I’ve tested out a number of e-bikes in my time here at TechCrunch. And I’ve never been so tempted to hang onto one as I have with Heybike’s new Alpha.
This sturdy, fat-tire, all-terrain e-bike is worth the $1,699 price tag. The Alpha ticked a whole lot of my boxes, including ones I didn’t even know I had. For instance, I knew I’d like an e-bike with pedal assist and a throttle, but I didn’t know that I would love an e-bike with pedal assist, a throttle, and a manual shifter. Perhaps the dreamiest part of riding the Alpha was the mid-drive motor with torque sensor, which led to a more natural riding feel. That, and the battery life that seemed to last forever.
It wasn’t all roses and rainbows. I have a few complaints about the app, setting up the bike, and the outsized horn. But generally, this is an excellent all around e-bike, whether you want to take it on off-road adventures or use it in the city to do your weekly Trader Joe’s shopping.
And then there is the question of how long this bike will remain affordable. Heybike is Chinese manufacturer and its bikes are made in China. With tariffs, even at the recently lowered rate, these bikes are likely to get more expensive for U.S. consumers.
An affordable mid-drive e-bike
The Alpha is Heybike’s first with its made-in-house Galaxy eDrive system, which uses a 500W Mivice mid-drive motor alongside a 680Wh battery, which provides a smooth ride.
Most other e-bikes I’ve tried are built with motors mounted in the wheel hub, which makes for a simpler, more affordable design. A mid-drive motor is located near the pedals, and if you can get a bike like that at a decent price? Take it. Because not everyone wants to buy a Bafang conversion kit and build their own cheap mid-drive.
Even at the fifth and highest level of pedal assist, the Alpha is smooth and easy to control, making you feel like you’re pedaling a traditional push bike. There’s nothing jerky about the acceleration.
There are downsides to the mid-drive, though. If you’re the type of rider who likes to lean heavy on the throttle, then Heybike’s Alpha is probably not for you. A company spokesperson told me Heybike doesn’t encourage sole throttle use, especially at the start of a ride, because it could damage the motor and drive train.
And with the Alpha, you actually can’t start a ride with the throttle. You have to pedal first and build up to at least 5 miles per hour before the throttle will engage. When you do use the throttle, the speed adjusts based on what pedal assist level you’re on. Though even at the highest level, the top speed while using the throttle only reaches 20 miles per hour. That said, you can push it up to 28 miles per hour while pedaling.
I didn’t find the throttle constraints to be too much of a problem. Of course, there were those occasional moments while riding through the chaotic streets of New York City when I wanted the quick getaway that a sensitive throttle would provide. Still, I found the pedal assist was responsive enough.
And with 105 N m of torque, it was also powerful. I rarely found myself needing to take it off the first level. The addition of the Shimano Altus 8-gear shifter helped augment that power. The shifter let me kick it up to a higher gear on flat terrain and bring it back down to a low gear when climbing hills; this meant I could keep the pedal assist at 1 to save on battery power.
And while I’m on the subject of hills, it’s worth noting that the Alpha handled inclines like an absolute champ, once again due to the mid-drive motor.
Long live the Alpha battery
The Alpha’s UL certified batteries allow for up to 60 miles of range on a single charge, though I wouldn’t be surprised if they surpassed that. After removing the battery to charge it once (which ended up being an ordeal that I’ll describe below), I took the bike on several trips around the neighborhood and up various hills, probably riding for a total of 22 miles. The battery life on the LCD mid-mounted screen somehow didn’t drop below 100%.
That could have something to do with the Galaxy eDrive, which seemed to have a regenerative braking system that provided power back to the battery whenever I braked. Heybike says its Galaxy system provides more than 8% of additional range compared to batteries of the same capacity.
More notes on sturdiness
The Alpha could probably double as a cargo bike for delivery riders. It comes with a rear rack that was more than sufficient to strap three packed bags of groceries, though I could have just as easily attached one of those large food delivery boxes.
It also has a total payload of 400 pounds. That’s the same amount as the Pedego cargo bike I tested last year, which is twice the price and also twice as heavy. Heybike’s Alpha isn’t exactly a small bike that can be tucked away easily in a NYC apartment, but with its aluminum alloy frame, it wasn’t too heavy or clunky at 71 pounds.
And while the 26 X 4 inch fat tires are great for traipsing over gravel and tree roots, they’re just as good at handling the potholes and uneven road surfaces of NYC. Not only the tires, but the bouncy hydraulic front fork suspension took most of the blows from some of those roads and made it easy for me to hop on and off sidewalks.
The cons: set up, quality concerns, and wow, what a horn
The Alpha was not without its challenges. For one, there was a decent amount of setup involved when the bike was delivered, which required careful squinting at a QR-code instruction manual.
If you’re not in the habit of putting bike parts together (which I am not), you’re liable to get a few things wrong. I had the help of two lovely colleagues at my office, but when I hit the road something still felt off. I took it to a bike shop where the mechanic shook his head empathetically and made some tweaks, including to the handlebars which I hadn’t installed in the correct position.
I also struggled with removing the battery cover from the down tube. It just wouldn’t come off! I tried looking up an instructional video on YouTube, but all I could find was an annoying 16-second remove and install battery ASMR video from Heybike. In the end, I had to jimmy the cover open, and found that someone appeared to have screwed that latch the wrong way, hindering the release of the metal cover. I screwed it back on the right way so it could be clicked in properly.
But then, more battery cover drama. After a few rides, the cover started popping off half-way mid-ride. I’d clip it back in, hit a bump, and there it went again. Figuring that I likely messed something up while fiddling with the battery cover, I taped it in place and called it a day.
Another downvote for the Alpha was the horn. My god, it was loud. Imagine trying to annoy someone by yelling “HOOOONNNKKK” at them loudly. That’s what the horn sounded like. It was so aggressive that I was embarrassed to use it to alert pedestrians or other riders when I was passing, lest I scare the crap out of them. It did come in handy when I wanted to symbolically flip off cars that entered the bike lane, though.
The app was also unimpressive. It could turn the bike off, but it couldn’t turn it on, because the bike needed to be on already to connect to the app via bluetooth. The app could also turn on and off the front headlight (which was very bright, by the way), as well as record and share any trip data. Personally, I think e-bike apps are only worth using if they give you live tracking, anti-theft, and alarms.
There aren’t many colors to choose from. In fact, if you want a step-through, you’re getting it in white. And if you want a step-over frame, you’d better be happy with black.
A final note on the addition of turn signals: they worked fine, but I almost never remembered to use them.
Heybike Alpha: Best if you’re handy, still good if not
All in all, I thought the Heybike Alpha was a solid ride, particularly for the price point. Usually a bike with the Alpha’s specs will run you anywhere from $2,000 to $4,500, so it’s a pretty good deal. Though that issue with the battery cover did raise some red flags about quality issues, and if I had ridden it longer, I wonder what other issues might have arisen.
The affordable price tag could be based on poor customer service, based on reviews online, though I couldn’t personally speak to that. All I know is that it was one of the smoothest, easiest fat-tire e-bikes I’ve had the pleasure of riding.
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