A full suspension e bike has thrived in the past few years in terms of its technology, weight, and design. This bike currently has plenty of key benefits over a rigid and hardtail mountain bike. But some people may ask, is a full suspension e-bike worth it?
- Part 1: What is A Full Suspension E Bike
- Part 2: The Full Suspension eBike Categories
- Part 3: 7 Factors That Make Full Suspension E Bike So Expensive yet Worth It
- Part 4: The Electric Mountain Bike Frame Materials
- Part 5: How to Maximize Your Full Suspension Ride
- Part 6: 3 Recommended Full Suspension Electric Mountain Bike
- Part 7: The Conclusion
Part 1: What is A Full Suspension E Bike
A full suspension e bike features a suspension fork up front and a rear shock, while a hardtail bike has a suspension fork only. The suspension impacts the frame geometry significantly. You may replace a 100mm electric mountain bike fork with a 130mm fork, but it will change your entire bike geometry.
The ebike suspension type will affect the bike’s control, traction, and comfort, which determines the riding pleasure.
The modern full suspension ebikes have more efficient designs that convert your pedaling into forward much better than the past years. Whether you are looking for a cross-country trail machine or downhill bike, your leg power will deliver the maximum possible forward movement.
As the shock-absorbing benefit includes that efficiency, it will give a comfortable ride level that a hardtail cannot compete with.
Get a looser grip and ride more relaxed, and your arms and upper body will settle properly. Riding in less tense will reduce rider fatigue, thus letting you pedal faster and longer.
As both wheels can travel vertically and absorb bump force, the tires will not get bounced into the air after every trail irregularity. So your tires are planted firmly on the trail surface with much greater traction.
After the shock absorbs the bump force, it will push the tire back into the ground as the shock rebounds as well as help traction on the slippery trails.
That added traction will get the rider more control over the bike. A full suspension ebike will be sped up right and left between trees, even when the tires are rolling over some exposed roots.
As the tires do not easily lose contact with the trail, they will stop quicker. The control of ebikes full suspension also offers climbing ability and line options improvement, which add up to quicker riding.
Part 2: The Full Suspension eBike Categories
The full suspension ebikes come in many different styles. Some come with a clear specific purpose, whilst the others allow a wider range of use.
Here are some popular categories of full suspension ebikes, complete with each character and intended use:
Short-travel Bike
Filled with a smaller amount of suspension travel (<4”), the short-travel electric full suspension bikes are generally used for cross-country riding.
By stepping aside from big hits and focusing on smoothing out the trail, these bikes are manufactured lighter, lighter, and quicker, thus becoming the most efficient way to suit the demands of an XC rider.
It barely has any weaknesses, so that makes the ride so enjoyable. Some former hardtail riders even have switched to these short-travel bikes.
Medium-travel Bike
Every electric mountain bike with 4-6” of suspension travel fits the XC and DH bikes needed. They are designed for riders who climb the trails and then launch down technical, DH-style trails. The front and rear suspension units can be adjusted to allow temporary travel limiting, in order to improve the bike’s climbing ability.
Long-travel Bike
The suspension travel of 7-10” on a full suspension electric mountain bike allows them to absorb the downhill huge landings.
This bike is built with high-speed stability with steering angles that are much slacker than a short or medium travel bike, whilst the suspension units offer maximum strength, durability, and adjustability.
The frame, control, brake, and drivetrain are all built with stout reliability. Meanwhile, a long-travel bike’s downhill capability comes at the expense of climbing ability and is lightweight; there is no substitute when the trail points down.
Part 3: 7 Factors That Make Full Suspension E Bike So Expensive yet Worth It
Sometimes a full suspension electric mountain bike will cost higher than a second-hand car. If you are wondering why that bike is so expensive, do not worry, because you are not alone!
Here are several reasons that keep a full suspension electric mountain bike at a high price:
The Rear Suspension
The main reason is the inclusion of the rear suspension (shock). A low-end shock costs around $250 while a high-end shock with a performance spectrum that comes with more adjustments can surpass $700.
Compression of air can often also cause low-end shocks. This quality forces the electric mountain bike manufacturers to use an air suspension for the bike’s fork as well.
You might have seen plenty of downhill bikes with a big coil around their shock. If that is the case, they do not use the coil only. Instead, they combine the coil and the air compression.
The coiled-based makes the suspension more linear while the air compression-based is more progressive.
The Expensive Innovation
The electric mountain bikes have longer frames and improved bike geometry for different riding styles, such as enduro, cross-country, downhill, etc.
They are becoming more reliable and performant on almost any kind of terrain and riding style. As electric mountain bikes are so performant, every minor improvement comes with a big price increase.
The More Complex Frame Geometry
The rear suspension adds layers of frame complexity, thus adding extra costs in parts and extra complexity in the design, which results in bigger production costs.
Designing a full suspension electric mountain bike requires more hours on the drawing board and testing. Besides that, the electric mountain bike’s frame is made of aluminum, which is not as tough as steel or carbon which is excellent, but vulnerable to shocks. So designing a frame with many moving parts is a lot harder than just using steel.
The Suspension Travel
The more suspension travel and adjustments on a mountain bike, the more expensive it will be. It makes sense as the shocks and forks suspension price are directly proportional to the terrain complexity and the riding style.
A rear shock with 35-57 mm suspension travel can cost around $244-733 and a suspension fork 29″ with 100-130 mm suspension travel can cost around $195-1089.
Designed for the Most Technical Trails
You are going to ride an electric mountain bike in the woods, which is in practically the roughest conditions, so you need a safe and reliable e-bike.
As the full suspension electric mountain bikes are designed to be ridden safely on highly technical trails, the bikes are built using the most reliable components and this will get a much higher price than a road e-bike.
Harder to Maintain a Decent Weight
The manufacturers need to maintain their bikes’ weight at a certain threshold as no one likes a heavy bike.
The shock addition brings extra weight that needs to be compensated with lighter components, which will bring a heftier price tag. So it definitely will increase the price of full suspension ebike significantly to result in a better electric mountain bike.
Not Enough Competition
High-performance bikes allow mountain bikers to handle technical trails more proficiently.
Many small electric mountain bike manufacturers do not have big budgets to compete with the more renowned ones. So there are only a few electric mountain bike manufacturers that can develop a satisfying e-bike.
As the mountain biking industry is becoming larger and more popular, that eventually leads to high demand and lower supply. Not to mention that the marketing campaign also costs a lot. Therefore, the prices are always going up.
Part 4: The Electric Mountain Bike Frame Materials
Because of the style and price range, aluminum and carbon fiber are often the materials of choice for full suspension e bike frames. The frame builds a rigid platform for the suspension to work off of.
The short and medium travel bikes may be made out of lighter materials because they are ideally used in less brutal conditions than the long-travel bikes. Instead of the weight, the long-travel bikes are more concerned about outright durability, so only a few exotic materials are used.
Part 5: How to Maximize Your Full Suspension Ride
Even though a full suspension e bike offers an extraordinary riding experience, this bike is formed with complex machines, thus requiring a few things that other mountain bikes do not.
Adjusting your suspension to your riding style and body weight allows the bike to work as it was designed and will return the maximum performance to you.
After setting up the suspension to your weight, you should adjust compression and rebound damping settings to match your riding style. Damping refers to the resistance amount or the shock delay, whether being compressed by hitting a bump or rebounding to full length after the bump.
When a shock has too much compression damping, it will seem harsh as it resists collapsing under bump force, thus not easily soaking up bumps.
When a shock has too little rebound damping, it will snap back after hitting a bump and force the seat back at you too quickly before you are ready.
Just as varied trails, adjusting an electric mountain bike compression and rebound damping is fairly subjective. A manufacturer may offer some default settings, but feel free to tune it to suit you.
Check the rear suspension linkage routinely to keep it working smooth and reliably. Other than that, check also each pivot points for wear that results in side-to-side play as the suspension moves through its travel.
Even though keeping the bike clean looks trivial, it apparently prolongs the pivot life and gently pushes the rear wheel side-to-side, which provides a quick wear check. You can replace the pivot bearings to keep the linkage working in the same plane as the frame.
Part 6: 3 Recommended Full Suspension Electric Mountain Bike
If you decide to ride a full suspension ebike on mountain biking, here give a few suggestions:
Scott Patron eRide 910
Price: £6,099
Motor: Bosch Performance CX
Wheel size: 29”
Travel: 160mm front and 160mm rear
Frame sizes: S, M, L, XL
Frame material: Alloy
Battery: 750Wh
With a 160mm travel super machine with forward-thinking technology and the neat rear shock within the frame structure, the Patron eRide 910 comes with a sleek aesthetic and keeps it away from dirt.
Bosch’s newly reworked Performance CX motor and the brand new 750Wh battery guarantees massive days in the saddle.
The revolutionary frame design and the motor rotated by 46° increases overall frame strength and improves cooling by allowing greater airflow. Certainly is not cheap, the Patron eRide 910 is the least expensive in its high-quality range.
Orbea Rise M20
Price: £5,599
Motor: Shimano EP8-RS
Wheel size: 29”
Travel: 140mm front and 140mm rear
Frame sizes: S, M, L, XL
Frame material: Carbon fiber
Battery: 360Wh
Using a smaller internal 360Wh battery and a motor with a torque limited to 60Nm, Orbea manages to bring the overall bike weight down. The Rise M20 is the least expensive model that is ready to feature reliable components at a lower cost.
Vitus E-Sommet VR
Price: £3,599
Motor: Shimano E7000
Wheel size: 29” front, 27.5” rear
Travel: 170mm front and 167mm rear
Frame sizes: S, M, L, XL
Frame material: 6061-T6 Aluminium
Battery: 504Wh
The E-Sommet VR mountain bike offers 170mm front suspension and 167mm rear suspension. The E-Sommet VR mountain bike is a marvelous electric mountain bike with a relatively low price.
E-Sommet VR comes with a sleek aesthetic look with an integrated 504Wh battery. If you power up short climbs and smash back down rugged terrain, you will definitely get a good few laps out of this E-Sommet VR.
Part 7: The Conclusion
A full suspension ebike offers a breathtaking riding experience as it is safer and more comfortable than the hardtail one. Comes with a design suitable for any type of riding, you may choose an electric mountain bike with the right travel amount for your trails, adjust the suspension to fit your style and weight, and feel the riding excitement! Stay safe and healthy!
