Mountain biking can be an interesting experience for beginners. It offers thrilling but fun events that make you want to do it more. There are some ways to choose your first bike, and hardtail electric mountain bikes for beginner could be the best choice!
- Part 1: Beginning: Product Overview
- Part 2: The Best Mountain Bikes
- Part 3: Classification of Electric Mountain Bikes
- Part 4: How To Conduct a Mountain Bike Test
- Part 5: Guide to Buy Mountain Bike For Beginners
- Part 6: Conclusion
Part 1: Beginning : Product Overview
Before talking about how to buy it, let’s talk about the best hardtail electric mtb for people who want to start mountain biking. Getting a best e hardtail as your first bike will give you the best feeling with ‘original’ biking experience. Gaining skills for biking is also important for beginners, from pumping, jumping, cornering in pump track, etc. That’s why it’s good for starters to get e bike hardtail.
What differentiates hardtail bikes from the others is the suspension and simplicity. Some people might say that the low suspension that e bike hard tail got will make them ‘harder’ for biking. But actually it’s not necessarily true. If you look at the positive side, besides it’s cheaper than other types of bikes, having low suspension will push you to learn more skills about cycling. You will know how to conquer any terrain with any bike.
For a great first mountain biking activity, we need to be familiar with the best hardtail electric mtb these days. Here are three of several best hardtail ebikes out there!
1.1 Bulls Twenty9 Evo 1
Bulls released a hardtail eMTB in 2019 which was named Twenty9 Evo 1. Hardtail bike which has many features that help you to biking in any terrain and learn more skills as a person who starts mountain biking. This bike has 29” tires, hydraulic disc brakes, high capacity battery, and a reliable Bosch Performance Line CX Motor.
By reading those features itself you can already see that this bike will give you great performance and nice handling with the hydraulic brakes. Low suspension is no longer a reason for people to not buy hardtail electric mountain bikes. The battery capacity that contained 500Wh integrated Bosch PowerTube also managed to bring the last-longing energy from the bike. Moreover Bulls offers to include the faster four amp charger, which it’s relatively lightweight at about 1.7lbs, so you can bring it when you are biking or taking a break.
The bike cost $3,899 which is more value priced compared to other Bulls’ bikes. For additional features like special eMTB drive mode that only the Bosch CX offers, lights, and bottle setup is a bit expensive. But, even though it’s a bit pricey, some online reviewers said that it’s worth buying. The Bosch Performance Line CX motor is the best thing that came out of this bike. Because it helps you bring the very high torque output, up to 75 newton meters. They also support higher pedal rates which can reach 120 RPM without fading out and losing power. This benefit strengthens a hardtail bike that is already power efficient even without the electric part.
1.2 Norco – Charger VLT Hardtail
Charger VLT is a hardtail electric mountain bike which was released in 2021. This bike has many features such as Shimano 250W 60Nm mid-drive with hydraulic brakes and Shimano 504Wh. Norco themselves call this bike as a bike that fulfills the need of an evolving electric bike rider. The reason is because it was built for versatility in any terrain.
Compared to similar bikes like Talon E+ 29 2 and Powerfly 4, Charger VLT is harder to ride up hills than the others. The Charger VLT is geared about the same as similar bikes when it’s for riding downhill. But other than that, this bike is really all-rounder because it suits whether you want to biking in town or mountain.
Some sites said this bike costs about $4,300 and some said it’s $3,999, and only comes with one model. The price kind of makes sense because the brand emphasizes how versatile the bike is. Which can be used anytime and anywhere. Also, it has many other features such as 120-mm of front wheel travel via an SR Suntour XCM32 DS fork and a Shimano STEPS E7000 electric-assist drive unit to give more power to the pedals.
1.3 Giant – Talon E+ 2 29
Talon E+ 2 29 is a hardtail eBike which was released by Giants. Even though it’s a bike from Giants, Talon E+ 2 29 uses Yamaha’s new SyncDrive Core motor and is powered by a 500Wh EnergyPak lithium battery. Not only that, this bike also has hydraulic brakes for the front and rear brakes. It’s so interesting right?
From all the hardtail bikes that are recommended in this article, Talon E+ 2 29 is the most lightweight. It has a LUXX aluminum frame with a comfortable geometry which makes it so light to ride. This characteristic is in tune with the mountain bike trend in 2022 which it’s lightweight bikes. So, if you want to stay trendy, this bike might be the best option.
What differentiates this bike from others is the automatic function. This bike features SmartAssist riding mode, a fully automatic adjustment of the amount of engine support. The other automatic feature is a set of six PedalPlus sensors which can connect between the motor and your own power so it will be ensured by measuring your pedaling power and checking how much power to deliver to the motor to make battery power efficient. Sadly, there is not much information about the price of this bike.
Part 2: The Best Mountain Bikes
It already has been explained about three of several best e mtb hardtail out there. Based on the features, performances, and prices, Bulls Twenty9 Evo 1 might be the best electric hardtail for beginners. The reason is with that price, which it’s pricey for the brand but not too much compared to other brands, you can already enjoy a variety of benefits from the accessories and components of this bike. It doesn’t have to be that extraordinary good for your first bike, because you still need to learn and add more skills. But it comes back to what you prioritize and what you need. So, choose freely!
Part 3: Classification of Electric Mountain Bikes
Grouping bikes could be different based on the type of bikes that we are talking about. For example the bicycle’s usages are classified into 6 classes, while for hardtail electric mountain bikes it has 4 classes. We need to understand what class of bike that we need, because each of them has their own functions and fields.
Here are the classification of Mountain eBikes for a guide to buy :
- Class 1 eBike: Pedal assistance. Maximum speed limited to 20mph, motor power limited to 750W(Most common among high-end eMTBs)
- Class 2 eBike: Throttle-assist (plus optional pedal-assist). Maximum speed is still limited to 20mph too.
- Class 3 eBike: Pedal-assist (optional throttle). Speed is limited to 28mph.
- Class 4 eBike: Unofficial term for any electric bike with a maximum speed of 28mph and over, or motor power over 750W.
This classification of electric bikes will ease you to choose your first bike. Some regions in the world have their own rules of biking based on this classification. Let’s take an example from the United States.They have a legal minimum age requirement to ride eBikes and it is based on the level or class of the bikes. And the age requirements are different between states. It’s better for you to make sure that your age is legal to ride the bike’s class before buying your best e mtb hardtail.
Part 4: How To Conduct a Mountain Bike Test
One of the important things before buying a hardtail eBike is to do a bike test. It will give you an idea how it feels when you really ride the bike. Make it clear if it suits you or not. Just like when you buy a gadget or game console, you need to test the machine first to see if it works properly or not. Or maybe like buying pants or clothes to make sure if it suits your style and is comfortable for you. They are just the same case with eBikes.
It would be great if we can test any bike from any shop. But not all brands or shops are available for trial. And mostly you need to pay to do it. That’s why there are some things that we need to consider and know before doing a bike test.
4.1 Do it Like You’re in a Real Ride
Don’t waste your chance to do the trial. You want your first bike to be your ‘first love’ that you want to keep treasure, right? Then do the bike test like real biking. This means prepare and do it like you want to do mount biking. Make sure you put on your helmets, eyewear, and other accessories that help you biking. Also don’t forget to adjust the settings of the bike. You can ask the shop for guidance if needed. Some components where you can make quick setup are:
- Tire pressure
- Brake lever angle
- Gear shift angle
- Handlebar position
- Shock sag, rebound and compression damping
Someone might judge you because you wear a full-packaged outfit for biking, and call it exaggeration. But, don’t worry because some shops let you take the demo with you to try on trails that you usually use. Close your ears and let other people babble because this is for your maximum satisfaction with your first hardtail electric mountain bike.
4.2 Try Many Demos
If the shops give you a chance to do the demos repeatedly, then do it. Make the most of that chance. This is important for bikers, especially for the new one. Also if they give you a chance to try several models, then do it. You’ll get a better ‘feel’ about the bike. There are some indicators you can use to know that your bike is comfortable or not :
- Solid vs. heavy
- Agile vs. twitchy
- Light vs. fragile
- Steady vs. clunky
4.3 Evaluate with Chart
If you are diligent enough and have a willingness to evaluate every detail, then make a chart. It will help you to remember how it feels when you decide to choose the bike you want to buy. You can rating it with categories for bike qualities, such as:
- Stiffness
- Weight
- Suspension
- Acceleration
- Braking
- Shifting
- Comfort
- Geometry
- Handling
- Responsiveness
- Flexibility in any terrain
- Price
Any scoring method is fine. You could evaluate it with scale 1-10, or you could also do a star rating from 1 to 5 for each category. Believe in your scoring method and the result later because you’re the one who feels the bike.
Part 5: Guide to Buy Mountain Bike For Beginners
Lastly, let’s talk about guide to choose the best hard tail ebike. There are some aspects that we need to understand so we can know the bike better, especially for new riders. Here are the aspects :
5.1 Usage Scenario
What are you going to plan with your bike? Is it only for biking in the mountains? Or only for work? Or maybe you want to learn cycling in muddy terrain? It’s important to know what you want to use your bike for. Understanding it will give you the idea of what specifications that you need for the bike. In this context, as a beginner, it’s better to choose a hardtail electric bike because it will help motivate you to push yourself to gaining new skills. But once again, it depends on your usage planning.
5.2 Wheel Size Selection
Most brands give their hardtail bikes with 27.5” and 29” wheels. Different sizes of wheels can change your experience for riding. If you want to ride faster, then 29” is the best option because it has a long chain stay which can push your weight slightly further forwards. If you want a fun experience and don’t really care about the speed, then 27.5” is the best choice.
5.3 Bicycle Structure
Bicycle structure is also an important aspect for riders, so they can ride it comfortably. There are two things you need to know if the bike structure is good for you or not. First, the geometry. Choose the geometry that suits your height and anatomy. Canyon has this feature on their website, so you know what frame size is suitable for you automatically. Second, the material of the frame. As it stated before, lightweight is the trend for bikes in 2022. But align with your needs, choose the light material frame if you want your bike to be lightweight.
5.4 Men and Women’s option
To be honest, there is not much difference between men and women’s options for bikes. While there are bikes which ‘specifically’ for women, there are some women who still prefer unisex bike. What differentiates them is the saddle and geometry. Most reviewers said that Women’s bike saddle is so comfortable. But the minus part is the bike’s geometry. Most of tall women prefer unisex bike because of this reason. So you can freely choose unisex or women bike even if you’re man or woman. It’s all about the best bike’s structure so you can biking comfortably.
5.5 Is it Convenient to Buy
Yes, It Is! As it said before, hardtail electric mountain bikes could be the best option for beginners because of the originality and feel the push to learn more. Don’t be afraid that it will bother you because it’s an eBike which has a motor that will help you to move your bike.
Part 6: Conclusion
There are things to be considered before buying your first bike as beginners. It might be a scary experience for new riders to choose a bike because of the uncertainty of the features or the bike’s quality. But, let’s believe in yourself. You know what you want. By reading this article, I hope you’ll be enlightened with how to choose and buy the best hardtail mtb e bike for you. Thank you!
