Greyp G6.2 Expert FS review

Greyp’s G6.2 Expert FS has a lot of attention-grabbers going for it — including the unique name and the notable appearance. And while those features may draw you in for a closer look, all the really nifty stuff about the G6.2 Expert FS goes well beyond that of a typical e-bike. Integration with your iPhone, integrated lights and cameras, and and even the ability to learn your body and your trails makes this bike what could be a sneak-peek at the future of e-bikes.

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Greyp was founded by a Croatian electric car designer whose parent company is partly owned by Porche and T-Mobile. Greyp’s goal in creating this bike was to rethink what an e-bike is and what it can do. The G6.2 Expert FS takes e-bike tech up several notches in that pursuit. It is the most electronically advanced e-bike you can buy, and it also delivers a great ride.

Greyp power

The company, which launched in the U.S. in April 2020, uses a proprietary battery and a motor developed in conjunction with MPF — not Bosch or Shimano. Greyp partnered with MFP because they were willing to let Greyp customize the motor firmware.

“We believe that the motor is an essential part of any e-bike experience and a great source of data, and to exploit that opportunity our electronics need to communicate and control the motor,” said Greyp COO Krešimir Hlede.

The G6.2 Expert FS’s motor has full metal gearing, so it’s nearly indestructible according to Greyp, and it’s rated to run underwater, though I did not test that feature. The MP motor is heavier than other motors, but on an e-bike, that’s not a dealbreaker. While the bike was well-suited to smooth and flowy trail, trail with punchy climbs, and steep and uneven stretches, the power delivery has a lag and it can lose momentum. It feels like the bike is trying to anticipate my next move and powering and de-powering based on what it predicted.

The 700Kw hour battery has a solid range. For singletrack riding, it won’t last the 50-80 hours Greyp estimates (based on data it has collected from their users). A one-hour-long, mostly-downhill singletrack followed by an uphill on pavement drains 21 percent of the battery charge over five miles. Greyp encourages riders to bring a backup battery if they want to go further, which adds 8 lbs and $900 to one’s credit card bill.

The full-carbon, brightly-painted bike has 150mm suspension front and rear for all-mountain riding. Greyp chose powerful Formula brakes with 203mm rotors.

Greyp electronics

This is where similarities between the G6.2 Expert FS and other e-bikes end. Integrated 1080p video cameras mounted front and rear film gnarly descents. But I recorded clips of my dog running down the trail, a buddy’s tail whip, a few selfies, and all without any additional GoPro required.

The bike has a basic black and white display, but it’s designed to also work with an Android phone as its dashboard. A clip on the bike’s display holds a phone in place while riding. While I didn’t crash on this bike, I fear what might happen to my phone when I do.

The G6.2 Expert FS also has its own T-Mobile eSIM card, and it’s connected to the internet through that SIM or your phone at all times. That lets Greyp continuously gather ride and health data from riders. This data is used to dial-in the bike’s auto-assist mode, which kicks in to help maintain pre-selected heart rate zones when wearing Greyp’s armband heart rate monitor. Greyp also gathers information from rides to increase the accuracy of the battery range predictions.

Because the bike is internet-connected all the time, if someone nabs it while I’m grabbing a coffee, or cuts a cable lock to steal it, I can remotely lock the bike using the Android app. And, the on-board camera will snap pictures of the bike’s surroundings, and it can be geo-located, too.

As an iPhone user, I’m not able to tap into these features. Greyp sent me an Android phone to use while I was testing the bike. In the Vermont woods, where there is an extremely limited wireless signal, I have not been able to get it to connect. Using the built-in computer without the mobile app, I can view speed, ride time, and distance traveled, but not which mode I’m in, nor take advantage of the other features.

Greyp has GPS, accelerometer, and barometer, which help determine range and elevation gain/loss. Currently, it doesn’t predict the weather, though maybe it will in the future. Future development of this bike is happening at lightning speed.

For now, heart rate measurement is available only through Greyp’s armband heart rate monitor, but this will change soon, too. A Greyp a gamification feature is planned sometime in 2021, which will let the bike communicate with other Greyp bikes for a game of “Greyp.”

Similar to Zwift, I can ride with — and race against — other Greyp users even when not actually riding alongside them. But Greyp takes this gamification a step further, and allows riders to handicap themselves and/or opponents as part of the game, with the option to do things like de-power other rider’s bike for five seconds, for example.

I am overwhelmed by bundles of wires and the sheer quantity of electronics on this bike’s handlebar: A joystick, a function button, a mode selector, cameras, lights, and more, in addition to all of the shifter, dropper, and display wires.

The gizmos and gadgets might be fun for some users, but for me, most of this feels like a distraction from — not an enhancement to — my ride. As someone who loves singletrack, what I want from an e-bike is an enhanced ability to get further out, to do more laps, to session steep technical terrain. Other riders with different goals might have more fun playing with the incredible tech the Greyp offers, which also could attract more people to riding bikes.

As Greyp hones in on its audience, they’ll likely streamline features, and sizing. Right now, the G6.2 Expert FS is available in S-L, with XL coming soon. They’ve said there is no need to make an XS because their customers are mostly men. With the features offered, that proclamation seems short-sighted. While I didn’t recruit any teenage testers, this could be an untapped market for the bike.

Greyp goes big on electronics but skimps some places that matter to mountain bikers. On a bike of this price, I expect an internally-routed dropper post with a shifter-style thumb lever. But the Greyp has an externally-routed post. The bike has 2.8-inch Schwalbe Magic Mary tires, but the suspension progression and power curves aren’t dialed for the trails where Magic Marys belong.

Greyp G6.2 Expert FS verdict

The G6.2 Expert FS is an e-bike foray into the future, and it’s cool to see a company push the boundaries of what a pedal-assist bike can do. Even if the bike- and rider-data tracking seems creepy, or like “Big Brother” is watching, Greyp is just being open about it. I hope that Greyp will continue to raise the bar in e-bike functionality, while also streamlining how the controls populate the handlebar. For the U.S., iOS compatibility is clutch, and I hear that’s also coming soon.

It’s a great bike, as long as you play to its strengths. And if Greyp wants committed mountain bikers as customers, It will need to bring its suspension and specs to the same level as its electronics.