Moustache Lundi 27.1 Review: Electric Bike That I Really Liked!

The Moustache Lundi 27.1 is shown here. I actually looked at a very similar model in London in 2018; it was called the Moustache Lundi 26.1. The biggest difference between the two models, aside from the down tube integrated battery, was the wheel size; these wheels are 27.5 inches taller than 26 inches, giving you a lower attack angle and more air volume for comfort. This slightly elevates the frame, but this frame is just so approachable; it’s a deep wave step through.

They have updated to schwalbe Super Moto X; previously, they were 2.35 by 27.5 inches. We now have a little bit more width, more air volume for comfort, and some side-to-side stability, which, in my opinion, is a good small enhancement. There is still only one frame size available for the bike, but as you can see, the 350 millimeter seat post is adjustable.

The handlebar is really just kind of fixed; there isn’t even a stem here, so you can’t get something that’s steeper or longer. However, the bar itself is really unique; it brings the grips back in this position so you don’t have to reach as far forward and perhaps your hands won’t get as numb because you have these nice locking ergonomic grips that are upright.

Motor	Bosch Active Line Plus
Battery	Bosch PowerTube 400Wh
Display	Bosch Intuvia
Frame	6061 T4-T6 Alloy, hydroformed and extruded triple cavity tubes
Fork	Lundi, Alloy w/integrated cable routing and custom front carrier attachments
Tyres	Schwalbe, Super Moto-X, 27.5x2.40
Shifters	Shimano, Deore, Rapidfire Plus
Crank	Moustache, Alloy, 170mm
Cassette	Shimano, CS-HG50-10, 11-36
Chain	KMC, X10, 10-speed
Pedals	Wide platform, anti-slip, aluminum - reflectors
Accessories	Lights, mudguards, pannier rack, lock and kickstand

Video Review of Moustache Lundi 27.1

Moustache Lundi 27.1: Design and Build Quality

So even a taller rider could raise the saddle, but they’d have a shorter reach than they would if they had multiple sizes of frames. All in all, though, for something that’s just kind of casual to cruise around the neighborhood on a Monday (by the way, Lundi means Monday), I think this is okay to use as a commuting platform because it has integrated lights and a lot of great storage.

I don’t love that it doesn’t point where you steer because it’s built right into that head tube so it looks neat and is kind of unique, but that’s still something that’s a bit of a trade-off. The tires don’t have reflective sidewalls, but they do have some other brighter color frames if you want, and I’m wearing a white helmet today to try to be seen. Back here, we have a single LED on this rear light again really well positioned. 

It has fairly standard gauge tubing so you could use off-the-shelf panniers or you could get these ql3 ortlieb panniers that are highly water resistant and they just kind of clip onto these circular Nubs really nicely down here. You’ll also see a bungee Loop so you could just kind of lash something on really quickly and easily. I love that. 

It’s essentially a derailleur guard, so if you lose your bags or other items, they won’t hit the derailleur, and if you’re traveling through brush or other obstacles, it will provide you with a little extra protection. It’s really sophisticated and cleverly made, and it can hold a maximum weight of 27 kilograms, which is far more than the 20 or 25 kilos I typically see. This makes it 59 and a half pounds, which is perfect for use as a child carrier or other type of utilitarian cargo basket.

I really appreciate that the kickstand is over here; it is tool-free adjustable and slides up and down very easily so you can keep the bike upright on a variety of terrain, whether it is slightly slanted or not. You’ll also notice that there is a quick release down here; this allows you to perform some flat fixes or simpler repairs because the hub spacing on this bike is very standard at 135 millimeters in the back and 100 millimeters up.

That is excellent, then. This was protecting my feet and shins as I rode over here it’s a little bit rainy today I really appreciate the high quality materials used throughout the bike, especially these fenders they’re really well done so these are tubular meaning it’s not just a single piece of aluminum alloy it’s kind of a tube and so you get this extra strength and they don’t rattle around they don’t make a lot of noise and they extend pretty far too

See how clean that looks really nicely done? I also appreciate this plastic chain cover standard 170 millimeter length Craig arms and then these wide aluminum pedals kind of unbranded but they they do really well they have fixed pins they match the rest of the bike I think there’s extra aluminum alloy support going through here that gives additional strength and reinforcement to this rack without having to use extra bars.

Last time I saw this bike, I was like, well, there isn’t a suspension fork and at least it had higher volume tires now the tires are even better the attack angle everything I talked about we’ve got the same saddle here cellular Royal wave kind of a Gel saddle but before it didn’t have a suction fork. I was talking about the single frame size before and how approachable the frame is. 

Therefore, you can modify the preload and prepare the spring for your body weight. I’m a little bit light for a rider, so I think I’ve kind of loosened it to actually get some travel, and if you’re a little heavier you can tighten it so you don’t bottom out. If you’re really small and you want a lower minimum saddle height, you could always switch out this suspension post for just a standard rigid post and you’ll save about two or three inches. The saddle will go a little bit lower for you back down here.

This bike weighs a respectable 57.6 pounds, which is about five pounds more than the 26.1 that I covered in 2018. A portion of that weight is the battery, but I believe the battery is only added perhaps a pound and a half to the battery on this bike I covered earlier. The battery on the bike I covered in 2018 weighed 6.8 pounds and was made of steel. Aluminum forks are typically lighter in weight, but aluminum tends to be a little bit more sturdy.

So again fairly light, with the weight directly in the middle of the bicycle. Because they track rear wheel speed, pedal torque, and cadence over a thousand times per second and provide shift detection, Bosch controllers are quite advanced. Your chain and sprockets are under stress. I want to show you this cover since it clips on nicely and is a bit more dry inside. It has the Moustache and Bosch logo. 

There are five colors for this bike, so in a way, it’s the cover that has to go through extra effort to have these all match in contrast to like the chain cover here, which is black in both cases it’s not color match and if you lose this finding a replacement that matches perfectly might take a little bit more time or money and it doesn’t lock to frame so something I think about but I do really like this bike.

This is a way to quickly immobilize the bike, and I believe you can even insert a chain into the other side and possibly loop it around a post before we unlock it just snaps back into position. I love it when systems are key to like this go ahead and unlock. This is obviously more expensive and higher capacity, but in any case they have AXA keys that work for the frame lock back here.

I believe you could use a higher capacity battery and it would fit in this same space, keeping the weight low and keeping the center compared to the 2018 Moustache Lundi that I looked at. The battery pack as well is a fairly fancy key that’s sort of routed inward we go unlock it and then the battery sort of Springs out a little bit there’s a little push button at the top you can lift this out about six and a half pounds for this almost acts. 

I’m a big fan of this because it can be charged on or off the bike, but my only complaint is that storing it in a cool, dry place would be the best idea. Keeping it between 20 and 80 percent charged will prevent those cells from becoming overworked, and extreme heat will reduce the number of times you can fully charge it. Simply put, lithium-ion chemistry is more difficult to work with.

So if we line this up in the frame, one of my other complaints is that you have to physically twist the key while inserting the battery, something I mentioned occasionally, so this is much easier than, say, bottom mount batteries because it’s the same situation with the Bosch interface, which is extra secure but just requires that you physically twist the key while inserting the battery.

The only issue with this is that it’s very close to the left crank arm so if it’s plugged in and you bump these pedals or you know back the bike up it’s going to pass by and you know unplug hopefully not crack any of these pieces and this is just fairly low this is where dirt and wreckage collect. This is the faster one weighs about 1.7 pounds fairly compact again. I’m a big fan of this. They have a proprietary interface on that plug. 

I’ve turned the handlebar so I don’t bump my head a lot of times. I’ll go down like this and then oh you know I kind of bash myself, so just keep that in mind. And again with the fenders hopefully not a big deal, but you know ideally that would be up high maybe on the right side of the frame so you don’t have to bend down every time to plug it in if you’ve got sensitive knees and stuff.

This is the 27.1, then. The performance line motor, which is somewhat faster and more powerful but has the same drivetrain and a power pack 500, is available if you upgrade to the 27.3. The highest end model, the 27.5, comes with an TR continuously variable transmission and also has the performance line, so the 27.1, if you order it with the 500 watt hour power tube, is a 10-speed drivetrain that I actually like.

It has a 40 tooth Steel chainring with narrow wide teeth that really locks onto this chain so it won’t fall off. If it does, it might be difficult to remount that, especially with the chain cover like this. Back here, we have a 10-speed drivetrain that goes from 11 to 36, which is a pretty good spread. It has a Shimano Dior derailleur long cage that is simple to use the shifters on.

Thus, you can repeatedly push it or pull it. I’m using my thumbs, and then my fingers are up here for the brakes, and then you’ve got a multi-shift going back to those easy gear so it’s it’s all very reachable does have an optical gear window, but I don’t see any labels on it has these locking ergonomic grips that feel nice little flick bail for friendly signaling, and then the brakes this is maybe a two or three finger lever up here hydraulic is nice so when you’re braking at the rear you. 

The wiring is all internally routed down here, it’s really clean, and then up front we’ve got a large 180 millimeter rotor with a dual piston caliper in the rear it’s a little bit smaller 160 millimeter with the same dual piston caliper so when you’re riding as you stop. There’s a little set screw in there so you can bring the lever in. 

Moustache Lundi 27.1: Power and Range

And they have performed admirably. very quiet and effective, let’s check out the display, but first I love that this is detachable. This is the Bosch, which has been around for a while. Its grayscale backlit display lacks wireless compatibility with any of the Bosch smartphone apps, but it does have a small micro USB charging port on the side, which is nice if you already have your phone mounted there separately, though on this particular model. 

I have no idea where or how to mount the phone. We’ve got the display fixed back onto the bike, but I believe these plastic bits are removable, so there might be a chance to do something creative with it, like an extension or a bar attachment. I’ve previously used this display on my own e-bikes, and it does contain something akin to a coin battery, so if you leave the bike outside all winter and you remove the battery and it drains when it gets really cold or hot, you know your display is probably not broken; you might only need to seek assistance from a dealer.

We power it on and it boots up pretty quickly here we’ve got five bars up top for your battery charge level not very precise these days I’m seeing 10 bar infographics I’m seeing percentages but fortunately there is a range estimator built into this so it gives you some idea and again on the battery there’s a little button and you can kind of see how full the pack is independently we’ve got our current speed right there in miles per hour. 

You can change those settings by pressing the plus or minus buttons to move between the different levels of assist, which range from off to Eco Tour Sport and Turbo, which will provide you with up to 50 Newton Meters of torque and 270 percent support from the Bosch Active Line Plus. Then, just to the right, is a small power chart that shows how hard the motor is working. Down here, we have another readout that we can cycle through by pressing either this small rubbery button or I here. Max Speed Average Speed Range of Travel Time. 

Now, this is the really cool one because it currently estimates that we can travel 49 kilometers based on my most recent writing and the battery’s charge level, but if I decrease the level of assistance, it updates dynamically and says that we can travel 55 kilometers, then all the way down to eco 128 kilometers. This motor is once again very efficient and quiet, and even though it doesn’t provide quite the same high RPM support or torque as the performance line Motors, I still find it to be adequate for most uses.

This bike is about $4000 US, but I’ve seen different price points and different geographies, especially since it’s a European bike. I’m reviewing it in Canada, but it’s likely also sold in the US. The number of dealers might be a little bit limited. 

The bike is stable, especially with those wide tires, so let’s go ahead and take it up to yeah I like to do turbo so you can hear the motor and see how loud it would be at its loudest not very loud at all I can hear a little like but it’s very quiet which I appreciate just go down this street here I do sometimes on these active line Motors notice that as soon as I stop pedaling there’s a little bit of a clunk like the pedals want to keep going. 

I’ve mentioned this before, but I don’t think that will work. The motor does freewheel and shouldn’t create any drag when you’re actually pedaling forward whether the bike is powered on or not, but there is just a little bit of extra stick when you stop pedaling. I’m going to take it down to cuddle around just like a normal, albeit heavy, bicycle still. A very upright posture makes it simple to access those gears. 

There was a small hill on the way here and it had no problem there. It’s nice thank you very much narrow enough to fit easily through those posts and doorways back at the shop. I would probably raise the saddle a little bit to really optimize this for myself, but with the power on tap I don’t feel like I’m straining myself to climb any Hills or anything.

Moustache Lundi 27.1: Conclusions

I really like this bike, and I’ve recorded all the statistics back at electricbikereview.com. Guys, I think that’s it. It’s really fun to revisit a bike like this that I’ve covered, oh, four years ago. I want to thank City Cycles in Langley, British Columbia, for letting me come in and test some of the different bikes they carry. I love you and I hope you have fun out there riding safely and we’ll see you next time. 

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