It’s difficult to design, build and deliver an affordable yet capable full-suspension mountain bike, let alone an electrified model. I know, because I’ve ridden bunches of them, and as the price drops, the performance aspects typically descend as well. I’ve even sent back a few that were just not worth the time to review since they performed so badly as mountain bikes.

On the street, most were passable as commuter or fun ebikes, but off the pavement, some were not able to contend with even the most basic mountain biking challenge. And I’m not some championship-winning MTB racer with impossible standards, but I have been riding (and occasionally racing) mountain bikes for three decades now, and electric bikes for almost 10 years.

There is an interesting middle ground between the much more expensive pro-rider focused eMTBs and the pretender budget bikes that struggle off road. One recent example is the Aventon Ramblas (review below), a $2,500-ish hardtail eMTB that is certainly capable, but also heavy... but also affordable.

ForbesAventon Goes E-Mountain Biking With New High-End ‘Ramblas’ Model

Lately, I’ve been riding the $1,899 Haoqi Mustang, a full-suspension mid-motor e-mountain bike that reminds me of the Ramblas but adds in rear suspension and some other worthy aspects.