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.
In 2016 Pedego launched a fourth generation build of the Trail Tracker electric bike! It resembles the new Ridge Rider e-mountain bike in that the battery is designed to fit into the downtube vs. a rear rack, dramatically improving weight distribution and stability. This is a fat-tire style electric bike which works well on pavement, […]
The Biktrix Juggernaut made its debut on Kickstarter in November 2014 and was successfully delivered to all backers by July 2015. It’s a fat electric bike that’s a step up in terms of components and features but still aiming at that value market. For ~$2k you can get the base model which uses a more […]
[UPDATE for 2016] Several improvements have been made to the VoltBike Yukon for 2016 and the price has remained. Those include: battery cells are now by Panasonic vs. Samsung, they were chosen due to the better discharge rate (c-level) which is important for zippy throttle performance. The tires have been upgraded to Kenda Juggernaut Sport […]
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 […]
