City or Mountain? Here's How to Choose the Best E-bike in 2022

Confused between city or mountain bikes? In the following article, we are going to help you to choose between the both based on your requirements.

Road bikes are somewhat different from mountain bikes. For any cycling enthusiast, it is quite evident to differentiate between the two.

While it is true that you can choose a mountain e-bike and use it in an urban area too, some people try accommodating their road bikes to mountains too. So what exactly makes a city bike different from a mountain bike? Let’s learn more about it.

City bike Vs Mountain bike: Which is the right one for you?

If we talk about the basic difference between a city and a mountain e-bike, that would be speed. Other than speed, certain specifications make mountain e-bikes unique and different from road e-bikes.

• Mountain e-bikes are faster:

The first thing to notice about an e-bike is its speed. A mountain bike certainly holds faster speed capability than a city/road e-bike. Even though e-bikes are designed to run faster and the city e-bikes have commendable speed too, when you're having a comparison between the two, a mountain e-bike would certainly take a prominent lead here.

Speed can link up to safety issues on the road when it comes to mountain e-bikes. The speed limit restrictions on the roads can overshadow a mountain e-bike capability to run faster than it may have to.

• Motor power:

Motor power of an e-bike is relevant to its value, the pricier the e-bike the better and more durable motor it is said to have. The average range of motor power in an e-bike usually ranges between 250 to 900 watts. As mentioned earlier, it depends on the model you’re getting the minimum and maximum range of the motor power will vary.

Both mountain and road e-bikes have almost the same engine power and it is quite hard to make a final verdict here as to which one's better. But mountain e-bikes have a minimum of 300 watts of power which makes it slightly higher than a city e-bike.

Regardless, road e-bikes have great engine performance and we will leave this on this note here. 

• Bodyweight:

Mountain e-bikes are quite heavy and the weight can range up to 70 pounds. While this may seem good to see a heavy body bike that looks very solid and good to use, it can be quite a task to use a mountain bike in urban areas, especially for people living in apartments.

If you have to carry the e-bike to the road (from your apartment) it can be quite problematic so a road e-bike might suit you better here. With an average weight of 40 pounds, a road e-bike will make your life a lot easier if you plan on using it for urban areas only.

Make your purchase wisely while you’re going for an e-bike. Look at all these prospects and calculate the weightage.

• Battery life:

Since an e-bike works on a battery, it is quite important to know the difference in the batteries of the two options that you have- mountain e-bikes and road e-bikes.

The battery life will define your e-bike’s riding range. While the battery life of an e-bike is dependent on various variables, including the speed you're driving it at, the weight of the bike, and the surface you're driving it on. A harder rougher surface may require more effort from your e-bike and hence the battery consumption will go up.

Similarly, if you’re driving at a faster speed constantly, the battery is expected to go down faster. A mountain e-bike has a 14 AH battery that helps you go on longer routes at an optimal speed.

While a road bike’s battery is 10.4AH and with a good set of tires, your road e-bike can take you a long way too.

• Tires:

Speaking of tires, both mountain e-bikes and road e-bikes are equipped with heavy-duty tires that can take up the speed required by an e-bike to maintain.

The size of tires usually ranges between 16, 20, or 26 inches in diameter. While some people might think having bigger tires will ensure better performance for your e-bike, this is a total misconception. Heavier bigger tires can be a disappointment when it comes to the performance of an e-bike.

Each variant of an e-bike comes with a unique set of tires. We recommend you to go with the very same set of tires as they’re thoroughly thought on and designed by experts for that particular model.

• Luggage capacity:

This comes as no surprise that the load capacity required of a mountain e-bike is a lot more compared to a road bike. As the mountain bikes go on long trails, riders need to carry a lot of stuff and so the luggage capacity or load capacity needs to be accordingly.

But does a mountain e-bike have more load capacity than a road e-bike? The answer is- Yes!

Road e-bikes may be convenient in a lot of different ways, but this one goes in favor of mountain e-bikes heavily. Mountain e-bikes are designed to have a bigger triangle frame that can carry larger luggage bags and the front basket area can hold a lot more weight too. This also makes the overall weight of a mountain bike more than a road bike which comes as a downside for mountain e-bikes.

Final words:

Though there's no one-word answer to "which one is the best? Mountain e-bike or road e-bike?” But we’ve seen the prominent differences between the two. It depends on your preferences and the activities you’ll be needing the e-bike for.

If you're looking into a sporty heavy e-bike we recommend going for the mountain e-bike because it is designed to provide you with a good sporting experience. While a road e-bike will give you a great experience on the road with its swift speed and safe drive.

Safety is a major concern when it comes to e-bikes and the right type of e-bike driven on the roads can increase your chances of a safe drive.

All in all, there's no single winner in this comparison between the two beasts, and both offer supreme quality performance to the riders.