BIKETEST ELECTRIC HARDTAILS
MEET THE TESTER
MICK KIRKMAN TESTER/PHOTOGRAPHER
With a background in BMX, 4X, dual slalom and Elite DH racing, as well as bike development, Mick’s ridden and documented MTBing for 20 years and is one of only a few bike testers to have hundreds of reviews in print.
Hand any electric bike to someone who hasn’t ridden one before and, without fail, you’ll witness a massive chuckle as they zoom off. E-bikes get you grinning by defying expectations of how easy something as familiar as turning the pedals can be. It’s a ton of fun surging forwards with a spring in your tyres that you didn’t even know you needed.
Apart from increased speed (up to the point where the assistance tops out – 15.5mph, on UK machines), the major benefit of e-bikes is the way they iron out hills. This makes it easier to get into the great outdoors, so they can compensate for riders who might be of an age (or shape) where that local loop around the forest isn’t as much fun any more, or who simply want to tackle a few ups and downs standing between them and a pub with minimal effort.
The cheapest way to achieve this off-road is with an e-MTB hardtail like the trio here. They don’t have any rear suspension, but do come with big, grippy tyres and front suspension to help smooth out the ride and boost confidence. Specialized, Canyon and Orbea have designed these machines to handle proper mountain bike trails, but also to double up as all-purpose bikes for simply getting about on, with features such as lockable batteries, lights, accessories mounts and kickstands. The latest e-bikes are pretty refined (and getting more so, all the time), so it’s a seamless experience to just swing a leg over one and get pedalling, even for total novices.
Delving deeper, there are quite a few fundamental differences between the three bikes here, not least when it comes to their motors, which vary in power output, battery capacity and the balance between maximum assistance and range. We took them around our local woods and bridleways, and also on a camping trip to the Lake District with kids in tow,
