POLE VOIMA eMTB REVIEW

Pole has always done things a little differently, from their pioneering geometry concepts to their machined frame manufacturing method that creates some very striking looks. The Voima is their first foray into the world of electric mountain bikes, and they came to the market with a very unique product featuring their new Sensei suspension system with a whopping 190mm travel, which they claim to be equally well suited to your typical “trail” riding as attacking eMTB enduro racing. We had to put one to the test, so Robert was very excited to get one in for some hammer over the winter in the Tweed Valley, Scotland. The Voima does some stuff better than the rest but isn’t without its drawbacks. Read on to find out if it’s the eBike for you.

THE LAB

The Voima is Pole Bicycles first eMTB, but rather than just plugging in the Bosch CX Gen4 motor and tweaking an existing frame design, Pole decided instead to develop a new suspension system for their machined aluminum frame, named Sensei. This controls a whopping 190mm of travel in the rear, which is paired with a 190mm fork and a pair of 29” wheels to create what on paper may seem like a bike only designed to go downhill, however Pole says their geometry and the suspension characteristics make it pedal efficiently and retain agility for all round riding.

Frame | The Pole Voima frame is made from machined and bonded 7075-T6 aluminum, with the front triangle produced in two halves and glued together in the middle in their facility in Finland. This manufacturing method allows Pole to manufacture to a very high tolerance, with a claimed 0.1mm maximum deviation from headtube to bottom bracket. Other benefits come in the form of environmental friendliness (when compared to a carbon frame), as the frame can be recycled at the end of its life, is less susceptible to impact damage, and the CNC machines are powered by energy exclusively from renewable sources. By manufacturing in Europe, there’s a reduced carbon footprint instead of shipping the frames from Asian manufacturing facilities. Pole is well versed in this manufacturing method by now, sending their frames for the most severe Cat-5 EFBE Tri-Test which it passed, and offering a 5 year warranty to customers as a result of their confidence in its strength.

Suspension | The Sensei suspension is a dual link, virtual pivot design with the links rotating in the same direction (co-rotating), and the shock driven off a yoke attached to the upper link. The shock is mounted sideways to afford extra clearance inside the front triangle for water bottles and accessories, and is “floating” at both ends to minimize side loading and provide more supple suspension with wider service intervals. Pole used this system to obtain relatively consistent anti squat through the gear range at sag point at around 95-110% – this works well for an eBike where the rider weight transfer is more consistent thanks to the power of the motor. Anti Rise (brake squat) sits at around 90% at sag, finding a good balance between preserving the bike geometry when braking and allowing the rear end to move freely. Progression sits at 26% over the shock stroke, which should give plenty of support through the travel, with the last portion approaching linear to prevent too much support when combined with the ramp-up of an air shock.

Electronics | The Pole Voima uses the Bosch eBike systems motor and electronics, with a CX Gen 4 motor and LED Remote as standard, and the option to upgrade to the Performance Line CX Race motor. Both of these motors feature the same 85Nm torque, and are powered by a removable 750Wh Powertube battery. This battery is fitted to a metal downtube cover, and has a lock located near the head tube to allow it to be released. Around the battery area in the front triangle is a “torsion box”, which adds rigidity to the frame in this area without significant weight increase. The motor is rotated upwards in the frame, letting the downtube form a straight line from the headtube to the bottom bracket for the most efficient use of material, a clean look and improved ground clearance. Since receiving our test bike, Pole has released an updated “Voima ID” (standing for Integrated Design), which features the new sleeker Wireless mini remote and top tube mounted system controller, plus some refinements to the frame to shave off 300g of weight. With all of the motor options, profiles can be customized in the Bosch Flow App.

Frame Details | The Voima frame has a number of notable features. The axles that are used to join the two sides of the links in the Sensei rear suspension system are offered in two versions: standard or “race”, with the Race axles adding increased stiffness for harder charging riders at the expense of ease of tight cornering. Within the front triangle there are mounts for two water bottle cages, which can also be used to mount many common accessories, and there’s a neat integrated seat clamp. The cable routing is all internal, with rubber grommets at the ports. Due to the easy access into the downtube for cable management, Pole recommends simple gaffer tape application to secure the cables from rattling in the frame. There’s a PE plastic slider on the underside of the motor to protect against damage, and a bash guard can be spec’d to protect the front chainring separately. Pole applies an industry-first Electrophoretic clearcoat to the frames in-house in Finland, which coats all surfaces in a few-micron thick coating to protect against corrosion and damage without hiding the machined frame finish. This coating is considered much more eco-friendly than painting or anodizing as it does not use toxic substances, and is available in clear (Raw), Storm Grey or True Gold colors. As it is not quite as durable as painting or anodizing, Pole includes their frame protection film kit as standard to add protection to the colored finishes, and recommends customers looking to have the best lasting raw finish to add the protection film also.

Geometry | Geometry continues to be unique on the Pole bikes, though slightly less outlandish than their bikes looked a few years ago. They use a “K#” sizing system which goes from K1 to K4 to suit riders between 5’3” / 160cm to 6’5” / 195cm and up. With very low seat tubes across this size range, most riders are given the option to choose between two sizes to tweak their preference of fit. Consistent across the sizes are a 63.5° head angle; 80° seat tube angle, and 455mm chainstay length. The bottom bracket has 0mm drop relative to the axles, some 25mm higher than most similar bikes. Reach numbers begin at 450mm and stretch to 535mm, with Stack heights from 635mm to 648mm. The K2 size tested is recommended for riders 5’7”-6’1” (175-185cm) for “fun”, and 5’5”-5’9” (170-180cm) for “race”, yet it was the size that tester Robert selected at 6’2”/189cm after the nod from Pole. This has a 480mm Reach, 648mm Stack height, very low 360mm seat tube length and resulting stretched out 1313mm wheelbase.

Build Specs | The Voima is currently offered in a wide range of build options, with a few standard options from the $5,838 /€5,490 Voima LED Lite to the $8,701 / €8,183 Voima ID Race, which can be modified and spec’d up to suit customer preferences. The build tested is no longer available, but an equivalent build currently retails for around $8,000. This featured the RockShox Zeb Ultimate 190mm in the front with a Super Deluxe Ultimate air shock in the back. The drivetrain, brakes and cockpit are also SRAM, with the mechanical GX Eagle 12spd shifting with a 170mm EX1 alloy crank; CODE RSC brakes with a 220mm front and 200mm rear rotor, and a 35mm clamp Truvativ Descendant Carbon DH bar and alloy stem. The wheels spec’d were the Mavic E-Deemax 30, which were wrapped in a burly MaxxGrip Maxxis Assegai DD up front and DHR2 downhill in the rear. Rounding out the specs is an SDG Tellis dropper and Ergon SME30 saddle. This tipped the scales at 25.5kg / 56.2lbs.