Amflow TL Review

The Amflow TL is shaking up the e-SUV segment: a fully kitted carbon bike with 110 Nm of torque, an 800-Wh battery, and smart navigation for 3.499 euros. Never before have you gotten this much bike for so little cash. But can this EMTB newcomer hold up when the riding gets real day in, day out?

A look at the current market makes it crystal clear how hard the competition struggles to hit these numbers. A similarly specced Centurion Numinis EQ tips the scales at well over 30 kg and rings in at nearly €7,000, while even a bare Cube Stereo Hybrid One44 EXC 800—without any commuter kit—still weighs north of 28 kg.

On top of the blatant weight advantage, the Chinese score points with well-thought-out detail solutions: the spec’d TRP brakes come stock with extra-thick brake pads and rotors with increased material thickness, dramatically stretching service intervals for hard daily commuting duty.

The electronic TRP drivetrain shifts completely wirelessly via radio, but smartly pulls its power straight from the bike’s main battery. Thanks to constant communication with the motor controller, the system unlocks innovative features like semi-automatic shifting while coasting and wear-friendly, automated shifts under load.

Amflow deliberately keeps it simple with a 10-speed cassette: because the motor’s massive output sends drivetrain wear through the roof, the wider cogs and a beefier chain deliver significantly higher resistance to chain breakage and wear—without riders missing ultra-tight gear steps in everyday urban use. The shifter doesn’t snap through gears quite as fast and buttery-smooth as today’s high-end 1×12 setups from Sram and Shimano, but it works reliably.

Our big shifting group test showed that a lot of brands can now hang at a similar level to the market’s top players—also interesting. Avinox simply builds the shift lever in-house, or rather repurposes the E-bike system’s control lever for shifting. Amflow/Avinox is pushing vertical integration on the bike at pretty much every conceivable point, which ultimately gives them a better basis for price calculations—an all-important competitive advantage that hardly any other brand plays this well. Fit, feel, and ergonomics give no reason for criticism.

With 120 mm of travel up front and 105 mm out back, the suspension delivers enough comfort for gravel and rough dirt roads, but it doesn’t exactly turn into a nimble trail ripper. The upright riding position and compact 27.5-inch wheels are primarily tuned for maximum riding comfort and stability. To keep production costs down, the TL is offered in just two split sizes (S/M and L/XL); thanks to the slack seat angle and long head tube, however, the reach to the bar grows noticeably as you run more saddle height, covering a surprisingly wide range of rider heights without compromising ergonomics.

During the test period, we had riders from 1.65 to 1.90 meters on the bike in size L/XL. For short everyday trips, that wasn’t an issue.

The stock dropper post with 170 mm of travel not only makes getting on easier, it also enables quick rider swaps within the family without tools. That way, the smaller partner can quickly dial the saddle to a comfortable pedaling height and doesn’t have to fiddle with a bunch of complicated adjustments.

If you’re planning longer rides, riders under 1.70 meters should generally go for the S/M frame size. It simply puts you in a more sensible position and lets you actually take advantage of the dropper’s travel.

Particularly impressive for this category is the approval for a maximum system weight of 200 kilograms, backed up by stout front and rear cargo racks. On the brand’s in-house stiffness test rig, the carbon frame posts a torsional stiffness of 47 newton-meters per degree. That’s not a benchmark number, but it’s solid. Out on the trail, nothing starts to wag or oscillate—even with a heavy payload. Running a heavy trailer is also officially approved, and for that Amflow offers an optional thru-axle in its webshop.

During the test period, we loaded the bike to the max with child seats and a kids’ trailer to see how it handles these worst-case scenarios. The Amflow actually does a good job here. Especially on the climbs, the stout motor with nearly 2 hp (1100 watts of assist power) has you perfectly covered.

The undisputed centerpiece of the e-SUV remains the DJI Avinox motor, which with 110 newton-meters of torque and a peak output of 1100 watts leaves the established competition in the dust—while staying acoustically pleasantly understated in the background. The 800 Wh battery can be removed from the downtube with a key and, in testing, made rides with more than 2,000 meters of climbing possible. In everyday use on the rolling terrain of Lower Bavaria with a kid trailer, around 50 kilometers on a single charge were doable.

Another highlight is the seamless Komoot and Strava integration: the flush-mounted top-tube display delivers reliable live navigation with turn-by-turn prompts and is perfectly protected in the event of a crash. The display can’t show a full map with street names.

Despite its all-around convincing performance, the Amflow TL has one hard-to-miss shortcoming in an otherwise smart, integrated system concept. While the insanely bright headlight is powered directly off the main battery, the taillight has its own separate battery that has to be awkwardly charged externally. That’s something the manufacturer needs to sort out in future updates. A dedicated button to switch the light on and off would also be welcome, so it doesn’t detract from the otherwise excellent user experience.