Which BH ebike is worth buying?

In our previous article, I wrote about the factors that make it worth buying a BH road bike. Now let’s look at how to choose a BH ebike.
It’s also worth reviewing the offer and finding the best deal because BH’s ebike range is very wide and extremely complex. They produce more than 20 types of ebikes in 4 categories, so it’s no wonder that someone has difficulty understanding it. We’ll help!

What is an ebike?

Let’s start with a little introduction, in case anyone doesn’t know this.

Ebike is a collective name for bicycles that have electronic assistance and drive.
An ebike can be any type of bicycle, an electric motor and battery are installed in mountain bikes, touring bikes, road bikes, gravel bikes, children’s bikes, etc.

So “ebike” is a catch-all name for bikes that have a very simple operating principle: the bike has an electric motor that is powered by a battery. The motor of the ebike only helps the user when they are pedaling, and these are called pedelecs (short for “pedal electric cycle”). Most ebikes help up to 26 km/h, if you go over that, the assistance automatically switches off, but you can easily continue riding. There are sports ebikes, the motor helps up to 50 km/h, but in most countries these require a license plate and insurance.

When you want to buy an ebike, you have to decide what you will use it for, just like you would if you were buying a “normal” bike. That means you have to choose the type. Road bike? Mountain bike? Touring bike? Would you ride it in the city? Since there are so many types of bikes available today, we will help you decide which one to buy!

Trekking and city ebike

Most ebikes are purchased by users for hiking or city riding. It is worth excluding ebikes used for sports purposes from this group, which we will discuss later.

What to look for? Trekking and city cycling are fundamentally two separate genres, so you shouldn’t mix them up (and many people do). For the city, you need a bike that you can get off easily, but that goes over curbs, is strong, doesn’t necessarily have a large battery, but should be easy to handle and, if possible, light. A typical city bike is an ebike with a small stepover and a V-shaped frame.

If you’re going trekking, you need the exact opposite: an efficient, powerful and preferably fuel-efficient engine, as much range as possible (large battery), and a strong build (to carry bags). Obviously, a luggage rack and mudguards are important in both cases.

In the case of BH bikes, touring bikes are members of the Atom and Core families. We recommend the Atomx Cross, Core Cross and Atome bikes specifically for touring (the Jet is the women’s version).

The Core family (Cross and Jet – Cross is the men’s version, Jet is the women’s version) is a bike that you really need: a relatively light ebike (under 20kg), graceful, the motor is small, not visible (2.1 kg!), yet powerful, 65Nm, and the battery has a capacity of 540 – 630 Wh. It has mudguards and a luggage rack. Since the motor is small the bike is light, and its consumption is also low. We tested the bike, and passengers usually ride it on b4f tours, so we can see that it can easily handle 100-120 km.

In the city, your Core City and Street family, as well as the ATOMs and ATOMs family. These are mostly powerful engines, large batteries, and low clearance machines.

eMTB – electric mountain bike

If you want to go on trails, gravel, or into the mountains, it’s worth investing in an electric mountain bike. These machines are designed to comfortably ride any slope, even rocky terrain. So they should have a fork, usually front and rear, good off-road capability, the frame geometry should help with this, and thick, knobby tires. The motor should be strong and torquey, and the battery should last as long as possible. The range isn’t important here, because we don’t ride off-road that much. However, the level can be significant.

You can buy electric mountain bikes from the following types:

• Enduro (formerly known as Downhill), which you ride primarily downhill (which is why it has to look like a tank).
  
• Cross Country bikes (XC), which are more compact, lightweight and efficient, are designed to go well and quickly both uphill and downhill.
  
• Trail, which is the middle ground of mountain bikes, the all-rounder, the workhorse that balances between enduro and cross country (XC) with its indestructible all-round capability.
  

BH’s primary profile is mountain biking, with world championship-winning XC bikes, but the Trail and Enduro categories also feature developments that make these machines the best mountain bikes in the world.

The best general mountain bike is the iLynx Trail, in aluminum or carbon. It is available in many equipment levels, the top one is with carbon wheels and TOP equipment. The iLynx trail carbon 8.7, which we also like, is a higher level than the middle one, a very lovable, extremely filigree, light (19kg!) fully bike. It can be used for trails, downhills and uphills. It has a carbon frame, top Fox forks and an XT set, but it is still available at a very good price. But you can also buy it with an aluminum frame and a smaller battery.

Sport ebike

Sports ebikes are a separate category. We usually refer to bikes that can be used for general sports. They are a bit like mountain bikes (fork), a bit like city bikes (lightweight), a bit like fitness machines (to sweat while exercising). What they have in common is a not-so-specific, but very wide spectrum of uses.

BH’s best sports ebike is the well-loved Core Pro. It looks like a mountain bike, but is actually more of a fitness bike. That is, for exercise. You can go for an hour of cycling for the sake of exercise. Or you can take it to Lake Balaton and go around the lake with it. But it’s also good for a ride with friends.

The tires are wide, they can handle the terrain, the frame is aluminum, the whole bike is very light (19kg) and very graceful, but the motor is low-consumption and powerful, and the battery goes a long time (540wh). Since the bike belongs to the light category, due to the weight and the economical motor, it does not have a high consumption, the range can be 140 km (tested! – you can read about it here). The bike comes with the XPro spare battery (more on that later).

Road and gravel ebike

Of course, BH also produce road ebikes. BH was ahead of its time in this, they have been offering bikes in the road segment for a long time. Basically, there is a top model range (iAerolight), which
very expensive, but very light and strong, with a long range. On the other hand, there is also the affordable and accessible model family (RS1)

In addition to its low weight, BH’s country bikes are characterized by a mid-mounted engine. The company installs its own engines in the bikes and does not operate with the common, rear-hub Mahle engines. This allows for lower weight and better weight distribution. If the engine is in the rear axle, the bike will be rear-heavy, which worsens the steering and riding experience.

The “general” model, the iRS1, inherited its design from the RS1 bike of the normal road range. The highest equipment is equipped with Ultegra DI2. The motor is BHZ SEG, 65Nm, the battery is 630Wh. With this, you can go 120-150 km. The bike – ebike! – weighs around 13 kg.

The top model iAerolight is a technological top product. You can’t even tell from looking at the bike that it’s an ebike. It’s exceptionally beautiful and slim. Its motor is BHZ SEG, so it’s its own, but it also weighs just over 2 kg. Despite this, it has 65Nm of torque. The battery is 410Wh, but the XPro external battery comes standard, so the total capacity is 600 Wh! With the Dura-Ace equipment and carbon wheels, it weighs under 13 kg. A real dream machine! Just for comparison: Specialized, one of the world’s largest bicycle manufacturers, also produces light bikes, the Specialized Turbo Vado 4.0 Sl – superlight! – 16 kg, the motor is 35 Nm, the battery is 320 Wh!

Of course, in addition to the road segment, the Gravel also got its electronic version. The iGravelX is available at a fairly good price, which is a perfect choice. The technical knowledge is similar to the road model. Here too, the top two models come with the XPro external battery, so the battery capacity is 600 wh.

XPro battery

Last but not least, I have to mention the XPro battery, which I wrote about earlier. It comes standard with many ebike models, but can also be purchased separately. It is a bottle-shaped battery that fits into the bottle cage, connecting to the system via the built-in connector, adding 180 Wh of capacity.

It usually comes with high-end or best-equipped machines, but beyond that, it can be installed in almost any series by purchasing a kit.

If you have any questions about BH ebikes or this topic, contact us!