There are 2 main styles of Electric bike motor; HUB and CRANK (or mid-motor). Hub motors are found on the cheaper models and may be found either on the front or rear wheel. Mid-drive motors are very good on hills as they move the chain rather than the wheel, giving the bike more power. They are also more efficient being positioned closer to the sensors which receive feedback from the pedals, making sure the battery transmits the correct amount of power to the motor.

There are non electric benefits too in terms of wheel maintenance not being impeded by cables and the opportunity for manufacturers to create a very aesthetic design by integrating battery casing and motor to keep the centre of gravity central and low and to enable the rest of the bike spec to match that of a non-electric model.  There are 3 main manufacturers of crank motors, namely Bosch, Yamaha and Shimano. They all have a few choices based on sort of riding that you’re doing and the depth of your pockets! Cheaper models will give up to about 200% assistance while models aimed at off-roaders and sport riders will be quicker off the line, kicking in faster with more power from a standing start up to over 300% extra pedal assistance.

Is bigger, better? Well, yes in very general terms.  A bigger battery won't increase power or speed as that is regulated by the motor but you need to think of it in terms of the size of a fuel tank...a bigger battery will take you further.

Cheaper bikes are normally 300wh, intermediate are 400wh and the performance motors will give you 500wh, 625 wh or more recently 750wh.  You will need this on a high performance E-MTB with lots of juicy torque, especially when you have an itchy trigger finger on the 'turbo' setting! Some models are now available with an extra range extender battery option.

Bounce or no bounce?  The only reason for not wanting a Full-Suspension model when it comes to E-bikes is going to be down to budget.  Would you buy a car with suspension at the front only?

Full Suspension gives you a more controlled ride and enables more contact to be made with the ground than a Hardtail which can rattle you all over the place.  Saying that, Hardtails offer more weight advantages than like for like Full Suspension bikes but with a 250w motor giving over 300% assistance in 'turbo' mode, is that really a concern...?

A lot of people seem surprised at the weight of an electric bike. Don’t be! They are about 10kg heavier than most bikes due to the battery and the motor. We don’t think that really matters since the motor is doing most of the hard work but you have to get used to getting on and off a heavier object. Can you get lighter E-Bikes? Yes, you can find that sub 20kg bike but the sacrifice will either be your wallet or the range and power of the bike. Check out the new 20kg Trek Fuel EXE from £5175 or the 19kg Mondraker Neat R at £7999. The Argon18 Subito E-Gravel weighs in at at a mere 12.5kg and will cost you a modest £4900 but if you are looking for a cheaper, more basic lightweight E-Bike that is especially suited for New Forest gravel tracks, then you won’t do much better than the super-light Trek Dual Sport + hybrid costing £2025 and weighing in at 17.4kg!

Otherwise, you’ll have to get used to most off-road & Equipped E-Bikes weighing 25 - 29 kg.

So what happened to 26" wheels? Well 29" wheels came along and demonstrated that for the majority of off-road riding, larger wheels offered easier obstacle clearance and an overall faster pace of riding.  The main disadvantage was quick handling on technical trails and the slower acceleration from a standing start.  So some bright spark who wanted to eat slices of their own cake invented the 27" wheel to get the benefits of both smaller and larger wheel size.    Consequently, 26" has become almost redundant and the choice is now "which size do you prefer, 27 or 29"?

Some bike brands give you a choice across their range while others favour one size over another.  A few manufacturers now offer frame size specific options for wheel choice.  eg. in the smaller frame sizes, you will only have the choice of 27" wheel and the larger bikes only have 29" wheel.  If you are average sized (eg 5'9) you might get the choice of both.