Husqvarna Hard Cross 9 Profile
Husqvarna E-bikes have been on the market here in New Zealand since late 2019, and we've been lucky enough to have been selling them since early 2020.
In that time I've had the chance to own a few myself, initially the Mountain Cross 6, then the Mountain Cross 7, followed by the Hard Cross 8 and for the last year, I've been riding the Husqvarna Hard Cross 9.
My bikes tend to stay stock for a couple of months at least, because I like to be able to get an impression of how they are straight out of the box, and because it gives me the chance to evaluate the effect of any changes I make to the bike. In the case of the HC9, it turned up on the truck the day I was due to head down to Rotorua for a round of the 2W Enduro - I literally pulled it out of the box and got the packaging off it, loaded it in the Trail Tuned van with my gear and shot down to Rotorua, finishing assembling it that night at the book-a-bach, leaving it stock standard with the exception of a pair of Raceface Atlas flat pedals.
Calling the HC9 'stock standard' is a bit of an undersell. I had no intention of upgrading from the HC8, but after I sold several HC9's to clients, I found myself putting my much loved HC8 up for sale and taking the last HC9 available in the country for myself. 180mm of Fox Factory Kashima coated goodness front and rear, 27.5" DT Swiss Hybrid 1700 wheelset, the Shimano ep8 drive unit with Di2 XT 11spd electronic shifting, XT 4pot brakes with 203mm Ice-Tech rotors and a 630Wh battery is a pretty well spec'd package by anyone's standards.
I put a couple of hundred km on the bike that first weekend, the biggest difference to the HC8 initially was the electronic shifting. I'd initially planned to take the Di2 straight off the bike and replace it with the Box One Prime 9 drivetrain, but when it came to it, the box drivetrain had sold out and I decided it would be an opportunity to get more familiar with Di2.
On my HC8 with its XT/XTR 12spd drivetrain I had been changing chains at about the 800km mark, and it got a new cassette and chain at 1600km before it was sent to it's new owner. At this point the HC9 has done about the same amount of mileage, split between Woodhill, Riverhead and Rotorua, and there is no discernable chain stretch on the original chain. My feeling is that the increased accuracy of the electronic shifting really helps with drivetrain wear, as does the fact that I try to ease off the power when shifting (though I've done that as long as I've been riding ebikes).
After a year of owning the bike, it has the following modifications:
RaceFace SixC carbon handlebars
Raceface Turbine R forged alloy handlebar stem
Raceface Grippler 30mm lockon grips
Raceface Atlas pedals
Burgtec stem cap & bolt
Burgtec crank preload caps
Burgtec front and rear axles
Shimano FC-M8150 STEPS Hollowtech 170mm crankset
Shimano SW-E7000 STEPS right switch unit (replaces the Di2 electronic shift lever)
Brakeace PF2 brake sensor kit
I'm a big fan of the Raceface SixC carbon bars due to the added level of comfort they offer over the standard bars, the way that they dampen vibration is one of the best upgrades you can make to these bikes in my opinion. The Turbine R 35 stem in 32mm length, 0 degree rise brings the bars fractionally closer to the steerer tube compared to the stock 40mm reach Husqvarna stem, compliments the SixC bar well and is one of the coolest looking bike components available today.
I've run the Raceface GettaGrip handlebar grips on past builds, and am running the Grippler in 30mm diameter currently and am pretty impressed, they are comfortable and offer plenty of grip even when riding in treacherous conditions while looking pretty sweet at the same time.
The Raceface Atlas pedals have been my preferred flat pedals for a couple of years, aside from the fact that they tie in with all the other Raceface components on my personal bikes, they look great, have a very low profile and offer great stability and grip. While they come with spare pins I haven't had to replace any in the last couple of years, and they have held up well to repeated pedal strikes at speed. The only complaint I could possibly level at them would be that the soles of my Giro Latch shoes are looking pretty chewed out after a season, and that is going to happen with pretty much any flat pedal sporting reasonably aggressive pins.
The Burgtec Stem cap & bolt are arguably more of a cosmetic upgrade than anything, though they will undoubtedly handle more punishment than the stock offering, and they tie in perfectly with the color coded crank preload caps and axles, far more in keeping with the overall theme of the bike. The Burgtec Axles replace the Husqvarna rear and Fox front quick release axles, ditching the quick release axles makes for a much cleaner look, and I very rarely ride without at least basic tools in a hydration pack so the tradeoff is worth it.
The bike comes standard with the XT Di2 shifter which mimics a mechanical shifter in appearance and positioning. It has also been discontinued. As it turns out, you can replace it with the SW-E7000 STEPS right switch unit for a much cleaner look and greatly reduced chance of smashing it off inadvertently. When I fitted it I was momentarily concerned that it would be awkward to use on the trails, but it turns out that after a couple of km it had already become second nature, and the way it cleans up the handlebar on the drive-side really appeals to me.
The most recent addition to the bike was the Brakeace PF2 brake sensor kit - I'm not going to go down that rabbit-hole here, suffice to say it is a very interesting bit of technology that deserves a post of its own, which I'm working on currently.
So, how does the bike ride? After a year, I have absolutely no wish to look for something else. I'm not an extreme rider by any means and these bikes were designed and built to take far more punishment than I am ever likely to dole out.
The Fox 38 Factory fork and Fox Float X2 Factory shock keep the 180mm of travel absolutely controlled and balanced, and putting a bit of time into playing with the settings pays dividends. The level of confidence that this bike inspires is hard to put into words, but it has certainly encouraged me to push my riding just that little bit harder over my time with it so far. It swallows drops and tree-roots without missing a beat and has encouraged me to start actively looking for jump lines for the first time in about a decade. At the same time it is the most comfortable bike I've owned that I can think of, the biggest day I've done on it so far was about 85km of single-track (power assist on boost, using about 1.7 630Wh batteries, and the only reason I stopped that day was that I was at Woodhill and they were closing the park.
At this point the only thing I am thinking of upgrading is the wheelset, after fitting a set of premium carbon wheels to a friend's Hard Cross I'm pretty keen to go down that road with mine, and am toying with building myself a set using Zipp 3Zero Moto Rims and Raceface Vault hubs..
About the only thing I can fault with the Hard Cross 9 is that I got the very last one to come to NZ - if you are thinking of getting a Hard Cross to call your own, we have very limited stock of the Hard Cross 6 left, and just one Hard Cross Legacy Edition - the last of three to make it to our shores and available now.. if a Hard Cross specced with Rock Shox Domain fork, Rock Shock Super Deluxe coil over rear shock and TRP brakes for just $9590 sounds like a bit of you, you'll want to contact us ASAP before some one beats you to it!
Stay Tuned..
Mike Buckendahl of Trail Tuned Ltd & www.ebikenation.co.nz
