Source: website Cake | The new category of lightweight electric motorbikes needs its own space and opens up for a lot of new possibilities. The fact that it doesn’t disturb, being quiet and without polluting, the aspects of complaint is history. The tracks can be built in your own back yard, a small empty land lot, inside an old warehouse, on roof tops or any other urban or available public or private space.
The story behind the track
The idea of developing a track, attuned to serve the category of light, clean and quiet electric motorbikes has been with us, since the beginning. Not everyone has the opportunity, at all times, getting out there exploring remote trails. And to be able to serve accessible urban riding, together with the intention of a racing format, we hooked up with friend and team rider Robin Wallner, to draw the lines of what would become.
The customized track format for the new category
Understanding the huge difference between light electric motorbikes compared with both MX and MTB also means that these bikes don’t belong on either track for more than one reason.
Light electric off-road motorbikes have unique combinations of torque, speed, lightness and snappiness. Robin started designing the features in terms of radius of the curves, table tops, jumps, banks and rollers, the length of a speedy stretch etc, to fully support and maximize the advantages of these light electric motorbikes.
What’s the difference to a standard MX track or MTB track?
Just as an MX track is shaped to support MX bikes, the CAKE track shaped to get out the best from a lightweight electric motorbike, since the feeling and handling is much more like a DH bike with the acceleration of a 250cc.
The CAKE bikes are developed to excel in trail like circumstances, rather than in mud and swamps environments.
The closest way to describe the track is a DH track but on the flat.
All electric bikes are motorized vehicles and don’t belong on dedicated MTB/DH/Enduro trails
Everything from an E-MTB to what CAKE does and beyond must not share space with MTBs; DH, Enduro or X-country. The market for electric and motorized off road bikes will boom. At the same time there has to be a clear line between human powered cycling and what´s motorized. CAKE is actively working on establishing a separate infra structure with trails specifically allocated for what´s electric on par with its track format.
CAKE track facts
Material:
- Track Base is built out of limestone on site (130m3)
- Top layer is rock flour 0-4mm which gives a relatively hard yet workable surface for adjustments and minimal maintenance. (80m3)
Space: 75*50m
Shape:
- Turns 1-1.4m high with 6.5-8m radius
- Table top Jumps 1.4m high 5m long.
- Rollers 70cm high, ca 3m between top of each roller.
Effective Build time: 5 days
Background
In the development process of CAKE’s new electric motorbike Stefan early on reached out to me to help create a track concept that would suit the type and style of bike they were working on. I was instantly excited about the project but also a bit nervous as we didn’t even have a bike to ride before building the track so I was ”winging it” with a lot of the details even tho we had a good idea of the purpose and what the bike was most likely going to ride like.
I sat down and looked a little at measurements of a classic 50-80CC motocross track and blended that lay up with a modern bicycle pump track when it came to jumps and turns. The track isn’t made for head to head racing even tho you can definitely have fun with your buddies all together on it there are no wider sections to pass each other on so time trails is where you beat your friends when you want things to get serious.
Overall I am happy with how the track turned out on our first try. There are definitely tweaks and add-ons we would like to do now that it has been ridden in a little. But I think everyone that has ridden it so far has had a big smile on their face and that means success on our side.
We are also genuinely happy with how well and naturally the track has melted in on the field where it was built.