Pinarello lowers e-race bike weight to 11.4kg

New Nytro E9 aims to give riders the feel of a traditional road bike

As e-bikes flourish in the off-road and hybrid market (at least in Europe) the takeup in the more fitness-focused road scene has been a little slower. With pedal assistance cutting out at 15.5mph, a road rider is essentially penalised by the extra weight of an e-bike once they tip over this speed.

The challenge for manufacturers is therefore giving riders the assistance on longer or steeper hills tackled at low speeds, without holding them back elsewhere. Unsurprisingly, this becomes a race to shed weight.

Pinarello's updated flagship machine, the E9 Nytro, has a claimed weight of just 11.4kg, making it the lightest pedal-assist, mid-drive e-bike on the market. There are also E7 and E5 models. The first-generation Nytro, released in 2017, weighed around 13kg.

The Nytro E range is expanding too, featuring three gravel bikes, again named E9, E7 and E5. These are distinguishable from the road offerings by their dedicated all-road geometry, generous tyre clearance and use of SRAM's 1x groupsets.

In its aim to create an e-road bike that looks and rides like a regular bike, Pinarello has leaned on its existing design philosophies. The result is not too dissimilar from the Dogma F. The Italian brand's curvy tube shapes remain, as does its asymmetrical design philosophy, with the left side of the frame designed to compensate for the greater force exerted by the drivetrain on the right side.

There are aerodynamic similarities too. The head tube, down tube and rear stays all look familiar, with the TiCr system funneling hoses and cables through the cockpit. The Nytro gets a redesigned, lighter and more aero seatpost clamp which holds a Dogma F seatpost. The gravel bikes stick to a round post.