 29er wheels, wide rims, and chunky 2.6in Maxxis rubber and you have an enduro bike with near DH levels of rock absorption and grip.
Both modes feature the same frame, come in the same colours and benefit from the E8000 motor and that big 630Wh battery. How they differ is in the build and the price.
2020 Patrol E-Six S Specifications
- Frame // Patrol E-Six 150mm travel.
- Fork // FOX 36 Factory E, 160mm travel, Kashima.
- Shock // FOX DPX2 Factory E, 3-pos, 7.875 x 2.25, Kashima.
- Motor // Shimano STEPS E8000 70nm
- Battery // SMP, 36V, 17Ah/630Wh
- Wheels //SUNringlé Düroc 40 rims with SHIMANO hubs
- Tyres // MAXXIS Minion DHR II, 29×2.6WT, 3C/EXO+/TR
- Chainset // Shimano E8050, SM-CRE80-12-B, 34t
- Rear Mech // Shimano Deore XT M8100, 12-speed
- Shifters // Shimano Deore XT M8100, 12-speed
- Cassette // Shimano 12-speed
- Brakes // MAGURA MT5N, 4-piston front and rear.
- Stem // 35mm Patrol stem
- Handlebar // 780mm Patraol bar
- Seatpost // FOX Transfer Factory, 31.6mm, 150mm, Kashima
- Saddle // SDG FLY Saddle
- Sizes available // S/M/L/XL
- Price: $6,299
2020 Patrol E-Six S Gallery
2020 Patrol E-Six Specifications
- Frame // Patrol E-Six 150mm travel.
- Fork // FOX 36 Rhythm E, 160mm travel
- Shock // FOX DPX2 E, 3-pos, 7.875 x 2.25
- Motor // Shimano STEPS E8000 70nm
- Battery // SMP, 36V, 17Ah/630Wh
- Wheels //SUNringlé Düroc 40 rims with SHIMANO hubs
- Tyres // MAXXIS Minion DHR II, 29×2.6WT, 3C/EXO+/TR
- Chainset // Shimano E8000, SM-CRE80-12-B, 34t
- Rear Mech // Shimano SLX M7100, 12-speed
- Shifters // Shimano SLX M7100, 12-speed
- Cassette // Shimano 12-speed
- Brakes // MAGURA MT Thirty, 4-piston F/R
- Stem // 35mm Patrol stem
- Handlebar // 780mm Patraol bar
- Seatpost // SDG Tellis, 31.6mm, 125mm (S/M) – 150mm (L/XL)
- Saddle // SDG FLY Saddle
- Sizes available // S/M/L/XL
- Price // $5,499
2020 Patrol E-Six Gallery
2020 Patrol E-Six First Ride Impressions
For my stay in Bali I had just 3 days to test ride a trail bike, enduro bike and this E-Enduro E-Six. I would have also have liked to get out on the E-Zero but time and the number of bikes available to ride simply didn’t allow it. In fact, it is for this reason I only managed to ride the E-Six at Besakih bike park meaning the E-Six had to show me how it performs as a personal uplift. Very well is the answer.
Besakih bike park is nestled in the jungle surrounded by tropical trees, close by to beautiful temples, and I’m sure all manner of creepy crawlies and dangerous animals was just lurking out of sight. Not that any of that would matter as I whirred past in a blur.
The E-Six I rode was the standard version with Fox Performance suspension and a 1×12 Shimano SLX drivetrain. This was my first time riding the new SLX and I’ll admit to instantly loving the positive clunk of the gears. I was also really impressed how SLX manages to handle shifts under load especially on an eBike set up for non-EU regulations. I’m not sure what the e-Bike rules are in Indonesia, but my pre-production test bike was still assisting me at 20Mph. This turned the uplift road ride into a race between e-Bike and pickup truck. E-bike won each and every time to the point I started to lap riders opting for the petrol assist climb. I assure you it was still tiring too, especially in tropical conditions.
Big volume 2.6in tyres, 29in wheels and good support from the rear shock also meant the E-Six is a good climber off-road too. Heading the other way down the mountain was a treat too. The 150mm of travel is progressive enough to help when heaving the E-Six into the air, and hitting the manmade jumps and berms I felt very confident on the E-Six.
The only drawbacks I found on the test bike were that the stem length is far too long, 60mm on the size L and XL bikes, and that my brakes were the wrong way around. Still, this didn’t stop me from enjoying the E-Six.
Patrol E-Six Overall
Just a few hours in a bike park isn’t enough to form a full opinion of a bike, but from what I saw the Patrol E-Six could be one of the surprise bikes of 2020.
Patrol’s no-nonsense approach to bike build and specification means that other than the long stem length, there was really nothing to complain about, and the balanced geometry and generous suspension is exactly what I want in my big travel e-Bikes.
Now how do we get one over to the UK for a full review?