We bring you an exclusive review of an electric fatbike with a motorcycle design, Engwe M20. The bike impresses not only with its design, but also with a pair of batteries, huge wheels and a powerful 750 W motor.
In the review, we will look at the quality of processing, design, share our driving impressions and also measure the range per charge.
Where to buy Engwe M20?
fatbike Engwe You can find the M20 at the official retailer Engwe with an excellent 100 € with a coupon. Two versions are available, with one or two 13 Ah batteries. You will also be pleased with the availability in a nearby European warehouse, with delivery in 3-10 working days, of course without customs fees.
Engwe M20, Official Store
Express delivery from a European warehouse free of duty and VAT.
This product will be delivered to you expressly from your local warehouse in Europe. Delivery from EU warehouses usually takes 7-10 days and delivers courier. No extra charges, no customs duties or VAT.
Express delivery from a European warehouse free of duty and VAT.
This product will be delivered to you expressly from your local warehouse in Europe. Delivery from EU warehouses usually takes 7-10 days and delivers courier. No extra charges, no customs duties or VAT.
Technical specifications
| Model | Engwe M20 |
|---|---|
| Material | 6061 aluminum alloy |
| dimensions | 167 x 114 x 68 cm |
| Weight | 34.8 kg |
| Motor | 750 W (1000 W peak) |
| Torque | 55 Nm |
| Maximum speed | 45 km/h |
| Wheel size | 20 x 4 " |
| Drums | 2 x 48 V / 13 Ah |
| Address | 55 km on one battery (75 km in assisted mode) |
| charging | 5 hours |
| Maximum climb | 10° |
| Brzdy | disc mechanical (160 mm discs) |
| Derailleur | Shimano (7 gears) |
| Carrying capacity | 120 kg |
| Recommended rider height | 155 - 210 cm |
Content and quality of packaging
fatbike Engwe The M20 was delivered to us by DPD in a huge box with dimensions of 140 x 32 x 85 cm and a weight of 40.5 kg. Due to its high weight, we had to go to the DPD depot to pick it up on the grounds that they only transport packages weighing up to 31.5 kg.
It is indeed a large and heavy box that is very difficult for one person to carry. The box is quite thick, but it was deformed in some places. Inside, however, there is a fatbike, which is extremely well protected by a lot of foam reinforcements, so the bike was not damaged.
In addition to the fatbike itself, the package also contains other smaller boxes. Two of them contained batteries, the third contained headlights, and the other contained tools necessary for assembly, including a charger and pedals.
Simple, but longer assembly
The fatbike is stored in the box with the front wheel removed. There is a lot of packaging and protective material on it, which is attached to the frame and individual components with eska tapes. Just removing all these protective elements will take quite a lot of time.
Next comes the assembly of the individual components. We started by attaching the handlebars to the stem. The stem is held by four screws, which we loosened using the included Allen key. We then inserted the handlebars into the stem and re-fastened the screws.
We continued with the assembly of the front wheel. There is a fixed axle in the front fork, which must be removed before mounting the wheels. It only serves to strengthen the fork so that it does not bend during transport.
After inserting the wheel, we used the second axle, which is packed in a smaller box. It is fastened with a nut, open-end wrench, so no weak quick-release.
The next step is to install the front lights. They are attached to the tubes leading from the front fork with a few screws. We then connected the lights to the appropriate connectors. Unfortunately, the cables from the lights together with the connectors just stick out by the handlebars, which slightly spoils the overall impression.
After that, all you have to do is mount the pedals, the front fender, inflate the tires, insert the batteries, and the fatbike is ready for the first ride.
Design, build quality and construction
fatbike Engwe The M20 is made of aluminum alloy, which the manufacturer marks with the number 6061. The construction is solid, massive and has a very high-quality impression. This bike is made in China, but it was designed in California, which is indicated by the inscription on the box "Designed in California, made in China".
Is it a bicycle or a motorcycle? We often heard this question and at first glance at Engwe M20 is asked by many people. It has a motorcycle design, but it also has pedals. But do they make sense? Rather, only because of the legislation, so that this machine can be classified as a bicycle, not a motorcycle.
Since on Engwe The M20 sits quite low, turning the pedals is quite impractical and your knees will certainly not thank you for it. In addition, the seat is not height adjustable and not very comfortable. However, we will talk about that in one of the next chapters.
Overall, the structure is solid, with rear suspension, but since it is a kind of hybrid between a bicycle and a motorcycle, such a structure also has its disadvantages.
Engwe M20: Performance and driving modes
Engwe The M20 has a 750 W motor at the back, which can reach a maximum power of up to 1000 W. Thanks to it, the fatbike reaches a maximum speed of 45 km/h.
We have up to 4 modes available with maximum speeds of 25, 30, 35, 45 km/h, plus a mode without electric drive. Acceleration is quite good and the fatbike can also handle hills.
The electric drive is activated by turning the motorcycle throttle in the right handle, or even after turning the pedals. It's up to you whether you control the throttle with the rotary control or leave it to the bike.
In the case of pedaling, however, you cannot regulate the power in any way. If you start turning the pedals, the electric motor is activated, which takes you up to the maximum speed of the given mode. It turns off when you stop turning the pedals.
It is strange that if you stop turning the pedals while driving, in order to reactivate the electric drive, you have to make 7-8 revolutions with the pedals before the drive is activated again. In contrast to starting from scratch, it is significantly more, since at the start it is enough to turn the pedals approximately 2 times.
Brakes and gears
fatbike Engwe The M20 has a pair of mechanical disc brakes with a disc diameter of 160 mm. It's a shame that the manufacturer didn't go for hydraulic brakes instead. The mechanical brakes don't brake well either, but in our opinion, a fatbike at such a price would definitely deserve at least basic hydraulic brakes.
As for shifting, we have a single derailleur up front and a seven-cog cassette at the rear. Shifting from Shimano, specifically the TX50 model is among the most basic and cheapest with a price tag in e-shops of around EUR 8. Again, we do not understand why, at a price of around 1500 EUR for such a fatbike, the manufacturer does not use at least a class better gearing, which costs only a few pennies more.
Also, the shifting isn't set up very well, so it still needs some fine-tuning to get the chain to sit properly on the cogs in all gears.
Fatbike handlebars and display Engwe M20
The handlebars are 68 cm wide and hold very comfortably, and overall we are very satisfied with this width and the grips. On the left side there is a brake lever for the rear brake, a display and buttons for controlling the horn and lights. On the right side there is a brake lever for the front brake, a shifter and a rotary grip for controlling the throttle.
The display is simple, but modern. It has three buttons - on / off, "+" and "-" to switch between driving modes. The dominant feature of the display is the display of the current speed, which, by the way, is very accurate. Furthermore, the display shows the current mode (1-5), the distance traveled and the battery capacity.
Unfortunately, the battery capacity is only displayed through the five-part flashlight symbol. It is a pity that the display does not show the current voltage. We can thus check the battery status only with the help of the symbol or with the LEDs on the battery. However, neither of these methods is as accurate as voltage display.
Wide wheels, suspension and comfort while driving
Since this is a fatbike, we have 4″ wide wheels with a diameter of 20″. At first glance, they are already really big, so as expected, they dampen unevenness excellently.
Engwe The M20 is essentially a full-suspension fatbike, as in addition to the front suspension fork, we also find a rear shock absorber. Even though they are just spring dampers, they work very well and the fat bike is very comfortable to ride from this point of view.
Since it is a kind of hybrid between a bicycle and a motorcycle, the manufacturer decided to use a motorcycle-style seat, which means that we lose the possibility of height adjustment.
Our editor is 185 cm tall, so the sitting position was more like a motorcycle, which means that turning the pedals is very uncomfortable in such a position. Therefore, we drove mostly only on electric drive without using the pedals.
However, we have to admit that the seat is not very comfortable. It's fine for short rides, but we didn't feel comfortable on longer rides and after several kilometers our backs started to hurt.
In addition, the seat is quite narrow, has a slight slope and the frame is quite short, which caused us to occasionally slide forward towards the second flashlight.
With a fat bike from Engwe we also drove off-road on dirt roads. It handles lighter terrain well, the spring fork does not knock, but the overall impression is spoiled by the aforementioned less comfortable seat. Shorter people might feel more comfortable on it.
Battery and range on one charge
Engwe M20 is sold in two versions - with one or two batteries. We had a fatbike with two batteries at our disposal. Each has 48 V / 13 Ah, which gives us a total of 26 Ah. The manufacturer indicates a range of 75 km per battery in assisted mode or 55 km exclusively with electric drive. In total, we should travel approximately 110 km in purely electric mode.
As always, we checked the range this time as well. The data from the manufacturer cannot be trusted too much, as we do not know in which mode and under what conditions they tested this range.
Since we had high expectations, we chose the route from Košice to the Hungarian border and back. We measured the mileage using the Runkeeper application on the smartphone and at the end we also compared it with the data on the display. The rider weighed 80 kg and we mostly drove on asphalt roads.
Overall we passed 67,89 km until both batteries were completely discharged, with the fact that before the ride we took photos of the fatbike, during which we covered approximately 5 km. Together we drove up to 73 km on a single charge. The display on the bike showed a value of 77.1 km.
Charging one battery takes about 7 hours. It's a shame that the manufacturer supplies only one charger for two batteries. Overall, we need too much time to gradually charge the batteries. We therefore recommend purchasing a second charger and charging at the same time.
Engwe M20: Final assessment
Engwe The M20 is an unconventional electric fatbike with a design that resembles a motorcycle rather than a bicycle. Its design definitely attracts the attention of passers-by on the street. However, its parameters, 750 W motor, front and rear suspension and the possibility to buy it straight away with two batteries are also interesting.
Each of the batteries has 13 Ah, so in our case we had 26 Ah available. The total range per charge in purely electric mode without the help of pedals is around 73 km, which is not bad at all.
Unfortunately, certain negatives are associated with unconventional design. Perhaps the biggest of them is the impossibility of height adjustment of the seat and its general discomfort during a long drive.
