Lapierre Overvolt AM 700 C

£5600 Does smart weight placement boost trail performance?

No ebike is ever going to be super light (well, except the 13kg concept Focus we saw last summer). However, any weight saving available is likely to boost on-trail performance. Lapierre haven’t shied away from either ebikes or carbon in the past, so their introduction of a carbon Overvolt full-suspension ebike is no surprise. Lapierre have combined their fibre experience with an already proven suspension design, thrown in weight placement designed to maximise ride control, to create their 23.5kg ebike.

Balancing act

With a Bosch motor and battery to sling somewhere in the chassis, Lapierre have chosen what’s possibly the prime location – low and central. While the position of the motor is effectively pre-determined, Lapierre have placed the battery in a carbon cradle just above it, rather than the usual along-the-down-tube system seen elsewhere. This helps lower and centralise the bike’s centre of mass, resulting in a bike that’s very well balanced front to back, and feels less prone to side-to-side cornering flop.

There’s plenty of protection for the battery, with the cradle’s edges punted out wide by your lower legs; that said, we never found our legs scuffing the frame. While it’s well placed, the cradle does seem to attract mud, though, and requires diligent cleaning to remove clumps of crud.