First, look at the Shimano powered, Italian designed, Thok Mig R full-suspension e-MTB.
If you know your e-MTBs then the Thok brand won’t be a new one to you. This Italian brand has been around since the start of the e-Bike revolution and specialises in just assisted off-road hardtails and full-suspension bikes. The brand has even teamed up with fellow Italian bike maker, superbike maker, Ducati to release a special edition Ducati Thok eMTB.
Those of you who don’t know who Thok is and are worried about the brand’s credential than you need not worry. The company is headed up by a team of mountain bike enthusiasts and ex-pro racer Stefano Migliorini. Stefano is an ex-world champion BMX racer and was teammates with John Tomac, Brian Lopes and Nico Vouilloz back in the ’90s.
For our first taste of Thok, we’ve received a Thok Mig R. This is the longest travel, full-suspension bike that the company makes, and shares the same frame as the Ducati branded bike the only real difference being the 150mm travel fork as opposed to 160mm.
Thok’s bikes are all alloy and feature a unique under tube battery position. The location of the battery ensured that Thok was able to offer a bottle cage location before Shimano internal batteries became more slimmed down. It also helps to keep the centre of gravity lower, and in my opinion, looks less old school than some of the other external battery bikes still on sale.
That 504Wh battery is from Shimano and is kept safe with the red ABS plastic cage. Thok has also provided a black cage too, so you could customise the colours of your Mig R simply by swapping it out. Another interesting point is that before 15th October Thok will give customers an additional battery for free when ordering the Mig R giving you a total of 1000Wh battery capacity for epic rides.
Wired into that low-slung battery pack is a Shimano E8000 motor, matching E8000 colour display and E8000 underbar mode selector. We’re not huge fans of the E8000 motor control as it sits where our dropper remote would normally go, but in action, it does offer precise and easy to use shifts.
Thok’s hydroformed alloy frame has 140mm of rear-wheel travel controlled by a RockShox Deluxe RL rear shock that has been custom-tuned to suit the bike’s kinematics. At the other end, a 150mm travel Lyrik RC fork is fitted and both ends of the bike run on 27.5 x 2.8 tyres.
While SRAM gains suspension duty, it’s back to Shimano again to get the power from the 70Nm E8000 motor to the ground. The drivetrain is an 11 speed Shimano XT system, with 11 speed Shimano chain running on an 11-46t cassette. Shimano’s XT brake calipers clamp on to 203mm rotors which in turn are bolted to a pair of Sunringle Duroc 40 wheels.
Thok’s own brand equipment comes on to play too. A Thok branded 35mm diameter bar and stem finish of the cockpit, and a 150mm travel Thok branded dropper topped off with a Thok Fit saddle sort out the perching arrangements.
The Thok Mig R which we have in for test retail for €5250 (without shipping) but that includes an extra 504Wh Shimano battery. We’ll be soon out testing this Italian eMTB in the wilds of the Peak District and closer to the office, so if you see us out Thoking along then stop us for a chat.