Best City and Urban Electric Bikes | 11 Light & Zippy Rides

We were big fans of the original version of the Soltera, but the bike and its cadence sensor felt somewhat mismatched. Now, after Aventon’s sweeping upgrade to torque sensors across their entire lineup, the Soltera.2 feels significantly more complete.

The bike’s 350W rear-hub motor with a torque sensor helps it to feel much like a “regular” bike. Its motor allows riders to accelerate faster and travel at higher speeds, of course, but the Soltera.2 still needs – and responds to – its rider’s effort.

This is a bike for those who enjoy a classic cycling experience but who also might want a bit more pep and fun in their lives!

With a relatively lightweight 46-lb frame and 700c x 38mm tires, the Soltera.2 handles well and feels highly nimble. It’s also easy to lift, whether you need to carry it up a flight of stairs or throw it on a bike rack.

We’re also thrilled about some of its additional features; the addition of turn signals helps with communication on the road, and Aventon’s selection of 4 PAS settings makes the bike feel user-friendly and intuitive. Add in some flexibility and breathing room with Class 3 speeds above 20 mph, and the Soltera.2 is one fantastic bike!

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We don’t often recommend e-bikes below $1,000 due to performance and quality concerns, but every model we’ve tested from Lectric has met (and often exceeded) our expectations. The Lectric XP Lite 2.0 lands on this list for its budget-friendliness but also for its portability; the bike folds to a compact size for storage and is “lite” enough to lift without an extra set of hands.

At 47.5 lbs, the bike’s low weight makes it nimble and maneuverable and also grants it quick acceleration. The 2.0 is “lite” enough to be carried up to a third-story apartment or easily managed on public transit—and its battery can be removed to shave off another 5 lbs.

To be clear, the XP Lite is basic but still highly functional, capable, and versatile.

For example, its single-speed drivetrain is cost-effective and requires little maintenance. Instead of shifting, riders can rely on the pedal-assist system to adjust speed and hill-climbing ability.

Additionally, while the bike’s 300W motor is modest, it can travel up to a Class 2 maximum speed of 20 mph through throttle or pedal assist.

Finally, although it lacks front suspension, the Lite’s knobby tires allow riders to venture beyond smooth, paved surfaces.

The bike is also compatible with plenty of accessories. Commuters looking for utilitarian accessories like fenders, a cargo rack, and pannier bags can add Lectric’s “Carry Package,” while those who want to maximize its functionality can add a front rack and cargo baskets with the “Cargo Package.” Lectric also offers battery and drivetrain upgrades at reasonable prices.

The Lectric XP Lite has a lot to love for budget-conscious riders, which is why we awarded it the Best Affordable City and Urban Electric Bike.

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The Tenways CGO600 Pro earned a place on this list with its great design, simplicity, and ride feel.

We were pleasantly surprised by how zippy and responsive it felt! As a Class 1 e-bike, the CGO600 Pro does not include a throttle, but its 350W rear-hub motor can assist you when pedaling up to 20 mph. Its torque sensor allows it to give you more power as you pedal harder – just like an analog bike.

Like some of the other models on this list, the CGO uses a simple and clean single-speed drivetrain. With a Gates Carbon belt instead of a chain, the bike’s drive system is much more durable, requires no maintenance, and does not require lubrication. We love not having to worry about getting our legs or pants greasy!

The absence of a full cassette may be limiting to some riders – especially on hills – but with no need to shift, we found the bike extremely easy to operate. Instead of the usual five pedal-assist settings, the CGO600 Pro uses just three, so finding the ideal power level was fast and straightforward.

We also really liked the bike’s overall visual appearance; it’s streamlined and contemporary, with unique color options like the “Avocado Green” on our test bike.

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The Pace 500 has been on our list of the best city and urban electric bikes for some time, but with the newest version of the bike, the Pace 500.3, Aventon went above and beyond to reaffirm its place. As with the brand’s other models, the bike has been updated and upgraded with turn signals for added safety and a torque sensor for a greatly improved ride feel.

Similar to most of the other Aventon models, the Pace 500.3 ST ships as a Class 2 e-bike with throttle and pedal assist up to 20 mph, but it can be unlocked through the Aventon app to a Class 3. This allows it to keep pace (sorry, we couldn’t resist) with the previous version of the bike, which shipped with a 28 mph speed limit.

Regardless of Class and speed limit, the Pace 500.3 is a zippy and highly maneuverable e-bike that combines a cruiser’s upright positioning and comfort with the low(ish) weight and contemporary styling of a city bike. The Step-Thru frame is more accessible, allowing seniors or commuters wearing business attire to mount/dismount effortlessly.

The Pace 500.3’s torque sensor allows the bike to respond naturally to the rider’s effort and creates a more efficient interaction between the motor and the battery. We saw up to 67 miles in our testing in the 500.3’s lowest pedal assist setting—enough for a lengthy commute or many days’ worth of shorter rides.

The Pace 500.3 ST is a capable city cruiser that adds an extra measure of flair to its style when compared to many of the other city e-bikes on this list. It’s a great option for senior riders or those seeking a blend of nimble handling, a peppy motor, and relaxed comfort.

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The best city e-bikes are commonly easy to handle, highly responsive, and largely customizable to your needs and preferences. By this logic, a fat tire utility bike might not sound like the most natural fit, but the Globe Haul ST’s capabilities might surprise you – especially if you regularly need to bring a lot of stuff along for the ride.

Many city-dwellers would benefit from the ample cargo space of a long-tail cargo e-bike, but let’s be honest—they take up a lot of space. A short-tailed utility bike like the Globe Haul ST could better fit in the tight quarters of dense urban living spaces. The Haul is small yet highly adaptive to city life thanks to its massive 419-lb carrying capacity and wide range of optional accessories.

Also, its motor can move fast, move heavy things, or move heavy things surprisingly fast.

We appreciated a number of its other features, too. The bike’s low center of gravity makes handling even a full cargo load easy. Its fat tires provide the stability we expected while somehow feeling suprisingly maneuverable. It also had one of our best Hill Test results to date, showing that even the extreme hills of San Francisco shouldn’t pose a threat.

The bottom line is that we think the Globe Haul ST has serious appeal for managing most city needs.

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One part lightweight city bike, one part commuter, the Trek FX+ 2 is a functional, practical hybrid. The bike is speedy, maneuverable, and easy to carry—plus, it comes equipped with commuter essentials such as lights, a cargo rack, and fenders!

Like a few other models on this list, the FX+ 2 is also super stealthy. The bike’s quiet, unobtrusive rear hub motor is the only thing that identifies it as an e-bike from a visual standpoint.

You’d almost never know it was an e-bike when riding either; as a Class 1 e-bike, there’s no throttle to fall back on, and the bike’s torque sensor requires you to put in some work. The payoff is worth it, though! The FX+ 2’s 250W hub motor adds just enough input to take the edge off, giving you faster speeds and the feeling of being superhuman.

Speaking of the motor, Trek tuned it to feel about as close to a mid-drive as a rear-hub can get. Furthermore, the bike’s pedal assist system is remarkably intuitive, delivering noticeable and steady increases in power between assist levels. Its output is also customizable through the Hyena Rider Assistant app!

We think the FX+2’s lightweight frame, natural ride feel, and high stealth factor are major reasons to love the bike. We regard it as a competent city e-bike for those who wish to stay connected to their cycling roots or those simply seeking a nimble, responsive ride.

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GoCycle’s G4 model is an iconic, fast-folding electric city bike with the brand’s trademark funky styling. We’ve come to love its ride quality, its unique design, and its practical size!

The e-bike uses a significant amount of carbon construction; its unique single-sided fork is made of the stuff along with its midbody (the part that connects the front half of the bike with the rear). This makes the G4 extremely lightweight and vertically compliant, making for a more comfortable ride.

We found the GoCycle’s proprietary front hub motor to be surprisingly capable for its blink-and-you’ll-miss-it size; it’s torquey, peppy, and plenty able to climb hills.

It’s also unexpectedly accommodating for such a compact bike; even some of our larger test riders felt comfortable. With a short wheelbase and a highly manageable weight of 38 lbs, the G4 feels agile, fast—and perhaps most importantly for a folding e-bike—easy to lift.

GoCycle’s bikes have long been the standard bearer of functionality, rideability, and unique design in the folding e-bike category. The G4 continues the trend with its effective motor, solid range, and its hi-tech feel. The bike’s remarkably quick and easy folding mechanism is the icing on the cake; it flatly just works and works well.

In short, this e-bike is for the seasoned urban and city commuter who is short on space at home, at the office, or on public transport.

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Even when considering only the basic specs of the Specialized Turbo Vado, this top-tier city/urban e-bike stands out from the crowd.

Perhaps most obviously because of an awesome, fully-stocked spec sheet. The Vado features a proprietary, highly tuned 250W mid-drive motor with 70 Nm of torque and a torque sensor, a 710 Wh battery, and a SRAM groupset, including an 11-speed drivetrain and hydraulic disc brakes.

The Turbo Vado brings a couple of uncommon features as well: its suspension seatpost and front suspension fork make the ride more comfortable, while commuter essentials like a cargo rack, fenders, and lights make it practical for daily trips to the office and back.

As a Class 3 e-bike, the Turbo Vado can easily keep up with traffic thanks to its ability to reach motor-assisted speeds of 28 mph. We adored the advanced motor’s responsiveness, quick acceleration, steady speed, and solid uphill capability. Specialized’s marketing claims the bike provides 4x your own input!

The Specialized Turbo Vado is also hugely customizable, with both high-step and step-thru frames available in a variety of different sizes. There are also a wide array of trim packages including one with an IGH (internally geared hub) that replaces a standard cassette. Finally, the Turbo Vado also comes in an “SL” or super-light model that’s super easy to carry.

Regardless of the trim package, the Turbo Vado is likely to be one of the more expensive options on this list, but the bike’s cost is justified by its premium features, specs, and feel. Customers of Specialized also have the benefit of excellent customer service from a global brand.

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Let’s be honest: whether due to balance or mobility concerns, not everyone can ride a bike. The folks at Rad Power Bikes saw this gap in the market and designed the RadTrike to meet the needs of those who need (or want) the larger degree of safety and stability offered by a vehicle with three wheels instead of two. They also focused on making the product affordable!

We found the RadTrike to be fun to ride, but that’s simply a bonus when considering how effectively it fulfills its design intent. As with all of Rad’s products, the trike was thoughtfully and intentionally designed to be functional, comfortable, practical, and useful.

Evidence of this approach can be found throughout. The RadTrike’s width, for example, allows it to easily fit through standard doorways. Its low center of gravity and 14 mph speed limit are other factors; this combination greatly reduces the likelihood of tipping up on two wheels (as all trikes are prone to doing).

Additionally, the RadTrike’s impressive 415-lb payload capacity gives it the ability to handle a 325-lb rider, 60 lbs of cargo on the optional rear rack, and an additional 30 lbs on the optional front rack. These are just a few examples – the RadTrike is chock full of small but impactful details!

It’s no slouch when it comes to ride comfort and power, either. A low standover height of just 13.4” makes it easy to hop on and off. A large, padded seat with a backrest and a relaxed riding position makes for a supportive and comfortable experience.

The trike’s 750W front-hub motor allows it to handle hills with ease, and its 780 Wh battery proved capable of matching Rad Power’s claimed 55+ mile range in our testing.

We highly recommend the RadTrike as an affordable and highly accessible alternative to a car or an e-bike—and one that is extremely practical for city and urban use.

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The LeMond Prolog is one of the more unique e-bikes on this list, first, in its stunningly good looks. As a carbon fiber e-bike, it has the luxury of scrapping the usual preformed and welded aluminum frame members. Instead, it uses a clean and sculpted single-piece carbon fiber shell with internally-routed components and integrated lights.

Second, in shockingly low weight and great handling; the composition of its composite components results in an e-bike that weighs just 26 lbs! When riding, the frame can feel like it’s not even there, it’s amazingly easy to lift and carry, and its handling feels highly responsive with such a featherlight frame.

Third is its technology; the Prolog uses a high-end Mahle x35 drive system with a fully internal battery, a subtle 250W rear hub motor, and a single-button user interface instead of a display. Instead of a screen, this interface uses an intuitive, color-changing light ring to communicate battery charge level, current PAS setting, light system activation, etc.

As a Class 1 e-bike with such a slight motor, the Prolog will help you pedal up to 20 mph, but it’s made for riders who want to feel like they’re doing most of the heavy lifting. The bike’s interface is unique and effective despite its simplicity; it communicates pedal assist setting, battery charge, and light system activation through a full-color light ring around its button.

The Prolog offers a premium, hi-tech experience that needs to be felt to be understood; it’s a more performance-oriented e-bike than many on this list, but in many ways it’s also a work of art.

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Frankly, the Ride1UP Portola delivers some of the best value we’ve ever seen. Prior to its release, Lectric more or less had the affordable/high-quality folding e-bike market cornered with their folding XP model – but with a ton of great features and a similar starting price of around $1,000, the Portola raised the bar.

It’s not a copycat, either; the Portola includes uncommon features for its price point.

The bike includes a powerful 750W rear-hub motor with 65 Nm of torque, a higher-tier shifter and derailleur with crisp shifting, a passenger-capable cargo rack with 130 lbs of carrying capacity, and even a strap to keep the bike together when it’s folded – surprisingly, this is a feature most folding bikes don’t include.

The Portola also includes two battery capacity options that determine the distance it can travel on a single charge. The base model includes a 48V, 500 Wh battery, but you can choose a larger 643 Wh battery for a nominal upcharge. Spare 672 Wh batteries are also available for purchase separately for even greater range (our test bike shipped with this option).

Additionally, the bike can travel at Class 3 speeds, it can accommodate a wide range of riders between 4’-10” and 6’-4”, and it includes hydraulic disc brakes. We think its ride quality is a step above the norm for its price. The icing on the proverbial cake is the Portola’s trademark Ride1UP styling and finish; we’re partial to the matte blue paint job, but other options are available.

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As such, we’re not going to kid you (or ourselves) by claiming this list is perfect. Instead, this list is a hard-debated and long-considered catalog of some of the best city and urban e-bikes on the market.

We know all of these bikes intimately; we’ve pedaled them hundreds of miles up hills, through traffic, and around our local bike paths. We’ve even put them through an array of standardized tests to fully understand how well they perform in the real world. These bikes stood out the most from the dozens of similar bikes we’ve tested.

We evaluated city and urban bikes based on a few key criteria, mainly:

• Range: How long will the battery last? City bikes typically need to cover shorter distances, but their batteries should be able to last for a solid day of riding.
• Weight: Could you carry the bike up a flight of stairs or lift it onto a bus? This is a tough bar to clear for most e-bikes, but we feel the cutoff for city and urban e-bikes is around 50 lbs.
• Maneuverability: Can the bike fit into tight spaces between cars? Is it quick enough to dodge pedestrians? City bikes are known for responsive handling and a high degree of agility.
• Comfort: Is the bike comfortable to ride for long periods of time? Urban e-bikes are typically less comfortable than cruisers as they prioritize functionality, but the bike’s positioning and geometry shouldn’t leave you sore.
• Accessories: How can the bike be customized? Many city bikes take a minimalist approach, but we appreciate the option to add useful accessories like lights, fenders, cargo racks, etc.

We update this list regularly as we test more bikes and identify new models that impress us, but there are too many being added to the market on a daily basis for us to keep up with them all. Do you have a favorite that you didn’t see here? Let us know what you ride!

The most important thing you can do when buying a new e-bike is to have a solid idea of what you want to do with it. When compiling this list, our team envisioned a person needing a reliable method of covering a modest distance while sharing the road (or path) with plenty of other people.

Maybe you want a bike to be lightweight and agile; maybe you want it to be stylish; and maybe you want it to be able to carry a little cargo (or a little human). If any of these options sound like you, you’re in the right place. If not, that’s OK too—we’ve got lots of other lists covering the best bikes in categories from commuters to cruisers and more.

Our advice when buying an e-bike: be real about the distance you need to cover each trip and what type of hills and obstacles you need to navigate—and get a bike that matches those needs.

If you’re new to e-bikes and need help understanding the difference between watts and motor controllers, we’ve got a guide for that. We’d also especially recommend checking out our list of the best commuter e-bikes, as many of those options are similar to those featured here.

Have a bike that you think would be a good contender for our best page? Let us know in the comment section below. At the very least, we always want to know what our readers are riding.