ANCHEER Electric Mountain Bike 350W Review

Easy to put together out of the box, the ANCHEER Electric Bike Electric Mountain Bike with a 350W rear hub motor is a great ride with good range.

This should definitely be the top of your list when looking for a budget electric mountain bike.

When you ride an e-bike for the first time you will immediately notice the difference from a traditional bike. Using throttle or pedal assist modes you will feel as if you were 10 years younger and far fitter than you are today!

With its quick response to your inputs, whether twisting your wrist or simply pedalling on the pedal assist mode, you’ll find yourself taking on traffic at busy junctions in total confidence, while the hills that may have previously stopped you from riding on an analog bike are almost flat when you take them on with a little assistance from the motor.

The simple controller can be adjusted with a click of the thumb, and its LED display won’t leave your brain scrambled as you look to see how much battery is left or what power mode you are in.

Acceleration is powerful yet stopping is a breeze with the mechanical disc brakes, allowing full control in all conditions.

Many people buy an e-bike like this to stop using their car for different reasons. You will find that you often beat car traffic and can get to work more quickly than by car and will feel healthier for riding to work as opposed to driving.

Though there are some minor issues (common to all e-bikes as the technology improves), at this price point you will struggle to find a better machine than this one.

ANCHEER Electric Mountain Bike 350W -Review

Specs:

• BODY POSITION: Upright
• SUGGESTED USE: Commuting, light off-road trails
• WARRANTY:
• TOTAL WEIGHT: 52lbs
• BATTERY WEIGHT: 5lbs
• FRAME MATERIAL: Aluminium alloy
• FRAME SIZES: Medium only. Seat post adjusts for body height 5’1” to 6’3”
• GEARING DETAILS: Shimano 21 speed (3 cogs front and 7 rear)
• BRAKE DETAILS: Mechanical discs front and rear
• WHEEL SIZES: 26”
• TIRE DETAILS: 26.195

Pros

At the price range, this is one of the best electric mountain bikes you can buy:

• Easy to assemble
• Has good speed when used in e-bike mode
• Powerful 350W hub motor
• Has a simple controller
• Good range when on Pedal Assist mode
• The battery charges quickly
• A good selection of gear ratios for normal riding
• Very good brakes

When it arrives in the box it is 85% assembled yet all the tools to complete the build are included. These will come in handy for running repairs and as the machine beds in.

We found the YouTube video very helpful for putting the machine together and it took just an hour to get into a rideable condition.

Topping out at 20mph when on e-bike mode (using the throttle only) this is a machine that will allow you to keep up with traffic when travelling through neighbourhoods.

The 350W motor will get you up hills without breaking a sweat (should you choose). Range however is limited when you only use the throttle. Pedal Assist (PAS) Mode gives you the best range.

On more expensive e-bikes you have a screen that can do everything from tell you where you are on a map to your heart rate, as well as the basics of battery life and power mode!

This can leave your brain scrambled as you both think about riding safely and the more important issues such as how much battery juice you have left.

The ANCHEER Electric Mountain Bike has none of these issues with its simple, well laid out LED display that only tells you the basics you need to know.

The 350W motor has a lot of torque, giving you a hard push when you accelerate from a standing start.

As you need to accelerate hard (perhaps to get out of danger in traffic) on PAS mode you will find you get a good boost from the motor, almost as if an invisible hand was giving you a push!

On PAS mode the ANCHEER Electric Bike Electric Mountain Bike has at least the range of 30 miles that the company claim – perhaps even more should you be economical on battery use, should you be into keeping it in a low power mode as you cycle around.

Though the battery hasn’t amazing range it can be charged in just six hours. That means should you plug the bike in when you get in during the evening you will have a full charge by morning.

It is removable so you can take the battery inside (making the bike less interesting to thieves) to charge it, though it can be charged leaving the battery on the frame. 

Supporting the power unit is a Shimano 21 speed drivetrain that allows you to pedal the bike as you would a normal machine.

In a low gear you can tackle even the biggest hills with minimal support from the motor – but there again most people buy e-bikes to ride hills without always breaking a sweat!

The front and rear mechanical disc brakes are very good for speed control in wet and dry conditions – there is no brake fade as you may feel on Vee-brakes on similar models.

This does mean you can take it onto wooded trails and manoeuvre between trees and other obstacles at speed – or stop with confidence should traffic or pedestrians get in the way when on road.

Though the machine is quite heavy thanks to the electrical components, you don’t notice this much when riding thanks to the power supplied by the system.

To compensate for this, ANCHEER use an aluminium alloy for the frame that is lightweight but almost as strong as high carbon steel. This minimises the overall weight, particularly in comparison to its rivals in the same price bracket. Unless you have to carry it upstairs to your condo or office, the weight isn’t an issue.

Cons

The ANCHEER Electric Mountain Bike isn’t perfect. Let’s touch on a few imperfections that you need to be aware of before making your purchase:

• Out of the box, the spokes need tightening and wheels truing by a bike shop
• No building instructions are included with the bike
• Saddle isn’t very comfortable

If you don’t get your wheels trued by a bike shop on delivery, then you will find that they rub against the disc brakes and even the frame.

It might help to take the machine to a bike shop to be put together by a professional in the first place as they will know how to get the bike into a rideable condition from the get-go. This won’t take an expert much time and is well worth the investment. 

There is a YouTube video to show how to put the e-bike together. The link to this should be included on the Amazon page so people have an idea how involved putting it together is. That said you don’t have to be an expert to do this by any means.

The final complaint shared by us and other users is that the saddle is not the most comfortable after a 5-7 mile ride. This is a complaint that most e-bike users have on their machines, no matter the price range or quality of the bike.

On an e-bike you find yourself riding for far longer distances than you would a traditional machine so the discomfort will be apparent.

This is a matter for all e-bike makers to address, even the premium brands – the next great breakthrough for the technology could well be in a low price yet comfortable saddle, never mind a super light battery or motor!

Buying advice

The ANCHEER Electric Mountain Bike is a great first e-bike for someone who has never ridden anything like this before.

At the price it won’t compare to a $10,000 German built crank motor driven machine – it does however compare favourably with other e-bikes in this price range.

E-bikes get some getting used to by comparison to traditional bikes.

There are more things to think about and adjust according to your needs. For example, as well as the 21 speeds on the drivetrain you also have three power modes on this machine. Its simple display means that you are thinking less about what the bike is doing and more about your riding.

A more expensive machine often offers all sorts of parameters on its screen and this can be distracting at first. This is one of the reasons why the ANCHEER Electric Mountain Bike is a good first e-bike to buy.

The Aceshin 26” Electric Mountain Bike is of a similar price but comes with a heavyweight high carbon steel frame. With the steel frame it will use more power just to drive the machine itself, and is a lot less nimble where it comes to manoeuvring through traffic jams or in the countryside for example.

The ANCHEER by comparison has an aluminium alloy frame that is considerably lighter than the Aceshin on this front.

Back to the 350W hub motor ANCHEER Electric Mountain Bike, its response to the throttle or PAS system is just a heartbeat after the input, allowing for great control when riding. Having this extra push is the reason people never look back when going to an e-bike for the first time.

E-bikes at this price point are also very good for getting people road-confident again where it comes to bicycles in general. You may not be so fit and the motor compensates for that.

The extra kick of the torquey 350W motor can allow you to accelerate hard – perhaps when the lights turn at a junction.

Research into e-bike use, both here in the United States and around the world has shown that e-bikes like this are used for utilitarian purposes – getting into town for work and even to do shopping – instead of using the car.

Riding an e-bike still requires a little energy on your part and this allows you to improve your fitness as you get back into riding.

This machine is built for some light off-roading but you will find yourself very comfortable on the roads using it. Its wide wheels are good for getting noticed by other road users, while its solid feel will improve your confidence as you deal with cars and trucks around you.

Unlike many of its rivals, the ANCHEER Electric Mountain Bike will take a bit of rain so you can ride it in Fall or Spring as well as summer.

Riding in winter storms is not to be recommended on any e-bike and thanks to the waterproofing on this, you’d do well to leave it in the garage and drive in those conditions. Even the best e-bikes on the market struggle in very wet conditions!

Every difference between this and more expensive machines is only incremental. You could end up spending $2,000 to $3,000 on a better specc’ed machine and only find that it is lighter and quicker off the mark by a slight margin.

Conclusion

The 350W ANCHEER Electric Mountain Bike is one of the cheapest e-bikes on the market today.

That makes it a very good introduction to the world of e-biking, with its relatively simple design allowing you to get used to e-bikes and how they run without being too distracted by all the new things you find yourself thinking about on these machines.

Solidly built yet simple to use but most importantly a lot of fun, you will soon find yourself finding more and more excuses to leave your car behind and just to ride your new e-bike — to work, to see friends, and even for a bit of shopping!

As such you will find buying this machine one of the best buys you have made all year.

By comparison to other e-bikes at this price range it is more durable, has better components and is lighter and more economical. That’s why we rate this machine at 4.5 stars!