Best Electric Mountain Bike Motors 2024

Electric Mountain Bikes have become more popular in recent years, in no small part due to electric mountain bikes also becoming cheaper as the technology has advanced and moved on.

It’s a fair comment that if you have landed on this article, you have heard of electric mountain bikes, and may even own one yourself - there remains however some confusion in the industry as to what exactly an electric mountain bike is, how they work and also how they differ to some electric bikes.

In this post, we look at electric mountain bike motors, how they work, how they differ from alternatives, the benefits they provide - whilst also looking at some of the best and most advanced electric MTB motors available.

Hub Motors VS Mid Drive Motors

One of the key differences between electric bike motors is their placement. On most of the electric mountain bikes that we supply, the motors can be classified as a mid-drive motor. These motors sit where the crank and bottom bracket is on a mountain bike, and the motor drives the cranks and chain. Hub drive motors are often found on cheaper e-bikes, or on electric road bikes.

Mountain Bike Electric Motor Operation

Unlike on a motorbike, there is no throttle to control the response from a motor. Electric Mountain Bike Motors kick in as soon as you start pedalling, as soon as the pedals are operated - the electric motor provides a level of power assistance. Modern electric mountain bikes provide a responsive and intuitive power assistance, with sensors within the motor provide greater assistance and power, the harder you pedal.

Alongside sensors which understand the amount of power to supply, most electric mountain bikes also have computers with different riding modes. Looking at Bosch motors for example, a computer allows the rider to easily and simply switch between different levels of assistance, modes available including eco, touring, sports and boost. Each level increases the power from the motor, with the obvious drawback being - the more power and assistance you use, the faster battery life is depleted.

There’s now all kinds of customisation in the form of smartphone apps, which allow the most advanced electric mountain bikes to be fine tuned to a riders exact assistance requirements and preferences.

Mountain Bike Electric Motor Power Limits

Electric Bikes and Electric Mountain Bikes in the UK are capped to 15.5mph, with total power outputs also capped. Especially on mountain bikes, this is not too much of a limiting factor - as total power is secondary to the amount of torque that a mountain bike motor can produce, the more torque the motor produces - the more steep ascents and hills can be tamed.

Electric Mountain Bike Motor Manufacturers

There’s a greater mixture of brands getting involved in the design and manufacture of electric mountain bike motors, but the industry is still dominated by just a few brands, which we look at in greater detail, below:

Bosch

Bosch have been a big player in the world of electric mountain bike motors, since the segment was first introduced. It’s the performance motors which dominate the mountain bike segment. These motors have proved highly reliable, and provide great levels of torque, up to 75nm in their highest power modes, these motors also support a higher cadence - meaning they can be ridden more aggressively on the trails, whilst providing more support, good news for those riding uphills and up and over obstacles.

Shimano

Shimano is one of the biggest and best designers and manufacturers of mountain bike components, Shimano also manufacture their own range of electric mountain bike motors, under the banner of their STEPS system. STEPS stands for Shimano Total Electric Power System and is used by brands such as Whyte and Orbea.

Orbea use a custom made EP-8 electric motor which sits in their lightweight range of mountain bikes, allowing riders to enjoy a mountain bike which weighs the same as, and handles the same as a regular mountain bike.

Giant Syncdrive

As with many of their bikes and components, Giant is such a Giant (literally!) it has developed it’s own electric bike motor - known as Syncdrive. These motors provide best in class power, and are all highly customisable to provide the right balance of response. These motors are based on the Yamaha motors.

Bosch VS Shimano Electric Bike Motors

Bosch and Shimano often go head to head when it comes to electric bike motors and electric bike motor performance. At face value, the riding experience of both motors is very similar, both are pedal assist and both allow you to set the level of power assistance that you want. The top speed and power output of comparable models are also the same, reaching the limits set in the UK.

Shimano motors do tend to be lighter than their Bosch counterparts, with some models coming in at around 2.5kg in Shimano guise and the equivalent Bosch Motor weighing over 3kg. The maximum torque from the Shimano STEPS models is 50nm of torque, whilst Bosch motors run up to 75nm of torque - making Bosch motors more popular for mountain bikers. Shimano usually also provides less power modes, with Bosch running the most, for maximum adjustability.

Not many riders choose there next e-mtb purely based on the manufacturer of the motor, however it is useful to have a comparison when comparing two similar e-bike models.

Can You Chip An E-bike?

It’s always tempting to look for extra power wherever you can - and a question we get asked a lot is whether or not a customer should chip their electric bike motor. The answer is no for so many different reasons, as well as the risk to yourself with a more powerful motor - a chip will be detected by the sensor on the motor, meaning the warranty on the motor and the bike will be void. It’s also important to note that chipping a motor can cause problems with performance, with many chipped motors being put into limp mode, and error codes which are expensive to fix.

Chipping an e-mtb also negatively impacts the battery, not only shortening the battery capacity for each ride by increasing the power, but repeated use will also damage the battery performance over the long term.

2024 Electric Mountain Bike Motors

Bosch Performance Line CX Gen 5

The Gen 5 Bosch Performance CX Motor is the most recent addition to the range, it’s a motor which has been re-designed compared to the 4th generation motor that we will also look at below.

Although there can be no power increases for the Gen 5 motor because of legislation, that has not stopped Bosch providing this motor with a raft of upgrades which sees this motor become smarter, lighter, and quieter - meaning that as a rider, you enjoy it even more.

There’s none of the familiar electric mountain bike rattle or whir - and there’s also a new mounting system, meaning that electric mountain bike manufacturers can experiment with new suspension designs which improve riding performance (because as well as know, it’s suspension which makes things the most fun!)

There’s also a number of new sensors which have been designed to provide instant information to the motor, covering gradient, acceleration and even riding surface - so that the motor is always providing optimal performance, whatever the terrain. We have tested out this motor and can vouch for it providing the right performance at the right time, across some tricky and technical ascents.

There’s also improvements made with batteries and there’s a range extender available for riders wanting to push the limits of the motor and battery performance.

This motor is being found on a range of new and latest electric mountain bikes, including the Cube Stereo Hybrid One44 Ex 800 Electric Full Suspension Mountain Bike, which represents excellent value for money for a bike which is boasting the latest Bosch system.

Bosch Performance Line CX Gen 4

The previous version of the above motor, still provides plenty of real world performance. Bosch has massive experience in electronics, and tailoring electronics to customers needs - and it does it here well. The CX Gen 4 has made a great name for itself in the world of mountain bikes, providing the very best in industry torque figures, with turbo mode making light work of ascents. There’s also an overrun function, which provides boost when you need it most, which again makes an impact on the steepest terrain.

You can also expect all of the Bosch power modes and controls you will ever need - with there’s also a limited edition race motor available. The Orbea Wild H30 is a bike which uses the generation 4 motor, and it works really well in this guise, providing enough power to make this an all mountain, electric mountain bike.

SRAM Powertrain

SRAM's new powertrain is a 2.9kg motor which produces 680W of power and a mighty 90Nm of torque. This motor provides auto shifting too - which can be turned on and off. This motor is optimised to provide impressive ranges, even with smaller battery models - and there’s plenty of power for the steepest ascents. There’s only two power modes here, the Rally and the Range, but both are highly customisable, so are not limiting factors.

This motor is used on incredibly high end bikes, such as the Transition Repeater range, which twins this motor with a carbon fibre frame for maximum performance.

Yamaha PW-X3

This motor is found across a range of Giant electric mountain bikes, under the guise of Syncdrive Pro. It’s a trouble free and high performance motor, kicking out 85Nm of torque and weighing 2.75kg. There’s plenty of power modes - ranging from eco, basic and active to sport and power. This motor is fitted to the Giant Trance X Advanced range and it works really well, and really reliably there - exactly what you expect from the Japanese Giant Yamaha.

Bosch Performance Line SX

With this motor, Bosch has entered the lightweight market - weighing just 2kg this motor is a slimmed down Performance CX Unit which has a magnesium casing. It’s not the lightest motor on the market, but it’s getting there. Thanks to the slimmed down weight, this motor produces a predictable 55Nm of torque - meaning that this motor will leave some people wanting more, who are used to a ‘full fat’ ebike. This motor finds it’s home in lightweight electric mountain bikes, such as the Whyte E-Lyte 140 Works.

Shimano EP801

The Shimano EP801 is the flagship motor from Shimano. It gets more power than the outgoing EP8 and has a number of performance upgrades, which were needed against it’s rivals from Bosch. The amount of power, which is the 600W available is now much more accessible, the power from this motor feels punchy and direct - and there’s also an overrun feature of 2metres - meaning you can stop pedalling on a section and let the motor carry you over the remaining part of the obstacle. This motor weighs just 2.7kg and has three customisable modes, eco, trail and boost.

Don’t Buy Off Motor Alone

Reading the above, it’s really easy to become obsessed with motor performance and facts and figures - but the truth is that motors are only one part of an electric mountain bike. There’s a range of other important factors such as geometry, suspension, frame, frame material and components - which all contribute to the overall quality of an electric mountain bike, and how enjoyable a rider will find it.

Electric Mountain Bike Motor Broken

As long as it’s within warranty, simply get in touch with the brand of bike, or the shop that you bought the bike from for it to be supported under warranty, it’s also a good idea to find a trusted local electric mountain bike service centre to help maintain your e-bike. We’ve covered this topic in the past.