Speaking of electric mountain bikes, we could always see 2 words while googling electric mountain bikes – hardtail and full suspension electric mountain bikes. These are 2 different models that provide a variety of riding experiences. With so many topics about hardtail and full-suspension electric mountain bikes, we could usually see one common question: is a full-suspension electric mountain bike faster than a hardtail electric mountain bike? Well, let’s find the answers below.
What affects electric mountain bike speed?
No matter what kind of electric mountain bike you are riding, hardtail or full-suspension one, there are quite a lot of factors affecting their speed. Please check them out below:
Weight
Weight is a key point that has a huge impact on the speed of your bikes, whether they are electric or not. The weight here can be divided into 3 parts: the total weight of the ebike, the rider, and the gear.
Basically, regardless of the power of the motor, the heavier the ebike is, the slower it will be, just as you ride on a regular mountain bike, the heavier it is, the harder you have to pedal. Also, the weight of the rider and the gear that is carried are great contributions to the speed of an electric mountain bike. For example, there are a great number of accessories built for electric mountain bikes, like locks, rear, and front racks, baskets, and so on. These accessories make up a large portion of the total weight of an electric mountain bike.
Motor
The speed of an electric mountain bike largely depends on its electric motor. There are mainly 2 kinds of ebike motors on the market – hub motors and mid-drive motors. The hub motors are usually located in the center of a wheel while the mid-drive motor is located in the center of a crank. For more information about hub motors and mid-drive motors, please check out our blog.
A motor is usually measured with watts. The more the number is, the more powerful the motor will be. For example, Magicycle Ocelot Pro has a motor of 750 Watts. With this motor, the Oceot Pro can reach a maximum speed of 28mph. Of course, not all ebikes have powerful motors. Some ebikes are designed for city commuting, and most of their motors are only 250W or 300W.
Battery
Most people think that an ebike battery is all about the energy provided for an e mountain bike. Well, it is only half right. The voltage of an ebike battery plays an important role in the power of an electric bike. Simply, the large the voltage is, the more power the battery can provide.
Hardtail and Full Suspension Electric Mountain Bike, Which Is Faster?
You know those factors affecting the speed of both hardtail and full-suspension electric mountain bikes, so which one of them is faster? Here we could make an analysis.
Hardtail electric mountain bikes are called “hardtail” as they lack rear suspension. It is an advantage or a disadvantage. The good thing about hardtail electric mountain bikes is that they are not that heavier so the speed will not be affected greatly. But, it is a disadvantage as well because when it comes to riding off-road, it could be kind of uncomfortable once the rear part hits some rocks or bumps.
A full-suspension electric mountain bike has a full-suspension system. Apparently, it is quite opposite of a hardtail one, heavier but providing more comfort. We couldn’t say which one of them is faster as their speed has little to do with their models. Regardless of weight and battery, the motor decides how fast an electric mountain bike can go. So even though a full-suspension electric mountain bike is heavier, they are able to go faster than hardtail electric mountain bikes if equipped with motors of greater power.
Is a hardtail or full-suspension electric mountain bike better for beginners?
To be honest, both hardtail and full-suspension electric mountain bikes are worth buying, but which one of them is better for beginners? From our perspective, a full-suspension electric mountain bike could be a better choice for beginners, and below are the reasons.
Suspension
Obviously, the suspension is the most common reason why beginners tend to choose full-suspension electric mountain bikes. They can be used on all kinds of terrains. On mountain biking trails, full-suspension electric mountain bikes almost perform better than any other models by absorbing shocks and vibration. On smooth city streets, they are no different than any other ebikes, even better with fat tires that provide incredible traction.
Quality
Quality is always the top priority to consider while buying an ebike. And many full-suspension electric mountain bikes are built with high-quality materials. That is because this model is mainly designed to be applied to mountain biking, and every component of them should be firm and durable to make sure they will not fall apart or be broken, which can put riders’ lives at risk. Of course, there are ebike brands that sell full-suspension electric bikes that are built with unqualified materials. So please try not to purchase any full-suspension electric bikes under $2000 as they are likely to be of low quality.
A full-suspension ebike is usually available at $3000 or more as it is equipped with a full suspension system, which can cost quite a lots of money. So if you don’t have enough budget, you could switch to hardtail electric mountain bikes.
