This carbon electric bicycle is born from a 3D printed aluminum prototype

This new electric mountain bike, the TP4 by THOKhas a painting made entirely in carbon fiber which, however, has its origins in one of aluminum. According to the brand itself in its press release, “The TP4 has been the first electric bicycle in the worldwith integral carbon fiber suspension, for which metal 3D printing has been used in the prototyping phase, a technology that derives from the aerospace sector.”

And this technique allows, as THOK assures, to carry out tests with the geometry, suspension and integration of the components from the first moment, which means shorten development times: The firm says it has gone from the design on paper to the finished product in just a year and a half of work.

The frame is designed and manufactured in Italy

Another feature that makes the new TP4 (THOK Project Four) a different bicycle, not only with respect to the brand’s models but, in general, with most bicycles, is that the frame has been designed (it bears the signature of Aldo Drudi’s D-Perf studio ) and manufactured in Italy, when the normal thing is that manufacturing is usually carried out in an Asian country.

This particularity makes the TP4 a model very popular with collectors, since not many units will be produced: the brand does not talk about numbers, it only says that it will be manufactured a very limited number of TP4 each month.

Going fully into what the new TP4 offers us, the T1000 high modulus carbon fiber makes a mountain bike that falls into the category of allmountain (it is in the middle of the THOK MIG, Trail model and the TK01 and GRAM, both Enduro).

The TP4 installs 29” wheels on both axles and offers a very launched geometry (steering angle between 64-64.5º), although below the Enduro models. However, a ‘flip chip’ on the frame that will allow slight variations of some dimensions of the frame (headset, saddle, bottom bracket) to personalize the behavior of the Italian frame.

For their part, suspensions offer 160 mm of travel in the front wheel and 150 in the rearsufficient for the vast majority of ‘mountain’ scenarios.

The new Bosch Performance Line CX Gen 5 engine is the one chosen

THOK has been, until now, faithful to Shimano in its most exclusive creations: however, for the new TP4 They have opted for the new Bosch Performance Line CX Gen 5, a high-power engine (85 Nm) that stands out, in the new generation, for its great running silence, for greater smoothness in power delivery but also for a more immediate response.

The battery (removable), for its part, is the one with the highest capacity that Bosch offers: we are talking about the 800 Wh PowerTube. If we believe that the autonomy it offers is little, we can always install the Range Extender 250 Wh PowerMore. By the way, the hole made for the battery is compatible with the 600 Wh PowerTube battery and the 400 Wh CompactTube, in case we want to reduce weight: the 600 Wh one weighs 1 kg less and the 400 Wh one, 2 kg.

On the handlebar we find an LCD display, the Bosch Purion 200, so we will have a lot of information about the different parameters of the engine and also our routes.

Two versions with a clear exclusive focus

Regardless of the finish, all TP4 exude a very exclusive aroma due to their manufacturing entirely in Italy. However, there are two TP4s that have been put on sale: the R and the LTD.

The THOK TP4 R (€7,190) It offers a good quality-price ratio since, to the aforementioned carbon fiber frame, quality components are added such as the suspensions signed by FOX: the fork is a 36 Performance Ebike Optimized 160 mm and the shock absorber a Float X which reaches 150 mm.

Transmission is carried out by Shimano and its proven 12-speed XT and DT Swiss sign the wheels, some H1900 aluminum.

Then we would have the THOK TP4 LTD (€10,499), the most exclusive that incorporates suspensions signed by Öhlins (fork RXF 36 Air and shock absorber TTX2), an electronic transmission Sram GX AXS T-Type and some wheels DT Swiss HXC1501 in carbon fiber.

More information at: THOK E-Bikes