Himiway Cobra Electric Bike Review 2024

In our range tests, the Cobra’s large 48V, 20Ah (960Wh) battery performed expectedly well.

We tested the bike’s range in two power settings, PAS 2 and PAS 5, to get a sampling of low-power long range riding and high-power short range riding. In PAS 2, the Cobra went for 65.06 miles with a seriously impressive average speed of 15 mph. And in PAS 5, the bike lasted 36.37 miles at an average speed of 17.15 mph before dying.

While both those ranges are solid, I’m very impressed with the results from the PAS 2 range test — namely the average speed. A 15 mph average over 65 miles is seriously quick, with only the Surface604 Werk (equipped with an upgraded 960Wh battery) even coming close to matching it.

It’s doubly impressive considering the amount of energy the bike likely had to consume to go that fast over that distance. To put it short, battery range should not be a concern on the Cobra.

On our test hill, the Cobra really flexed its muscles.

We did two tests on our test hill, Hell Hole, a third-of-a-mile long hill with an average gradient of 12 percent. The first test was using only the throttle and the second test in PAS 5, the bike’s max pedal assist setting. We recorded solid results in both.

In the throttle only test, the Cobra cleared our hill in 1:28.00 with an average speed of 12.3 mph. In the PAS 5 test, it got to the top in 1:11.00 with an average speed of 15.3 mph. These are both awesome results, with the PAS 5 result approaching the top of our leaderboard.

This was another test I frankly expected the Cobra to perform well in. Himiways have traditionally held their own on hills, and the Cobra is continuing that legacy. Where this bike did depart from the performance of its predecessors was in how it felt while climbing in PAS 5. Thanks to that torque sensor, the bike was remarkably responsive and felt much more lively on the steeper sections. If I gave a little extra effort at the pedals, the bike’s motor responded accordingly.

The Himiway Cobra comes stock with a set of hydraulic disk brakes, an upgrade over the mechanical disk brakes we saw on the old Himiway Cruiser.

While Himiway is ambiguous on their website as to which brakes the Cobra comes with — likely a function of ongoing parts shortages and the occasional need to sub brands for others — our review bike came with a set of Tektro HD-E350 e-bike specific disk brakes. These are hydraulic brakes with two piston calipers and 180mm rotors front and rear.

They performed well, certainly better than the old mechanical brakes, but the results of our braking test showed that this 88lb e-bike might benefit from more powerful quad-piston brakes.

In five full-power stops from 20 mph, the Cobra slowed in an average of 17-feet-9-inches, more than a foot further than our 16-foot-1-inch average braking distance of all the bikes we’ve tested so far.

By no means is this an unsafe result — at no point in my testing of the Cobra did I feel like the brakes weren’t up to the job — but it is evidence that the sheer weight and power of this bike may warrant a stouter braking system.

In the off-road e-bike market, where this bike arguably falls, quad-piston hydraulic brakes have become the norm for exactly this reason. Modern off-road e-bikes simply are powerful and heavy enough to warrant larger brakes.

The Cobra’s cockpit is good, sporting riser bars, an LCD display and a comfortable ergonomic saddle. But I do have some notes on the grips and throttle that I think are worth pointing out, especially as Himiway has made a really good shot at gearing this bike towards a more off-road audience.

The faux leather grips are not up to snuff for off-road riding. They have become fairly standard issue in the affordable electric fat bike category and do have some aesthetic appeal, but they tend to spin on the bar and the faux leather material is not grippy. The Cobra would do well from a set of lock-on rubber mountain bike grips, which luckily are easily attainable and can be installed in your garage in about ten minutes.

My other gripe with the cockpit is the twist-style throttle. These things work fine for road-going e-bikes, but it’s not the best option for an off-road e-bike. The issue is that the throttle is effectively part of your right-hand grip, meaning that if you hit an unexpected bump and your wrist slips, you could give the bike a whole lot of power in a situation you may not want to. A thumb throttle that’s off the grip would suit the Cobra better, but again this is a change you can fairly easily make in your garage.

Now enough of my complaints and on to one of the bike’s strongest suits: Its handling.

I cannot overstate how much the Cobra outperformed my expectations in the handling department, especially off-road. Its full-suspension design is shockingly functional and the geometry stable at high speeds in unpredictable terrain. Though it stops short of qualifying as an eMTB, the Cobra is certainly inspired by modern eMTB geometry. The headtube is slack, the seat tube angle steep and the wheelbase long. At low speeds, this gives the bike a slightly slow steering and floppy ride characteristic that reminds me a lot of my long travel enduro bike, but open it up on double track and the bike feels right at home.

At 88 lbs and with a seriously long wheelbase and tall standover height, the Cobra is a very large bike. Compared to some other electric fat bikes in its class, the Cobra’s wheelbase is a full 4 inches to 6 inches longer than the Rad Power Bikes RadRover 6 Plus or Aventon Aventure. Its 32-inch standover height is also several inches taller than both of those bikes. It’s a large enough e-bike that I’d offer a word of caution to smaller or more inexperienced riders thinking of getting one; on more than one occasion I had a hard time keeping the bike upright at low speeds and in super tight u-turns. But if you’re taller and feel confident handling a bike like that, the Cobra absolutely will not disappoint.

It’s a destroyer of doubletrack and fire road that had no trouble flying through g-outs and over variable terrain at high speeds. Though the Himiway and other off-road e-bikes are a far departure from dirt bikes, the Cobra thrives in the same terrain; in sandy wash bottoms, rough 4×4 road and backcountry fire road. Frankly, it’s a whole ton of fun.

But while Himiway has done an impressive job building an off-road capable full suspension electric fat bike, do note that this variation of the Cobra is still technically an affordable model. The suspension on this bike is cheap, and still in line with the setups we see on more pavement-oriented electric fat bikes. The fork is unbranded and the rear shock is from EXA Form, a brand not known for building high-end suspension systems. I can attest that they work off-road, but you’re not going to see the performance (and lifespan) you’d expect from more expensive suspension systems like the one spec’d on this bike’s more expensive big brother, the Cobra Pro.

Though the Himiway Cobra meets the price, componentry and style criteria to fit neatly into the affordable electric fat bike category next to the RadRovers and Aventon Aventures of the world, but after riding it, I’m having a hard time placing it there.

The price is right, the motor size is right, the drivetrain choice is right and, obviously, it has the all-important fat tires. But despite those facts, the Cobra just doesn’t fit in with the bikes that have traditionally populated the affordable electric fat bike category.

Honestly, it’s just more of a purpose-built off-roader.

The Cobra flat-out shreds on fire road and double track. Its rear suspension is delightfully functional — a statement I’ve never before made about an e-bike that costs this little — and the geometry is absolutely geared towards off-road riding instead of pavement cruising. Obviously it’s still a budget e-bike, meaning that while the suspension design works the actual rear shock and front fork are limiting in just how aggressive you can ride. But Himiway has succeeded in building a bike with the guts of a full suspension, and I’m extremely curious of how the better spec’d Cobra Pro performs with its pricier and more complex suspension system.

That’s not even mentioning the other improvements Himiway made to the Cobra, such as the torque sensor and hydraulic disk brakes, that make it even more suited for the demands of off-road riding.

Few other affordable electric fat bikes will be able to hang with the Cobra when the pavement turns to dirt. And for that, I think the Cobra may just be in a category of its own.

This review was conducted over about 150 miles of testing on the Cobra, and time will tell how it continues to stand up. A full suspension design introduces a whole mess of wear parts and potential weak points that can become issues down the road, but thus far, the Cobra has stood up to what we’ve thrown at it. We’ll keep testing, and report back if anything changes.

If you like the Cobra, it (or its more expensive sibling, the mid-drive powered Cobra Pro) can be purchased on the Himiway website and shipped to your door for home assembly. Or, if you live in a service area, you can have the bike delivered fully built by a bike courier service.

‘Happy Riding, make sure to let us know if you have any questions down in our comments section or if you think we left anything out in this review of the Himiway Cobra.