review

Some electric bicycles are for leisurely rides in the park. Some are for dropping off the kids at school or picking up groceries. Some are for budget-friendly alternative methods of transportation. The C3STROM ASTRO PRO electric bike is none of those things, and I struggle to even call it an electric “bike.” This is a powerful, full-featured electric motorbike wearing an e-bike’s clothes.

When it comes to mid-drive electric bikes – or e-bikes with the motor mounted near the pedals – you’re generally looking at a group of higher quality but also higher priced e-bikes. But with the Ride1Up Prodigy, though, we’ve finally discovered the best of both worlds: A high quality mid-drive electric bike complete with German-made motor yet that is still available at an affordable price.

And that’s why the Ride1Up Prodigy just may be the best mid-drive electric bike for anyone shopping on a budget.

I’ve set foot on just about every budget electric scooter on the market, and it’s not very often that I get to see something genuinely innovative and new. But that’s exactly what the ANYHILL UM-2 electric scooter delivers: a novel innovation in the form of a pop-up removable battery hidden below the deck.

When Giant Group’s new “lifestyle-inspired” electric bike sub-brand Momentum unveiled the Voya E+ 3, it did so at a positively mid-range price of $2,400. That brought it in below the fancier mid-drive e-bikes in most bike shops but well above the value-oriented direct to consumer e-bikes. Considering it has one wheel solidly in each camp, let’s see how it competes against the rest of the industry.

Schwinn’s electric bicycle line has significantly expanded over the last couple years. When I first started riding electric Schwinns, I was largely limited to cruiser e-bikes. But with several new commuter-specific e-bikes like the Schwinn Coston CE that I recently tested, this household bicycle name is making a big move on the wider e-bike market.

The descriptors “nimble” and “fat tire” rarely go together as well as they do with the Juiced RipRacer. This self-proclaimed fun-sized electric bike deftly combines the exhilaration of go-anywhere electric bikes with the convenience of small-format micromobility vehicles.

I’ve personally tested dozens of electric scooters and covered hundreds more over the years, but never before have I rested my eyes, feet or butt on one quite as cool or weird as the Fiido Beast. It’s a novel design that, despite having a few issues, is a heck of a lot of fun to ride.

That joy comes from two main advantages: a ton of power and the ability to ride it either sitting or standing.

The Buzz Charter F, which is the latest e-bike from the value-oriented electric bike brand Buzz, offers up a low-cost $999 folding model with the battery hidden in the seat post.

Aventon’s electric bikes have always impressed me with their build quality and attention to detail. When the company launched an updated version of its popular Pace 500 e-bike, I knew to expect more of the same excellent qualities. Now that I’ve been able to spend some quality time testing the bike, I’m even more convinced of the brand’s commitment to giving its customers more than they anticipated.

I recently had the chance to put some good miles on the newly unveiled 2022 Apollo City electric scooter to see what makes the latest version of this awesome new scooter so special. And considering the company built it using all the feedback they’ve received over the years from their massive community, it definitely ticks a ton of my boxes for an ideal high-speed commuter electric scooter.

When the RadExpand 5 was first unveiled, I was surprised to see the company go in this direction and replace the RadMini with a new model. But now that I’ve spent some good time in the saddle, I see exactly what Rad was thinking, because the folding RadExpand 5 e-bike draws on some of the best parts of every other e-bike in the company’s wide lineup.

It’s a bit ironic that California-based electric bike maker Ride1Up’s name is now antithetical to its newest model, the Cafe Cruiser. Riding two-up is generally motorcycle speak for carrying a passenger on back. And that’s just what the Cafe Cruiser does, in addition to combining some sexy styling with a comfortable cruiser-inspired ride. And to top it all off, the bike has some darn good performance as well.

I recently had the chance to test out the Lion Energy Safari ME portable power station along with the massive battery expansion pack and solar panel package. I don’t say this lightly: This is THE high-capacity portable power station I’d want to bring with me to an off-grid cabin, campsite, or even to have in my garage in case of a natural disaster.

BigBlue previously cut its teeth on a number of green energy and power supply products, including a modestly sized 500Wh portable power station and folding solar panel. But now the company is launching a much larger power station, the CellPowa2500, which can likely power just about anything you own, be it AC or DC.

The team over at Phoenix, Arizona-based Lectric eBikes has just launched their newest and most affordable electric bicycle yet: the Lectric XP LITE. At just $799, it packs in much of what riders already loved about the brand’s flagship Lectric XP 2.0 folding e-bike, yet shaves off some serious dollars and poundage.

The Wolf King GT Pro from Voro Motors is one of those “be-all, end-all” of the electric scooter world. With its high power and high speed plus a rugged full-suspension design, this thing should be the weapon of choice for anyone in search of a seriously high performance electric scooter.

The Cyrusher Kommoda looks like the e-bike equivalent of someone who got dressed in the dark. It seems to be wearing a bit of every different type of e-bike on the market. Nothing really matches, but damn if this powerful e-bike doesn’t somehow pull it off in an awesome way!

The $499 Possway T3 electric skateboard falls into an interesting middle ground between typical road-ready electric longboards and their beefier all-terrain electric board cousins. The chunky wheels and powerful ride combine to offer it a commanding presence that gives you the confidence to tackle more than you might be able to on a conventional electric longboard. Or at least that’s what it did for me when I got the chance to test it out recently.

The Morfuns Eole S is an interesting departure from many of the budget-end folding electric bicycles on the market. It features both a lightweight design and some nice components that should make it an awesome urban e-bike for someone on the lookout for a small and unobtrusive folder.

The Addmotor M-430 may not look like much of a performance e-bike, but the don’t judge a book by its cover adage holds with electric bikes as well. Believe it or not, this relaxing-looking cruiser e-bike is actually a peppy ride when you open it up.

The Model E offers a great balance of quality parts and economical pricing. It’s right there in the name: Model E. The ‘E’ is for Everyone, as Electric Bike Company’s founder and CEO Sean Lupton-Smith explained to me as I tested the bike out on a cool winter morning in Newport Beach, California. That’s where EBC builds its e-bikes, assembling them locally from a combination of US and internationally sourced components.

Not only did I get a chance to tour the company’s factory and watch how e-bikes were being built in front of my eyes, but I got to spend a few days riding around Newport on the Model E, getting a sense of just what makes this e-bike special.