So how much difference does having a motor make? Normally you're weighing up the influence of a motor against a host of other factors: where you're riding, how you're feeling, what kind of build the bike has, and so on.

It's not often you get to ride two bikes that are basically exactly the same, save for the addition of a motor. But that's what we had the opportunity to do at Cannock Chase recently, when we met up with Focus bikes to ride their full suspension Jam, and the Shimano-powered Jam². The two bikes are as near to identical as it's really possible to get, with the exception of the E8000 STEPS drive unit and a 384Wh internal battery: same frame design, same geometry (more or less) and same spec. We took both bikes out on a 10km off-road loop, and here's Jon from off-road.cc to tell you about what we discovered. Enjoy!