Santa Cruz is a popular bike brand that’s best known for its mountain bikes. Following the growing trend of electric bicycles, the brand has also released its own lineup of e-bikes, with the new Skitch being the latest offering. Deviating from the brand’s rugged, long-travel offerings, the Skitch presents itself as an urban commuter bike, sporting sleek lines and slim tubing.
Santa Cruz says that it created the Skitch in the hope that more people would commute via bike on a daily basis. Following the growing trend of ditching cars for bikes, the Skitch is all about convenience and practicality. It’s built around a carbon frame that’s so sleekly designed that it can be hard to tell that it’s actually rocking an electric motor.
In terms of performance and technology, the new Santa Cruz Skitch is powered by the Fazua Ride 60 motor, offering a zippy 28 miles per hour in pedal assist mode and a robust torque of 42 pound-feet (60 Newton-meters). The 430-watt-hour battery promises a 60-mile range on one charge, and recharging it fully takes a reasonable 3.5 hours. Plus, you’ve got three power modes to choose from: Breeze, River, and Rocket, all of which can be toggled on the fly through a handlebar-mounted controller.
The Santa Cruz Skitch is touted as a versatile all-around companion, rolling on 700c wheels and offering the choice of a flat bar or a drop bar for your riding comfort. What’s particularly eye-catching is its minimalist design ethos – no flashy displays here. Instead, you’ll find a handlebar-mounted controller for mode selection and a discreet battery level indicator gracefully placed on the frame’s top tube. Design-wise, the Skitch is all about embracing the pure joy of riding without unnecessary distractions.
Santa Cruz keeps things straightforward with the Skitch, offering a sleek carbon fiber frame in a stylish olive green hue. The new electric bicycle comes in four versions to choose from, all sporting a reliable Sram drivetrain. Pricing-wise, it starts at $5,999 for the Apex Flat Bar kit, and if you’re aiming for the top-tier experience, it’ll be $7,299 for either the GX AXS drop bar or GX AXS Flat Bar kits.