Mountain E-Bikes

What a mountain e-bike is

A Mountain Bike That Climbs Under Power

An eMTB lets a rider climb steep trails that would otherwise need walking and ride more laps in the same time. The motor assists only while pedaling, and the frame, suspension and brakes are built for the extra weight and speed on descents.

Specialized, Trek, Giant and Orbea build most full-suspension eMTBs, and the Chinese drone maker DJI entered the segment through its Amflow brand and the Avinox drive. Brands compete on motor torque, battery size and weight.

The segment has split into full-power bikes with large batteries and strong motors, and lightweight bikes with smaller systems that ride closer to an unassisted mountain bike.

Variants

Four Kinds of Mountain E-Bike

Drive and equipment

Mid-Drives Compete on Torque and Weight

Every current eMTB uses a mid-drive, because it works through the gears on steep climbs and keeps weight low and central. The main units are the Bosch Performance Line CX, Shimano EP801, the Specialized motors built by Brose, Giant SyncDrive, DJI Avinox and, on lightweight bikes, the TQ HPR50 and Shimano EP801 RS.

Batteries are built into the down tube. Full-power bikes carry the largest packs, and some lightweight bikes take a range extender in the bottle cage, as the Orbea Rise does. See Drive Systems.

Rules and standards

The Land Manager Decides Trail Access

In the US, eMTB access depends on who manages the land. The National Park Service allows e-bikes where bicycles are allowed, subject to each superintendent. The Forest Service treats e-bikes as motor vehicles, limited to motorized trails unless a forest designates otherwise. The Bureau of Land Management allows Class 1 to 3 e-bikes where bicycles are allowed, by local decision. State and county parks set their own rules. See federal land rules.

Class 1 is the class most trail managers allow, so eMTBs ship as Class 1. In the EU an eMTB is a pedelec under EN 15194, limited to 250 W and 25 km/h, and trail access is set by each country and region.

Representative brands

Five Mountain 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 mountain models

Archive brands still selling mountain models, with specs from 2020: AmegoEV, ANCHEER, Atala, BESV, Devinci, Diamondback, Haibike, Head, Hercules, Jetson, Kettler Alu-Rad, KHS, Kona, KTM Bike Industries, Lapierre Bikes, Liv Cycling, Luna Cycle, Magnum, Marin, Merida, MOD Bikes, Mondraker, Raleigh, Raymon, Recon Power Bikes, Rotwild, Smartmotion, Stealth Electric Bikes, Steppenwolf, Vintage Electric, Wheeler, Winora, X-treme.

Every brand on file is in the brand directory.