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iGo Core Elite 3DHD Review: A Sleeper Commuter Option?

A useful, feature-rich commuter e-bike designed for a smooth, practical ride.

iGo Core Elite 3DHD Review 2024
In a market dominated by e-bikes equipped with bulky tires and versatile designs, iGo introduces a refreshing focus on dedicated commuting with the Core Elite 3DHD. Despite its somewhat cumbersome name, the bike makes a compelling case as a practical choice in the commuter e-bike category.

It’s equipped with a 500W rear hub motor that powers 28×1.75” Maxxis commuter tires, a front suspension fork, and it includes other essential commuter features like front-to-back fenders, integrated LED lighting, and racks.

After running it through our testing paces testing, the Core Elite 3DHD shined with its smooth handling and well-thought-out amenities that enhance its everyday usability. This testing highlighted several standout characteristics and identified some areas needing a little improvement. Let’s delve into the specifics and outcomes of our evaluation to determine whether the Core Elite 3DHD meets the practical demands and expectations of daily commuters in this detailed review.

*iGO has shared an exclusive discount code with the Electric Bike Report audience. Use code: GOELECTRIC100 at checkout for $100 off your e-bike purchase.

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Swytch Launches the Go; an Uber Cheap E-Bike Convsersion Kit

The Swytch is a new e-bike conversion kit that uses a front-wheel hub motor and straps a moderately sized battery to the top tube or mounts on the handlebar.

Swytch Launches the Go; an Uber-Cheap E-Bike Conversion Kit

E-bike conversion kits have been around for a while, but because the challenge to install them can be considerable, they haven’t enjoyed widespread acceptance. Most people have found that it’s easier to simply buy an e-bike new. Some folks, however, need to keep their budget snug as an overtightened belt. That’s where Swytch’s latest innovative kit, the Go, comes in.

The Swytch Go is a new e-bike conversion kit that aims to make conversions both easy and affordable. The design is so innovative it won a Red Dot Award. Their approach simplifies matters to a great degree. Rather than replacing the rear wheel, the Swytch Kit goes with a 250W front hub motor, so only the front wheel is replaced.

The kit comes with the front wheel with brushless, geared hub motor, battery, charger, pedal sensor and LED display/controller. Buyers can choose between several different batteries, depending on how clean you want the installation to look and how much range you want.

go hybrid bike

The Swytch Go comes with all of the above and a battery that straps to the top tube and seat tube. The battery comes in three different capacities: 187Wh, which Swytch says should offer 15-20 mi. of range; 280Wh, which should offer 30-40 mi. and 378Wh, which should give riders 45-60 mi. per charge.

Swytch also offers the Swytch Air, which comes with all the same components, but instead of a battery pack that straps to the frame, it comes with a smaller battery that mounts to the handlebar and comes in either 98Wh (7-10 mi.) or 180Wh (15-20 mi.).

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The Swytch Go and Swytch Air are refreshing approaches to retrofitting a bike with a motor. What typically sours people on such a conversion is the difficulty of running the wires from the controller to the pedal sensor, battery and the motor. The Swytch kits simplify installation by saving the rider from dealing with the rear wheel, but it doesn’t eliminate running leads from the controller to the cadence sensor, battery and motor.

Running the cables to the components won’t be especially difficult. They also simplify installation by including a two-piece cadence sensor so that you don’t have to remove a crank arm to install it. In fact, installing the Swytch Go or Swytch Air requires only a handful of tools.

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McLaren Joins eMTBs With Interesting Claims

The legendary Motorsport giant has introduced four eMTBs, and two are said to be the most powerful trail-legal eMTBs on the market.

McLaren Joins eMTBs With Interesting Claims

Supercar maker McLaren is entering the e-bike business. They have introduced four eMTBs—two full-suspension models and two hardtails—all of which are assisted by a mid-drive motor bearing the McLaren logo on its housing.

McLaren’s big claim is that two of the models, the Extreme 600 and the Sport 600, are the most powerful trail-legal eMTBs on the market. The other two are built with 250W motors. The claim that they are the most powerful trail-legal eMTBs on the market comes with an asterisk (*). Normally, when someone uses an asterisk like that they include an explanation at the bottom of the page, but we can’t find one on the McLaren site.

Without any deeper explanation from McLaren, it appears that the Extreme 600 and Sport 600 feature motors that produce 600W nominally and 161Nm of torque, with power peaking at 852W.

There’s a lot to unpack in this announcement, some of it awesome and some just curious. With no clarification from McLaren, we’re drawing the conclusion that what they mean by trail-legal is that these are all Class 1 eMTBs that max out their assistance at 20 mph and come with no throttle. They offer four PAS levels: Eco, Trail, Sport and Race.

So what does that extra power get you? Let’s compare it to Bosch’s very desirable Performance Line SX motor. The Performance Line SX maxes out at 600W and 55Nm of torque, so the McLaren motor offers 42 percent more power and nearly three times the torque. What that gives you is better acceleration and more raw climbing power. Compared to many other eMTBs, the McLaren Extreme 600 and Sport 600 will allow a rider to soft-pedal through most terrain. You could climb our infamous Hell Hole all day and not break a sweat, maybe.

Some readers are probably wondering why McLaren would choose to enter the e-bike market with high-end eMTBs. This isn’t exactly McLaren’ first rodeo in cycling. They have worked with Specialized to produce special versions of Specialized’s Tarmac and Roubaix road bikes. These bikes featured optimized carbon fiber layups that yielded frames that were lighter, stronger and offered a more lively ride. There’s a special division of McLaren called McLaren Applied that takes the company’s know-how and applies it to other technologies.

There’s another curious statement on McLaren’s page, that their designers spent more than 1000 engineering hours crafting the carbon fiber frame to Class A surface standards. If you’ve never heard of this, that’s okay. It’s an automotive standard—not one used in cycling—that translates to a flawless surface finish. There are no visible surface imperfections of any kind and the whole of the appearance is, to cut to the chase, impeccable.

The four e-bikes also include an integrated carbon fiber bar and stem that incorporates a relatively large display and a 1550 lumen headlight into a single, swooping component. The full-suspension Extreme 600 and Extreme 250 feature a 160mm-travel fork and 145mm-travel rear suspension, while the hardtails are spec’d with a 140mm-travel fork.

The full-suspension Extreme uses a mullet wheel setup with a 29-in. wheel front and a 27.5-in. wheel in the rear; the Sport goes with 29-in. wheels front and rear. All four bikes will be spec’d with high-end SRAM components.

The McLaren eMTBs are priced as we would expect to see high-end eMTBs from big manufacturers. The least expensive of them, the Sport 250, costs a little less than $8000 and they go up from there. Each model comes in three sizes.

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When word got out that the motorsports home of Ayrton Senna, one of the greatest Formula 1 drivers of all time, was going to produce eMTBs, we were a touch giddy. We had already seen the results of their work with Specialized, and they are, after all, McLaren, not Yugo.

That said, we are surprised that McLaren didn’t release the geometries for the two frames. This is the sort of information that a dedicated bike nerd wants to rabbit-hole. There isn’t a single reputable mountain bike or eMTB maker that withholds their geometry.

Their decision to report the eMTBs’ power-to-weight ratios is interesting, but what most of us want to know is how much these e-bikes weigh in pounds or kilograms.

We can’t verify McLaren’s claim that these are the most powerful eMTBs on the market, but their motor does give us some clues. A motor that produces 600W nominally and 161Nm of torque is well within the current abilities of Bafang and it seems more than plausible that McLaren would have worked with a company currently producing e-bike motors to private-label their motor rather than build a factory of their own. One of Bafang’s current offerings comes very close to the McLaren motor’s performance. The Bafang M615 can be ordered as an OE motor by brands and spec’d on their e-bikes, configured to either produce 750W or 1000W, with torque measuring 160Nm; this may well be the basis of McLaren’s motor, though even if it’s not other manufacturers are free to order it.

Also curious is their boasting of spending 1000 hours getting the surface finish perfect. Cool, but that won’t make this eMTB ride any better than the Ibis Oso or Specialized Levo. Tell us something useful, like what sort of suspension design is being used.

That McLaren will offer only three sizes telegraphs that their production level will be modest. Not cutting tooling for either an XS or XL size will leave some riders out, and not many dedicated riders will want to drop more than $10,000 on an eMTB that doesn’t fit perfectly, which brings back the no geometry issue: What is the reach and stack for each size? If you’re 5 feet 10 how do you know whether to order the medium or the large? No one drops this much money on an e-bike and chooses their size solely based on their height.

More surprising still is their decision to integrate the bar, stem, light and display. We’ve seen multiple examples in the past of companies that were new to the bike industry and launched a bike or e-bike with the display integrated in the stem and sooner or later that display breaks, which means that while it is being serviced the owner either goes without their ride or they are forced to purchase other components in order to ride while the display is being serviced. Adding a light means there are additional opportunities for something to break. And for those who care about their fit, integrating the bar and stem means that you can’t change the rotation of the bar, which is a fundamental part of establishing a good fit. And what if the rider wants a bar with some rise? There’s no way to swap this out. Finally, because McLaren isn’t a bike company it seems likely that at some point in the future—be it three years, five years or eight—they are likely to leave the eMTB business, unlike Specialized and Trek. McLaren’s warranty is two years.

These are impressive eMTBs, but we’d like to know a bit more about them.

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Update: House Approves Lithium-Ion Battery Standards Bill; Now Awaits Senate Approval

The House of Representatives passed H.R. 1797 with strong bipartisan support. It grants the CPSC authority to establish new standards for li-ion batteries.

House Approves Lithium-Ion Battery Standards Bill; Now Awaits Senate Approval

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill that sets minimum safety standards for the lithium-ion batteries used in mobility devices such as e-bikes. H.R. 1797, known as Setting Consumer Standards for Lithium-Ion Batteries Act, passed with significant bipartisan support in a vote of 378-34. The bill was introduced in 2023 by New York Rep. Ritchie Torres and was endorsed by New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kristen Gillibrand.

The bill now goes to the Senate for approval.

H.R. 1797 would give the Consumer Product Safety Commission the express authority to set a standard for quality in lithium-ion batteries used in e-mobility devices. The standard would cover batteries, as well as chargers, cables, connectors and even charging stations.

“We need coordinated federal leadership to mitigate the threat that unregulated and untested lithium-ion batteries pose to individual consumers and communities across America,” said Matt Moore, PeopleForBikes policy counsel. “The Setting Consumer Standards for Lithium-Ion Batteries Act is a necessary first step towards a safer e-mobility future. We’re proud supporters of the bill and look forward to working with the sponsors in moving it through the Senate, to the president’s desk, and on to the CPSC to implement.”

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Considering the widespread bipartisan support the bill received in the House, smooth passage through the Senate seems possible, and if that happens, a signature by President Biden shouldn’t be a stretch. This is an issue that concerns everyone, whether they ride e-bikes or not.

If passed, the law will place the establishment of the standard in the hands of the CPSC. This puts the proper authority—a scientific body—in control of its administration.

Should the law pass, the combination of it plus the ever-increasing number of manufacturers seeking UL certification for their e-bikes and other e-mobility devices will usher in a new, safer era for e-bikes.

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Kona Founders Buy Back Kona Brand

The bike maker’s founders rescued the beloved brand from private equity.

Kona Founders Buy Back Kona Brand

Mere weeks ago, the bike industry was wondering what would become of Kona Bicycles. Staff had driven from Washington State down to Monterey, California, for the Sea Otter Classic, set up their tent only to be told to pack up and return to the HQ in Ferndale, Washington. With the brand struggling, its owner, Kent Outdoors, announced that they were seeking a buyer.

Kona’s troubles began in the pandemic with the volatile boom-and-bust that occurred after most brands sold through their season’s stock before the Fourth of July in 2020. The founders sold to Kent Outdoors—once a maker of bikes themselves, but now largely a holding company for other outdoor brands, which include Arbor Snowboards, Bote, Connelly, O’Brien and Onyx.

Kent implemented consumer-direct sales, which didn’t go well—some retailers dropped the brand because the pricing undercut their profits. Once they were able to restock their inventory they soon found themselves heavily overstocked and began a jaw-dropping BOGO—buy one bike, get one bike free.

Kona also struggled with leadership turnover, going through four CEOs since 2023.

With the announcement that they were buying the brand back from Kent, founders Jake Heilbron and Dan Gerhard issued a letter to the industry, which read, in part, “We believed that the new owners would carry our vision forward and continue to build great bikes, employ great people, and deliver on the promise of quality, fun and a little weirdness that had defined Kona for so long. Unfortunately that plan unfolded quite differently, so now we’re buying Kona back.”

Heilbron and Gerhard have ceased the consumer-direct program, choosing to return to the brand’s roots of supporting a network of bike shops.

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Kona Bicycles has been known as quirky brand that goes its own way, rather than following bike-industry trends. They produce a dozen different e-bike models, which include commuters, hardtail eMTBs, full-suspension eMTBs and gravel e-bikes.

Kona’s new/old owners say they are working to reestablish their dealer network and establish a pricing structure. Though they don’t plan to repeat the BOGO, they do anticipate aggressive pricing to get their bikes and e-bikes back onto retailers’ floors.

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Stromer ST5 Pinion E-Bike Review 2024 | A $12k Commuter Worth Its Weight In Gold?

A premium commuter & touring e-bike with exceptional ride quality, loads of high-tech features, and a price point to match.

Stromer ST5 Pinion E-Bike Review 2024
One thing I’ve learned here at Electric Bike Report is that quality bikes have a certain feel. Where precise geometry, superb construction, advanced technology, and aesthetic design intersect, magic happens. When testing the Stromer ST5 Pinion, I could feel this even after a single ride; this bike exudes refinement. Fortunately, I had much more than a single ride to learn all its features and characteristics.

A defining element of the ST5’s ride was its precise, natural, and highly-tuned feel. It combined the responsiveness of an analog bike with a silent, smooth, and staggeringly powerful 750W rear-hub so well that I had the sense of being superhuman. At low assist levels, speed was the only thing giving away the bike’s electric nature. At high power levels, it felt like I was powering an unleashed supercar.

With a weight of 75.5 lbs and grippy 27.5”x2.4” Pirelli tires, the ST5 also felt stout and solid. Potential buyers should be aware that the bike could be somewhat cumbersome to lift without removing its battery, but its weight also helped it to feel stable and extremely planted.

With a starting price of just under $12k, the ST5 Pinion is undoubtedly pricey – but its cost is also justified by a host of premium, high tech features. Perhaps most notably is the 9-speed, namesake Pinion gearbox with electronic and automatic shifting features. Additional highlights include front anti-lock brakes, a security system, GPS tracking with an internal SIM card, regenerative braking, and a number of other uncommon elements. These features help to put the ST5 more or less in a league of its own.

We tested the Stromer ST5 Pinion’s speed, braking capability, climbing power, and range to see if its price tag matched its performance. We also went deep into its features and customization options to share what this advanced, sporty commuter can do – our full review continues below!


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European E-Bike Injuries Down 16%; Third Straight Year of Decline

A study by Micro-Mobility for Europe found that injuries requiring medical attention to riders of e-bikes and e-scooters dropped by 16% and 19% respectively.

European E-Bike Injuries Down 16%; Third Straight Year of Decline

For the third straight year, injuries caused by micromobility devices have dropped in Europe. In 2023 there were 16 percent fewer e-bike rider injuries that resulted in medical treatment than there were in 2022. E-scooter rider injuries dropped even more with 19 percent reduction in 2023 relative to 2022 levels.

The data comes from a study conducted by Micro-Mobility for Europe (MMfE). The organization is a coalition of micromibility share companies, including Bird, Bolt, Dott, Lime, Tier and Voi. Together, they account for 300 million e-scooter uses and 58 million e-bike rides.

When accounting for all injuries—not just those that required medical treatment—the reductions were even more encouraging. Shared e-scooter users saw a 44 percent reduction in injuries from 2022 to 2023, while e-bike riders saw a 39 percent drop over the same period of time.

Motor vehicles continue to be the biggest threat to riders of both e-scooters and e-bikes. Nearly 70 percent of all fatalities occurred in crashes with cars and trucks.

“There are a range of factors that have likely contributed to micromobility injuries on shared vehicles in Europe dropping for the third year in a row,” said Co-Chair of MMfE and Voi’s Director of Central Policy, Christy Pearson.

“Firstly, as operators, our devices improve with each new generation. Secondly, in collaboration with cities, we dedicate significant resources to educate citizens and users. Thirdly, certain cities and regions have taken bold action and improved infrastructure to improve safety for vulnerable road users.

“This is something we hope to see continue across all cities in Europe.”

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Any reduction in the number of injuries—and deaths—to micromobility users is welcome. Nothing else has the potential to chill the adoption of e-scooters and e-bikes the way concern for your safety can.

What we would love to know more about is where, geographically in relation to cities, the reductions occurred. Considering the way many European cities have restricted access to cars and trucks in dense city centers with streets that weren’t designed with cars in mind, it would be helpful to know if the restrictions to motor vehicles correlated with the reduction in injuries and fatalities.

We would also love to know more about the rate of helmet use. As we’ve seen, when people wear a helmet, injuries are reduced. It would be helpful to know if helmet use was, as we suspect, higher among those who were injured but didn’t need medical care and lower among those who did require medical care.

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OKAI Launches Three New E-Bikes

The company is best-known in the micromobility share space, but is now moving into the direct-to-consumer market.

OKAI Launches Three New E-Bikes

OKAI has announced three new e-bikes that will be joining its line. Best known as a maker of e-bikes and e-scooters for share programs, it is now moving into the private ownership market and these three new models are the first to launch.

The three e-bikes hit three distinct price points from just less than $1000 to just below $2000. The line includes two city/commuter models and one fat-tire model.

The Ranger EB50 is a fat-tire e-bike that features a 750W Bafang brushless, geared hub motor powered by a 706Wh battery which OKAI says should be good for 45 mi. of range. Other features include an 8-speed Shimano drivetrain, suspension fork and mechanical disc brakes.

The LyteCycle EB60 is a Class 2 city/commuter e-bike with a step-thru frame, and a 350W brushless, geared hub motor that produces a maximum of 55 Nm of torque. A 346Wh battery is estimated to offer riders up to 62 mi. (100km). Rather than using a cadence sensor, the LyteCycle EB60 comes equipped with a torque sensor to give riders more immediate acceleration and finer control over their speed. While it appears to come equipped with hydraulic brakes, the page for the e-bike doesn’t include any details on the drivetrain.

With the Stride Commuter EB40 the attraction is its introductory price. It’s going for less than $1000, making it one of the most affordable commuters with 27.5-in. wheels on the market. It is built with a 500W brushless, geared hub motor, a 460Wh battery, 7-speed Shimano drivetrain and mechanical disc brakes.

All three models come equipped with a touchscreen display that is integrated into the stem and offers NFC security, so that owners can unlock their e-bike with (among other options) their smartphone.

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OKAI’s move into the direct-to-consumer market may be a bumpy one for the company.

The Stride Commuter EB40 should be able to find an audience with commuters who want something ultra-affordable but with big enough wheels to make cruising at speed a calm and stable experience. One thing 27.5-in. wheels offer over 20-in. wheels is a calmer ride at speed. Think SUV rather than sports car in handling.

At nearly $1500, the LyteCycle EB 60 is an example of a manufacturer including a more premium feature—the torque sensor—while going with some components that would otherwise be out of place on an e-bike in this price range, namely the 350 motor, 346Wh battery and mechanical disc brakes.

The Ranger EB50 will have a tougher time finding an audience as the heavier weight of a fat-tire model generally calls for hydraulic disc brakes, and at nearly $2000, most consumers would expect to see hydraulic disc brakes.

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China Adopts New Li-Ion Battery Pack Production Standards

China aims to reduce the risk of fires caused by lithium-ion batteries with 22 new rules, but the rules will only apply to their domestic market.

China Adopting New Li-Ion Battery Pack Production Standards

China has announced that the country is instituting new technical standards for the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries. The new technical standards encompass all lithium-ion batteries, from those used in smartphones to the ones in EVs and, yes, those in e-bikes and other micromobility devices.

The new technical standards are intended to address the risk of thermal runaway and fires. There are 22 standards being adopted. They cover issues including: over-charging, over-discharging, punctures, external short-circuits, thermal abuse and more.

Manufacturers are being given time to make the production changes necessary to meet these requirements. Enforcement will not begin until November 1, 2024.

Unfortunately, the new standard will only apply to China’s domestic market. Lithium-ion batteries produced exclusively with the intent to export will not be required to meet these rules.

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It’s hard not to draw conclusions about how the government of China views foreign markets if they are willing to establish higher safety standards for products aimed at domestic customers. Congress is considering new regulations, so we may see the U.S. demand standards similar to what China will enforce in their domestic market.

Manufacturers that have been producing the cheapest products they can bring to market will continue to do so. In some instances, products that were sold both domestically and abroad will simply be sold abroad; the manufacturers will face a smaller overall market, but they will have more product to ship overseas, so we may see cheap products in greater numbers, which may drive down prices on the most questionable e-mobility devices.

Manufacturers that have consistently produced quality products will continue to do good work. We may not see batteries produced to these specifications on U.S. shores any time soon, though. Why? With many manufacturers seeking UL certification, a change to a battery means submitting that new design to UL for certification, a not inexpensive proposition. When a manufacturer releases a new product (such as a potted battery or even one with a greater charge capacity), they will need to submit that battery or system to UL for certification. At that point we may begin to see batteries made to these standards in our stores.

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Flyer Via Pro Review | Don’t Put the Wagon Before the Horse

This powerful, long-distance cargo e-bike is family-friendly right out of the box!

Flyer Via Pro E-Bike Review
As the e-bike equivalent of a minivan, cargo e-bikes can be a great alternative means of transport for running errands, taking the kids to school, swinging by the farmer’s market or corner store, and otherwise living your life to the fullest. Most, however, require additional purchases to be outfitted for their rider’s specific needs.

The Flyer Via Pro can make these use cases far more practical thanks to its included accessories, customization options, high weight capacity, and more. This Flyer Via Pro review details our thoughts on the bike’s feel, function, and real-world performance.

With a weight capacity of 400 lbs, a fully-loaded Via Pro needs a powerful motor to carry its payload. Fortunately, Flyer specced the bike with a brawny 750W rear hub motor with power to spare. The bike performed extremely well in a few key areas of our testing thanks to this decision, and we also appreciated the natural pedal feel from the motor’s torque sensor.

To alleviate range anxiety, the bike also includes a 687 watt hour (Wh) battery paired with its efficient motor. See our Range Test section below for details, but we recorded one of the longest results we’ve observed from any of the cargo e-bikes we tested previously.

We liked that Flyer included seating, foot boards, wheel guards, and even their “Kid & Cargo Carrier Hoop” handrail attachment with the base model; the Via Pro is ready for family rides right out of the box. Of course, the bike is still compatible with a myriad of other optional accessories including removable tote bags, a front basket, and even a soft passenger compartment/canopy – but the starting point is better than most.

Our takeaway was overwhelmingly positive, though we have a few points of critique to be aware of. To learn more about the Via Pro’s features and performance results in our standardized tests, continue reading our full review below.

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