Ep #3: The Pivot E-Vault, A Multi-Terrain All-Star

In this episode CEO and President of Pivot Cycles, Chris Cocalis, talks with former professional rider and current Athlete Coordinator, Rachel Wehn, and Pivot Cycles' Regional Sales Representative, Ryan Molony, to discuss Pivot Cycles' first E-Gravel bike, the E-vault.

Transcript

Jens Staudt: 0:06

Hey guys, welcome back to All About Bikes presented by Pivot Cycles. In this episode CEO and President of Pivot Cycles, Chris Cocalis, talks with previous professional rider and current athlete coordinator, Rachel Wehn, and Pivot Cycles regional sales rep, Ryan Moloney, to discuss Pivot Cycles first e-gravel bike, the E-Vault. This is a previously recorded episode from when we launched this bike in February 2021 and we wanted to upload this episode for all our new listeners on this podcast. The E-Vault is Pivot Cycles first e-gravel bike and evolution of the current Vault. So let's jump in and learn about the newest addition of the Pivot Cycles lineup.

Chris Cocalis: 0:48

Hi, I'm Chris Cocalis, with Pivot Cycles and this is, Rachel Wehn, and Ryan Moloney. We're here today to talk about the new E-Vault. So we started this development project several years ago, actually, when Pivot first launched its new shuttle for the first time in 2017. There was a small e-bike drive unit battery manufacturers also starting in Germany at the same time called Fazua. And we struck up a conversation and they supplied us a couple of motors, batteries, and their bottom bracket assemblies. And we started working on a design, couple designs actually, of what would be the best fit for this type of system. And after a lot of prototypes, a lot of working with the system, and a lot of development with them over the years. It's finally time to launch the new bike. So both of you guys had a hand in riding and development and even tuning of how we wanted the power to come on. And yeah, Rachel, tell us about your your first ride on the bike.

Rachel Wehn: 2:13

Yeah, so I didn't really know what to expect. I've ridden the Shuttle, but it's a completely different experience. But the same excitement that you get on the Shuttle. My favorite part of the ride experience was being able to put out a good amount of effort for longer than I could have on my regular road bike. And it just makes you feel, I even told you, it made me feel like Superwoman.

Chris Cocalis: 2:45

It's nice because you used to be a pro cyclist.

Rachel Wehn: 2:48

Yeah, I'm not there anymore by any means.

Chris Cocalis: 2:51

You can still go and Ryan, you're kind of still like a pro cyclist. You're kind of the foodweighing, we joke about your habits and your bike setup.

Ryan Molony: 3:03

Yes, yes, yes.

Chris Cocalis: 3:06

Yeah. So when we gave you the bike to test, honestly, what I was looking for from you was to really just lay miles down and put some durability testing on the system. And handling and frame flex and all the things we need to do to tune the carbon lay-up and the ride of the bike. And I didn't actually expect you to like the thing.

Ryan Molony: 3:31

Well I did.

Chris Cocalis: 3:33

So tell me about it.

Ryan Molony: 3:35

You know, I think for me, it was a very interesting experience for me, because I was part of the testing phase for the Vault, the gravel bike. And for me, I didn't really know what to expect at first. And I remember, the first ride I got on it, I was like, okay, I'll kind of see how this goes. And I get it into the first setting. And I was like, and I immediately came to mind, I'm like, oh, this is a lot of fun. I just basically put a ear to ear, smile on my face, just with the enjoyment that you had with it. I mean, like Rachel was discussing, you can, you know, basically be putting out a normal effort where you'd be going 16 to 18 miles an hour and on this, you're doing the same effort and you're going 23-24. So it just becomes like this very enjoyable riding it, you know, race pace in certain group rides, and not having to be putting out the watts that I would normally have to be putting out to ride race pace. So for me, I just had a blast riding the bike for the period of time I had it. I was actually a little upset when I had to give it back and not ride it as much anymore. But yeah, for me, just the overall ride experience was amazing, it kind of make you feel like you're a kid again, when you've got on the bike, for that first time in quite a while you just have a big smile on your face. And you get to ride a really sweet bike in the in the process.

Chris Cocalis: 5:11

Nice. So one of the things is when we were working on this, and we got through the development of the extra large frame, we started working on the other sizes and had asked Ryan to bring his bike back. Trying to get that thing back from him was a little tough. Maybe tomorrow?

Ryan Molony: 5:29

Yeah, I was like, no, no, I got some more testing I need to do.

Chris Cocalis: 5:33

Yeah, he was a little upset, because we didn't have a lot of batteries and motors laying around. And so we had to build it up so that we could test the small and the extra small and get that done and then hand it off to you. And then you rode it and actually, we were still in the phase of figuring out the power output on it. And one of the things on the bike with the software, that's downloadable to computers, you can tune the power output on it. And based on your experience, you found there's three actually, there's off you can ride it without any assist. And then we have breeze green, river blue, and rocket. And so you were in the river setting a lot.

Rachel Wehn: 6:23

River setting a lot just to kind of understand the tempo like going uphill versus flat. And yeah, when I changed the settings I wanted a little bit more consistency. When going hard and then going a little harder.

Chris Cocalis: 6:39

Yeah.

Rachel Wehn: 6:39

And it was incredible, that we could just make those changes like that.

Chris Cocalis: 6:46

Yeah, so you came back with some good feedback. And then we we adjusted the output and then I rode it, others rode it and we're like, wow, that was a great change. And then that's now the stock setting for us, so yeah. But that that tunability is great, there's an app that anybody who gets the bike or if you just want to download the app, you can do that on either apple or android.

Rachel Wehn: 7:12

I just need one more app on my phone.

Chris Cocalis: 7:13

Just so you can mess with your friends who have the same bike. But yeah, the app gives you a lot of data information on the bike and then the computer software allows you to adjust that power and in really manage a lot of the the tuning options on the bike. In the near future, those will actually combine onto the app so without ever having to hook it to the computer people will be able to basically adjust to those power settings save their power settings, send those setups to their friends to test if they find something they like better. The entire system itself has got some really unique things about it. First of all, it's the lightest it's called the Fazua Evation 2.0 Drive Pack System. And some pretty cool things about it is the the motor can actually completely come out of the frame when you when you go to charge the battery the two pieces come out together you can ride the bike without the motor there's actually a cover they sell if you just want to ride your bike as regular bike after riding it with the battery I don't know who would want to do that but if you want to just carry sandwiches instead that cover there's a lot of room in there.

Rachel Wehn: 8:30

Snack, burritos probably fit better in there.

Chris Cocalis: 8:32

Yeah, we haven't tested it yet but we estimate you could fit you know, one foot long one six inch in there maybe depending, but you could probably get two full foot Long's in their.

Rachel Wehn: 8:43

Extra large yeah.

Ryan Molony: 8:44

Extra large, that's another another perk of being 6' 5".

Chris Cocalis: 8:48

But you don't need that much so you know. Anyway, maybe I should ride the extra large. So the battery comes out of the drive pack unit, the battery weighs three pounds, super lightweight, that's the about the same weight as a full water bottle. And when you're riding the bike, if you if you're using a combination of the different modes on the bike, and not just rocketing it all the time, like you two, then you can get about 50 miles, a solid ride with three to 4000 feet of climbing in the ride. And so getting a second battery will have the battery available through our dealers with an evoc pack that it's a nice bike packing pack that straps the bottom underside of the top tube and so allow you to still carry your water bottles and the extra battery for those 100 milers. But another nice thing about the bike is even if you don't want to carry a second battery and you want to do 100 miler the system is drag free so when it's not engaged there's zero drag on it. And that is quite a bit different than pretty much any other drive system on the market. And that really allows you to comfortably put your power down. In fact, you got to tell the story about, we didn't tell you how to turn the bike on when you first got it. And you did a full pull to work and you were probably about halfway here before you wondered if this e-bike thing was for you.

Ryan Molony: 10:26

Yeah, it was in the early stages of testing it and there was a step you needed to do before you change the mode, I'd go out riding, and then I'm like hitting it during the ride and nothing would come on. And then I'm like, feel like I'm working a lot harder than I should on this bike ride right now. And then, when I came in, they're like, oh, yeah, by the way, you have to do this before the drive unit turns on. I'm like, oh.

Chris Cocalis: 10:55

And that was the nature of the prototypes. Now you just press the button on the top to them your bike turns on.

Rachel Wehn: 11:02

That's actually something I really like is like the the position of where the on and off and mode switches, it's super easy to like, just quickly take your hand off the handlebar and like, the colors of the lights are really helpful to differentiate what what mode you're in.

Chris Cocalis: 11:18

Yeah and it's a very touch sensitive control. So if you have gloves on you can change modes really easy without like, taking your hand off the bar and pressing something hard, it doesn't click or anything. In fact in the software program, you can actually change the sensitivity of it, you can change it so much that if you sweat on it, it will change the mode, which we were experimenting with that. They also have a thing, if this would be more of a problem in Germany than in Phoenix, or in Portland, rain mode. So if you're in a heavy rainstorm, and rains, pelting this thing and actually changing your mode, you can hold down the button and change it to a mode where you have to press the little Fazua symbol to change the modes and click it through its modes, and then you can hold it down again for two seconds and, and take it back. But uh, yeah, that was an interesting one, because we were playing around with just how sensitive you get. And it was almost like, you could almost will it change for you. But unfortunately, when you're, if you put it that sensitive, when you're on really steep climbs, and you sweat on the wrong side of the button, it's turning off. So rest assured when when you get to get your bike, it will be at a nice setting that allows with gloves to easily be able to change it. And then if you want to try different things in the future, you'll be able to change that with your app, or you can change it with the with the computer program. And also the the compatibility is one of the big features of the bike. So the data for the Fazua unit, the power meter readings, cadence, all those things can can feed through your Garmin, your Wahoo some of the Garmin wearables, Lezyne, and Sigma. So really the biggest suppliers of data and computer by computers in the marketplace. The bike has Di2 GRX group on it. And so if you add the Di2 wireless connector, which is just a small inexpensive piece, then you can feed all the Di2 data into the your Garmin, Wahoo, etc, as well. And it's it's a lot of data. I mean, you train with all the information.

Rachel Wehn: 13:54

You're a numbers guy.

Ryan Molony: 13:55

Yeah, no, that's one thing that's really impressive about it is, as an overall unit, it's a very, it's a very user friendly, system. So you can very easily connect to majority of the Bluetooth computers of your choice, you can actually get power data from it, you can, hook your Di2 up to it and get a lot of information. So you can get a lot of data out of the system if that's what you're looking for. So it's just a really nice user friendly experience it's not an overly difficult thing to get set up and to use. So I was really impressed with that.

Chris Cocalis: 14:36

So yeah, I've been using the 1030 here and yeah, it's amazing scrolling through it and being able to just everything that you can do with it. And that's also I think, kind of unique to the system. The other thing too is the drive units kind of really unique in the world of e-bikes and drive units. It's I think I mentioned already, it's the lightest system, it also falls in a really nice place as far as power output. So it's a 55 newton meters of torque. And it's class one, most all class ones are classified as a 250 watt motor. But things like the EP8 we use on our shuttle, that's a 250 watt motor that has a much higher max output. This will go Max 300, it's basically putting out 100 to 300 watts. The motor is very lightweight, the entire system doesn't add much weight to the bikes. So you have a sub 30 pound complete bike with the feel of our Vault. And it's just really snappy, really nice. And then other some of the other things on the bike, when we develop the vault, one of the big things with that was to basically have a bike with pro tour level power transfer, and when you get on the pedals for it to go. And of course, when you add power to your pedals, that becomes even more important. But we also don't want to lose comfort on the bike there there reaches a point where if you start to put too much flex into the seat stays or chainstays to get vertical compliance out of the bike, then other things start to suffer. And you get front derailleur rub and the bike twisted up and not able to sprint and Molony here puts down a lot of power. And so we got the full stamp of approval.

Rachel Wehn: 16:34

What about me?(Jokingly)

Chris Cocalis: 16:34

You put down a lot of power too. Yeah so same thing we've done with the Vault and all of our bikes on the ride tuning is to make sure that that balance is struck, but be able to keep that and also keep a comfortable level bike. When we launched the Vault, we came out with Isoflex. And that is a system that basically holds the seat post isolated from the frame completely. And so when you're going over bumps, they don't make it to your saddle, and you've spent a lot of miles on the gravel, you've spent a lot of miles as well. What do you guys think about Isoflex?

Ryan Molony: 17:16

I'm a huge, I'm actually a really big fan of it. Kind of the same thing didn't really know what to expect the first time I got on it there's a lot of companies that claim to do a lot of certain things by isolating road vibration and that sort of thing. And one of the things that was most impressed about it was is it just smooths out the ride so much, but it's not something that you really notice until you kind of start thinking about it a little bit more and kind of realizing the type of terrain you're on it just takes that little bit of edge off, rougher tarmac, rougher gravel roads. The other nice thing that's nice about it is when you kind of put the power down on rougher terrain, a lot of times if you're hitting rougher terrain, you can kind of get bucked off the saddle and you kind of gets you're moving around a little bit more. With this, that isoflex basically isolates any of that road vibration and allows you to kind of keep that power transfer smooth and through the pedal stroke rather than losing it while you're getting moved off the saddle so it's just another compliment to an overall really well designed bike, so it just makes it ride even that much better. For me I'm a firm believer and just the overall quality of the isoflex and how it adds to the ride characteristics and the ride quality of the bike.

Rachel Wehn: 18:46

Yeah, no, my statement would be on the E-Vault, Chris knows I'm like extremely picky about what saddles I ride on what bikes, and I just rode the saddle that was on the bike. And I could feel the isoflex taking some of like the the pressures out of the areas you don't want pressure on a saddle I usually wouldn't ride and it made it ridable. And what you said about like, actually taking some of the vibration from the road out of what you feel from the saddle. That was the first time I really like it all clicked in my head was when I rode a saddle I usually don't ride.

Chris Cocalis: 19:30

Awesome. And with that on the spec side we combine it with a carbon seat post, its our tuned flex carbon design. So the lay-up inside the seat post is different from side to side, front to back, so that that adds an additional level of comfort to the bike. Really everything on the bike is it's designed to be a nice high end build as you would expect from Pivot and everything work well together. So it's GRX Di2, Reynolds carbon wheels, compact drive train with a Praxis carbon crank, and then an Easton carbon bar. So really just top of the line, excellent working stuff Di2. All works great together. And then of course, like any good road bike, gravel bike, fits two water bottles on on every size frame. So that's another nice thing about the system is that it is so sleek, really kind of just disappears into the bike and you can be in a group road ride. And it essentially completely silent.

Rachel Wehn: 20:40

Yeah, I felt bad passing some people to be honest. I was like, they have no clue I'm on an e-bike right now. And I just let it go, I was like, yeah, I'm feeling good today. Have a great day, guys.

Chris Cocalis: 20:52

Yeah, I was battling some people on occasion up to the towers that I had no business going up against and it was until we got to the top and they've turned themselves completely inside out and me too a little bit to you know, least make it a fair fight. I was staying in the in the breeze. And then they'd start looking over the bike and it would take them a minute or two. Yeah. What is that? Wait a second. Yeah. Does that have something else going on? And yeah, it's got something else going on.

Ryan Molony: 21:25

Little something.

Chris Cocalis: 21:26

So yeah, I mean, the biggest thing is just like both you guys said it's a ton of fun. And really, whatever you want to do with it, it's kind of the ultimate all surface bike. With our regular vault, our general spec is more towards the gravel end where we've got wider gravel specific tires, flared handlebars. This one uses a compact, standard drop bar 32c Maxxix Refuse tires, which can take an amazing amount of beating and gravel and off road, we've taken them on full-on mountain bike trails. But they're great on your daily commute all around the city, wherever you want to ride bike on a group road ride. And it's really a bike for whatever you want that bike to be.

Rachel Wehn: 22:14

Yeah, like, for me, I feel like it's that, like, I've got an hour well Adelai's sleeping, I'm going to go as far as I can in that hour and that helps it be a lot more fun.

Ryan Molony: 22:27

Yeah. Well, I think that's also one of the really fun parts about it is I think there's this conception that you get on an e-bike and everything super easy and I don't have to work at all. And that's not the case, this bike first and foremost rides like a Pivot does and it's a quality bike to ride and it's a lot of fun. But you know, I can still go out and turn myself inside out and get a good workout in, then I have a little bit left in the tank when I come back and have to work the rest of the day. So it's just a tremendous amount of fun to ride the bike. And it's just an overall great experience and that's what I really appreciate about it.

Chris Cocalis: 23:08

Yeah, I mean for the average to fit rider that puts in a lot of miles to go out and get a 50 mile ride in I don't know just a couple hours to two and a half hours and then come home and go about your day. And even though your heart rate was up the whole time you were working hard and you felt like you got a really good ride in and like your legs are still sore the next day, you can still it's the difference from going on with your day and having a productive rest of the day with your family or whatever you want to do. Instead of like the nap, crash on the couch, maybe have two days to recover from that one. Yeah, no you can do multiple days and just keep on going. It's just super fun everywhere. So yeah, and then the last thing too with the versatility is it has the same tire clearance as the Vault so you can you can run fatties on there you can run big gravel tires. They're wide rims on there. So changing our tires is pretty, well just as easy as changing out any tires. It is just like the vault it is 650 compatible. So if you want to run smaller, even wider 2.0 tires on the bike, you can do that as well.

Rachel Wehn: 24:35

What about mullet?

Chris Cocalis: 24:35

Yeah, you can mullet it. We were joking around just like the Vault the Fox gravel road suspension fork will fit on there. So you can put your big ole fatty 29 are on the front, drop your 650 on the back and, yeah, you're ready to roll.

Rachel Wehn: 24:52

Yeah, I was actually just about to ask you They just need to make some of those big, wide three lane wide handlebars and, and go for it. But yeah, you can make it whatever you want. But I think for most people, the stock setup maybe with some slightly wider tires if they tend towards just mostly riding off road. But if you're mixing it up with the b ke, the gearing everything about it will cover a wide range of ri ers. And just fantastic every here. And then we should also ention the colors. what color are you gonna get, or have you already decided?

Chris Cocalis: 25:33

Well, sometimes when a bike is hot, I wind up riding the unpainted prototype that I've had for three years I got a few of those in my garage these days, but uh, and then I never actually get to the color that I want to ride but it's a hard pick the glacial green metallic with the skinwall tires is really hot looking. But then the full stealth with the black side walls. Yeah, it's really a split decision for me and I know it's going to be good when you can't decide but yeah, there's a lot of black bikes out there. So I think the glacial green metallic pretty unique.

Rachel Wehn: 26:09

Molony, you too?

Ryan Molony: 26:11

Yeah, like Chris says, I've ridden a lot of black bikes before so I'd like to put a little color in it. So if it becomes available in an extra large that's what I will be riding.

Rachel Wehn: 26:23

That will be my route as well like small which ones you know, what can we do here?

Chris Cocalis: 26:27

But black is slimming. And if you really want to hide that drive pack.

Rachel Wehn: 26:32

I enjoyed the black being pretty stealth on my ride its pretty funny.

Chris Cocalis: 26:37

No one sees that one coming.

Ryan Molony: 26:38

Yeah, no, there's no better.

Chris Cocalis: 26:39

Yeah. So either way, the E-Vault's awesome and a lot of incredible features and thank you guys for helping develop the bike. That's everything about the E-Vault.

Ryan Molony: 26:54

You got to tell them once we launch the bike to go into your local Pivot dealer and go buy one.

Chris Cocalis: 26:59

Go into your local Pivot dealer and go buy one. The sales guy. Thanks, everybody.