Unbiased, In-Depth Analysis of the Best Electric Bikes
This type of electric bike has tires that are wider than 2.8-inches, often 4″ or 4.9″ wide! The increased surface area improves traction, but also increases friction, drag, and noise. Some fat tires are knobby for off-road use and others are slick and smooth for cruising on-road. In general fat tire electric bikes are very stable and comfortable. The air inside can squish to act as a shock absorber and be lowered to help the tire spread out and “float” over soft terrain. Fat bikes began as a niche product for traditional cyclists who wanted to ride in loamy, sandy, or packed snow conditions. Some fat tires can even be used with metal spikes for grip in slippery icy conditions. With the introduction of electric bike technology, the niche has become much more mainstream because motor systems more than offset the weight and drag of fat tires, making them more enjoyable for less athletic riders.
The Rad Rover electric fatbike officially began its life in May 2015 with a successful crowd funding campaign through Indiegogo. Hundreds of bikes were pre-sold at that time and now in August 2015 over 70 have been delivered. Anyone can get the bike and I’m told wait times are about 30 days at this point… […]
The Boar E350 (and E250 in some geographies) is a purpose built fat tire electric bike from Canada. It’s a second generation model that improves on pretty much every aspect of the original Element Electric fat bike from 2014. That model impressed me based on affordability but fell short in terms of drive train quality, […]
The OHM Sport XS750 Plus is one of the first electric bikes I’ve tried with the new 27.5″ x 3.25″ fat tires. They strike a balance between increased cushion and surface area (great for soft terrain like sand and snow) and narrow, nimble handling. To me, they look sleek and clean compared with the chunky […]
The Trail Viper is a folding fat-tire electric bike that combines portability with fun. It’s a “go anywhere” platform that benefits from smaller diameter wheels in two ways… they’re smaller and thus easier to store but also offer a mechanical advantage to the motor and your legs when pedaling. The custom 17″ frame feels surprisingly […]
The Sand Viper is an electric fat bike from SSR Motorsports (known for designing gas powered scooters and motorcycles) that’s feature rich and value priced. The first iteration of this model offered a modest 350 watt motor that was decent for paved rides and hard packed trails but somewhat limited on actual sand… It just […]
The All-Track E100 has been updated and renamed as the E-Lux Tahoe starting in 2016. For the full review on that model and all of the improvements (including bottle cage bosses!) visit the written review here that also has a video. E-Lux is a relatively new electric bike company based in Southern California near Huntington […]
The Sonders Ebike (formerly the Storm Electric Bike) is an ultra-affordable fat tire ebike that was launched through Indiegogo in February of 2015. The name change was a result of conflict with ProdecoTech which offers two Storm electric bike models of their own including the Storm 500. The Sondors, still named for it’s creator “Storm […]
The 2015 Pedego Trail Tracker builds on the original Trail Tracker design which was launched in 2013. It was one of the very first electric powered fat bikes that I saw in the US and it offered the same power, quality build and customer support that Pedego has built its reputation on. The downside was […]
This is the review for the 2015 E3 Sumo, in 2016 an updated model arrived with sturdy thru-axles, an optional $50 boost mode that acts like a throttle and a slightly altered paint job… it also costs a lot less! Check it out in the full review here. The E3 Sumo is one of the […]
The Felt OUTFITTER is a cargo-oriented fat style electric bike that captivated my imagination and seems to challenge the stereotype for what an ebike should or could be. This ebike is ready for dirt trails, sand dunes or even snow fields as demonstrated in the video review. I did get stuck once as my momentum […]
