All-Mountain EMTB´s: A buyers guide

Are you a trail shredder, alpine adventurer, or route explorer? Then an All Mountain E-Bike is the perfect ride for you. These E-MTBs will take you anywhere. Up any climb. And down any descent.

All Mountain E-Bikes are the perfect companions for adventurous E-mountain bikers. These EMTBs are specialists in demanding tours off the beaten path. This applies to the uphill as well as the downhill. An All-Mountain bike gets you everywhere—it’s a true climbing artist. Even the steepest ascents can be conquered without awkward body contortions over the handlebars.

But the best thing about All Mountains: the fun really starts on the descent. Thanks to generous suspension travel and ample reserves, even challenging singletracks become a playground. All Mountain E-Bikes provide confidence and expand your comfort zone, allowing you to boldly dive into every descent, trusting that your bike will glide over the trail like a magic carpet. Just one question remains:

Admittedly, this question isn’t so straightforward at first glance. Especially for beginners. Enduro bikes, trail bikes, all-mountain bikes – the categories are diverse and the boundaries are blurred. Who can keep track? We have delineated the differences and provide a clear overview of what an all-mountain E-bike is, what it’s capable of, and who it’s the right choice for.

If you love riding off the beaten path, enjoy challenging terrain, and relish the thrill of carving through trails, then you’re very close to grasping the concept of all-mountain biking. The major difference from enduro E-bikes: all-mountain bikes are also built for long rides.

The term All Mountain is indeed quite literal, as bikes of this category are suitable for alpine terrain as well as other types of terrain with singletracks. So if you love to rack up elevation and trail miles in the low mountain ranges, you’ll be thrilled with the versatility of these all-rounders.

To put it succinctly: If you want to cover the full spectrum of EMTB sports, prefer long rides with a high proportion of singletrack, and love to maintain flow on challenging terrain, then an All Mountain is the right e-mountain bike for you.

An All Mountain E-Bike should offer a high degree of comfort and ride safety, enabling you to fully enjoy extended tours in challenging terrain without any compromises. That’s why all models in this category are fully suspended with between 150 and 160 mm of travel.

The generous travel cushions the rider from the rough terrain and ensures that the wheels maintain optimal traction. The better the suspension can isolate the rider from bumps and vibrations, the more relaxed the off-road riding experience. Anyone who has ever tackled the Rennsteig trail in Thuringia or an Alpine crossing from Oberstdorf to Lake Garda will know exactly what we’re talking about.

All-Mountain E-Bikes are the true jack-of-all-trades. They masterfully balance uphill and downhill capabilities. Uphill rides are comfortable thanks to a relaxed seating position, allowing for an enjoyable pedal experience.

And because All-Mountain riding is also about covering distance, these bikes offer a successful compromise between lightweight construction and durability. A robust build ensures reliable performance in all conditions – even when the alpine trails get rough. Puncture-proof tires and solid wheels with wide rims are a must-have. Powerful brakes equipped with large rotors are also essential.

Since an All Mountain is ridden on a variety of trails and terrains, the geometry should not be too extreme. A bike tuned for high-speed stability offers great potential for fast descents, but loses agility and is less pleasant to climb with. Therefore, slack head angles between 66° and 64° have become established, which, combined with steep seat tube angles between 75° and 77°, strike a good balance.

This shifts the body’s center of gravity forward when pedaling, which puts a lot of weight on the front wheel. As a result, the front wheel can maintain secure ground contact even on steep uphills.

The sitting position on most All Mountain e-bikes is quite upright, making long rides less tiring to enjoy. Ergonomics are thus of crucial importance on an All Mountain bike.

Haibike AllMtn CF SE All-mountain tours often involve riding with a fully packed backpack, water bottle, and additional gear. This can add up to a significant amount of weight. For this reason, powerful full-power motors have become the standard for all-mountain e-bikes. With torque figures exceeding 85 Nm, these motors provide a strong push even when climbing steep trails fully loaded. To ensure that long distances and substantial elevation gains can be managed, all-mountain bikes usually boast a generous battery capacity of 750 Wh or more.

The most well-known model in this category is the “Turbo Levo” from the California-based bicycle manufacturer Specialized. In Germany, the “AllMTN” models from the Schweinfurt e-bike pioneer Haibike, as well as the “Stereo Hybrid 140” from the cycling giant Cube, are also highly popular.

An All Mountain is certainly the wrong choice if you’re all about pure downhill thrill. So if you’re into gobbling up vertical meters, ripping through bike park lines, and collecting airtime on jump lines, then an Enduro E-MTB is definitely the way to go.

Compared to All Mountain bikes, Enduros have significantly more robust components, grippier tires, and usually more suspension travel as well. The forks on Enduro E-bikes feature larger stanchion diameters to provide optimal steering stiffness despite long travel and brutal riding maneuvers.

For the All-Mountain segment, Fox, for instance, offers the 36 series forks. The name gives away the stanchion diameter: 36 mm. For the demanding Enduro riders, Fox has the much tougher 38 series in their lineup. Those forks offer up to 180 mm of travel.

If you’re the athletic type geared for speed and aren’t looking to venture to the most remote corners of the mountain world, a nimble trail E-bike might be the right choice for you. Trail bikes are more agile and responsive than All-Mountain bikes, also more efficient to pedal, and stronger on the climbs. However, one has to accept some compromises in downhill performance. The big advantage of these bikes: the focus is on performance, which is why there’s a lot of emphasis on low weight.

Accordingly, the components used are lighter. The tires feature a thinner casing, and when it comes to the brake system, there’s no need for a four-piston brake. Forks on trail bikes often come with stanchion diameters of 34 or 35 mm. A typical trail bike fork is the lightweight Rock Shox Pike with up to 140 mm of travel.

Yes, ergonomics is a highly relevant factor, particularly with All Mountain e-bikes. When you’re spending long hours in the saddle, it’s critical that the bike’s ergonomics meet the needs of your body. Ergonomic grips and a high-quality saddle can make a world of difference and determine whether you can enjoy your ride pain-free after several hours on the trails.

Equally important, of course, is your seating position. The bike should be neither too small nor too large. Just like with a good pair of running shoes, the fit of your seating position has to be just right. That’s why we strongly recommend that you delve deeply into the geometry of your dream bike. Almost all manufacturers provide very detailed size recommendations. Therefore, it’s worthwhile to measure your height and inseam again before making a purchase decision and compare your measurements with the manufacturer’s recommendations.

However, the surest way to find the right size remains a test ride. Especially if you’re in between two frame sizes or choosing among various models, a test ride can quickly bring clarity to your purchase decision.

Because some rides last longer than expected, having a compact yet powerful lighting system can’t hurt. A lighting system is also important when, as in Switzerland, it is required by law. Riding an e-mountain bike regularly into dusk or even darkness, a permanently installed lighting system is worth its weight in gold.

Many modern all-mountain e-bikes are already factory-prepped for lighting systems installation, allowing the lights to be powered via the main battery integrated into the frame. A few manufacturers now also offer configurations where the lighting system is already installed from the factory. For instance, Cannondale with its all-mountain e-bike full-suspension “Moterra Neo Carbon 1”, which is equipped with a bright front light from Lezyne.

Other manufacturers prep their models from the factory so that the lighting can simply be mounted and connected directly. The power supply then comes from the main battery in the frame. The light can be conveniently controlled from the handlebar via the light switch on the remote controller of the e-system.

A particularly popular and simple solution is the so-called “Monkey Link.” This is a magnetic mount for the headlight and tail light. These mounts are pre-installed on some models from the factory and are already connected to the battery. So, all you need to do is purchase the headlight and click it into the magnetic mount under the stem without any installation hassle. The power supply comes from the main battery – it’s that easy. The “Monkey Link” is, for example, used by bike manufacturers Bulls and Flyer.

When purchasing an E-MTB, you’re faced with a tough choice: Many brands offer both lightweight “Light Assist” and “Full Power” e-bikes. This also holds true for all-mountain e-bikes. Thanks to less powerful motors that are paired with smaller batteries, Light E-MTBs have a significant weight advantage.

Light E-MTBs support up to a maximum of 60 Nm of torque. For many riders, this is sufficient, though the acceleration is noticeably less than what you get with a Full-Power e-bike. However, climbing uphill will be slower on a Light E-MTB.

For those who like to be powerfully assisted, there are the classic Full-Power e-bikes. Depending on the motor model, they provide support with 85 Nm or more. This immense support quickly gets you up the mountain, but it also leads to a significantly higher energy requirement and necessitates larger, and thus heavier, batteries.

For an all-mountain e-bike, “Full Power” motors are currently still the better choice. Even though “Light E-MTBs” consume less energy due to their lower power, “Full Power E-MTBs”, thanks to their very large batteries, still offer more range and elevation gain. Additionally, “Full Power” motors score points when it comes to uphill flow: The strong motors make for great uphill fun in technically challenging terrain. Just what you want for an all-mountain e-bike.

For those who want to maintain long-lasting satisfaction with their new All Mountain E-Bike, it’s not a wise move to skimp on the initial investment. Especially when E-Bikes are ridden in challenging terrain, the demand on the materials is significant. To ensure that this pays off in the long run, a certain level of quality in frame and components is necessary.

Starting at 5,000 Euros, the market offers a wide array of bikes that meet these requirements. Especially noteworthy in this price segment are the All Mountain E-Bikes from direct-to-consumer brands Canyon, Radon, and Rose. Cube also has several intriguing models in this price range.