Manufacturer of resolutely high-end road bikes, Origine has taken the electric turn with the very first VAE in its history, the Help, available in urban, gravel and road models. We tested this featherweight for ten days in its Fast Urban Flatbar version. Here is our verdict.

Origine is a French bicycle manufacturer. For more than 10 years now, he has been designing definitively top-of-the-range cycles. The assembly is carried out in France, by hand, in a workshop based in Somain, in the North. On the menu of its catalog: road bikes above all, but also mountain bikes and gravel.

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Known and recognized for its know-how, Origine recently positioned itself in the electric bike niche with its Help range. The latter is equipped with a model for the road – the historic segment of the brand –, the practice of gravel and the city. The Fast Urban Flatbar is the version that has passed through our hands.

An almost infinite configurator, a single sales channel

Before getting to the heart of the matter, let’s take a moment to look at the sales channel used by Origine, and the rather unique configurator offered to customers. Origine bikes can only be purchased online, on the manufacturer’s official website. No partner physical store is able to sell them.

For what ? Because Origin’s philosophy is based on a shopping experience based on the ultra-personalization of your bike. And for that, only a website and a well-designed configurator are able to ensure it. The possibilities are as numerous as the amount of components that can be customized. It’s impressive.

Frame, fork, counter, derailleurs, discs, cassettes, cranksets, wheels, tires, saddle, seatpost, handlebars, stem, grips, pedals, bottle cage, luggage rack, mudguards: you have grasped the principle. The group makes it a point of honor to draw a very wide range of colors, whose paint is of automotive quality, we are assured.

Abrasion, shocks, gravel and UV are thus better managed. Origine even has its own paint shop, based in France, to oversee these operations. In all this, one detail must be remembered: the parts offered depend on the stocks at the time. If they appear on the configurator, Origin has them.

In doing so, the tricolor brand guarantees the availability of your configured model, but also and above all a controlled and contained manufacturing and delivery time: to send a model, it takes between 6 and 8 weeks. Which is all in all suitable, at a time when certain cycles could take months to arrive at their destination.

Origine is not aimed at neophytes and other beginners, but at least seasoned cyclists, if not connoisseurs looking for an ultra personalized, but also accompanied, shopping experience. Customers indeed receive a call to validate the configuration, explained 3Bikes.

By default, the Origine Fast Urban Flat Bar costs the sum of 3529 euros. Our version – the same one tested by our colleagues from Numerama – climbed to just over 4000 euros.

Design: an electric bike, really?

The Origine Fast Urban Flatbar is not an electric bike like the others, because it does not look like an electric bike at first sight. I challenge you to classify it in the VAE category at first glance, as its engine and battery are so discreet. The integration of the accumulator is undoubtedly the most impressive.

The small 250 Wh battery is indeed nestled in the lower bar of the frame, which turns out to be very thin as a bonus. In general, the connected cycles welcoming such a component in their frame suffer from a more imposing size, and in passing less refined. This is clearly not the case here: the result is simply stunning.

Origine has done an interesting job on the welding creases inherent in the assembly of the frame: here they are brilliantly polished, to the point of almost completely disappearing. Its tapered appearance betrays – in a good way – an ultra contained weight: this is the case, with its 13.6 kg on the scale. If you have fun with the configurator, you will manage to lower the weight of the bike to 11.8 kg. A feat.

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This featherweight necessarily has several advantages. From a practical point of view, the Origin Help can be carried over several floors and with the strength of your arms, without much difficulty. Especially since the closed frame allows you to put the upper bar on your shoulder, a very good support to cushion everything.

Many electric bikes reach or even exceed the 20 kg bar. In this case, a secure room or an elevator is necessary to store it. Our protagonist of the day has nothing to do with all these problems: it is rare enough to underline it.

Maneuvering this bike indoors (office, apartment) is also child’s play thanks to an ultra-short turning radius, and once again, a lightness that makes it easier to control with one hand.

Sometimes questionable amenities, but there’s a reason

For some, the quantity and quality of standard equipment is an important purchase criterion. You have to be a little less observant here, but indulgence is also in order. For what ? Because the Origine Help seeks above all to pull its weight as low as possible: is the absence of a stand therefore surprising? Not really.

Same question about the material of the mudguards, plastic: this makes them cheaper and less robust, if not weighing down the bike. It’s an assumed and understandable choice, even if we clearly missed the stand during our test, to put your bike here and there. We have to do with, or rather without.

On the other hand, we can legitimately wince over the model of headlight available as standard: there is simply none. Only one paid option allows you to equip your two-wheeler: a Son Edelux or Spanninga headlight, charged in all cases at 214 euros. You can always fall back on an inexpensive model purchased on a specialized or consumer site.

Our test model was decked out with the Edelux Sound, whose Lux reaches the value of 100. As a reminder, the Lumen corresponds to the quantity of light projected by an LED. The Lux represents the amount of light diffused on a surface (wall, road, etc.) at a distance of 10 meters according to the German standard. The fact is that the model in question is an excellent ally for the city and poorly lit roads.

On the other hand, we regret the solidity of the fixing system: the front headlight was regularly wobbly during our use – the fault perhaps of the roads being a little too bumpy. We had to retighten the bolt several times.

Connectivity: a third-party application on the menu

Origin does not provide connectivity per se. The manufacturer actually relies on its industrial partner Mahle, whose My SmartBike application is compatible with the Origin Help. You are therefore entitled to data related to your driving and your journeys.

The application is not the most slick, but it does the job: remaining battery percentage, autonomy, connection to Strava, alerts and notifications related to your physical activity, management of units of measurement (meters, feet, km , miles), news feed, this is the main information provided to the cyclist.

If you start a journey, several interfaces offer you an overview of live data: average speed, heart rate, time, distance, calories burned, cadence, battery watts, location from your smartphone.

On the other hand, it is necessary to ignore the slightest security system, whether it is a GPS chip to track its mount, or an alarm likely to deter malicious people. At that price, it’s still a bit unfortunate.

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No standard screen is offered: you have to pay the option of 96 euros to embed a Pulsar One Display counter. Otherwise, a light gauge integrated into the upper tube of the frame indicates the assistance mode used and the remaining autonomy. The lower the gauge, the less range there is.

At the level of this small interface, a button allows both to turn off or turn on the system via a long press, and to change assistance mode with a simple and single press. A total of four assistance modes are available and defined according to a color code:

White: Off

Green: Eco

Orange: Sports

Purple: Turbo

A driving pleasure

Right posture lovers, go your way. The Origine Help is not a typical Dutch electric bike, like on a Mustache for example, but opts more for a semi-leaning, even leaning posture that calls for performance. Remember to take this element into account.

This model is not a flat flat electric bike capable of transporting you from point A to point B without much flavor. It is above all a fun, playful, fast VAE (we will see it later) and intended for bicycle enthusiasts. It is also and above all well adapted to the city.

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60 cm wide, its flatbar handlebars make it easy to weave between a line of cars or on a narrow and busy cycle path. It is certainly wider than a Cowboy 4 ST (57 cm) or Jitensha equipped with a Lowriser handlebar (49.5 cm), but it is also shorter than a Trek FX+ (62 cm) or Nakamura E -Crossover V (65cm).

A fun Shimano drivetrain

Let’s be direct from the start: the combination of Shimano GRX 600 derailleur, GRX 600 crankset and Shimano R7000 cassette (optional) is a marvel. It is quite simply the most accomplished, funniest and most enjoyable transmission that we have tested since the launch of electric bike trials on Frandroid.

This system is breathtaking, with the technical precision that you feel at each gear change: fluidity, reliability and flexibility are the key words. If you want top of the range, you are served here. This 11-speed transmission offers, in addition to that, a wide range to vary your gear ratio.

The first gears are perfect when starting out, when the higher gears deliver the ideal resistance downhill or at high speeds. Because this is one of the strong points of this Origine Help: past the legal limit of 25 km/h at which the assistance can help you, no on/off effect is felt.

In reality, it is quite possible to go up to 30 km/h, or even more, without great difficulty. Provided you use the appropriate speeds and are generous in your effort. More generally, driving without any electric assistance is quite possible given the low weight of the model. In this case, the gear ratios are of particular importance.

A sufficiently torquey motor

For its electric Help, Origine called on the German supplier Mahle and its X20 motor with a torque of 55 Nm. Note that the motor incorporates a torque sensor. This is more than enough for a 13 kg VAE: your starts are dynamic to quickly reach 25 km/h, provided once again that you play well with the gears.

On the other hand, we would probably have liked a bit more responsiveness from the first pedal strokes. We are not saying that the Origine Help is slow to release, but other VAEs sold at the same price, or even cheaper, do better (Iweech, Cowboy, the Mustache range).

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Presented in 2022, the Mahle X20 weighs only 1.399 kg: it therefore participates in this idea that a bicycle can be electric and light, as is the case here. We could still point the finger at the slight noise it emits during your journeys: it is not prohibitive, but you hear it enough to make you notice.

Cabbage comfort

If Origin Help fails in one area, it is comfort. At least in the configuration we had in hand, namely an Italia x3 saddle that was the most inconvenient for your sitting, even on 15-minute journeys, associated with 28-inch Hutchinson tires that were certainly efficient, but too tight to filter the roughness of the road.

Above all, the Origin Help turns its back on the slightest saddle or suspension fork. Again, the absence of a suspension fork can be understood if the engineers want to contain the weight. But a suspended saddle would not have weighed it down that much either, and would have saved the furniture a minimum.

The handles also tended to attack my palms after a few minutes of riding. Overall, I had to adopt new reflexes to limit the discomfort caused by the multiple jerks, namely slightly raising my behind when crossing small irregularities.

If comfort is an essential criterion for you, know that this Help should not correspond to you.

Perfect brakes

We simply have no complaints with the 160mm SwissStop Catalyst One brake rotors. The friction is constant, biting, progressive, for simply safe braking. You don’t have to pound the brake levers to stop or slow down.

Inevitably, very intense braking tends to slightly lock the wheel, as on the majority of electric bikes. But sincerely: you will never get there as the progressiveness is there. In short, faultless.

Sensitive to the wind, but ultra maneuverable

Origine has done a really convincing job on the front axle of his bike: the Help is extremely manoeuvrable, thanks to handlebars that are both docile and flexible to handle, without losing much control, whether at low or high speed. This is really valuable for avoiding obstacles at the last second.

On the other hand, be vigilant in the event of violent side winds: a strong gust tends to jostle the front wheel a lot, at the risk of shaking the handlebars and surprising you in the middle of a straight line. The lightness of the bike and its design can partly explain this small difference which is not unacceptable either.

Last element (optional) and not least: the Look Trail Roc pedals whose support surface accommodates 12 replaceable pins that provide excellent grip on your shoe. It’s silly to say: but when you taste it, it’s hard to go back. The impression of being one with the electric bike is even more reinforced.

Average battery life, but that’s okay

Let’s say it right away: the autonomy of the Origin Help is not frivolous. Around 35 kilometers with Turbo mode mainly used. Enough to drain the 250 Wh of the battery in three round trips, as well as one way, between my home and my work. Going through the charging box in the middle of the week was therefore a necessity. Note: it is possible to buy a gourd – battery to increase autonomy by 75%, for 470 euros more.

Except that the Origin Help Fast Urban’s range may not have the same degree of importance as other e-bikes. For what ? Because it is quite possible to drive without any electric assistance. Enough to allow those who do not always want to ride with the assistance to do a little exercise, like on a muscle bike. On starting, the effort can be very contained with an appropriate gear ratio (speed 1 or 2).

Once you exceed around 18 km/h, your cruising speed slowly settles in, for a riding experience more or less similar to a muscle bike. In short: even when the battery is low, this Origine Help is totally usable. Which is clearly not the case with a 20 kg VAE.

Important to know: the battery is not removable. It’s a shame, even if the light weight of the bike allows you to carry it on a few floors. It makes up for it a bit, but it’s not ideal either. As it stands, it remains less practical than a removable battery. It is therefore to be taken into account.

Final test score

The Origin Help Fast Urban Flatbar keeps its promises and perfectly meets the philosophy to which it claims: it is definitely a top-of-the-range electric bike, but also definitely light, easy to use, efficient, safe and ultra customizable. It is aimed at both seasoned enthusiasts and people wishing to provide a little effort to rediscover the sensations provided by a muscular cycle. Its mastered design proves that Origin knows its subject: it is a guarantee of long-term reliability.

Its modest autonomy of 35 km is not such a big weak point, since moving around without any electric assistance is quite possible given its weight. Just don’t be too fussy about comfort, clearly not there. But everything else makes up for these little hassles, starting with the simply exquisite Shimano GRX 600 transmission (optional).

The reassuring hydraulic disc brakes, the handling at the top and the engine sufficiently torquey for urban journeys come to embellish the score. In terms of small downsides, let’s mention the absence of a crutch, the non-removable battery or the relatively basic Mahle mobile application without any security system. The Origin Help has nothing to do with it: it is self-sufficient for cycling enthusiasts.