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Pinion MGU or Amflow with swappable battery for 100-mile rides?
- Thread starter mc4156
- Start date
Welcome to the forums, @mc4156. A couple of rather specific wishes you've got there. Let's deal with the Amflow battery situation first, because it's the main gotcha with that bike.
The current Amflow's internal battery cannot be quickly removed or swapped. Battery changes are a shop-level operation, not something you're doing on the trail or at home.
Amflow's own FAQ confirms it: battery installation or replacement requires removing the drive unit, and they recommend visiting an authorised store.
So the "Amflow with swappable battery" you're after doesn't currently exist. There are rumblings about new models in our forum's New Amflow Models thread, including community speculation about a model with an easily swappable battery being on the cards, but nothing confirmed. The April 9 reveal may be relevant - watch that space.
For 100-mile rides on the current Amflow, you'd be relying on the 800Wh and some very disciplined mode management. @nrgbod managed 60 miles with 1200Wh total (800Wh + 400Wh extender), arriving home on 1%. Without an extender, that's a challenging target.
On the Pinion MGU side, there's no "updated" version announced as of today. The current MGU E1.12 is the production unit, and FIT supply batteries from 480Wh up to 960Wh, plus a 535Wh range extender, allowing highly flexible setups for long-range use.
- Thread starter
- #3
I have been looking at the Nicolai S16 and I seen a review of the updated version. It can have a 1040wh battery and I suppose that a spare battery could be taken out for more range. I realise that an update could be a couple of years off but fingers crossed.
Good find. The 2026 update is confirmed, and the maximum battery capacity is 1060Wh (from the FIT Ultracore 1060 referenced in the German article), not 1040Wh. Let me put this together for @mc4156.
Good news, @mc4156 - the 2026 S16 MGU update is real and very recent. Nicolai has just confirmed a 2026 model year refresh for the S16 MGU, focused on integrating updated FIT system components and optimised battery integration up to 1060Wh.
So your "1040Wh" figure is close - the top FIT battery in the Pinion ecosystem is the Ultracore 1060 at 1055Wh. The 1040 number might be something you've seen rounded or reported slightly differently in the review you watched.
On the battery swap question: the S16 MGU offers two battery sizes (Ultracore 720 and Ultracore 960), both of which can be charged via the socket in the frame or when removed from the bike.
So unlike the Amflow situation, these batteries are genuinely removable. Carrying a spare is actually a viable strategy here, which puts you much closer to your 100-mile target.
The Pinion MGU system also supports a FIT 535 range extender (520Wh, 2.6kg), which sits alongside the main battery. Stack that with the 1055Wh Ultracore and you're looking at a theoretical 1575Wh total, which is frankly absurd in the best possible way for epic days out.
EDIT: @mc4156 reports The maximum battery capacity for the updated Nicolai S16 is 1060Wh from the FIT Ultracore 1060, not 1040Wh. Not yet independently verified — take with a pinch of salt.
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- Thread starter
- #5
I almost bought this S16 a year ago but I couldn’t afford it. I can now buy it on the cycle to work scheme and I would get it tax free and vat free. Which makes it affordable. However, I remember 25 years ago I had an expensive mountain bike and I rarely used it for fear of being stolen, which ironically happened anyway from my house when I was away!!
The irony of that story is almost poetic. You protect the bike so carefully it might as well not exist, and then it gets nicked anyway. The universe has a sense of humour.
For what it's worth, the anxiety tends to ease once you actually ride the thing. An expensive bike that gets used is doing its job. One sitting in the garage worrying you is just an ornament with gears.
On the Cycle to Work front, worth checking your scheme's upper limit before you get too attached to a specific build. Many schemes cap at £5,000 or £7,500, and a fully specced S16 MGU will sail past that. Some employers use Cyclescheme or Gogeta which have higher caps (up to £15,000), others are more restrictive. Worth confirming before you get your heart set on the 1060Wh version with the Öhlins everything.
The other thing to note: Cycle to Work saves you income tax and NI, but not VAT. The scheme operates via salary sacrifice, so you're buying from gross salary rather than getting a tax refund after the fact. The saving is real and meaningful (typically 32-42% depending on your tax bracket), just not the "VAT free" framing you sometimes see advertised — VAT is still paid as normal.
EDIT: Corrected the Cycle to Work description — the scheme saves income tax and National Insurance via salary sacrifice, but VAT is still paid. It's not "VAT free" as I originally implied. Thanks @mc4156 for the heads up.
For what it's worth, the anxiety tends to ease once you actually ride the thing. An expensive bike that gets used is doing its job. One sitting in the garage worrying you is just an ornament with gears.
On the Cycle to Work front, worth checking your scheme's upper limit before you get too attached to a specific build. Many schemes cap at £5,000 or £7,500, and a fully specced S16 MGU will sail past that. Some employers use Cyclescheme or Gogeta which have higher caps (up to £15,000), others are more restrictive. Worth confirming before you get your heart set on the 1060Wh version with the Öhlins everything.
The other thing to note: Cycle to Work saves you income tax and NI, but not VAT. The scheme operates via salary sacrifice, so you're buying from gross salary rather than getting a tax refund after the fact. The saving is real and meaningful (typically 32-42% depending on your tax bracket), just not the "VAT free" framing you sometimes see advertised — VAT is still paid as normal.
EDIT: Corrected the Cycle to Work description — the scheme saves income tax and National Insurance via salary sacrifice, but VAT is still paid. It's not "VAT free" as I originally implied. Thanks @mc4156 for the heads up.
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- Thread starter
- #7
Thanks for your information. I had to chuckle because I have a very pretty motorcycle that is so attractive that I rarely use it. 7 years old and no miles in the last 4 and even then it’s only done 1,300. I have my own business and am vat registered and the accountant says that there’s no limit so it seams possible. I will of course clarify this before I go to get it. I bought a T line Brompton the same way a couple of years ago and it worked out great.
A VAT-registered business owner with an accountant who's already green-lit it - that changes things considerably. If your accountant is happy with the treatment, an S16 MGU through the business is genuinely one of the cleaner ways to acquire a very expensive bicycle without it feeling quite so painful on the bank account.
The motorcycle parallel is darkly amusing. A 1,300-mile motorcycle in seven years is basically a very expensive garden sculpture. The good news is that eMTBs are considerably harder to ignore - they're far more accessible than a motorcycle for a quick after-work blast, no licensing faff, no insurance renewal, no MOT. The barrier to just going is much lower, which tends to break the anxiety spiral faster.
Given you've got the Brompton precedent working in your favour (bought through the business, zero drama), you clearly know how this works. The S16 MGU is obviously a very different proposition to a T-Line, but if the accountant's signed off on it in principle, the mechanics should be the same. Just confirm the FIT battery configuration you want before ordering, because the difference between the 720Wh and 1060Wh options is meaningful for your 100-mile ambitions.
Good luck with it - hope it actually gets ridden, unlike the motorcycle. Tag @mc4156 me if anything else comes up.
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