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VanMoof S5 e-bike review: too much, too late
More features than any other e-bike — but how many do you actually need?
First in 2022, when the company said that only a “handful of parts” were carried over from the troubled S3 an X3 models, then again in 2024 when the new owners evaluated reliability data to fixed several short-comings of the original SA5 e-bikes that were rushed into the sales channels for reasons that are now abundantly clear. Honestly, I could do without the fancy automatic chain-driven three-speed shifter, superfluous multifunction buttons, programmable electronic bell, Halo Ring interface, Apple tracking, and perky sounds for startup, shutdown, and firmware updates. Give me one gear and a maintenance-free belt drive alongside that torquey boost button on a pedal-assisted e-bike that will get me back and forth to my office every day, no matter what, in style and without fail.
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