Woom have taken their already excellent OFF AIR 5 and put an electric motor on it. The result is the UP 5, an electric kids bike relying on the FAZUA system that gives you the option of completely removing both the battery and motor, for those times when your kid doesn’t need the support of a motor.
You can get an overview of the 11 exciting concepts here: kids bike buyer’s guide – 11 exciting concepts at a glance
Like the OFF 5 and OFF AIR 5 models, the UP 5 is also based on a high-quality aluminium frame and features Woom’s typical combination of tried and tested off-the-shelf components and child-specific parts. The suspension fork can be adapted to any child’s weight by adjusting the air pressure and, in conjunction with its electric motor, the UP 5 covers a wide range of things we love about mountain biking, from conquering climbs and long rides to easy trails. That said, really rough terrain is reserved for full-suspension children’s MTBs, which are more fun and capable in those situations. Still, the Woom easily meets the requirements of a high-quality and cool easy rider.
The heart of the UP 5 is the FAZUA system with its mid-mounted motor and battery, which is beautifully integrated into the down tube. The display and controls are just as neatly integrated into the top tube where they’re well protected. As soon as your child starts pedalling, the motor kicks in to assist. The support modes are clearly indicated via different colours. Green means light assistance and red means full power – even kids can understand that! However, the best part is that you can completely remove the 252 Wh battery and motor as a unit. There’s an optional cover available which you can use when the motor and battery are removed. Without the drive unit, the UP 5 transforms into a 12.8 kg analogue kids bike for those times when your kid doesn’t need the assistance of the motor. With the drive unit installed, your child will benefit from natural feeling assistance via software that has been specifically tuned to the needs of kids. To bring it all to a halt, Woom rely on the same powerful disc brakes as on their non-motorised counterparts whose levers can also easily be adjusted to suit children’s hands
The only room we see for improvement on the UP 5 is in the components that we already noticed on the OFF (AIR) 5. Tool-free adjustment of the saddle height, lock-on grips and a better chainstay protector would all be useful improvements to the UP 5. From a legal perspective, certain countries do have restrictions for children’s ebikes that you should be aware of. For example, kids are only allowed to ride an ebike from the age of 14 in Great Britain.
The support modes can be easily selected on the display in the top tube and are shown in different colours.
The FAZUA motor and battery can be completely removed from the bike and replaced with an optionally available cover, allowing kids to ride the Woom UP 5 like an analogue bike.
With the UP 5, Woom have given their excellent children’s bicycles the assistance of an electric motor. If it isn’t needed for the ride to school, you can simply take it out, only putting it back in for the long Sunday ride with the whole family. Brilliantly executed!
Tops
- FAZUA motor with a colour display and good characteristics
- motor and battery completely removable
- sensible use of child-friendly components
Flops
- seat post doesn't have a quick-release clamp
- chainstay protection is lacking
- bike is heavy with the motor/battery removed
Find more information here: us.woombikes.com
11 exciting concepts at a glance
You can get an overview of this comparison test here: kids bike buyer’s guide – 11 exciting concepts at a glance.
All kids bikes in this group test: Tout Terrain Singletrailer Trailer (Click for review) | Shotgun Pro MTB child seat (Click for review) | Leg&go balance bike (Click for review) | Mondraker Grommy-E-balance bike (Click for review) | Early Rider Hellion 16-kids bike (Click for review) | Woom OFF 5- / OFF AIR 5 kids bike(Click for review) | Woom UP 5 kids ebike | Ben-E-Bike TWENTYFOUR-SIX E-POWER FS kids mountain bike (Click for review) | SCOTT Ransom 600 kids mountain bike (Click for review) | VPACE MORITZ26 kids mountain bike (Click for review) | YT JEFFSY PRIMUS 24 kids mountain bike (Click for review)
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Words: Moritz Geisreiter, Peter Walker, Felix Stix Photos: Peter Walker, Daniel Geiger
