Mountain bikes were among the first to be converted to electric power, and they’re incredibly good fun. You can get more laps in at the bike park by powering up the climbs back to the top, or they make excellent all-year-round commuter bikes with their sturdy builds and wide tyres. At under £2,000 you’re not going to be looking at anything too trail-worthy, however. There are very few full-suspension e-bikes at this price, if any, so hardtails are pretty much the order of the day.
You can find a few good deals on leisure-oriented eMTBs for under £2,000, but there are usually compromises. Generally this is on the suspension, drivetrain or motor. A lot of these e-bikes will be hub driven rather than mid-drive, so think less torque and less ability to power you up technical trails. The vast majority of bikes at this price will be more suited to leisurely trails and things like towpaths or well-kept bridleways rather than hooning it down the black route at Dyfi. If you want something a bit more capable, read our guide to the best electric mountain bikes for context.
Best electric mountain bikes under £2,000
- Dallingrdige Coniston - best under £1,500 | Buy for £1,349 from Evolving Sports
- Oxygen S-Cross MTB MKII - best under £1,750 | Buy from £1,699 from Oxygen Bicycles
- Claud Butler Wrath 2.0 - best hub motor e-MTB under £2,000 | Buy for £1,999 from Electric Life
- Decathlon Rockrider E-ST900 - best mid-drive under £2,000 | Buy for £1,799 from Decathlon
- Batribike Delta - most interesting looking | Buy for £1,199 from E-Bikes Direct
1. Dallingridge Coniston - £1,349 (best under £1,500)
Like the rest of the Dallingridge range, the Coniston offers a sensible spec for the money. It uses a rear hub motor, which is cadence sensing only. Nevertheless, our reviewer found that it was pretty sensitive and kicked in quickly once he started pedalling. It comes with seven gears, controlled by a twist grip shifter on the handlebars, and mechanical disc brakes.
Three power assist levels are included, although we found that level three was the best for most types of riding. (Levels one and two aren’t underpowered, they’re just better for slow speed negotiating, like in a city centre for example.) The Coniston is ideal for those who want a bike capable of gentle trails and off-road, like canal towpaths or fire roads.
For more detail, read our review of the Dallingridge Coniston.
2. Oxygen S-Cross MTB MKII – From £1,699 (best under £1,750)
The S-Cross MTB MKII is a leisure electric mountain bike from Yorkshire brand, Oxygen. It uses a rear hub motor from Shengyi and a rather large capacity 576Wh battery, which offered our reviewer, Richard, a projected range of about 44 miles.
Richard found the Oxygen a very nice bike to ride - pretty fast and sporty, even with the motor power turned off altogether. The Shimano hydraulic disc braking was excellent and the Altus gears responsive and crisp. "On my longer hilly rides over Pennine tracks and trails it never failed to tackle anything put in front of it, even on muddy and grassy climbs with challenging gradients – even if it wasn’t the fastest up them.”
It’s not the cheapest on this list, but if it’s too much of a stretch you can choose a smaller battery option. However, the Shimano hydraulic disc brakes seem like a decent value proposition at this price point.
For more detail, read our review of the Oxygen S-Cross MTB MKII.
3. Claud Butler Wrath 2.0 - £1,999 (best hub motor e-MTB under £2,000)
A recent launch, the Claud Butler Wrath 2.0 sees the historic British brand make its mark in the leisure e-MTB market. The 2.0 is the slightly more expensive of the range, with the 1.0 costing £1,799. We think if you can justify the extra cash, the difference in battery size and motor is worth it.
It’s another hub powered bike, this time with a Bafang unit and a battery with an estimated 40 miles of range. It’s ideal for towpaths and light off-road riding, but beware the sizing. There are two sizes available, medium and large – so if you’re short or really tall, check the fit before you buy.
For more detail, read our review of the Claud Butler Wrath 2.0.
4. Decathlon Rockrider E-ST900 - £1,999 (best mid-drive under £2,000)
A rarity at this price point, the Decathlon Rockrider E-ST 520 features a BROSE T mid-drive motor. This particular one isn’t short on torque either, with up to 70Nm on offer. This is paired with a 500Wh battery, which Decathlon estimates will provide up to three hours of ‘sporty’ riding.
The Rockrider offers a playful frame geometry, a 120mm front RockShoc Judy fork and 27.5” wheels so it’s not for the hardcore riders, but likely more capable than many hub-powered bikes also listed.
For more detail, read our review of the Decathlon Rockrider E-ST900.
5. Batribike Delta - £1,599 (most interesting looking e-MTB)
Although it’s an old (by e-MTB standards) model, the Batribike Delta has remained a firm favourite since 2017. If you’re looking to spend less, there are cheaper versions with smaller capacity batteries. It comes with five levels of assistance, and, unusually for this price point, an app within which you can view your speed, power or distance.
The Delta comes equipped with an 8-speed Shimano triple chainset, giving you plenty of gear options for the steep stuff. A further positive is the Shimano hydraulic disc brakes. Unlike other bikes at the £2,000 mark, there is a choice in frame sizes as well.
How to choose from the best electric mountain bikes under £2,000
What is the best electric mountain bike under £2,000?
It’s hard to say which bike is the best as it will depend entirely on how you plan on riding it. By this we mean are you going to be sticking to canal towpaths and fire roads, or trying something more technical? There may not be many electric mountain bikes to choose from under £2,000, but the ones we’ve highlighted above are good places to start.
Is an electric mountain bike worth it?
Absolutely! Not only are they incredibly fun, but electric mountain bikes can help you tackle trails and rides you may not have thought possible before. As with most things, the bigger your budget, the better the bike you’ll generally get for your money. At £2k and under, they’re essentially entry level electric mountain bikes and won’t be suitable for hardcore trail riding. If you think you can stretch your budget a bit or want to see what else is out there, have a read of our main guide to the best electric mountain bikes.
What’s the difference between a hub motor and mid-drive?
Hub motors are pretty capable and cheap these days. If you're looking at the lower end of this price range then that's what you'll get, either in the front hub or (more likely) the rear. Up over £2,000 you can get a bike specced with a mid motor instead. For mountain biking, this is better for a number of reasons.
The first benefit is weight distribution. A mid-motor eMTB has all the weight in the middle and that means more predictable handling on more technical terrain. If your bike has a rear hub motor and it's a hardtail bike, the motor weight is concentrated at the centre of the wheel, so if you hit a rock you'll be exerting larger forces on the wheel and rear triangle relative to a mid motor design. If it's a full suspension bike then you have more sprung mass with a hub motor, which will negatively affect the suspension response to changes in terrain. The same is true of a front hub motor in a suspension fork, with the added problem that the heavy motor will increase fork flex, meaning steering isn't as precise.
The other, perhaps bigger, reason why mid-motors are preferable on electric mountain bikes is because of how power is applied. Because they are situated at the pedals, they - like you - can exploit your bike’s gears. This tends to mean they apply power better at lower speeds, in lower gears - when you need it most, basically. You can find more detail in our guide Electric bike motors: everything you need to know.
For all those reasons, if you're looking to do any proper off-road riding over technical terrain, you're better off with a mid motor bike. There's lots of people who might be looking at an eMTB who aren't planning any white-knuckle stuff, and there's plenty of bikes out there that will be fine for light off-roading at prices well south of the £2,000 mark.
It's also worth noting that if you're looking at mountain bikes and the toughest terrain you're going to be pointing them at is towpaths and fire roads, then there's plenty of hybrid bikes that can easily cope, and you may get more for your money going down that route. Read our guide to the best electric hybrid bikes if you think this could apply to you.
What sort of suspension can I expect on an electric mountain bike under £2,000?
All eMTBs will come with a suspension fork of one sort or another. Most of the bikes below £2,000 are hardtail designs. Hardtail bikes have no suspension at the back, and usually have a fairly standard diamond frame. Full suspension bikes will have some sort of linkage to allow the rear wheel to move, and a shock unit to control the suspension. Full suspension adds weight and complexity and price.
What levels of componentry are popular on electric mountain bikes under £2,000?
You'll likely see derailleur gears from Shimano, or SRAM, and disc brakes on mountain bikes under £2,000. Hydraulic brakes (where the brake is actuated by hydraulic fluid in a hose) are better than mechanical brakes (where a cable is used to pull the brake). The suspension fork will probably be made by RockShox or SR Suntour if you're nearer the £2,000 mark, and by Suntour (a lower spec model) or Zoom for lower budget bikes; it may also be branded the same as the bike.
Currently there are three wheel sizes for mountain bikes. 26-inch is the original size and used for most budget bikes, with the newer 27.5-inch and 29-inch sizes more common on higher-end trail bikes. There are also plus-sized systems, which use a wider rim and a bigger tyre. They're good for eMTBs because they give more grip and a bigger air chamber in the tyre to soak up bumps from rocks and roots.
Explore the complete archive of reviews of electric mountain bikes on ebiketips and also our sister site off-road.cc.
