E-Bike Tour: From the city up to the Churer Joch

We want to know exactly. And since we only have ordinary mountain bikes ourselves, we rent two e-mountain bikes from Outside Chur. They are to support us and we are curious to see whether the battery will last all the way up to the Joch. For the return trip we plan to ride some of the well-known single trails. The Flyer Uproc's seem ideally suited for our expedition. We choose the right frame size, get a quick setup from the expert Paulo in the shop and off we go! 

A good 20 km and 1,500 metres of altitude difference lie ahead of us. And so we start directly from the old town and cycle along the Plessur towards Meiersboden. The ascent leads steadily upwards along the Polenweg with a gentle gradient. We can follow the signposted bikeroute 255 as far as Churwalden, which makes orientation very easy. And soon it is far behind us in the valley, the beautiful Alpine City.

Shortly before Churwalden, a somewhat steeper climb awaits us. But no problem thanks to e-support. In fact, with a little practice, the bikes with electric support can even be ridden freehand uphill.

In Churwalden we leave route 255 and it is time for a short break. Not because we are tired, but to fill our water bottles with fresh spring water from the well. So that we don't run out of battery either. 

Speaking of batteries: Our bikes are powered by Panasonic GX Ultimate drive units, which support us powerfully and harmoniously even on steep climbs. «The smartly integrated, high-capacity battery provides enough energy for extended tours with many metres of altitude», says the product description. Well, that's encouraging that we'll make it to the top, but there's still a big part of the climb ahead of us... so that we don't use up too much «juice», we decided from the start to ride only in «Eco» and «Standard» mode.

Higher and higher we climb. And the view gets better and better. The fascinating mountain world and the rich alpine flora are a real feast for the eyes and almost make us forget the exertion. 

We pedal on leisurely, steadily supported by the evenly whirring drive. And already the goal is coming into view and now we are sure that the batteries will last until the top. We enjoy the last part of the climb all the more. 

Arriving at the Joch, we look at the display. In fact, we still have pretty much exactly one third of the battery left! We would not have expected that. But this is certainly also due to the fact that we were equipped with new top bikes and almost new batteries.

Of course we don't miss the chance to ride the last few metres up to the Joch. Because we know that the really great panorama and a breathtaking view of the place where we started - Chur - only open up up there.

Now we are at the top and the bikes have passed the first part of our «test» with flying colours. But the adventure is not over yet. It's no coincidence that we chose full-suspension e-mountain bikes. We wanted to see if they were not only good on the ascent but also on the descent. After all, the Churer Joch is known for its legendary single trails and going back the same way is definitely out of the question for us. 

As you can see from the photos, the E-Fully's have also proved themselves very well on the downhill. It's amazing how effortlessly you can reach such a seemingly distant goal with these vehicles. And we are already thinking about which destinations from Chur we want to try next. The long range opens up countless exciting possibilities in the surrounding mountains of Graubünden...

Text: Michael Christ
Photos: Michael Christ & Christof Bischof