Weight 21.21kg Frame Hydroformed aluminium with internal battery Fork Alloy Gears Shimano CS-M7000 (11-42t) 11-Speed Brakes Shimano GRX RX400 Ebike system Yamaha PW Series ST motor, Yamaha 500Wh battery Wheels Yamaha Dual Channel Welded Pin, Rim Width 25mm Finishing kit Yamaha 100mm stem, Yamaha Flare Drop bar, Limotec dropper seatpost, 60mm travel, Yamaha Off-Road Cro-Mo Rail saddle, Maxxis Rambler 700 x 45c TR EXO 120tpi tyres
YAMAHA MAY APPEAR NEW TO ebikes, but aside from providing Giant with ebike motors for many years, it actually built the first production ebike 30 years ago and has been making them for the domestic Japanese market ever since.
The Wabash RT is a keenly priced sturdy gravel machine with a central mid-motor system. Yamaha’s latest PW Series ST motor, powered by an internal 500Wh battery, has a claimed 70Nm of torque, similar to both Bosch and Shimano’s more powerful off-road mid motors.
The chunky hydroformed aluminium frame has two-position bottle mounts on the down-tube and a second set on the seat-tube, along with rack and mudguard mounts plus full internal cable routing. The fork is also full aluminium with rack and guard mounts and ‘triple anything’ mounts on the legs. This all adds up to a hefty 21.21kg for my Large bike.
The geometry is spot on, with a slackened 71.9° head angle and more standard seat angle (72.6°) combined with a 617mm stack and 402mm reach that are sporty for a gravel bike. There’s also plenty of tyre clearance with the 45mm tyres fitted.
Solid spec
Yamaha has got a lot of the specification right. First up, the Shimano GRX drivetrain is slick-shifting and secure, while GRX gives excellent braking too, helped by large 160mm rotors at both ends. The sturdy alloy wheels with cartridge bearing hubs have proved plenty tough enough for the roughest terrain and wide enough to hold the brilliant Maxxis Rambler tyres. Up front, the wide, flared gravel bar is well shaped and adds plenty of control, though quite a lot of the ’bar is taken up by a chunky head unit
The Good
Fantastically capable motor; sorted geometry; brilliant tyres; great handling
The Bad
Too heavy; needs better-designed controls
and the dropper-post lever. The dropper post also has 40mm of suspension travel on the Large size and a drop of 60mm (40mm on the Small). A Yamaha-branded saddle completes a very capable spec for the money.
Mighty motor
The PW Series ST motor has four settings: ECO+, ECO, STD and High. There’
