Engwe Mapfour N1 Professional e-bike evaluation: the brand new ‘premium’

Europe has an electrical bike drawback. Direct-to-consumer e-bikes from cheap Chinese language manufacturers like Engwe and numerous others may be simply bought on-line regardless of overtly flouting EU restrictions. They characteristic throttles and highly effective motors that may be simply unlocked to far exceed the 25km/h (16mph) authorized velocity restrict — no pedaling required.

Right here in Amsterdam, low-cost Super73-knockoffs ridden at virtually twice the authorized velocity have made the town’s famend bicycle lanes more and more chaotic and dangerous. Throughout the Netherlands, over 10,000 of these electric “fat bikes” were seized in 2024.

Engwe’s new Mapfour lineup is the corporate’s try at going legit by increasing from souped-up electrical fats bikes and foldables into “premium commuter” e-bikes. And since they’re the primary e-bikes that Engwe has designed solely for European roads, the corporate swears they’ll’t be unlocked for extra velocity.

I’ve been using the brand new Mapfour N1 Professional mannequin for the previous few weeks. It lists for €1,899 (virtually $2,000), or €1,799 throughout the preliminary launch — a value that brings heightened expectations.

The N1 Professional is slathered in premium capabilities like GPS/GSM monitoring for which some bike makers cost subscriptions. The monocoque body and fork are constructed from carbon fiber equipped by Toray — “the identical high-quality carbon fiber as Trek and Specialised,” claims Engwe. There’s even turn-by-turn navigation constructed into the full-featured app, a big colourful show built-in into handlebars, and a built-in mechanical lock within the rear wheel hub that robotically engages when the bike is turned off and stationary.

My evaluation bike was lacking a fender bolt, often flashed a wierd error code, and the solar-powered rear mild gained’t activate. Nonetheless, it’s possible the best high quality electrical bike Engwe has ever made.

I’ve plenty of expertise with assembling direct-to-consumer e-bikes and the N1 Professional was able to trip in about an hour, which is typical. Even with a carbon-fiber body it weighs 20.1kg (44lbs) absolutely assembled in response to my scale, which is heavy for an e-bike — simply not Veloretti-heavy.

Within the field you’ll discover a primary toolset that features the whole lot wanted for meeting and directions written in stellar English not like some earlier Engwe tutorials I’ve learn. I needed to assemble the pedals, entrance wheel, kickstand, handlebar, and fenders, and fish out a alternative fender bolt from some spare bicycle components I had mendacity round. I then went to regulate the saddle to my peak solely to find that I used to be too tall for the N1 Professional.

The saddle stem has a marked security line that stops nicely earlier than the peak wanted for my 6 foot (183cm) body, regardless of being bought within the Netherlands the place I’m thought-about a brief king. Nonetheless, exceeding the road by about 2.5cm (one inch) hasn’t made the saddle really feel insecure, even when using over tough cobblestones. Engwe claims the N1 Professional helps riders from 165–190cm, and is contemplating providing the choice for an extended saddle stem at checkout based mostly upon my suggestions.

The N1 Professional’s geometry places the rider into what’s basically a mountain bike stance: a reasonable ahead lean with fingers unfold vast out in entrance of the physique. That wrist and physique angle mixed with a fairly stiff saddle should not excellent for using lengthy distances, particularly together with a backpack that’ll put much more weight on the fingers and derrière. I do like that enjoyable, sporty posture over brief distances, however in case you’re searching for a extra relaxed trip then Engwe has the upright €1,399 MapFour N1 Air accessible in each step-over and step-through frames.

The 250W mid-drive Ananda motor on the N1 Professional is almost silent beneath the din of highway noise, and the built-in torque sensor supplies an intuitive pedal-assist in any respect speeds. It produces as much as 80Nm of torque that lets me simply begin from a useless cease in fourth gear (of seven) on flat roads, however testing on a hill with a gradient of about 15 % required a begin from first gear. Sometimes, I solely wanted to shift to a excessive gear once I wished to make use of my leg energy to propel the bike at speeds above the 25km/h motor cutoff.

Regardless of claiming a variety of as much as 100km from its modest 360Wh battery, my first take a look at carried out over just a few weeks yielded simply 23km off a full cost in near-freezing circumstances. I often rode in energy setting three of 5 on principally flat roads. The second take a look at carried out on a single hotter day improved the vary to 27km with 28 % cost remaining — or an estimated 36km if I had time to run the battery dry for a under common 10Wh consumed per kilometer travelled. The bike battery appears to undergo from idle battery drain of about 1-2 % per day when parked inside my home.

Worrisome for a “premium” e-bike: on two events I noticed an “09” error message flash on the show which Engwe continues to be diagnosing. As soon as, whereas beginning the bike after it had been sitting exterior within the rain for just a few hours. One other time after using residence on a rain-soaked road whereas switching between the N1 Professional’s common and high-beam lights. Within the first case, a easy reboot cleared it and I used to be in a position to trip away high-quality, however the different time required using residence beneath my very own energy earlier than it inexplicably cleared the following morning.

There was a time when premium e-bikes had listing costs round €2,000 / $2,000. These days are as gone because the free enterprise capital propping up e-bike startups, pushing premium costs as much as a beginning value nearer to €3,000 / $3,000. The €1,899 (about $1,960) Engwe N1 Professional is due to this fact priced about proper. It’s not a nasty e-bike, but it surely’s additionally not nice regardless of checking off plenty of options on a advertising sheet.

Simply keep in mind, servicing a direct-to-consumer e-bike is usually a drawback because it requires the prepared availability of spare components and the information to switch them. As with all electrical bike uncovered to the weather and common highway use, the N1 Professional’s motor and any proprietary electronics just like the controller, show, battery, lights, buttons, and built-in lock will ultimately want servicing. So that you’d higher be on very good phrases together with your native bike store or be useful with a wrench and oscilloscope to stop your mail-order e-bike from shortly turning into e-waste.

Pictures by Thomas Ricker / The Verge