The GT Grade was a pretty radical bike when it launched back in 2014 (the same year as grit.cx as it happens) as it looked like a road bike, but had room for big tyres – even narrow knobbly cyclocross style tyres. The gravel thing hadn’t really got going back then, so the original Grade was met with a few quizzical looks by the diehards as it was neither cyclocrosser nor road bike (nor tourer) but could do them all if you wanted it.
However, GT stuck with it and these days the sight of a disc braked, room-for-big tyres road bike doesn’t merit a second glance. And now, to get those quizzical looks going again, GT today launches the GT Grade Power Series – three electric-assist Grade bikes for whatever use you want to put them to – harking back to that original do-all Grade.
While the GT Grade Power Series is quite the handful, the range is refreshingly simple. There are three bikes – two drop bar and one flat bar model and all share the same eBikemotion rear wheel motor and 250wh battery, neatly and stealthily integrated into the frame. This is a motor and battery we’ve seen in the likes of the E-Jimi reviewed recently. It offers simple screen-free operation for easy unobtrusive use, but there’s a companion phone app for when you want to dive in deeper. In terms of stealthy and simple motor/battery combos, the eBikemotion hub system is impressive.
GT Grade Amp
The Amp is the top of the three Grade bikes. It features the Ebikemotion X35+ motor and 250kw battery. The components are based around a Shimano GRX800/600 1×11 groupset. The tyres are suitably chunky WTB Resolute 700x42C. The Amp will come in at £2900
GT Grade Bolt
The Grade Bolt (can you sense a naming theme here?) comes in a fab gloss dark teal and grey and also features the same Ebikemotion motor in the rear wheel and battery in the downtube. Shimano’s GRX400 2×10 groupset provides the gearing and the benchmark WTB Nano 700x40C tyres are there for traction on pavement or grit/gravel/cobbles. The Grade Bolt will set you back £2700
GT Grade Current
The slightly odd one out, the Current (stop with the electricity names already!) is obviously the ‘urban’ one of the trio, with a satin gunmetal and black paint scheme and flat bars. This is a bike that GT reckons will be popular with the city commuter and those who like to head out of town for some adventure now and again. It features a 1×10 Microshift Advent shifting setup. This urban warrior will cost you a cool £2300.
And what would a bike launch be without a great, uplifting video. We’re sure it’ll resonate with a few people…
There’ll be more about the whole GT Grade Power Series over here: GT Bicycles
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In electrical terms: What’s a bolt?
A binary Volt?
A bolt is 1200amp fuse
£2300 for a commuting bike, really.
Not for me but on one of the cycle to work schemes in Greater London it will pay for itself within a year if you use everyday.