Haibike Lyke CF 11 review

Haibike’s Lyke CF is the brand’s first lightweight electric mountain bike, powered by Fazua’s Ride 60 motor and 430Wh battery.

German electric bike specialist Haibike is often regarded as the industry’s first mass producer of electric mountain bikes, with history dating back to 1995. Having arguably stagnating since that initial innovation drive, the new Lyke looks set to change that and is claimed to be the “sharpest Haibike in history”.

The Lyke CF 11 sits in the middle of a three-bike range, each boasting a carbon fibre frame, 29in wheels front and rear and 140mm of travel at both ends.

It’s decked out in a host of brand-name parts. Fox’s 36 Performance fork and Float Performance DPS shock feature, along with Shimano’s M8100 drivetrain components and Mavic E-Crossmax wheels.

Haibike Lyke CF 11 frame, suspension and motor

The Lyke CF’s front and rear triangles are constructed from carbon fibre, giving them a sleek, smooth look. Still present, although less pronounced, is Haibike’s hunched top-tube design, synonymous with the brand.

Within the front triangle are bottle cage bosses with additional mounts for accessories, while the chainstay has profiled chain-slap protection.

Cables are routed internally via the ports on the headset, but their routing isn’t the most refined or attractive looking. It uses SRAM’s Universal Derailleur Hanger at the Boost rear axle.

Suspension

Using a Horst-link suspension design, the Lyke has 140mm of travel with “new efficient kinematic[s]… uphill and downhill,” Haibike’s website claims.

The Lyke uses an eyelet-mounted (rather than trunnion) rear shock, with a 200mm eye-to-eye length and 57.5mm stroke.

Motor and battery details

The bike's enclosed down tube conceals the Fazua 430Wh battery. This slides in and out via an access port at the tube’s base.

The Ride 60 electric bike motor – with up to 450W of power and 60Nm of torque – is fitted to the base of the Lyke’s seat tube, which is claimed to save weight.

Charging the battery is done on the bike, via a seat-tube mounted port. This doubles up as the range extender port, which adds an extra 210Wh to the battery’s capacity.

The LED hub is mounted to the top tube, while the Ring Control bar-mounted remote controls the motor’s output. Three stock modes feature – Breeze, River and Rocket – with a 12-second boost mode. These can be tuned in the Fazua smartphone app, which connects via Bluetooth.

Haibike Lyke CF 11 geometry

The Lyke CF’s geometry has no adjustability, but four sizes are available, from small to extra-large.

Reach figures span from 424mm to 506mm, with the size-large getting a 479mm figure. The head angle is 65 degrees and seat tube angle 77.3 degrees across the sizes, with each size also sharing a lengthy 450mm chainstay figure.

That lengthy chainstay might upset the front-to-back balance of smaller sizes of Lyke, but some riders might appreciate the long rear end.

Elsewhere, the bottom bracket sits at 347mm.

While not extreme, the Lyke’s figures are appropriate for the amount of travel and trail-riding intentions it has.

Haibike Lyke CF 11 specifications

This mid-spec model strikes a good balance between performance and price.

Up front is Fox’s GRIP damper Performance 36 fork with 140mm of travel, matched with a Performance DPS EVOL rear shock.

Shimano’s XT M8100 derailleur and shifter are paired with an SLX M7100 chain and cassette. XT M8120 four-piston brakes take care of stopping, with IceTech rotors front and rear.

Mavic’s E-Crossmax XL S wheels are wrapped in Maxxis Dissector 3C MaxxTerra compound rubber front and rear, although the front has an EXO casing and the rear a tougher EXO .

The stem and bars are XLC-branded, with Selle Italia providing the saddle. The unbranded dropper post has 170mm of travel.

Without pedals, the size-large test bike weighed 19.31kg.

Haibike Lyke CF 11 ride impressions

I tested the Haibike Lyke CF 11 on a wide range of trails in Scotland’s Tweed Valley, from the enduro trails that host the UK’s round of the enduro world cup through to backcountry missions across the countryside and loops around the famous Glentress trail centre.

Trail conditions ranged from dusty to incredibly wet, with every condition in between thrown in for good measure.

Setup

For my 76kg kitted-up weight, I set the fork’s spring to 110psi and retained the four stock volume-reducer spacers. This gave roughly 20 per cent sag. I left the sweep adjust compression dial in the fully open setting and set rebound to taste.

I inflated the shock’s spring to 190psi and left the large stock 0.95in cubed volume-reducer spacer installed. This gave me 29 per cent sag. I fully opened the external rebound adjuster to set rebound to taste.

Haibike Lyke CF 11 climbing performance

The Lyke’s steep effective seat tube angle places your hips directly over the bottom bracket, improving pedalling efficiency and comfort, and makes it easier to put the power down when seated.

It positions you closer to the centre of the bike in relation to the front and rear axles, reducing front-wheel lift and weight shifts needed to keep the rear wheel driving traction.

Generous chainstays augment this further, countering the rearward canting effect of steep inclines on your body weight.

A supportive rear suspension kinematic helps preserve its dynamic geometry, resisting detrimental changes.

The Lyke, therefore, ascends impeccably. Grip is deceptively abundant, even with the hard-compound, low-friction rear tyre.

Feeding in power on rough, steep and technical ascents is easy.

The bike's rear suspension isn’t the supplest, however.

The ride isn’t harsh by any means, but the rear end isn’t voluptuously smooth like some bikes with similar travel figures.

Conversely, the fork’s GRIP damper provides exceptional performance, absorbing even the smallest of trail chatter.

Motor performance and battery life

Fazua’s Ride 60 motor hits a sweet spot between power and battery life, combining the incredibly economical Breeze mode with the punchier Rocket to offer genuinely diverse performance.

While Breeze doesn’t have as much assistance as Specialized’s Turbo SL 1.2 motor or Forestal’s EonDrive in their equivalent modes, it has a much greater range.

I regularly managed to exceed 2,500m of ascent on a single charge when using Breeze on the Haibike, which is significantly more than the other two.

Set the Ride 60 to Rocket and its power exceeds those other motors, almost matching the mid-level assistance setting of full-power ebikes.

Although battery life is reduced in Rocket, the large-capacity 430Wh battery means it can go further than the other bikes with smaller sized cells.

The Fazua is impressively quiet, too. It has a passive presence on the trail, its whine barely exceeding off-road tyre noise.

Its ring remote’s design is sound and works well most of the time. However, the centralising springs are weak, causing it to get stuck in its fore or aft position. Build quality is also a bit questionable, negatively impacting how it feels to use.

Haibike Lyke CF 11 descending performance

Its impressive climbing performance translates to a refined and predictable ride on the descents.

The long reach and bottom bracket height, along with its stack, combine to create a solid, natural-feeling hand-to-feet balance.

On rough, choppy descents, your body stays centralised and neutral on the bike; you don’t have to shift your weight fore or aft to compensate for destabilising changes in chassis angle.

Instead, it remains stable and in line with the horizon, neutralising most of the trail’s rough, disruptive inputs.

This reduces the amount of energy needed to tackle technical terrain, improving the Lyke’s capabilities beyond its 140mm travel figure.

Its punchiness and outright stability are some of its most commendable traits. Tackling enduro-style descents isn’t the fraught, knife-edge affair you might expect it to be.

Instead, the Lyke can be pushed hard up to, and slightly beyond, its limits without any significant protest.

The way its 140mm of rear travel is controlled plays its part.

With plenty of ramp-up – thanks to the large volume-reducer spacer and suspension kinematics – its travel doesn’t get eaten up too quickly.

Large bumps and compressions are absorbed proficiently and effectively, stopping the frame from pitching dramatically and helping to maintain its impressive balance.

Mid-stroke support is plentiful, too. Pushing hard into the terrain’s undulations helps drive speed, increasing fun.

Bottom-out resistance is impressive, although a little sudden; the large volume-reducer spacer contributes to this feel.

Annoyingly, I frequently knocked the shock’s compression threshold lever from the open setting into its ‘trail’ mode while descending.

This was frustrating because I didn’t use the lockout function while ascending, rendering the lever pointless.

As a solution, I removed it from the bike to stop it from interfering with the descents.

Combining seamlessly, the Lyke’s geometry and suspension provide a predictable and easy-to-manage cornering experience.

Leaning it over is confidence-inspiring and natural; only small but deliberate weight shifts are needed to get it to hook turns.

It feels comfortable switching from one turn to the next at pace. Again, minimal rider inputs are needed to change direction, helping keep fatigue to a minimum.

The supportive suspension maintains the bike's dynamic geometry. The suspension squats into its stable mid-stroke as you push hard into turns, the bar and bottom bracket sinking evenly to the grip-rich sweet spot.

In aggressive turns, the Mavic rear wheel’s spokes twang and ping as they’re loaded up.

Although I didn’t have to tighten the spokes or true the wheel during the test period, this constant loading and unloading could lead to premature fatigue. It’s certainly something to keep an eye on.

Tyre troubles

Like many other lightweight ebikes, the Lyke CF 11’s tyres aren’t hugely suited to the job.

While the rear tyre’s EXO casing choice is better than most, it’s still easy to flex and puncture with the added – albeit lower – weight of the ebike system.

To improve performance, I’d fit a DoubleDown or equivalent-casing tyre.

Up front, the EXO casing is less problematic, but swapping it out for an EXO would only benefit the bike’s ride. Lower tyre pressures could be run to generate more grip and comfort.

Adding insult to injury is the Dissector’s tread pattern.

If you ride dry, embedded, grippy rock all the time, they’re fine, but add in any moisture or loose dirt and there’s a lack of grip in all metrics. Cornering, braking and accelerating are sub-standard.

Swapping out the Lyke’s stock tyres is an essential upgrade at purchase to unlock its performance potential.

How does the Haibike Lyke CF 11 compare to the Forestal Cyon Neon?

Ignoring the £4,200 difference between the Cyon and Lyke for a minute, these two SL electric trail bikes share quite a few things.

Both their frames are built from carbon fibre, have relatively moderate 65 to 65.5-degree head tube angles and steep approximately 77-degree seat tube angles.

Their motors also share a 60Nm headline power figure. While their in-built batteries differ – the Haibike’s 430Wh unit versus Forestal’s 360Wh – both can be bumped up to over 600Wh (640Wh for Haibike and 610Wh for the Forestal) with range extenders.

Both bikes desperately need tyre upgrades from the factory, so they’re level-pegging in that respect too.

But from here, things diverge.

Forestal’s Eco mode is significantly punchier than Fazua’s Breeze, and battery life is sacrificed with it. In higher assistance levels, there’s little to separate the two, but the Haibike’s motor edges marginally ahead.

The Forestal’s spec is – unsurprisingly given its price – dripping with top-level kit, from SRAM and RockShox, compared to the more economically endowed Haibike’s Shimano and Fox parts.

Travel figures are close, but the Forestal has 10mm more, both front and back; not that you’ll notice much of that increase because the RockShox Pike it’s fitted with feels under-gunned compared to the Haibike’s 140mm-travel Fox 36.

Weights are surprisingly similar, but the Forestal’s luxury components give it an 820g advantage over the Haibike.

When it boils down to choosing one over the other, you have to decide if you’re after the Forestal’s boutique luxury – and significant asking price – or whether the off-the-shelf image and value of the Lyke are more suited to your needs.

In terms of performance, there isn’t much to separate them.

Haibike Lyke CF 11 bottom line

The Lyke CF 11 punches well above its diminutive 140mm-travel suspension figure; its kinematics and balanced geometry eke out more performance than you’d initially expect.

It’s great fun on the descents and can hold its own on gnarly trails. Point it uphill and its sorted geometry figures help provide great grip and comfort.

Add in Fazua’s Ride 60 motor with immense battery life and plenty of power, and the Haibike is a great companion on almost any trail or type of ride.

A sorted list of components – bar the unsuitable tyres – further cements its credentials as a top performer.

If you’re after a short-travel, big-fun lightweight ebike, there’s no reason why the Lyke shouldn’t be on your shortlist.