Adventure E-Bikes Fill a Niche You Didn’t Even Know Existed

Published October 31, 2023 11:31AM

This past spring at Overland Expo West in Flagstaff, Arizona, I watched all day long as groups took guided rides on various new off-road adventure e-bikes. About the size and speed of a Vespa but outfitted with knobby tires and an electric motor, these vehicles are meant for back-road exploration and daily errands—and they seemed like a lot of fun. Proof: When groups returned from their 30-minute ride on the paths around the venue, every single rider was wearing a full-face shit-eating grin.

I had originally written these bikes off and deemed them totally unnecessary because we already have e-bikes, motorcycles, dirt bikes, gas scooters, ATVs, side-by-sides, and any number of other ways to get around that don’t involve climbing into a car. But these people seemed to be having the time of their lives, so when I got home, I reached out to a couple of companies and assembled a small testing pod of off-road adventure e-bikes to see what they were all about.

The appeal was immediately obvious on my first ride when a buddy and I decided to get some lunch at a restaurant 10 miles away. It was a work day so I didn’t have time to ride my bike, and sitting in traffic to get there sounded like no fun. So we jumped on two of these street-legal bikes—I rode a Super73 R Adventure Series and he was astride an Ubco 2×2 Special Edition—and we made quick time dodging up side streets and jumping on several multi-use dirt paths to the restaurant. We had the thrill of being in the fresh air without arriving sweaty or burning gas.

Later in the summer, my friend spent hours riding the Super73 on dirt roads, chasing and photographing balloons during Albuquerque’s Balloon Fiesta. Instead of jumping in and out of a car he was able to zoom around, stay on the bike, pull out his camera, and create gorgeous photos. Because there was no engine droning the entire time, he could take in the calls of the birds, the gurgling of the river, and the sound of the balloons firing hot air into their canopies.

I took a Land District Scrambler, which can go up to 72 miles per hour, and cruised some of the rural dirt roads that go by my mom’s house in El Valle, New Mexico. I only had time for a 10-mile ride, but, with the District Scrambler’s range of up to 120 miles, I spent that daydreaming about the amazing dirt road loops I could put together and enjoy without ever having to hear the whine of an engine.

Super73 also sent my kids their K1D, which is tiny and tops out at 15 mph but was an absolute hoot. All my (four) kids spent endless hours in the grass field next to our house, yelling “full throttle” at each other and practicing their skills on impromptu obstacle courses. My kids love regular, old-fashioned human-powered bikes, and we ride a lot, but the electric version presented a new challenge and way of moving through the world.

One couple I know has a pair of Super 73 R Aventure Series bikes that mount to the back of their overland truck. They use the truck to access and create a remote camp spot and then hop on their bikes to explore the area and run into town for groceries. The bikes are more fun for day trips and they never have to pack up their truck to run an errand.

I could see one of these bikes being used by ranchers to check fences or livestock instead of using ATVs, side-by-sides, or horses. Hunters who need to haul out an animal on a forest road could throw some of the meat on the bike racks and haul the rest with an attached cart. I’m confident others could think of myriad more ways electric adventure bikes could be useful and fun.

To help you decide which kind of adventure e-bike might be best for you, I’ve listed some pros, cons, and favorite use cases for each bike we tested.

Adventure E-Bike Reviews

Super73 R Adventure Series ($3,995)

Top Speed: 20 mph using just motor, or 28 mph in pedal assist mode
Range: 40 miles using just motor, or up to 75 miles in pedal assist mode.

To be honest, 20 mph was really the top speed because it was a lot of work to pedal the bike another eight miles per hour faster. But people in our test still loved this bike most because it felt simple and planted, and 20 miles per hour is still plenty fast. Everyone also loved to pedal for some reason (this was the only bike with pedals), even though it didn’t make a huge difference in speed. The thick knobby tires were grippy on dirt roads and floated in sand, but didn’t feel awful on paved streets. The range isn’t huge, but it’s plenty for a day-long adventure.

Ubco 2×2 Special Edition ($6,999)

If you were going to use your car for road trips and an adventure e-bike for around town, this is the one you’d want. It comes with racks and pouches so you can carry items like water, jackets, a little Bluetooth speaker for jams, groceries, etc. It tops out at 30 miles per hour which feels really fast on the street, and almost too fast on gravel roads. We loved the green colorway that reminded me of the old British bikes you might see a World War II soldier tooling around on in Europe. The price is steep, but you can get a similar bike without the “Special Edition” add-ons for two thousand dollars less.

Land Energy District Scrambler (Starting at $7,800)

Top Speed: 72 mph
Range: Up to 120 miles in mode one. The average when using the bike’s full potential is 60–80 miles.

The District Scrambler comes with four modes: the first two keep it under 40 miles per hour so you don’t need to get a motorcycle license in most states. But you’ll need one if you want to ride it in mode three or four, which go up to and above 70 mph. This is a full adventure bike, with the ability to cruise the freeway and then roll over mountain passes on chunky dirt roads. It was too much bike for me because it’s a rocket and I’m just getting into the segment. I could manage it in mode one or two, but people aren’t going to buy it for those limited power ranges. I imagine it would be absolutely thrilling for someone who already knows how to ride a motorcycle. The price is approachable, but you will need to add another $3,600 for the bigger battery that gets you the 120-mile range.

Super73 K1D ($1,295)

Think of this bike as a motorized Strider for kids who want to eventually learn how to ride a motorcycle. For smaller kids, it goes plenty fast and teaches them about the mechanics of using a throttle and brake. My kids mostly used it as a novelty item, and I’m confident they’ll eventually go back to riding regular pedal bikes. But I can certainly see the appeal of starting kids out on something small and safe and then transferring them to a more powerful motorized bike once they got more comfortable.