Electric bikes continue to take the world by storm. In pretty much any city you go to, it is a common sight to see someone zipping around on an electric bike. You may have thought of getting one yourself, but like many others, were turned off by the exorbitant price tag. Electric bikes average around 00 to buy and can go well beyond $20,000. But discount electric bikes do exist, and we’ll review one in this article – the Ancheer 250W e-mountain bike.
What is Ancheer?
Let’s get one thing out of the way first, Ancheer is not a company that makes premium bikes. They are a Chinese company that specializes in shipping discount bikes. That’s right, if you are buying an Ancheer, it is very much because the price is your number one concern.
Basically, with an Ancheer bike, you are shipped a box of parts, and you assemble it yourself. You won’t end up with a premium electric bike, and you won’t end up with a premium mountain bike. What you will end up with is a functioning electric bike, and this article will take aim at just how well it functions.
It is important to keep these expectations in check from the get go. The saying ‘you get what you pay for’ has never been more true. But if you are very interested in a budget electric bike, then you might just come away satisfied. Let’s first check out what you get:
The 250W – What You Get
The Ancheer 250W is an electric mountain bike with 26-inch wheels and a removable 36V lithium battery. Before we get into the pros/cons and reviews of this bike, let’s take a look at what is actually offered in the package.
Price
Firstly, because this is probably your number one concern, the Ancheer electric mountain bike is quite inexpensive. It retails for under $600 USD. This is listed as a sale price on the website, but we suspect that it is on sale more often than not.
As electric bikes go, this is about as cheap as it gets. With most retailing well over a few thousands of dollars, this bike is certainly quite the deal.
Electric Features
First, let’s take a look at the electric features of this bike. As you might know, a quality electric bike needs to have a good motor to assist you in pedaling up to speed. It also should have a battery that has an acceptable life on a single charge.
Battery
The Ancheer 250W comes with a removable 36V, 8AH lithium-ion battery. It does depend on riding modes, but this battery should last you about 10 miles of throttling, or about 20 miles with pedal assist.
Motor
This bike has a 250W high-speed brushless motor. This is pretty standard for an electric bike and should support riders up to about roughly 200 lbs. This motor can get the bike moving about 25 mph.
Ride Options
Surprisingly, this bike actually has two ride options. There is the traditional assisted bicycle mode, in which the bike assists your acceleration up to a certain speed (about 25 km/h). There are even options for three pedal assist modes, each offering more assistance and power. There is a low, medium, and high mode.
There is also a fully automatic throttle mode, in which the bike will propel the entire ride for you. The bike tops out at about 20mph, which is pretty decent for an electric bike of this price.
Bike Features
Of course, aside from the electric bike features, there is the bike itself. Before diving into it, don’t expect a premium bike. This is very much a no-frills, budget mountain bike. It will get you from Point A to Point B, but don’t expect to be using this for advanced mountain biking or incredibly rough terrain. That being said, it is a pretty well-made bike for the price.
Frame
The frame is made from 100% aluminum alloy. The bike itself is sturdy and well made, and relatively light, making for a comfortable ride.
Brakes and Gears
This bike has front and rear disc brakes and a 21-speed transmission system, which is standard for a mountain bike.
Suspension
This is a hardtail mountain bike with front suspension forks. The suspension is good enough, but this still isn’t the type of bike you would use for any serious mountain biking.
Other Features
The rest of this mountain bike is pretty standard. There are an LED headlamp and a horn for safety. The seat is pretty basic but comfortable enough for a commuter.
Assembly
This bike does require assembly, but it is pretty basic. The frame is put together, and you mostly just have to attach the wheels, along with a few other attachments. Assembly can easily be done even if you have never built a bike before.
Warranty
Ancheer offers a 1-year warranty on most defects to do with this bike. There is also a full refund option within 7 days, and a replacement option within 15 days. You can find the details on this page.
How Does It Run?
The above features sound pretty solid, especially for a sub-$600 e-bike, but how does it actually work?
We’re pleased to say that, given the price tag, this bike runs pretty well. The motor is solid enough and can get you up to a decent commuting speed of about 20 mph. The pedal assist mode works well, albeit with a small delay between the start of pedaling and the assistance kicking in. But it all seems to function fine.
The bike itself is basically what you’d expect from the price range. It is definitely not premium, but it is well-made and works fine as a regular bike. As long as you keep your expectations in check, and you aren’t expecting a premium mountain bike, then this bike is fine for getting you where you need to go.
In fact, our main issue with this bike is probably the fact that it advertises itself as a mountain bike at all. This bike is decisively not a good option for bringing on the trails and for bringing off-road. We would think of this more as a road bike or an electric cruiser.
So keep your expectations in check, and if you just want a solid, functioning electric bike for a bargain-basement price, then this may be for you. Next, let’s check out some customer reviews.
Customer Reviews
With products that are on the far budget end of the list, it is often the case that one person’s experience doesn’t represent everyone else’s. With varying quality and the difficulty of knowing whether a product will be dependable, it often helps to check out customer reviews to see if a product is worth buying.
Reviews are a great way to get an unbiased perspective on a product, to learn an honest take of what is good about a product, and what isn’t. First, we’ll check out the good reviews, and then we’ll look at some customers who had a less than satisfactory experience.
Positive Reviews
First of all, we are happy to report that his product did receive positive reviews overall. It has an average of 4/5 stars with approximately 700 reviews.
The positive reviews of this product highlight the issues which we have mostly covered in this article. People are excited to receive a functioning electric bike at such a low price point. People who enjoyed this bike typically used it for their commutes, and for getting around in general.
Many also stated that the bike was well designed, and functioned just as intended. They received the bike and completed the quick assembly process, and then it was ready to go.
Negative Reviews
Of course, we have to take the good with the bad. There have been customers who have had less than ideal experiences with the Ancheer electric bike.
Many of the problems that people had were with design faults or faulty components. Some were upset at the delayed pedal assist. They claimed that it took several pedal rotations for the pedal-assist to actually kick in. Others had issues where the motor itself was faulty, and would not power up.
Others have had problems with Ancheer customer service. They have attempted to return faulty bikes but found the customer service team less than responsive, and quite argumentative in allowing them a refund or a repair.
Luckily, based on overall reviews, these issues seem to be rare, but it is still very worthwhile to keep them in mind.
Overall Impression
Overall, we think this is a solid product. But there is the caveat that you have to keep your expectations in check with the Ancheer electric bicycle. Don’t go into this expecting a top tier bike, or even a top tier electric bike. This is very much for getting around. If you want an electric bike without paying top dollar, this could be for you. Otherwise, check out more premium options.