We are currently in the midst of an e-mountain bike arms race. Kicked off by DJI and its Avinox motor that brought big numbers to the e-MTB game, brands have only been following suit, making figures north of 100Nm commonplace. With e-bike technology moving forward at a rapid pace, it’s got me thinking: are e-MTBs actually becoming too powerful, and do we really need all that power?

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E-mountain bikes are all about assistance. They can take up to 100% of the literal legwork out of the equation in some scenarios, adding around 300% of power on top of what the rider puts in. The result is a bike that’ll iron out the climbs while allowing for more of the fun stuff in a shorter amount of time. It’s no secret, e-bikes are pretty damn fun.

Before now, a regular, full torque, full power, full fat e-MTB would feature 85Nm and 600W of peak power, and that was pretty much the standard before DJI came in with its 105Nm, 850W Avinox. Now, thanks to updates, the Avinox can knock out 1,000W of power.

Since that motor hit the market, Bosch and Specialized have scrambled to match the competition (we won’t even talk about the 160Nm Pinion MGU), and now 100+Nm have quickly become standard for full power e-bikes.

2023 canyon striveON cfr riding climb 2.jpg, by Liam Mercer

Now, I was very happy with the old 85Nm, 600W standard. Those figures alone opened up a host of riding opportunities and thrilling uphill fun. Having spent time on the DJI-equipped Amflow, the latest Bosch firmware and Spesh’s 111Nm Levo 4, I’m struggling to fathom what those extra Newton metres bring to the party. Of course, for cargo bikes and such, it makes sense, as DJI valiantly argued in its points fighting against the proposed 750W limit - but for an e-MTB, I think it’s all a bit dick-swingy.

For clarity’s sake, I’m still very much on the side of the regular human-powered mountain bike, and if I were to buy an e-bike, it would be one of the lower powered ones like Yeti’s MTe (if I were to sell a kidney), or YT Industries’ Decoy SN 29. They can do pretty much the same thing higher-powered e-MTBs can do, but without as much of the weight. 

2025 yeti mte motor.jpg, by Liam Mercer

With lower-powered e-bikes, you can still set yourself up so the motor does all of the work; it just doesn’t fling you up the hill as quickly, and that point remains the same between 85Nm bikes and 100+Nm bikes. And let's be real here, most of the climbing we do isn’t near vertical. It’s often on fireroads, and even then, I’m yet to find a techy climb that I can’t do with 55Nm.

Additionally, we’re out on bikes to enjoy the outdoors and the environments that bikes take us to. Why are we so hell-bent on getting up a hill so quickly? Especially when the bike’s doing the bulk of the hard work. Granted, I’m ignoring lunchtime power hours here, which are still more than possible on lower-powered machines.

The main drawback of these bigger-powered machines is that, by law, they’re still limited to 25kph. If you ride an e-MTB, you’ll know full well how much hitting that limit sucks, especially on a heavier bike. With more power, you’re only going to hit that limit sooner into your descent. Yes, you’ll hit a faster speed quicker, but you’ll then be lumbered with the typical 20+ kilo e-bike weight from then on.

2025 spesh levo 4.jpg, by Liam Mercer

Then, there’s the increased wear on drivetrain components. E-bikes put a greater strain on these components anyway, then adding more torque and power to the equation will only speed up the rate of wear. In the long run, these more powerful e-MTBs may become more expensive to look after.

But with all of that said, why not add more power to an e-MTB? After all, the output can nearly always be turned down in an app if it’s not for you. And, I don’t know about you, but I very rarely ride with an e-bike in its highest power modes. Usually, I’m in eco or trail, which never employs the full might of the motor. Then, if I’ve found myself climbing up something particularly spicy, I do have access to more gusto should I feel I need it. 

That all leads me to perhaps a more important but more nuanced question: bike weight aside, does the amount of torque and power an e-MTB can output even matter?

I'd say it doesn't, because for me, e-mountain bikes don't need to be that powerful or overcomplicated. More power does make things easier, but as I mentioned before, lower-power machines do as good a job of getting you up a hill and tackling challenging terrain as their higher-powered counterparts, granted, a little slower. Bigger motors and batteries mean your bike will typically be heavier, and as a regular MTB purist, I don't want that extra weight to throw around. If my riding is like anyone else's, the extra power is simply unnecessary. Instead, it seems more like it's arrived at a point where brands are trying to keep up with the competition to sell more bikes. Bigger numbers must mean better, right?

Are e-MTBs getting too powerful? Does power matter? Leave a comment to let us know what you think.

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