Lauf eElja Electric Mountain Bike Review: Power Trip

At 37.7 pounds, It’s just a few pounds heavier than my traditional mountain bike. And yet, with a motor capable of providing 350 watts of assist hidden in the bottom bracket, the new ELZA is anything but a conventional bike.

Over the past decade or so, Icelandic brand Lauf has become best known for its innovative front suspension. Instead of the traditional piston style, Lauf created a suspension system that is almost like two forks connected by a series of tiny glass fiber springs.

These days, Lauf is venturing into complete bikes, recently introducing the new ELJA electric mountain bike in one of two offerings: the high-end Race build, which features carbon wheels, advanced suspension and groupset, and carbon cranks; And a slightly more modest but still amazing Weekend Warrior build, which features alloy wheels, a high-mid groupset and suspension, and alloy cranks.

I recently spent a week putting the Eelza (pronounced “El-ee-yah”) race model through its paces and was completely blown away by everything the bike had to offer. Again, I expect to be surprised by a bike that sells for over $8,000. Still, given what I’ve learned about this bike through both riding and research, I’d say every penny of that list price will be money well spent.

elja race model
Photograph: Michael Venutolo-Mantovani

weight Watcher

The ELJA is fast and agile on the descents, and easy and homely on the climbs. It’s responsive where it needs to be and relaxed where it needs to be. It is also a very great looking bike.

Thanks to a beautiful SRAM Eagle groupset that includes wireless SRAM AXS PODS e-shifting and a wireless RockShox Reverb AXS dropper post, the eElja looks very clean, as it only has two cables (one routed internally), which operate the bike’s brakes. The Elza Race comes out of the box with a RockShox Pike Select+ fork, which features 140 millimeters of travel, and a 130-mm RockShox Deluxe Select shock at the front. The Race E*Thirteen Optimus Carbon Sidekick rides on tubeless-ready, six-bolt, XD freehub 29-inch wheels wrapped in Goodyear Escape Max Trail Lite 2.6-inch tires. And both the Race and Weekend Warrior models come with massive 12-speed cassettes ranging from 10T to 52T.

And yet, despite all the shiny bells and whistles (which are all things you’d expect on a bike at this price), The bike’s lightness is its defining feature. While many e-MTBs weigh over 50 pounds, the eLza’s sub-40 pound weight makes it easily maneuverable on the trail. Perhaps just as importantly, it also makes it easier to get out of the way in those benign moments we often overlook: loading it on your bike rack, bringing it into your workplace, and even putting it away or taking it out of your quiver. Especially if, like me, you keep your bike on a wall-mounted hanger.