I’ve read a lot about e-bikes and have ridden several. I’ve see people make conversions and seen enough of the highest end. This is the deal that no one can beat and won’t for a while. The list is long of what the bike has from the 1000 Watt hub motor to the hydraulic brakes to front shocks.
Ride1UP’s 700 series found its way to our best electric bikes list because we’re still scratching our heads how they packed this much value into an electric commuter bike. As with every list of best e-bikes, ours has some nuance as to why a specific bike was picked — ranging from value and componentry to overall ride feel. We’ve also leaned heavily on e-bikes we’ve tested in-house, though there are a few e-bikes here that were picked based on merit and reputation alone. The 2019 version of the Specialized Sirrus (the name was changed to the Sirrus 1.0), one of our also-great picks from four years ago, went up in price from $430 to $475, despite having suffered cuts in component quality. In 2020, the price remained the same, but the bike had a double chainring in front, in place of the old triple. This reduced the number of gearing options to 14 (as the rear cassette remains a seven-speed), and those gears spanned a narrower range (12 to 32) than the Marin Fairfax 1 covers (11 to 34).
While we’re sure there’s going to be lots of opinions and questions about why this or that bike didn’t land on our list, these are the 14 e-bikes we’re most excited about right now. This is not a comprehensive list, nor were we able to consider each and every e-bike use case, but we do think all the bikes on this list are a good representation of what’s out there right now. They say the best e-bike is the one you’re most excited to ride, and we couldn’t agree more. Payload capacity, it is a terrific option for the hunter or angler who wants to bring home dinner, and with a 768Wh battery, it has the range to go where the game is. We dismissed Batch Bicycles’ Fitness Bicycle because it uses a freewheel cogset rather than a cassette.
We’ll ship your electric bike directly to your door for free across the continental USA. Designed for adult riders, the Flyer™ eBikes are an extension of the Radio Flyer® brand fueled by the same quality that has inspired our schwinn beach cruiser work for over a century. Explore trails that aren’t on the app but clearly exist
right here, right now, in real life. Pack extra water and a sandwich in case things go right and you’re having
too much damn fun to head home.
Every e-bike here uses a hub motor rather than a mid-drive motor. Hub motors (the original industry standard and more affordable of the two) can be located on either the front or, more commonly, the rear wheel. They typically don’t allow for the same natural maneuverability as today’s increasingly schwinn beach cruiser more common mid-drive motors because their weight is concentrated at the front or rear of the bike. In contrast, a mid-drive motor’s weight is low and centered over the bottom bracket, resulting in better control and a more balanced ride feel, much like a traditional bike.