How to buy the best electric bike

Different types of electric bikes

Just like unpowered bikes, electric bikes come in various shapes and sizes, each suited to different sorts of riding and riders. But they’re versatile. Many of the e-bikes we’ve tested are suited to several types of use, so we don’t list them as one type or another. Instead, we allocate scores for each use type: daily (urban), cargo, road, trail and mountain biking.

Daily (urban) e-bikes are for riding around cities and urban environments. They’re sometimes called Dutch e-bikes. They often have low step-through frames, making them easier to mount and dismount. You sit upright on a plush seat and hold swept-back handlebars. These e-bikes can have up to 10 gears, which are sometimes built into the rear hub. They can go faster, cover longer distances and climb hills easier than their unpowered counterparts.

Cargo e-bikes are longer than other types to provide additional load-carrying space either behind the seat or in front of the handlebars. Their frames are stiff and strong and they often have smaller-than-usual wheels as they can be built stronger and leave more load space. Adding a motor to a cargo bike makes it a practical alternative to a car for a variety of trips. They can carry heavy loads with ease – anything from a grocery shop to a couple of small children.

Road e-bikes are often also considered to be recreational, hybrid or commuter e-bikes. They’re the do it all electric bike, covering a wide variety of riding from daily commuting to weekend or longer rides on gravel trails. With flat handlebars, narrower tyres and a racier riding position, they’re faster and more comfortable than urban e-bikes. But they’re less manoeuvrable on city streets and aren’t always as well equipped for carrying luggage or shopping.

Trail e-bikes and mountain e-bikes are designed for riding off-road. They have suspension at the front and sometimes at the rear, wide and flat or high-rise handlebars and wide, knobbly tyres. Mountain e-bikes can handle rougher terrain, including grade 3+ mountain bike tracks. Trail and mountain e-bikes are often repurposed as urban or commuter bikes as they’re robust, they have a big range of gears and powerful brakes, and they strike a balance between city bike comfort and recreational bike speed. Although the knobbly, off-road tyres can be a drag on sealed surfaces. These bikes usually don’t come with mudguards and luggage racks.

Some e-bikes can be folded. This is useful if you regularly take your electric bike on public transport or need to store it inside your home or office. Folding e-bikes have smaller wheels but otherwise ride like a recreational or city bike. There aren’t many folding electric bike designs, as the motor and battery make them bulky and heavy to carry.

How and where will you use your electric bike?

Will you primarily do short trips into the city or take longer journeys? For short trips, an upright e-bike with a few gears or a small-wheeled model that’s highly manoeuvrable in tight spaces should suit. For longer journeys, an b-bike that’s more streamlined and easier to pedal will be a better choice.

Will your regular rides be mostly flat or hilly? If hilly, you need an electric bike that’s efficient to pedal uphill and stable to ride back down, with good disc brakes.

Will you ride off road? Most good electric bikes of any style will handle a rail trail or unsealed back road. But, to make your journey more pleasant, choose an e-bike that has balanced handling, decent suspension and wide tyres with good tread. For more extreme off-road riding, a mountain e-bike would be the best choice.

Do you need to carry work bags, groceries or children? If so, you’ll need a good rear rack at least, while a front rack that bolts to the frame is a great option. If you plan to carry big loads or kids, a cargo e-bike is a better choice. A low or step-through frame makes a loaded electric bike easier to climb on and off.

The style of electric bike you prefer is a personal decision. Regardless of style, we think an e-bike with a balanced riding position – not too racy, but not too upright – is ideal. Such bikes do everything well – they’re as comfortable riding to the dairy as they are commuting longer distances or tackling a weekend adventure. If you choose a more upright, city-style e-bike, look for one that’s comfortable to pedal without power, has confident slow-speed steering and is stable at 25km/h.

Electric bike motors

We recommend a mid-drive e-bike. Since the motor drives through the bike’s gears, it makes the most of the bike’s power and torque, meaning more assistance climbing hills and at high speed. Mid-drive motors mount low and central, so these bikes have even weight distribution. The only reason to consider a rear hub drive is cost – they’re cheaper (although the price gap is narrowing). However, we’ve found that mid-drive motors are noisier than hub drives, making an obvious whirr and causing a clunk on downshifts. And the extra load they put through the gears can result in more drivetrain wear and tear.

An e-bike motor assists your pedalling, so when you pedal harder, the motor assists you more. When you stop pedalling, the motor stops too. A good motor starts when you start to pedal and stops when you stop, with no lag. It should be responsive and smooth without feeling jerky. The best systems we’ve tried make hills feel like pedalling on the flat.

The maximum assist speed is the speed at which the motor stops helping you pedal. We found it can be a rough transition from motor-assisted pedalling to human-power only. All the electric bikes we’ve tested can assist up to 32km/h – our testers found 25km/h to 30km/h was the sweet spot for speed vs comfort. If you plan to cover a lot of distance on the road, it’s worth considering an electric bike that assists to 40km/h or more.

There are two parts to the drive system interface – the display screen and the controller:

• Display screens mounted in the centre of the bars are the easiest to use. We prefer uncluttered displays showing easy-to-read essentials: speed, assist level and battery remaining (or predicted range).

• The controller allows you to select the assistance level, operate lights and use the bike computer functions. The best controllers use thumb buttons near the grip with clearly differentiated assist (+/-) buttons that can be found without looking.

Some motor systems have gone ‘smart’. Their features depend on the system. By linking to a smartphone app, you might be able to customise assistance profiles and access other features such as ride data tracking, in-ride navigation and system diagnostics. You can also usually digitally lock your electric bike, disabling the drive system, and receive alerts if your electric bike is moved – the smart system will record its location. Some smart motor systems allow your smartphone to be used as a display unit. A smart system isn’t essential, but once you’ve tried one, we think it’s something you might want.

Electric bike batteries

An electric bike battery is usually mounted inside the frame on the down tube or on a rear rack, underneath the loading platform. E-bike batteries are heavy, so they’re best mounted down low. Some step-through e-bikes have batteries mounted in the rear rack. This can make the bike feel ‘rear heavy’ and raises the rack platform higher than usual, making it less stable when loaded.

All the batteries in the e-bikes we’ve tested are lithium-ion with at least 418Wh capacity. They’re good for 30km of maximum assistance. If you want to ride further, you’ll need to use less assistance or choose an e-bike with a higher capacity battery.

Battery charging time depends on the power of the charger. We found most pumped out 180W, recharging the battery from 30% to 100% in less than 3 hours.

Weatherproofing of e-bike battery systems is generally good. They don’t tend to suffer any glitches or failures, even in our winter testing, which includes riding in some atrocious weather.

Batteries gradually lose capacity over time, whether used and recharged regularly or left in storage. Bosch says that its batteries will retain 60–70% capacity after 500 full charge cycles – that’s at least 12,500km on maximum assistance or more than 2 years of commuting 24km per day, 5 days a week.

Which electric bike features do you need?

Front suspension (suspension fork) adds safety and comfort to an e-bike. The spring inside the fork will either be a metal coil or an air chamber. Coils are maintenance-free but have limited adjustment. There is likely to be a pre-load dial on top of a fork leg. The pressure in an air spring can be adjusted with an air pump to suit a wide range of rider and load weights. Look for an air valve on top of the fork (usually under a cover).

Regardless of the spring type, the suspension fork should be smooth and quiet when it moves. Test it by standing astride the bike and pressing down hard on the bars, then releasing quickly. Make sure the fork moves down smoothly under your weight and doesn’t make a clunk when it pops back up again.

Look for an e-bike with hydraulic disc brakes. Not only are they smooth and powerful to use, they work as well in the wet as they do in the dry and are very low maintenance. Cable disc brakes can be as powerful and smooth but need more maintenance, while rim brakes don’t perform as well in the wet.

For comfort, safety and versatility, large-volume tyres with good tread are essential for your electric bike. Some have reflective strips in the sidewalls. A puncture-resistant lining is a good addition, as there’s no such thing as a convenient puncture.

Mudguards protect you and your clothes from dirt thrown up by the bike’s tyres on wet roads. Look for full-length mudguards that wrap around the side of the tyre. A chain guard is useful, too, if you ride in long trousers or skirt.

A rear rack provides a platform for attaching a bag to your e-bike so you don’t have to carry a load on your back. Look for a wide platform to provide support to your load – some we’ve tested are narrow. Side frames on the rack are useful if you use pannier-type bags.

A kickstand makes parking and loading the e-bike easy. Look for one mounted near the rear hub, as kickstands mounted centrally can hit the cranks and pedals when pushing the bike and they aren’t as stable with a heavy rear load.

The battery can be used to power fixed front and rear lights. This means you won’t get caught out at dusk or dawn, and modern LED lights use so little power you can use them as daytime lights without affecting pedal assistance range. Having them bolted to the bike means they’re always there when you need them and makes them harder for thieves to remove.

Bike saddles are a personal thing. You’ll generally find wider, softer saddles on more upright bikes and narrower, harder ones on racier models. Wider, softer saddles are more comfortable for short trips, while narrower, harder saddles are better for long rides. The only way to find out if a saddle is right for you is by riding the bike.

Some electric bikes have a suspension seatpost. Some like the extra comfort, while others find the bouncing makes pedalling less comfortable. Many suspension seatposts aren’t adjustable, so if you’re a bigger rider, check you’ll be adequately supported.

Dropper seatposts are becoming common on electric bikes intended for less extreme riding. A lever on the handlebar lowers the seat height, which is handy when mounting and dismounting the bike or stopping at junctions.

How many gears do you need on an electric bike?

Even though an e-bike has a motor, you still need to pedal. The mechanical gears let you match your pedalling speed to the speed of travel. If you pedal too slowly, the motor doesn’t assist very well, and pedalling too quickly can be uncomfortable. Many riders find the sweet-spot to be around 70–80rpm.

The gear range should match your intended riding. Low gearing (easier to pedal when moving slowly) is essential for climbing steep hills, while high gearing means you won’t be spinning the pedals furiously when travelling at high speed. On a test ride, make sure the gears let you pedal comfortably both at walking pace and at or beyond the maximum motor assistance speed.

Most chain-driven systems have 8–12 gears. It’s easier to find a comfortable pedalling speed if you have more gears to choose from. However, systems with more gears usually need more adjustment to keep them working smoothly and they tend to wear out faster. Shimano now has an e-bike-specific ‘Linkglide’ system, which should be more durable than other options, reducing maintenance bills. Learn how to maintain and adjust the gears on your bike to keep them working smoothly.

A belt-drive with gears inside the rear wheel hub is an alternative to a chain and derailleur gear system. Unlike a chain, a belt needs no lubrication or other maintenance, so you won’t get oil on your hands or pants. It’s also a very durable system – likely to last for tens of thousands of kilometres rather than a few thousand. However, a belt drive needs a special frame design, and hub gears don’t usually have a range as wide as derailleur gears.

Where to buy an electric bike

Find a local bike store that sells different e-bike brands and styles. A store that knows e-bikes will help you find a bike style and motor system that suit you. Talk to a few stores selling different brands.

Test ride as many bikes as you can, trying different styles with different motor systems – and not just around the car park. Take them on a ride of a few kilometres at least, typical of how you’d use your e-bike. Try them up and down hills, at speed on the flat, and around traffic and on shared paths. Some stores will rent you an e-bike for a day, refunding the rental cost if you choose to buy a bike from them.

Ask the store about maintenance and servicing. All bike shops can service a bike, but what about the motor? Ask how often the motor needs servicing, if they need to hook it up to a computer to analyse it, and whether they service it in-store or need to send it away. Also ask if they offer a free bike check-up and tune after a few months to adjust brakes and gears.

Buying a secondhand electric bike

Buying a secondhand e-bike is a legitimate option. Bikes are one of those things that some people buy with the best intentions and then end up hardly using. Many are sold after only a year or two, and you can pick up a bargain.

However, there are always things to watch for so you don’t get a bad deal. The bike might’ve had a hard life and need new components to make it fit for purpose again. A bent or cracked frame will probably be a write-off. Some parts, such as brake pads, are cheap. But if the gears are worn and you need a new cassette, you’ll be paying a few hundred dollars or more to get a new one.

The biggest expense on an e-bike is its battery. If it no longer holds much charge, it could cost you $1,500 or more for a new one.

Important questions to ask before buying a used e-bike

How many kilometers has the bike been ridden? And what sort of riding was it primarily used for?

Many e-bikes have an odometer like a car. Ask the seller to see this data so you know how much it’s been ridden. Lots of distance means more wear and tear, so you can take the price down a bit.

Trail riding is much tougher on a bike than road riding, so assume it’s had a harder life if it’s been ridden off road a lot.

Has the bike ever been crashed? Are there any cracks or dents in the frame?

All bikes suffer the odd fall, but crashes can do serious damage. Inspect the frame closely – cracks often show up in the welds. It’s not worth trying to fix these sorts of things if you’re buying a used e-bike.

How worn are the brakes, gears and chain? When were they last replaced?

Electric bikes put extra weight and power through the gears, and the brakes have to contain all of it. You can buy your own chain-wear tool for about $15 and check the chain when you view the e-bike in person. The smallest gears on electric bikes often have the most wear. But if the chain is in good condition, hopefully the cassette is fine. Replacing brake pads is part of life with a bike, but it’s good to check you won’t need to do it straight away.

What’s the brand of motor and battery, and can they be serviced locally?

If the motor system has no local support, you’ll be caught out if you run into problems. The cheap, imported motors and batteries (the ones that generally aren’t from a local bike shop or NZ manufacturer) are likely to have no support, so it’s worth checking the brand before buying.

What’s the state of the battery? How many kilometers do you get out of it now? How long do you leave between charges? What charge percentage do you store it at?

If you buy a bike with a worn out battery, it’ll cost you quite a bit to replace. Batteries lose capacity over time. And if the bike has been sitting unridden for a long time, the battery will degrade, especially if it’s left in a fully charged or fully depleted state.

It’s difficult to pin down the exact range that a battery gives an e-bike – it depends on many factors like rider weight, terrain, weather and the power level used. You should be able to get a rough idea of the range when new with a simple search of the make and model and by reading reviews. Brands like Bosch have range calculators on their website. Finding out the range that the current owner can get from it will be a good indicator of the state of the battery.

An older battery might be fine, especially if the current capacity can take you all the places you need to go now. But take account of battery wear and tear, or replacement, when considering the purchase price.

How does the e-bike motor sound when you’re riding it?

Test ride any e-bike you’re considering buying. The motor should quietly whirr away as you pedal. If it rattles, squeals or squeaks, then something is wrong. It might be an expensive fix. You can take the risk and offer a lower price or move onto another option.

What do you need to ride an electric bike?

Before you hit the streets, you’ll need a few other items to go with your e-bike (and no, none of them are Lycra). At the minimum, you’ll need a helmet to ride legally on public roads and cycle paths. And you’ll want a good bike lock to protect your ride.

Talk to the bike store when you buy your e-bike, as it should be able to offer a good package discount on accessories.

You should also consider insurance. Adding an e-bike on to a home contents policy is the most cost-effective option. You need to specify the electric bike as an extra and keep proof of value. But insurance shouldn’t cost more than a few percent of the cost of the electric bike. Check your policy covers your e-bike when locked in a public place – not just when stored at home – and check it includes third-party cover when riding.

Getting used to riding an electric bike

• Get used to your e-bike before heading out on the road. It’ll be heavier than a regular bike and, therefore, handle differently. Start somewhere with a bit of space and have a play with the power settings to test how the bike responds when stopping and starting, plus turning, balancing and negotiating obstacles with different levels of assistance.

• You’ll probably be travelling faster than on a regular bike. Other road users might not anticipate your speed. Ensure you scan well ahead, signal your movements and look out for cars turning in and out of driveways and side roads. In slower city traffic, take up the space in your lane if you’re moving as fast as other traffic – this minimises others overtaking dangerously when the road is narrow.

• When starting off at an intersection or uphill, use a low gear. You need to start pedalling before assistance kicks in – be prepared for the surge in power and acceleration when it does. Drivers might not expect you to start off so quickly. Move forward to the advanced stop boxes for cyclists and position yourself prominently on the road to get a head start on other traffic.

• You might find yourself passing other cyclists on busy routes. Make sure you pass safely: look behind you for traffic and signal before pulling out. Give the other cyclist plenty of space.

• Shared paths are for slower more relaxed travel. Put your e-bike in a low power setting and cycle at a speed consistent with other users so it doesn’t put them at risk or make them feel uncomfortable when you pass.