City E-Bikes

What a city e-bike is

A Commuter Equipped for Daily Riding

A city e-bike carries one rider and a bag through traffic, every day, in any weather. It comes with the equipment a commuter would otherwise add: lights wired to the main battery, full fenders, a rear rack, a kickstand and often a frame lock.

The type grew out of the Dutch city bike, the upright step-through that Gazelle has built in Dieren, Netherlands, since the 19th century. Gazelle, Batavus and Sparta added Bosch and Shimano mid-drives to that frame and sell it through dealers across the Netherlands and Germany. A second line came from startups such as VanMoof in Amsterdam and Cowboy in Brussels, which sell direct, build the battery into the frame and run the bike through a phone app.

In the US the city e-bike is usually a hub-drive commuter sold online, such as the Aventon Level.3, with a throttle and a 28 mph Class 3 mode. Low maintenance and theft protection decide most purchases in all three markets: belt drives and internal gear hubs remove chain upkeep, and connected bikes add GPS tracking, alarms and remote locking.

Variants

Five Kinds of City E-Bike

Drive and equipment

Hub Motors Keep It Light, Mid-Drives Climb

Most lightweight and connected city bikes use a rear hub motor with a torque sensor. The Tenways CGO600 Pro uses a Mivice M070 hub at 250 W and 40 Nm with a 360 Wh battery and weighs 16 kg; the Cowboy Classic uses its own 250 W, 45 Nm rear hub and a 360 Wh pack at 18.9 kg. VanMoof put its motor in the front wheel: the S6 has a 250 W, 68 Nm front hub, a 487 Wh fixed battery and a three-speed automatic hub.

Dutch step-through bikes use mid-drives. The Gazelle Ultimate C380 pairs a Bosch Performance Line motor at 75 Nm with a 540 Wh Bosch PowerTube battery, an Enviolo stepless hub and a Gates CDC belt. US commuters lean on larger hubs and batteries: the Aventon Level.3 has a 500 W rear hub and a 708 Wh pack at 30.4 kg. Speed pedelecs carry the most energy; the Stromer ST3 uses an 820 W SYNO Drive II rear hub, limited to 720 W in the US, and a 983 Wh battery.

Equipment is what separates a city bike from a hybrid. Lights run from the main battery, fenders and a rack are fitted at the factory, and belt drives from Gates Carbon Drive with Enviolo or Shimano Nexus hubs cut maintenance to brake pads and tires. See Drive Systems.

Rules and standards

E-Bike Classes Apply; Speed Pedelecs Split by Market

In the US a city e-bike under 750 W is a Class 1, 2 or 3 e-bike under state law. Class 3 bikes, which assist to 28 mph, face extra rules in many states: a speedometer, a minimum rider age and exclusion from some multi-use paths. New York City has required UL 2849 certification for e-bikes sold or rented in the city since 2023.

In the EU a city pedelec is held to 250 W and 25 km/h under EN 15194. A speed pedelec that assists to 45 km/h is an L1e-B moped under Regulation (EU) No 168/2013 and needs type approval, a plate, insurance and a helmet. The same Stromer ST3 that is a moped in Switzerland or Germany is a Class 3 e-bike in the US. See e-bike laws by state.

Representative brands

Five City E-Bike Makers

One representative model per brand. The hero chart shows each brand's lineup figure from the EbikesX brand dataset; brands with no recorded figure are left off the chart.

Core brands with city models

Archive brands still selling city models, with specs from 2020: AmegoEV, Atala, Benelli, BH Bikes, Desiknio, Devinci, Diamondback, Haibike, Head, Hi Power Cycles, Hilltopper Bikes, Joulvert, Juiced Bikes, KHS, Kona, Magnum, Marin, Merida, MOD Bikes, Raleigh, Raymon, Schwinn, Scott, Smartmotion, Solex, SONDORS Ebikes, Steppenwolf, Stromer, Swagtron, Velec Bicycles, Vintage Electric, Wheeler, Winora, Xtracycle.

Every brand on file is in the brand directory.