Reading this catalogue

eBike Ranker holds 43 electric bikes from 16 brands across 7 categories, from a $799 folding runabout to a $7,999 cargo hauler. Two numbers dominate how these bikes get sold, and both are softer than they look: the range figure, which is a laboratory best case, and the motor wattage, which brands quote at whichever of two definitions flatters them. The page you are reading explains what this catalogue does about that.

The range number is a ceiling, not a promise

Claimed ranges here run from 40 to 85 miles. Every one of them is the manufacturer's own figure, and the manufacturer measured it in the lowest assist level, on flat ground, at a mild temperature, with a light rider and no cargo. Hills, headwind, cold, a loaded rack and a rider who likes assist level four each cut into it, and they compound. The catalogue records the claim because it is the only figure that exists for every bike, and labels it as the claim. Owner reports on the model pages are where the realistic number lives, and the gap between the two is often close to half.

Class is a legal fact; wattage is a marketing one

The class rating is the part with consequences, because it decides which paths you are allowed on and whether a bike is street-legal where you live. This catalogue records Class 1, Class 2, Class 3, with 26 of the 43 bikes rated Class 3 — pedal assist up to 28 mph, the class most often barred from multi-use trails. Motor wattage is the opposite kind of number: brands quote nominal or peak depending on which is larger, and there is no rule making them say which. Where a maker publishes only one of the two, that is what appears, unconverted.

Torque sensing versus cadence sensing

33 of these bikes use a torque sensor and 10 do not, and that split changes how a bike feels more than a hundred watts of motor does. A torque sensor meters assist to how hard you are pushing, so the bike behaves like a bicycle that got easier. A cadence sensor only knows whether the cranks are turning, so it surges in and cuts out. It is a spec line on almost no product page and a filter here. 30 bikes also have a throttle, which most riders use less than they expect and which is what pushes a bike into Class 2 territory.

Motor output, watt-hours, and the range claim

Motor output, battery capacity in watt-hours, top assisted speed, weight, brake and drivetrain components and warranty terms are taken from manufacturer specification pages and product documentation. Prices are typical list figures; the direct-to-consumer brands discount hard and often, so a price here sets a tier rather than quoting a transaction. Where a brand publishes nothing for a field — and the newer direct brands frequently publish nothing about battery cell supplier or motor torque — the field is left blank instead of filled with a plausible-looking figure.

What riders report after a winter of commuting

There is no test fleet here and no staff rider. What appears as pros and cons on a bike page is gathered from public owner discussion — riders posting real commuting range after a winter, owner groups for individual brands, long-term write-ups — and is labelled as owner sentiment rather than as anything measured. A complaint has to keep surfacing from unconnected riders before it earns a line: a 62-pound bike that is miserable to carry up a flight of stairs, an app that insists on an account before it will unlock the bike you own, a brand whose support line goes quiet once the warranty year is up. Deciding which of those recur often enough to print is a judgement, and it is ours.

Who runs it, and what nobody can buy

Two people maintain this catalogue alongside other work. There is no office, no service stand, and nobody on a payroll. No bike brand pays for inclusion, for a position, or for a friendlier write-up, and none of them reviews a page before it is published. Lists default to price, lowest first, and there are no star ratings: no source publishes an owner-review average we could cite for these bikes. Where a bike sits is a consequence of the sort you picked. A correction reaches both of the people who can act on it, because there are only two.

Keeping up with a fast market

This category churns harder than most: brands revise whole lineups annually, rename a model rather than update it, and quietly discontinue bikes that were on the front page a year earlier. Models get added, prices re-checked, and dead listings cleared as they are noticed. A spec here that disagrees with the manufacturer's current page is stale data rather than a paid placement, and it is worth reporting.