Its looks and performance are guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

It’s no surprise we’ve been keeping our eye on the MATEBIKE for quite some time now. Due to its looks and strategic luxury partnerships such as its one with French outdoor brand Moncler, it’s a bike we’ve been looking to dig a bit deeper into and of course, take on a ride first hand.

 

 

Who are MATEBIKE?

Before we get into the test drive and tell you what we thought of the e-bike, we thought it would be good to give a brief breakdown and story of the brand itself.

The Copenhagen startup was founded in 2016 by siblings Christian Adel Micheal and Julie Kronstrom Carton with a vision to create unique, fun and affordable electric bikes translated to “The Coolest Company on 2 Wheels”.

 

 

Mix this with an environmental message in its core values, the team were on a mission to put “More miles on bikes”

Starting with a crowdfunding campaign in 2016 they managed to raise $6.8million on Indiegogo for the original MATE and has since gone on to raise £13m with the MATE X making it the most successful European crowdfunding campaign in history.

 

 

We are on a mission to lead the revolution in e-mobility to give everyone the opportunity to ride around in style and feel the freedom of being on a MATE. We look forward to seeing new faces join the MATEBIKE family. Harris Qureshi, Partner, MATEBIKE.UK

 

 

Design

The MATE Bike currently comes in 2 variants and important to distinguish between the two. The MATE X is the one we’re test driving which the companies urban, off-road with chunky wheels whilst the MATE CITY is of course the city variant catered to commuters.

We absolutely LOVE the design of the MATE X, I mean what’s not to love. Regular readers will know we’re big fans of product design and this one just went straight to the top.

It’s utterly mesmerising to look at and guaranteed to turn heads. Be ready to be stopped and asked a lot of questions about this bike when riding. We certainly did!

 

 

This e-bike is unlike any other bike we’ve seen before. You’re instantly drawn to those chunky tires and squared lines on the unibody frame. Somehow all of its simple lines but ridiculous garish tyres just work in harmony with one another.

The frame not only aids the looks of this bike being a canvas for its bold branding but it’s also where the battery is held (which is also removable)

Being a fully portable foldable E-bike, the bike breaks down in half in 3 very easy steps. The first step is to drop the saddle, followed by an easy push-to-open locking mechanism on the frame which folds the bike and then finally you’ll find a similar lock that brings the handlebars down and to the side. The pedals can fold in too if you need to cram this into the back of a boot.

 

 

We were surprised to see just how easy it was to fold and unfold this bike, in literally 5 seconds you can fold it down and have it ready to store away. If you’re comparing this to a Brompton, don’t. Whilst it does fold away brilliant it’s not the most compact bike with those tyres. If you’re in need of a smaller one the sister bike to this the MATE CITY would be a better option.

The only gripe we would have (and it’s a small one) is that when you’re first starting to use this bike it’s quite heavy to fold due to the battery inside. You almost have to learn to use the momentum and weight to your advantage and swing it around to easily fold the bike. It takes a little bit of getting used to but it’s easy when you know-how.

The 20″ inch rims with all-terrain tyres are where it’s really at with the MATE X and is what gives it its iconic look. It’s almost a fusion of BMX, Motocross and a Batmobile. Whatever it is though, it’s working.

 

 

On top of the handlebars, you’ll find the sleek LCD display with its wiring nicely hidden away through the flexible trunking.  The display itself is easy to use and gives you all of your go-to information for the ride. From here you can see how much battery you have left, change your pedal assist level, see if your lights are on and it even doubles up as a 5V USB charger to charge any devices should you ever find yourself in that situation.

Performance

On the surface, the MATEBIKE x is a fully functional bike with a gear-led system allowing you to control your speed and power depending on your riding surface, speed, situation or just general output. The Revoshift 8-speed twist-shift gear system might not sound like the most amount of gears on a bike but you have to remember this is no ordinary bike.

Believe us 8 gears are more than enough.

It’s totally possible to ride this in manual mode but who want to do that? Give the home button on the LCD a press down, wait for the logo to appear and be ready for what’s about to come.

The MATEBIKE X comes with a powerful built-in 250w motor giving you a range of around 50-60 miles that turns your normal bike into a machine.

From here you have the option to control your pedal assistance with levels up to 9. we’d say whilst levels 1-5 operate as eco-mode they provide more than enough power to assist you on your way whilst conserving battery life.

Move up from 6-9 is where it gets really fun though. You only have to give this baby a little touch and off you go. No matter what terrain you put in front of this bike it will easily swallow it up for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The part we enjoyed most was uphill riding. Looking at the bike you’d be nervous to take this up any hills but it was a breeze. With almost little to no pedalling this bike was making its up way up there, no problemo.

In terms of pedal-assistance, there is one more trick up its sleeve, the secret Ludicrous mode. You won’t find this in the main menu of the LCD, it actually has to be unlocked by MATEBIKE themselves. Whack this on and you’ll be pushing your cycle 35mph+ with ease.

 

 

We wouldn’t recommend keeping it in this mode too long as it’s a bit of a battery drainer.  We were knocking the battery down 8-10% for a full-on 10 mins cycle in this mode but it’s SO SO worth it.

Charging it back up was a breeze and within 3 hours we’d be back over 50% to get us ready for the next trip.

If you’ve never been for a ride on an e-bike before it’s pretty difficult to describe exactly how it feels, the only thing we’d say is to try it for yourself, It just feels so easy.

You remain in full control, but the back motor’s push makes cycling a breeze keeping the enjoying parts of cycling but eradicating the not-so-nice parts. e.g. getting tired.

Overall this bike was an absolute joy to ride whether you choose to cruise in style, climb some hills or cane it on some flat roads it has a bit of everything to add something different to a regular bike.

 

Verdict

When we first started researching the company, its missions and goals, MATEBIKE almost instantly stood out to us as a product we need to get in and talk about.

It wanted to be the coolest company on two wheels and to be honest, we think they might just be that. With its in-your-face looks and raw power, MATEBIKE really have taken e-bikes to another level with the MATE X.

We love everything about the MATE X and the fact you can fully customise to your own liking to pretty much how you want.

Another point to mention is the model we reviewed was the 250w version, MATEBIKE also offer the same bike with a 750w motor with a throttle. So just when you thought it can’t get better, it does. It gets a whole lot better!

Whilst the MATE X might not be for everyone’s tastes we feel with the MATE CITY also in their portfolio, there is an e-bike here for everyone.

 

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