Level Up Your E-MTB Game With The Dual Drivetrain LMX 64 – CleanTechnica

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If you’re looking for something a little different (ok, very different) for your next — or your first — mountain bike, and you’ve got some serious cash to back that up, then consider the LMX 64, a dual-transmission electric mountain bike that is described as “halfway between electric ebike and motorcycle.”

If you’ve been reading along these last few months, you may have noticed a trend in the micromobility coverage here at CleanTechnica, with posts featuring some of the e-bikes that are blurring the line between bicycles and lightweight motorcycles. Part of that is because those types of e-bikes are starting to gain a lot more traction in the market right now, and part of that is because I’m intrigued by this new direction. In my humble (and definitely biased) opinion, the electric mobility revolution is coming to all things that move, so covering a wide range of electric personal transport options other than electric cars is my way of highlighting the full spectrum of e-mobility products.

With that out of the way, here’s a look at a radical interpretation of the electric mountain bike from France’s LMX Bikes, which probably isn’t going to be seen very often in the wild, but which could be the hint of a new direction in e-bikes.

The company, whose name is an acronym for “lightweight motocross,” designs, manufactures, and assembles its unique electric bikes all in-house, and at the heart of the design for its innovative “speed bikes” is its patented dual transmission system. Now, I’ve ranted before about the dangers of unnecessary complexity in electric bikes, but this “dual freewheel transmission” system is an intriguing direction. A quick Google search surfaced a couple of companies pursuing a very similar approach — WhaTT, which now appears to be defunct, and Italy’s SEM MotoBike, which does advertise a few models of dual-transmission bikes — so it’s not totally clear as to which of them actually came up with the idea. LMX does show the evolution of its bikes on its website, as well as its patent for a dual freewheel transmission, so do with that what you will.

The system has a fairly standard bike drivetrain on the right side, which provides several levels of electric pedal assist to the rear wheel, but on the left side, a completely separate belt drive system delivers the power from the throttle to the rear wheel — and both can be used at the same time, according to LMX. The company makes a good case for having a separate transmission for throttle power, as the 2000W (2500W peak) motor could play hell with a standard chain and derailleur system, and as these bikes are built to perform off-road and not just on flat ground, the separate transmission ensures that the traditional drivetrain doesn’t go kaput in the middle of a hard ride. The company says its motor can deliver 191 Nm of torque to the rear wheel, which is some serious juice.

Covering the technical side of a dual transmission system is beyond the scope of this article, but suffice it to say that even if you’ve got $7500 to spend on a fun off-road toy, you’re probably going to want to full suss out the system for yourself. Luckily, the company recently announced that Canada’s DIAN Motors is now selling the LMX 64 in the US and Canada, so you may not need to go to France to get a test ride in. However, if you’re interested in the full line of bikes from LMX, including a true electric motocross bike, be sure to explore the company’s website.

Images courtesy of LMX