Engwe M20 Fat Tire “eBike” Review: A Superb Budget Version of a Super73
The Engwe M20 is a stunningly good-looking fat-tire, moped-style ebike. It can accommodate dual batteries, with a powerful 750W motor, and a rugged frame suitable for rough terrain. It’s essentially a budget Super73, and it’s a lot of fun to ride. It’s available nowfrom GeekBuying.com from $1300at the time of review.
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The Engwe M20 is a striking fat tire ebike with a moped-style design, dual battery option, and an impressive 750W motor. Designed to handle rough terrain with ease, this ebike is essentially a budget version of the Super73. Despite its hefty weight and substantial frame, it maintains a comfortable ride on various surfaces, including roads and gravel paths. However, its performance off-road on steep hills and the laggy pedal-assist start are areas for improvement. Though not ideal for serious ebike enthusiasts or everyday commuting, the Engwe M20 is a fantastic option for occasional riders seeking a mix of style, power, and affordability.
Design and Battery Options
There are two models available, with a single 624Wh battery, as reviewed, and a dual battery option, which will double your range. They claim up to 150km on dual batteries, or 75km with just the one.
If you get the single battery model, you’ll also get a little hard storage case which is fitted where the second battery would be. I’d like to say that’s a nice value-add inclusion, but it’s kind of essential. Without that bag or battery, you’ll find an ugly mounting point where the frame is flattened for a mounting plate. It’s not a huge deal since I don’t see myself ever not wanting this bag fitted, but it’s something to keep in mind because the aesthetics are ruined a little if you don’t fitsomethingthere. It would have been nice to have the option for a second seat, instead.
Overall, it’s a really good-looking chunky-framed moped-style bike, and it weighs a massive 34kg (75lbs). From front to back, it measures around 1.6 meters (65 inches) and 1.14 meters (45 inches) tall, with a fixed-height handlebar. The seat is also a fixed height, which can present problems when pedaling.
Available in green, black, or white, I will say that the green color is a dark metallic green, not an army green as I expected. While the overall build quality is superb, some minor things, like the unfinished lighting cables, let it down.
On the topic of lights, there are two of them on the front, and for some reason, it’s possible to’t turn them off entirely. The on/off button turns on and off the main headlight bulbs, but there’s also a small LED bar in each, which stays on. It won’t be a huge battery drain, but there’s no reason for it to stay on in the daytime.
Other than that, you’ll find pretty standard components throughout: Kenda 4x20 inch fat tires, a Shimano 7-speed derailleur, Wuxing 160mm mechanical disc brakes, and dual suspension with front hydraulic and rear air shock.
Like most Chinese import ebikes, the Engwe M20 comes fitted with a throttle, which is nice, but illegal in the UK and throughout Europe (only pedal assist is permitted). The motor size of 750W is also unlawful in the UK—anything above 250W is technically considered a motorbike and needs to be licensed. But realistically… it’s an ebike, it has pedals, no one will know, and no one cares. Now, while I’m not condoning breaking the law, no questions were asked on import, so you should make your own ethical judgment on whether this is safe for you to ride or not without a motorbike license. It’s classified as a Class 3 ebike in the USA.
How’s the Engwe M20 Ride?
On road and gravel paths, it’s a pleasure to sit on, with the dual suspension offering a relatively comfy experience, although the rear shock absorber is a little stiff and doesn’t feel like it’s doing much. The big, wide seat also helps—you aren’t going to be saddled with the usual pain of a bike seat up your bum—but it’s not as nice as some actual motorbike seats.
Notice I said “a pleasure to sit on” though. The low, fixed-height seat that’s further back than normal means that it’s not so comfy to pedal on. Which is admittedly a bit of an annoyance on a supposed pedal bike. Even then, when I did attempt to pedal—on the lowest PAS setting—once the motor kicked in I was made to feel entirely unnecessary. It was almost laughing at my puny attempt, and eventually, I was forced to admit: why bother?
Unfortunately, taking it off-road is less safe, mainly because the seat position is so far back. Going up steep hills was terrifying because I constantly felt a sense of falling off. Engwe states 10-degree slopes are fine, and that sounds about right; nothing too steep. On light inclines and gravel, the fat tires give good traction, and you can corner easily.
So this isn’t a scrambler. It’s a comfortable and easy ride that can go on or off the beaten path, but don’t try to push it too hard.
Although the 750W with 1000W peak motor power is plenty, remember it’s a heavy bike and power ratings alone don’t tell the whole story. Engwe states 45km/h (27mph) maximum speed, and I would agree on a good flat surface that’s certainly feasible, though I didn’t quite manage to hit that. But although you’re able to get good speeds, the torque didn’t quite feel as strong as I would have liked.
Using the pedal assist felt surprisingly laggy to get started. Even though it’s a cadence sensor, the acceleration is curved, so it doesn’t just all whack on at once. It’s a smooth ramp-up, but definitely delayed. This feels like a good thing for safety—even lower-power motors can be dangerous when they kick in at full power as the sensor triggers. That said, it does still ramp up to full once it’s started, and because it’s not a torque sensor, if you’re only putting a little effort into the pedals, it won’t stay at a little input. It will start at a lower power and then push through to full power—regardless of how little you’re pedaling. A cadence sensor only knows that you’re moving, not how much effort you’re putting in. The downside of this lagginess is that it’s also slow to disengage, and it stayed powered on for a bit longer than I was comfortable with.
Overall, in terms of safety, it feels like it sits midway between a basic sensor that just initiates all the power at once, and a torque sensor that scales appropriately with your effort. It is still a cadence sensor, but with a motor controller that ramps up smoothly (albeit with quite a lag).
It’s a full twist throttle rather than the usual level or half twist, and that can be dangerous; it completely ran away with me the first time I was pushing it around, so be careful. There’s a good bit of dead zone on the throttle, with at least two or three zones of speed, though it’s not a perfectly smooth acceleration graph. It does feel like it’s kicking into a higher gear, as it were.
However, unlike most ebikes I’ve tried, you can use the throttle while pedaling, so you can get a really fast start if you time it right without waiting for the cadence sensor to kick in. A lot of ebike throttles don’t work if you’re pedaling—or even worse, don’t work at all unless in you’re in PAS 0. Not so with the Engwe M20; it’s always on when you want to be, which makes riding so easy.
In terms of range, Engwe claims 75km on PAS 1 level—but remember that’s going to be on easy terrain and a lightweight 65kg rider. At just over 100kg and having
to go uphill from the moment I leave my house, I achieved nowhere near that range off-road— instead getting just over 20km. For on-road-only trips, I had much better performance and got about 30km with one battery blob remaining. Of course, you have the option for a dual battery if you need that range, but you should take any range claims as being under laboratory conditions and not likely to apply to your individual use case. It is generally fair to compare the claimed range of one bike against another, however, and in that respect, the range is above average.
As for braking: it’s not fantastic. It feels underrated for the overall weight of the bike, but it also features motor cut-off sensors that help to slow you down when needed.
Should You Buy the Engwe M20?
It’s definitely a bike that prioritizes style over substance, and I hesitate even to call it an ebike; it leans much heavier into the electric all-terrain moped category. On mostly flat rides, it is a dream come true for anyone who doesn’t particularly want to cycle.
As long as you’re not going so far that you need to really rely heavily on pedaling, and as long as you’re not trying to really push it off-road up massive hills, it’s a very pleasurable, good-looking “ebike” with plenty of power and potentially good range if you buy the dual battery model. But more importantly,at $1300, it’s fantastic value.
The Engwe M20 is not for the serious ebike enthusiast; there are probably too many compromises. Nor would I recommend it as your daily commuting ride. But, as something relatively cheap to ride on the weekends, a bit off the beaten path (emphasis on the riding and less on the pedaling)… it’s good—really good—and a lot of fun.
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