The new Scott Solace follows up their latest TQ-powered e-mountain bike with an all-new ultralight Solace eRIDE e-gravel bike along the same concept. An all-new lightweight ebike model gets an all-new name, although a familiar silhouette to the Addict Gravel, so stealthy is the ebike integration that you have to look closely to tell them apart.
With smooth pedal-assist support that really only kicks in going uphill since that’s when you drop below its 25kph limit, plus its almost silent motor, and drag-less feel above that speed limit, the new Solace truly feels just like riding a bike. And since it ends up as light as some conventional steel gravel & adventure bike setups, there’s really no limit to how far you can pedal it, even after the battery runs out.
2023 Scott Solace ultralight gravel ebike
Smooth, customizable TQ HPR50 power for a more natural ride. Smaller internal battery, but expandable with an add-on bottle battery so you only carry the energy you need. Add in a light weight on par with a pedal-only bike, so that even when your battery power is exhausted you still feel like you are riding an actual bike, not being held back by extra weight & motor drag. The new Scott Solace really delivers on the promise of a lightweight ebike that really feels like riding a regular bike – where it only supports you on the uphills when you need it, and where the ebike aspect of it disappears underneath you when you don’t.
The low-key nature of Scott’s new Solace gravel ebike is even more pronounced when you ride it. Not only is the TQ drive system well hidden inside, it also has a surprisingly natural ride feeling and is incredibly quiet. Like so quiet, that you literally can’t hear it when climbing a gravel road, as the motor hum at peak output
Ride it up a gravel road climb to access the trails and you probably won’t even hear the motor yourself over the noise of the tires on the gravel. I tried to listen for that distinctive whine, but had a hard time picking it out unless I was on a smooth surface. Really only on smooth dirt will you (and those you ride with) hear the gentle whine of the electric TQ pedal-assist motor.
Tech details
Much of the technical detail of new Solace is similar to the new Lumen eMTB. Chalk that up to the same compact, light & super customizable TQ HPR50 ebike motor at the bottom bracket motor, and the small 360Wh battery tucked inside the lower half of the carbon downtube. That downtube is slightly bigger than on a standard Addict Gravel, but you’d be hard-pressed to spot the difference, even side-by-side.
The new Solace features a top-tier, hi-mod HMX carbon gravel bike frame specifically built around the TQ HPR50 powertrain, with a weight of ~1200g.
Tire clearance is bigger than their pedal-only gravel bike at 700c x 50mm to give extra cush and capability for any terrain with the ebike’s slightly higher weight.
The carbon e-gravel frame molds in closed alloy threads (so no water dripping into the inside of the frame) for one or two bottle cages in the main triangle – 3-bolts on the downtube. No cage mounts under the downtube since that’s where the motor & battery are, and no toptube bag mounts since that’s where the TQ system display is located. The frameset does get hidden mounts for a set of full-coverage fenders front & rear, plus a chainstay mount for a kickstand, for whoever wants to put one on a bike this nice, light & expensive‽
The charging port at the lowest point inside the main triangle is also where you can plug in a 160Wh TQ range extender bottle battery. And Scott’s Syncros accessory brand has developed a quick-release mounting bracket that can be used to slide a regular bottle cage in for shorter rides, or the extender battery mount for boosted pedal-assist range.
The Solace otherwise features pretty common modern premium dropbar standards like completely internal cable routing through an oversized 1.5″ headset, tapered steerer full carbon fork, UDH derailleur mounting, flat mount disc brakes, and 12mm thru-axles with an integrated lever.
Scott specifically integrated the TQ rear wheel speed sensor into the rear dropout, so it would be quick and easy to swap wheels if you want to go back-and-forth between gravel and road riding setups with a pair of wheelsets.
eGravel Geometry
Geometry-wise, the Solace is also very close to the gravel-proven geometry of the Addict Gravel. In fact, on my Medium test bike, frame Reach is identical, Stack is just 1mm taller, both headtube & seattube angles are identical, so the only real difference is an extra centimeter to the now 435mm chainstays to fit the motor and bigger 50mm tire clearance in.
It comes in 5 stock frame sizes (49cm XS-58cm XL).
Riding Impressions
Of note, all of my review impressions are based on the EU-version with a 25kph pedal-assist limit. Since I (you) spend the majority of road & gravel ride time at or above that speed on any downhills, flat terrain, and sometimes even slight uphills, motor pedal-assist only kicks in on the uphills. That means even the relatively small 360Wh internal capacity of this TQ-powered setup lasts for quite a long distance.
Range is a hard thing to really quantify on ebikes as it is so dependent on conditions, terrain, rider weight, and even how you ride. But at 82kg, I managed to get 45km and 925m of elevation of hard-charging, full power mode support out of the Solace before I ran its internal battery down to zero on some extended gravel climbing (ending 20km of sustained uphill with a 4.5km 7% climb).
Interestingly enough, that exact moment when the pedal support cut off, dropping from 3% to 0% in an instant leaving me not in the easiest gear, it felt shocking that the bike would leave me without support. But after a short tough stair-stepping up the remaining 20m of that climb, everything was fine. I rode another 10km with no support and even climbed another few hills (maybe another 50m of elevation), and the rest of the ride was fine. Normal actually. Once my brain had accepted the fact that no motor was going to assist me anymore, the Solace rode just like a regular gravel bike. I have a steel Bombtrack gravel adventure bike at home that weighs 11.8kg with pedals, a few cages, a small empty bag, and a dynamo hub powering built-in lighting, which I’m completely fine with weight-wise. And I regularly am willing to strap another 10kg on there in water & packed camping gear for some overnight bikepacking trips. (I also have a more stripped-down steel gravel bike at 10.3kg ready to ride).
I didn’t really get into the max motor power output, percentage of matching power, and pedal response customization like I did on the Lumen because I was trying to see how far I could get the Solace to go on max power. But TQ really excels in giving you a unique level of ebike motor tuning, and it’s all super easy via their app.
And you will easily be able to get 50-60km rides out of the internal battery if you tweak some settings. And realistically, 100km gravel rides will totally be possible with the add-on bottle battery.
But this dead-battery Scott Solace at 12.96kg with pedals, felt just as light as and maybe even faster than those familiar bikes at home, even when it wasn’t giving me support anymore. That goes a long way to supporting Scott & TQ’s philosophy that these bikes don’t really have a range limit.
Think of the Solace more like an escalator… when the motor stops, they just turn back into stairs. And we all can manage stairs, right?
But don’t forget, when that battery is running, on the climbs it really feels like you have the freshest legs you’ve ever had, and with a really nice tailwind. And the extra 160Wh external bottle battery means you can get an additional 44% of support range when you want to head out on longer rides, with more climbing.
Factoring the time gravel riding spends above 25kph anyway, the truly natural feel of the TQ HPR50 system, the lighter concept of only carrying the battery capacity you really need for each ride, and the superbly integrated solution Scott has put together… there’s not much doubt that this is my favorite new ebike this year.
That’s why it earned my 2022 Editor’s Choice award.
Scott Solace gravel & all-road ebike – Pricing, options & availability
The new Scott Solace eRide ebike comes both in e-gravel and e-road versions, both sharing the same top HMX carbon frameset – with either 1x drivetrains & 50mm Schwalbe G-One Overland gravel tires or 2x all-road gearing with new 38mm Schwalbe Pro One road racing slicks. The top-tier 10-series of both include the extra external battery, while others would have to buy it separately.
On the (all)road side of things, the top Solace eRide 10 gets a 12,000€ Dura-Ace Di2 2x group with compact road gearing, an FSA carbon ebike crankset, a 1-piece Syncros Creston iC SL carbon cockpit, and Zipp 303 Firecrest wheels.
Or step down to the ever-so-slightly more affordable 10,000€ Solace eRide 20 with Ultegra Di2, a 2-piece integrated Syncros Creston carbon bar & alloy stem, and Syncros Capital 40mm deep carbon wheels.
Back on gravel where this ebike really thrives, the top 10,000€ Scott Solace Gravel eRide ebike that I test rode gets a SRAM Force Xplr AXS 1x drivetrain with a wired-in AXS derailleur & 10-44T cassette, gravel-specific 1-piece Syncros Creston iC SL X carbon cockpit, and Zipp 303 Firecrest wheels – at a claimed 11.77kg.
The 7600€ Solace Gravel eRide 20 dials it back to Rival Xplr AXS 1x, the 2-piece integrated Syncros Creston X carbon bar & stem, and Syncros Capital 40mm deep carbon wheels, plus a sweet sandy tan with mud splatter paint job.
Somewhere at the most affordable level here, a nicely-iridescent 6000€ Contessa Solace Gravel eRide 15 model goes to a SRAM Rival 1 mechanical shifting setup still routed internally, plus alloy Syncros cockpit & wheels.
The 6000€ Solace Gravel eRide 30 looks to mimic that most affordable Rival 1 build, with a more subdued forest green paint job.
All of the new Scott Solace Gravel & all-road ebikes are available now through your local Scott dealer.
