How We Review

Every publisher in this space claims a method. Most of the claims are some version of “our experts tested them.” Ours is different, and we want you to be able to check it, so here it is in full.

1. We start from published specifications

For every bike and product, we read the specs the manufacturer or retailer actually publishes — motor watts (the ratedfigure, not an inflated “peak”), battery watt-hours, weight, class, and the product-specific numbers that decide a category (a lock’s shackle diameter, a light’s lumens, a tire’s puncture rating). Each product on the site links to the listing we read those specs from, dated. We do not recall specs from memory, and we do not repeat a number we cannot point to a source for.

2. “Not published” is a finding, not a gap

Budget e-bike listings routinely omit the numbers that matter — a true rated wattage, an honest range, a real weight. When a maker will not state a figure, we print “Not published” rather than guessing. On a value site, what a brand hides is information too, and hiding a spec is itself a mark against a product.

3. We compute what nobody else computes

The clearest example is running cost. We take a bike’s battery watt-hours and the current published US electricity rate, and we compute the cost of a full charge, per year, and per mile — with the arithmetic shown so you can reproduce it with your own power bill. In our survey of the publishers ranking for value e-bike searches, not one publishes this. It is the kind of original, checkable data we would rather compete on than a claim we cannot back. See it in action in our charging-cost guide.

4. Prices are live, dated, and allowed to expire

Every price on the site comes from a daily automated check against the retailer and carries the date it was pulled. We never hardcode a price. If the check stops running, prices disappear and the buttons fall back to “Check price” — because a stale price is worse than no price. Where a bike sells direct rather than on Amazon, we say so and send you to verify, rather than showing a number we cannot stand behind.

5. The honesty statement

Everyone in this category says they tested twenty bikes. We compile the published specs, do the electrical and cost math ourselves, and cite every source. So, plainly:

• Bikes we claim to have ridden and tested: 0— and we say so.
• Free products accepted in exchange for coverage: 0.
• Sponsored placements or paid rankings: 0.

Those are the categories where zero is the good number, and where most of our competitors’ honest total would be the same — they just will not tell you. The obvious question is “then why trust you?” and the answer is right here: because the specs are the manufacturer’s, the math is shown, the sources are linked, and nothing is ranked to earn a commission. You can check every one of those claims yourself, which is more than a “we tested it” badge lets you do.

6. How we keep it current

Prices refresh daily. We revisit the money pages at least quarterly and at each model-year change, and our “last updated” dates reflect real changes, not cosmetic date-bumping. If you spot an error, our contact pagehas an error-report path — flag it, and if you are right we will fix it and say that we did. Our full independence rules are in the editorial policy.