​Your E-Bike Questions Answered

In broadest terms, an e-bike, or electric bike, is a bicycle with a boost, from a lightweight electric motor. They’re sometimes called “pedelecs,” a contraction of “pedal electric bicycle.” There is a US federal definition for a “low-speed electric bicycle” from the Consumer Product Safety Act of 2002. The key points are that the motor has to cut off above a certain speed, and the motor itself can’t produce more than 750 watts of power, or almost exactly one horsepower. They come in almost all the styles that regular bikes come in: urban commuters and recreational bikes, cargo bikes and hardtail and full-suspension mountain bikes. There are even some performance road e-bikes. You’ll find two broad types: bikes with hub-based motors, and bikes with motors mounted to the frame near the crankset – so-called “center drive” or “mid-mount” systems. Hub-based systems are more common at the low end of the price range and are gradually being supplanted by center drive as the standard.

RELATED: 13 Things You Need to Know About E-Bikes

It depends. There are three classes of electric bike in the US, says Morgan Lommele, e-bikes campaign manager at People for Bikes. Classes 1 and 3 are pedal-assist only, meaning yes, you do have to pedal. But Class 2 e-bikes can be powered solely by a throttle, as well as pedal assist.

How hard can you pedal? The CPSC regulations say that the motor alone cannot power the bike faster than 20mph. Of course, you can ride an e-bike down a hill at faster than 20mph just as you can a normal bike. Class 1 and 2 e-bikes have motors that stop propelling the bike when speeds reach 20mph. But Class 3, which you may sometimes see called “speed pedelec,” has a motor that continues to provide power up to 28mph, as long as the rider is pedaling too. Those speed limits are not the same thing as an average speed, Lommele points out. “Think of e-bikes as 2-3mph faster than a conventional bike on flat terrain or climbs,” she says. “Going downhill, there’s no real difference to a normal pedal bike.”

RELATED: 5 Tips on Getting Faster

That varies from bike to bike depending on the type and power of the motor and the size of the battery pack, but you can figure on e-bikes being about 20 pounds heavier than similarly equipped conventional bikes. Larry Pizzi, general manager for Raleigh Electric, says the motor, battery pack and controller add about 15 pounds. Another five or so pounds comes from parts of the bike that have to be reinforced to handle the extra weight and, most importantly, torque. Frame tubes are thicker, rims are wider and tires have thicker treads and reinforced casings, to name three common areas that manufacturers modify to deal with motors. Most e-bikes start around 40 pounds; long-travel full suspension mountain bikes can be closer to 50, and longtail or cargo bikes are even heavier. It’s something to consider if you’ll have to take the bike up flights of stairs, and when transporting them on a rear hitch rack on your car (most racks have per-bike and total weight limits).

When compared with similarly equipped conventional bikes, yes, absolutely. E-bike technology varies some, but Pizzi says that $1,800 is a good starting point for a quality e-bike with a motor system from one of the major makers (like Yamaha, Shimano, or Bosch). For that price, you’ll get a durable and dependable 250-350 watt motor, a lithium-based battery system that provides good range and lifespan, and quality control hardware like a computer that lets you select how much power the motor delivers.

(For more tips, reviews, and recommendations, subscribe to Bicycling magazine today!)

Battery range depends on the type and size of battery packs and how much power the motor draws, which is itself a function of motor power and the use modes available on the controller. So there’s a wide range here. Generally, e-bikes today have ranges of 35 miles at the low end up to 100 depending on those variables. While motors can deliver up to 750 watts of power, most are in the 250-350 range (mountain bikes are typically a little higher). Using the controller to vary the amount of assist from the motor can help manage battery life too; running it in turbo mode will result in a smaller range than “eco” mode. Most manufacturers list range specifications on each model.

In terms of lifespan, most quality e-bikes today use lithium-ion or lithium-polymer technology, and are good for at least 1,000 full charge-discharge cycles, says Pizzi. So if you use 30 percent of the battery and recharge it, that’s one third of a cycle. For most users, that works out to three to five years of life. At that point, battery capacity starts to dip to 60-70 percent of original spec, says Pizzi, and you’ll notice decreased range and faster discharge. At that point, you can get a new battery for your bike or get a new bike. Replacement batteries are not cheap: count on spending at least $700 depending on brand and size – enough that you may simply decide to get a new bike instead.

RELATED: Buyer's Guide: The Best E-Bikes

You’ll get wet; the bike will be just fine. Quality e-bikes today are generally waterproof for normal use, particularly if you buy a bike that has an integrated system (motor, battery, controller) all from one of the major manufacturers that most bike brands use. You wouldn’t want to submerge the motor, says Pizzi. But you don’t want to submerge your car’s motor either, and it does fine driving in the rain.

You can still do any regular maintenance on conventional bike parts. That’s one of the great things about center-drive systems, Pizzi points out: aside from the motor and battery, they run almost entirely on conventional bike parts. Because of the added weight and torque, e-bike systems do produce more wear and tear on “consumable” parts. You’ll likely have to replace things like chains and brake pads more frequently, and you'll want to keep an eye on tire wear and wheel parts like spokes, which are under more stress from the torque of the motor. What you probably can’t do, other than swapping the battery, is work on the system itself. The good part is that electric motors require far less maintenance than gasoline motors – no oil changes, for example. If you do encounter a problem, your dealer can probably help, and if they can’t, the manufacturer will handle it just like any other bike warranty issue.