This 6-speed pedal-assist bicycle has a sturdy, steel frame. The motor is mounted in the rear wheel and adds 180W of power in full power mode. There are medium and low power modes that provide even softer assistance. An led battery meter is mounted on the handlebars that also houses the power mode selector. The motor doesn’t add any assist unless the rider is pedaling, and the assist cuts out immediately when pedaling stops. The brake levers that control a pair of v-brakes also have sensors to cut motor power any time the brakes are pulled.
To see how much fun the Kent Torpedo e-bike is, check out my video review below! Then keep reading for my complete thoughts and testing (yes, I rode it too!).
Sissinghurst is a brilliant place to visit – the house, gardens and estate are beautiful and well presented. With the electric bikes, it makes for a really great day trip from London (1hr on the train from Charing Cross and 45mins on the bike to Sissinghurst). With a price of $1,498, Kent’s mid-drive e-bike certainly isn’t competing with the several thousand dollar models that use German mid-drive motors, and so it likely opts for a Chinese motor. That isn’t a bad thing, as many riders (including myself) have been very happy with lower-cost mid-drive motors.
It was an e-bike, an electric pedal-assist MTB with a motor that engages when an internal sensor encounters a hill. And yes, the Lectric XPremium is probably the best game in time now when it comes to mid-drives at affordable prices. For just a bit more at $1,799, the dual batteries, significantly higher power/speed, hydraulic disc brakes, and a pile of other features blow this Kent bike away. But Lectric’s model is also a folding fat tire e-bike and won’t fulfill the trail bike role that Kent’s offering here claims to satisfy. Walmart has long offered an interesting array of low-cost electric bicycles.
When I moved to Kennesaw, Georgia, to be near my CrossFit gym, I noticed several well-known MTB trails in the area. No longer a teenager, I purchased a custom-made name-brand MTB from a local bike shop and rode the forks off it—literally. kent hybrid bike Most days, one or more of us would be forced to walk our bikes back to the car due to a broken chain, flat tire or bent wheel. We never wore helmets, of course, because we were teenagers—and teenagers are invincible.
Cheaper mid-drive electric bikes tend to opt for Chinese-made mid-drive motors like those from Bafang, Truckrun, Tongsheng, and others. In the case of Kent’s mid-drive electric bike, seen above, it’s not clear exactly which 250W motor is used. Nicer (i.e., more expensive) e-bikes tend to use fancier mid-drive motors like those made by Brose, Bosch, Yamaha, and other major German or Japanese manufacturers.