last year, a spokesperson from Santa Cruz Bikes, the overwhelmingly cool (and kind of pricey) mountain bike company from coastal California, emailed me to say that the company had a bike that he thought I would love.
That bike was the Skitch. I have never responded so fast to an email in my life. It is the perfect bike (for me). My tester is the version with flat handlebars. (You can also get it with drop handlebars, like a real road bike.) It has an extremely lightweight carbon fiber frame that houses an equally lightweight 450-watt Fazua 60 motor, with a 430-watt-hour battery. That battery is not super powerful, but with a range of up to 60 miles it just gives me a little bit of punch to make it up steep hills.
It is a high-end bike for people who love biking but don’t take themselves too seriously. I’m so happy that companies like Santa Cruz make great electric bikes. When you’re riding a bike made by people who like bikes, it’s a reminder that biking is pure joy, and not just a chilly, carless slog from one destination to the next. With that said, I love this bike with all my heart, but I have to admit that you could probably get nearly the same functionality with the Specialized Turbo Vado SL (9/10, WIRED Recommends) for several grand less. Since the Specialized has been out for longer, you might find one used for even cheaper.
You don’t see the Fazua system very often. I asked Garen Becker, Santa Cruz’s brand manager, why the company picked the system. It's notable for its light weight, small size, and battery efficiency. “Also, Fazua's been great to deal with,” Becker said in an email. “We've got thousands of miles and nearly a million feet of climbing on the system across various bikes, and we've been able to work alongside Fazua to improve their power delivery and analytics app, which is cool.”