AddMotoR HITHOT H1 Platinum Review

To run the forums, host the website, and travel, I charge a universal service fee for my reviews. This in-depth review was sponsored by AddMotoR. My goal is to be transparent and unbiased with you, this video and writeup are not meant to be an endorsement of AddMotoR products. I welcome your corrections, additions, and feedback in the comments below and the AddMotoR electric bike forums.

Observations:

• AddMotoR has been in the electric bike business since 2011 and for a long time they had an online-only, direct-to-consumer model. In recent years they have begun working with dealers and have about 15 of them in the United States, operating with a hybrid model as they continue to sell direct. I appreciate that they are working with dealers as no amount of online research can compare with actually getting hands-on and test riding a bike!
• The H1 Platinum has an interesting loadout of features that make it a good mixed-use bike, it’s a capable mountain bike for the value price, yet it also sacrifices some mountain biking capability in exchange for comfort and convenience features that are geared more towards city riding or commuting. This makes it a great Ebike for riders who want to have one bike to use on the trail and around town, but it also means that it won’t perform as well at either task as a dedicated mountain or city bike would.

Pros:

• Covered by a one-year comprehensive warranty, AddMotoR also has a network of dealers now so you can take it to an authorized dealer for repairs and support after purchasing if you live close enough to one. Being near a dealer is also a plus so that you can test ride before purchasing, something that wasn’t possible in the past when AddMotoR Ebikes were only sold online.
• A sleek and sporty appearance thanks to clean internally routed cabling, tasteful paint accents, and the integration of the display into the stem and handlebar. Maxxis and AddMotoR use similar tones of red and yellow in their branding, I like this color similarity and how cohesive the visual appearance of the H1 Platinum is as a result.
• The Tektro Auriga E-COMP brakes are very easy to actuate thanks to hydraulics and three-finger levers, and they provide great stopping power with a 203mm rotor up front and a 180mm rotor in the rear. These brakes are Ebike-specific and they have no problem stopping this bike even on a steep incline.
• Full suspension means you can tackle trails and rough terrain, or just have a more comfortable ride if cruising around town. Up front is the RST ATACK suspension fork with 100mm of travel, complete with clickers for lockout as well as preload which you can tighten up if you are a heavier rider. The K PLUS coil suspension provides about 120mm of travel in the rear and it is also adjustable for preload.
• The Velo saddle is comfortable, having layers of foam and being wider than the aggressive saddles usually seen on full-suspension mountain bikes. This combined with the full suspension makes for a comfortable ride, especially compared to the typical mountain bike saddle.
• The integrated Kendo+ by Spanninga headlight is powerful and does a great job lighting up the road ahead, and AddMotoR also includes a Blazelite taillight mounted on the seatpost. This taillight does have to be turned on and off manually unlike the integrated headlight, but I appreciate that it was included at all… lights are another feature that is usually not included on a mountain bike, but their presence here makes it easier to also use the H1 Platinum for commuting and city riding, or even just evening rides on less intense trails.
• The derailleur here is Shimano Acera which is a high-quality unit from Shimano, a step up compared to some of their more entry-level products. There is a metal derailleur guard to protect the derailleur from bumps with terrain or impact if you tip the bike over, as well as an alloy bash guard and chain guide on the chainring that will both protect the chain from debris (or pant legs) and also keep it from jumping off. The intended mixed-use of this Ebike shows with a 44-tooth chainring and a range of 12-32 teeth on the 7-speed cassette in the rear, this is an average range that will be able to handle moderate mountain and trail riding as well as performing well for town or neighborhood use.
• The 500-watt rear hub motor from Bafang is quiet and powerful, and it performed smoothly whether using pedal assist or the variable twist throttle. Hub motors tend to be “peaky” rather than “torquey”, meaning they don’t have as much power at low speeds, but get a lot more powerful as you increase speed. While riding the H1 Platinum I was pleasantly surprised by the power of this motor, it felt very strong even at low speeds. It won’t be able to climb as aggressively as a mid-drive motor with high torque, but it still does a respectable job and will be able to tackle at least moderate inclines without any problems.
• The tires here are excellent quality tires from Maxxis, and there are even different tires on the front and the rear to provide optimum performance. Up front is the Minion DHF with tread designed to improve steering traction, and in the rear is the Minion DHR II which features a different tread pattern to help with climbing and traction when under load from the drivetrain. Both of these tires are tubeless ready and have excellent puncture protection as well.
• If you’re like me and you appreciate being able to charge your phone while you ride, then the H1 Platinum has you double-covered with two USB type A charging ports! One port is on the underside of the integrated display, this one is only 0.5 amps which means it will charge an Android device but not an iPhone. On the right side of the battery is another port and that one delivers a full amp of power, meaning it can charge an iPhone and will charge faster than the one underneath the display. I love having a charging port on the battery as you can use it to charge a phone or power other devices while removed from the bike.
• The display is waterproof and integrated directly into the stem/handlebar area. I like this display a lot, being integrated means it isn’t at risk from getting bumped and damaged like an external display would be, not to mention being invulnerable to theft! The display is sufficiently bright for easy viewing in direct sunlight and is fairly minimalist, showing only basic information such as speed, assist level, and battery level. I prefer displays like this because they aren’t as distracting as some more complex displays that have a lot of information… but that is a matter of personal preference, so this display might be frustrating if you prefer to have more information available.

Cons:

• Since this Ebike has a throttle in addition to pedal assist it falls under Class 2. This will limit where you can ride as many trails have restrictions and do not allow throttle-equipped Ebikes, this is why the majority of electric mountain bikes are Class 1 (no throttle). Of course, the tradeoff here is that the throttle can be really nice to have when you aren’t mountain biking, so if you only occasionally mountain bike and also want to do city riding this can be a great setup.
• Pedal assist is handled by a cadence sensor, a design choice that keeps costs down, but cadence-sensing systems don’t perform as well as a torque sensor when it comes to mountain biking uses. Torque sensors are great in a trail setting because they can adapt and give more assistance when you press hard on the pedals, whereas a cadence sensor is more like an on-off switch, and you will need to adjust the assist level manually if you need more (or less) help. Another downside of the cadence sensor is that there is a delay between when you start pedaling and when the motor kicks in, sometimes requiring you to pedal a revolution or two on your own. This is especially a problem when you’re starting to pedal while on a steep slope, something bound to happen when mountain biking! This is alleviated by having the twist throttle, you can use the throttle to get started and then ease off the throttle once the motor kicks in. Another factor here is that the sensor itself is not sealed which means it is vulnerable to getting bumped and magnets falling out. It’s positioned on the inner side of the chainring which will help keep it safe from most impacts, but I would much rather see a sealed sensor especially if you’re going to be riding on rough terrain.
• The rear hub motor also helps keep the price low and will do great for city riding, but be aware of its limitations for mountain biking. It has less torque than a mid-drive motor which means it won’t be able to tackle extreme inclines as effectively, and hub motors are also more vulnerable to overheating under heavy use compared to most mid-drives. For most riders this should not be an issue, just be careful not to rely on the motor too heavily when doing a lot of climbing.
• No options for fenders or racks means limited capabilities for city and commuting uses. There also aren’t any bottle cage bosses for mounting accessories, which is understandable since there isn’t a good space for bottle cage bosses considering the frame geometry. You may be sensing a theme here; The H1 Platinum is a good mixed-use bike, which means it can be a great fit for you if you do some mountain biking and some riding around town, or occasional commuting… but it won’t be as good at mountain biking as a dedicated mountain bike, or as good at commuting as a dedicated city bike.
• There is only one available frame size which means that this bike may not be a good fit for some riders. If you’re very large or very small you’ll probably want to test ride one first to see if it fits you, and hopefully, you live near an AddMotoR dealer so that you can do so.
• There is no slap guard on the right chainstay, which means that going over bumps can cause the chain to impact the chainstay and scratch the paint there. Fortunately, slap guards are cheap, and as a low-tech solution you can just apply some clear tape to that chainstay.
• When the battery is mounted on the bike the charging port is in the path of the left crank arm. This can be risky when charging if you need to move the bike around (or if it gets knocked over), the crank arm can impact and bend or otherwise damage the charge port. Fortunately, you can remove the battery and charge off the bike to mitigate this.
• While I love the integrated display, I do want to call out that its integration into the stem and handlebar means that you can’t adjust the angle to reduce glare, and you can’t upgrade to a different stem or handlebar. This won’t be an issue for the majority of riders, just something to keep in mind if you like swapping out these components.

Useful Resources:

• AddMotoR Official Website