Rose Sneak Plus EQ in Review

It was time for something new! After my Honda Forza scooter just collected too much dust last year, and I preferred the next level of freedom (on the bicycle) for my weekly shopping, a worthy replacement was needed. One that had to be fun on one hand, but also meet some practical and aesthetic demands on the other.

Because such a 300cc scooter is quite close to the ideal when it comes to getting around the city. Nevertheless, the bicycle plays in a completely different league. There are no traffic jams on a bicycle, no parking problems, and you usually get right to your doorstep by bike. Even in many pedestrian zones, cycling at walking speed is now allowed, resulting in super short routes within the urban street canyons, or depending on bike path infrastructure, very efficient routes from A to B. You get exercise in the (more or less) fresh air and still park right in front of the shop when shopping in the smallest spaces - and all at a fraction of the mileage cost of a scooter or even a car.

After long and thorough consideration of all the pros and cons, I chose the Rose Sneak Plus EQ. A choice I would make again after the first few months of use.

Tech Specs

In practice, all these points are correlated. A fully equipped e-bike with a stand, fenders, luggage rack, and lights can neither be sporty nor light, and the aesthetics become challenging as well. Conversely, a small electric motor can effectively compensate for the lack of gears and a bit of extra weight.
Having been very satisfied with my previous Rose bikes, I found myself torn between an SUV like the Rose Mayor Plus, a cargo bike, and the non-motorized Sneak 1, ultimately landing on the Rose Sneak Plus EQ.

The Sneak Plus EQ is quite minimalist in its overall design, almost radical, and certainly not for those who are looking for the ultimate practical and versatile everyday bike. Nevertheless, missing components are less of a disadvantage than one might initially think.
Let's perhaps briefly go through the most noticeable and obvious ones: The Sneak Plus EQ has a Mahle X35 hub motor with 250 W peak power and 40 Nm torque, and the battery offers 250 Wh. The three power levels deliver constant power without torque or cadence control. In return, the unit weighs only 3.5 kg and is visually extremely unobtrusive.

Geometry

The drive is a singlespeed belt drive from Gates, which offers only one gear but is almost maintenance-free and whisper-quiet. The motor assists when starting. The absence of a gear shift, combined with the two brake lines routed through the headset, creates an extremely tidy look on the handlebars.
There are neither luggage racks nor the possibility to mount any. The same applies to kickstands. Bottle holder mounts are located on the underside of the top tube, the seat tube, and the fork. The front light is integrated into the flat handlebars and can be adjusted perfectly by turning the handlebars, while the rear light is mounted in the seat post and shines brightly. Both lights are powered by the motor's battery.
Thus, only the SKS Edge mudguards remain as an optical concession, but they fit relatively elegantly against the Pirelli tires.

The geometry is very classic with little slope, meaning a relatively straight top tube. This results in a fundamentally very pleasant riding behavior: tracks well and yet agile enough for the small city jungle. A little more comfort and damping would not have harmed the frame, though.
The mass on the rear wheel is especially noticeable when accelerating without a motor, but in return, the Q-factor is smaller than that of bikes with a mid-drive motor.

I had to make two tuning adjustments to the Sneak Plus EQ right away. First, the supplied grips were far too slippery for me. And my backside simply isn't compatible with the saddle either. So I swapped the grips for SQLab 7OX and the saddle for an SQLab ????

In practice, the Rose Sneak Plus EQ performs exactly as I expected. I was already familiar with the motor from various gravel bikes, and I find it to be a good choice, especially for such a minimalist singlespeed bike.
The small support levels are mainly there for me on the singlespeed to conserve the battery and not rely too much on the motor. Unfortunately, the necessary torque is often lacking when starting off. Here, I would wish for a singlespeed mode from Mahle that provides full support up to 10 km/h and then gradually reduces the power.

Compared to the non-motorized Rose Sneak, you have the advantage that on gentle inclines, against headwinds, or with a heavy shopping backpack, the motor noticeably helps to reach the ideal speed of the fixed gear ratio of about 25 km/h.