CLIMB EASIER AND FASTER WITH THESE ELECTRIC MOUNTAIN BIKES
In some places, like much of Europe, e-mountain bikes are so ubiquitous that a bike rental shop may look at you funny if you ask for a non-powered bike. How do I know? A kid at a shop in the Austrian Alps once asked two different co-workers to translate my request for a standard bike, sure that he was misunderstanding me. Apparently, I was the first person to ever turn my nose up at the row of beautiful e-mountain bikes lined up outside.
No, I assured him, I wanted to pedal myself. I ended up on a cobweb covered bike with bald tires that was pulled from the depths of a basement. Big mistake. I spent the next several days sweating up long alpine climbs while four-generation families gleefully floated past on powered bikes.
Now, Americans are increasingly realizing what Europeans have known for years: e-mountain bikes make it fun to ride longer or can help us go faster. E-mountain bikes combine off-road functionality with pedal-assist power that makes it easier to get to the top of the climb. Modern geometry and components make these bikes just as fun to ride downhill as their non-powered counterparts. These bikes keep improving as motors and batteries become more reliable, more powerful, lighter, and more efficient.
More importantly, bicycle designers have gone well beyond simply bolting a motor onto a bike and calling it an eMTB. The best models feature motors with enough power and range to let you get the most out of your ride, and are also built to be stable and capable of tackling any trail.
When you’re choosing an electric mountain, look for one that offers a high-power motor, a battery with long life (and/or the capability to add a backup battery), sufficient suspension travel, and a price that fits your budget.
The Best Electric Mountain Bikes
- Best Overall: Specialized Turbo Levo Comp Alloy
- Best Hardtail: Aventon Ramblas
- Best Lightweight: Santa Cruz Heckler SL
- Best Enduro: Yeti 160E
- Best Women's Specific: Liv Intrigue X Advanced E+ EL3
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What to Consider in an Electric Mountain Bike
When you’re shopping for an electronic mountain bike, you’ll want to factor in not only the motor’s power and features, but also the bike’s basic capabilities.
Travel
Since electronic mountain bikes are heavier than non-motorized bikes, you’ll want to consider a bike with more suspension travel than you have on your non-motorized bike. The longer your travel, the more cushion you’ll get when you encounter obstacles.
Most full suspension e-MTB fall in the 150- to 160mm range, which offers a nice balance of increased comfort and improved control for first-time buyers.
Motor Options
In addition to choosing the right kind of bike, you’ll also need to decide which pedal-assist motor option is right for you. There are three electric-assist classes in the United States. Class 1 motors kick in only when you pedal and stop helping you at 20 mph. Class 2 also offers pedal assist up to 20 mph, but these bikes can also have a throttle-powered mode that allows users to engage the motor without pedaling. Class 3 is pedal-assist like Class 1, but will help you until you hit 28 mph.
- Class 1: 20 MPH max assist speed; throttle is not standard equipment
- Class 2: 20 MPH max assist speed; throttle comes standard equipment
- Class 3: 28 MPH max assist speed; throttle is not standard equipment
Other countries classify e-bikes differently, and many countries do not allow e-bikes to assist riders beyond 20 miles per hour.
Most performance-oriented electric mountain bikes are Class 1. Electric mountain bikes generally feature one of two types of motors: mid-drive motors, which are contained in the frame at the bottom of the bike between the pedals; and rear hub motors, which are built into the rear wheel.
Bikes with rear hub motors are generally less expensive but are also less powerful. A mid-drive motor will almost always offer more power. Because the extra weight on a mid-mount bike is centered in the bike and lower to the ground, these bikes are generally easier to handle than bikes with hub motors. Mid-mount bikes do tend to be more expensive, but all of our favorite bikes feature this type of motor.
Battery Life, Range, Maintenance, and Safety
On top of the motor, you’ll want to consider the battery size and range. More is always better for performance, but a battery with longer range will also weigh more and cost more.
As a bike's weight increases, it requires more effort from the rider to handle. This is an especially important consideration for smaller riders, and extra weight can also become a bigger challenge at faster speeds, when you need to handle the bike more aggressively.
A lighter bike will offer better handling, but if you sacrifice too much battery capacity to cut weight, you may find yourself pedaling home with no assist if you take a wrong turn.
Like all e-bikes, eMTBs can be pedaled as a normal bike if the battery dies, so you’ll still be able to get home, but it will require extra effort and possibly more time.
While we can confidently say a larger battery provides more range, it is difficult to accurately estimate any e-bike's exact range. Many factors impact an e-bike's range: How much boost you’re using (most power systems offer three or four settings), how much you weigh, the terrain you’re riding, how much climbing you’re doing, the air temperature, rolling resistance from the tires, and even how clean and lubricated the drivetrain is.
Do not take any brand's word on its range claims. Start conservatively as you test your bike’s range. The more you ride, the better you’ll understand how far your batteries can carry you in different conditions. If your bike’s main battery isn’t cutting it, some models let you add an external range booster, or swap the internal battery for a fresh one. Be warned: These accessories can be expensive!
Like all batteries, e-bike batteries do lose capacity every time they’re charged and discharged. Unfortunately, that means that the more you ride, the sooner you’ll need to replace your battery. Even so, an e-bike battery should give you years of reliable riding.
Follow your bike's manufacturer’s recommendations for storage, but most batteries will last longer if stored with about a 40-percent charge (but don’t forget to plug your bike in about six hours before riding, to make sure you start your ride with a full charge).
Batteries should also be stored at room temperature whenever possible and not left outside or in an unheated garage in freezing temperatures. Some bike brands, including Specialized, have a setting that will prevent the battery from charging fully. This feature is designed to extend the battery’s life, but you may want to disable the feature if your rides regularly use your battery’s full capacity.
If, after a few years, your battery loses enough capacity that you want to replace it, be sure to contact your bike’s manufacturer or local dealer and purchase a certified replacement battery through the brand or its dealer.
Don’t be tempted by cheaper options available online from third-party brands. These third-party batteries are generally not certified by bike brands and may void your bike’s warranty. More importantly, third-party replacement batteries often do not have important safety features, and, as a result, these batteries have been identified as the cause of several serious fires.
There is currently legislation pending at the state and federal level that will bar the sale of non-certified batteries in the U.S., but they are still available as of this writing.
Drivetrains
While a handful of bicycle drivetrain manufacturers exist, almost every e-mountain bike will have either a Shimano or SRAM drivetrain. Both are reputable manufacturers that offer reliable shifting and a wide-ranging gear set. Some drivetrains feature electronic shifting. Such drivetrains offer quick and precise shifting, but they will add cost.
The added power of an e-bike puts more strain on a bike’s drivetrain. You can expect to replace your chain more frequently, but you can get more life out of your components if you back off the pedals when shifting, and ease the chain between gears instead of mashing the shifter and the pedal at the same time.
Brakes
Given the increased weight of an electronic mountain bike, you’ll want to make sure yours is equipped with hydraulic disc brakes, as most are. These brakes offer lots of stopping power and modulation, which ensures you’ll remain in control regardless of your bike's weight, or how fast you go.
Several brands offer hydraulic disc brakes, though again, Shimano and SRAM usually lead the way. For additional power, look for bikes featuring four-piston brakes.
Why You Should Trust Us
Bicycling has been vetting and reviewing bikes, gear, and accessories for more than 50 years. The bike recommendations here are based on the extensive work of the test team which includes Deputy Editor Tara Seplavy, Senior Test Editor Matt Phillips, Test Editor Dan Chabonov, and Maintenance Editor Gabe Ortiz. Together, they have more than 60 years of ride-testing experience and insight that they bring to every recommendation they make.
For electric mountain bikes, Matt Phillips and Tara Seplavy oversaw these selections based on the team’s collective testing experience, as well as their own extensive knowledge of the category.
Andrew Bernstein has been a cyclist nearly his whole life and a passionate road rider and racer since he was a teenager. These days, he rides road and gravel bikes around his home in Boulder, Colo. As a former bike salesperson and Bicycling Gear Editor, Andrew has had the chance to ride many bikes and meet many Bicycling readers, helping him to know what to look for in making these recommendations.
Dan Cavallari is a born tinkerer with a garage full of tools to prove it. He spent 14 years as a bicycle mechanic in various shops across the United States and is the editor/publisher of both Slowguyonthefastride.com and DawnpatrolMTB.com. He is the former technical editor of VeloNews Magazine. Find him on Instagram: @DawnPatrolMTB @slowguyonthefastride.
How We Selected These E-MTBs
The recommendations here are the combined efforts of Dan Cavallari who has been riding mountain bikes for nearly 30 years, and testing them professionally for more than a decade, in addition to the testing efforts and combined experience of the Bicycling test team, and, finally, the research and industry expertise of Andrew Bernstein.
Each bike recommended here offers an excellent ride quality balanced with assist capabilities most useful to mountain bikers. Based on the cumulative experiences and input of the experts and test team, these are the best electric mountain bikes you can buy right now.
Our Full Electric Mountain Bike Reviews
Specialized has always been known for technical innovation, and when it entered the e-bike market 10 years ago, its first Turbo bikes were highly polished and well-designed. Things have only gotten better since then, and the current generation of Specialized Turbo e-bikes is built around Specialized’s own fast-engaging motor.
The Levo’s 500Wh battery holds enough electrons to carry most riders through all-day rides, and the geometry is designed to make for a stable bike that you can still whip through the technical sections.
Aventon’s do-it-all hardtail is built around the brand's proprietary motor and power system, which includes a 708Wh battery. The battery gives this bike a longer range than many others, even without a range extender, making the Ramblas perfect for riders who prioritize full days in the saddle. The bike is on the heavier side, which may make it harder to handle, especially in tight terrain, but the responsive Rockshox fork will help riders fly across square-edge bumps.
Read Full Aventon Ramblas Review
The Heckler’s slick styling means your riding buddies may not believe that you’re riding an e-bike, at least not until you power away on the first climb. The motor and battery—made by Fazua, a German manufacturer—are so svelte that they almost entirely disappear into the standard Heckler’s frame.
The power comes on smoothly and will work dependably for years. Few brands have as much experience building mountain bikes as Santa Cruz does, and you can feel its experience in the trail-proven handling when you take this bike out for a shred.
Read Full Santa Cruz Heckler SL Review
Yeti’s first e-mountain bike uses Shimano’s EP8 drive system and will help you cruise any trail. Yeti may be new to e-bikes, but the Colorado-based brand has a long track record of building bikes that are as playful as they are competent on rough, steep terrain.
In that tradition, the 160E is ready to tackle any trail, and especially thrives on rough and steep trails. The bike comes in a variety of component configurations, allowing riders to choose their parts, and, to an extent, their price point. The model linked here is built with a dependable Shimano XT drivetrain and Shimano hydraulic disc brakes.
The SyncDrive Pro2 motor engages smoothly but is slightly less powerful than other motors. The drive system was co-developed with Yamaha and should prove durable enough for many happy miles.
Smaller and lighter riders will find that the motor has plenty of power, and its light weight makes it easy to drive this bike across and through technical sections. We also like the bike’s sleek design, and Liv’s focus on female rides mean that the total package is well thought out with touch points optimized for female riders.
Read Full Liv Intrigue X Advanced E+ EL3
E-bikes can help kids imagine the long rides they’ll be able to enjoy as they get older and stronger. At the same time, the boost can make it practical to take your child out on longer rides that they wouldn’t have enough energy for on their own.
Like all ebikes, this Levo is heavier than comparable non-powered models. That means that it takes more work for the rider to push it around corners, but the geometry is well-designed and the mid-mount motor helps to keep the bike well-balanced for even the smallest riders.
REI’s Co-Op brand focused on giving riders a great value in a bike that’s fun to ride. The DRT e3.1 has a durable aluminum frame and a solid mix of components that will be dependable without increasing the price of the bike too much. The German brand Bosch is one of the leaders in e-bike motors, and its proven power system should last for thousands of happy miles.
While REI is not generally known as a bike shop, its national network of stores and friendly staff are known for being helpful and professional, ensuring that Co-Op riders will have a dependable place to go for maintenance, advice, and any warranty issues that should arise (although that’s unlikely to be needed).
Q&A with Expert Andrew Bernstein
Expert Andrew Bernstein Shares What Extras To Take On Your Ride, When to Update Firmware, and Where to Ride
What accessories will I need?
Definitely get yourself some comfortable riding apparel. Mountain bike apparel comes in lots of choices, so choose the one that speaks to the way you want to ride and suits your personal style.
If you want to ride long, it’s a good idea to invest in a hydration pack, and you’ll definitely want to carry supplies to fix a trail-side flat, and tools to address minor trail-side breakdowns.
How often should I update my bike’s firmware?
Most e-bike makers will update their bike’s firmware periodically and you can either update the firmware via an app on your phone, or take your bike to an authorized dealer who will be able to install the update for you.
In nearly all cases, firmware updates are not essential to bike’s operation, but as with all electronically-controlled pieces of hardware, your bike will work best if the firmware is updated at least every six months or so.
Where can I ride my e-bike?
Unfortunately, there are many different rules about e-bike access on public (and private) land. While many land managers are making an effort to better-accommodate e-bikes, there is no uniform rule at this point.
We suggest that you check the regulations for any trails you plan to ride before heading to the trailhead, and always be sure to follow posted rules and regulations – riding where you’re not supposed to could result in a ticket.
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