Pedego Moto review: Fast and furious fun for $4,000

I'm not a fat-tire bike guy. My tire tastes run toward the thinner end of the spectrum: 28s on my road bike and 35s on my gravel bike. And I must confess to some distaste for fat-tire e-bikes, which I mostly encounter being ridden (and occasionally even pedaled) on local bike trails. But the $3,995 Pedego Moto caught my eye. The specs were impressive, but more importantly, it looked like it would be a blast to ride.

Unlike most of the other e-bikes I've reviewed, the Pedego Moto requires little assembly. The Moto arrived in a massive box strapped to a pallet, but once the box was cut away and the bike exposed, all I had to do was adjust the handlebars with a hex key and the Moto was good to go.

From the headlight to the bench seat, Moto sports a rugged moped vibe. There's a bright color display attached to the handlebars with four control buttons. The two on the front tweak the assist level and navigate setup screens, while the ones on the top and bottom handle power and confirm setup options. There's another controller just below and to the left of the display that handles the turn signals and headlights.

There's no app for the Moto; setup and adjustments are done entirely via the display.

The display is bright and easy to read in sunlight. All of the e-bike controls are within ready reach.

Credit: Eric Bangeman

Tweaking is done via the display. If you hold down the "minus" button next to the display, walking the bike becomes much easier.

Credit: Eric Bangeman

The Moto is powered via a 750 W motor with up to 75 miles of range paired with a 48 V battery. The 75-mile range sounds reasonable if the lowest level of assist is selected. I rode the Moto mostly at the highest assist level, and after 23 miles of riding, the battery was about 25 percent charged. What really surprised me about the Moto was the groupset. Instead of the typical seven-speed Shimano hardware, the Moto has a 10-speed SRAM GX groupset sporting a 10-32 cassette paired with a 52T front chainring.

The SRAM GX groupset on the Moto is the best I've seen on an e-bike.

Credit: Eric Bangeman

Out of the box, the Moto is a Class 2 e-bike, with a top speed of 20 mph. A trip to the settings screen is all that's needed to bump it to Class 3 and a max of 28 mph under assist. The right handlebar grip has a motorcycle-style throttle for quick starts off the line or if the rider doesn't feel like pedaling.

The combo of motor and groupset makes riding the Moto very satisfying. In contrast to some e-bikes, where I would feel an uncertain relationship between my gear, cadence, and speed, I felt like I was working in concert with the Moto. The best example of this is going from a full stop to top speed with assist level 3. I'd start out in a low gear, and each time I'd shift, the bike would speed up 1-2 mph as well, but it felt organic—the Moto and I were cooperating. By the time I'd reach the highest gear, the Moto would be near 28 mph, and that 5.2:1 gear ratio made for very satisfying pedaling. Without any assist at all, I struggled to top 13 mph on the Moto.

It took some time to get used to the riding position. Sitting astride the bench seat, I found myself pushing the pedals forward as well as the usual up and down. All of my bikes have "normal" bike seats, so the bench was a big change. It left me feeling a lack of connection to the Moto—there was no feeling of union with the bicycle—and particularly nasty stretches of road resulted in a bit of bounce. And it's not adjustable at all. I'm about six feet (182 cm) tall, and I would have liked a slightly higher perch, so keep this in mind as you contemplate the Moto. The bench is big enough for two, however, and there are a pair of flip-down footrests for a passenger. My wife tolerated a trip around the block with me, remarking that the seating accommodations were on the snug side.

Past and present: the Moto parked next to an old-school moped at the local Dairy Queen.

Credit: Eric Bangeman

The front shocks are adjustable, so one day, I tweaked the compression and rebound for the smoothest possible ride and took it off-road. I chose a rough gravel trail nearby, one that was pure bliss on a different e-bike. On the Moto, the succession of bumps, roots, and depressions was jarring as I struggled to steel myself against the jouncing and jostling.

I had no visibility worries riding the Moto at night with that headlight.

Credit: Eric Bangeman

Riding the Moto around town was a blast, however. Even with the assist maxed out, acceleration feels natural, with the bike adding to my effort to reach cruising speed. In the highest gear, I could reach 30 mph by pedaling furiously. Less strenuous efforts topped out at 26–28 mph, which I decided was fast enough for my purposes. Nighttime rides are a blast with the motorcycle-style headlight. It even has a 170 lux high-beam setting. On the back is a combo brake light/running light with turn signals to boot.

There are footrests for a passenger.

Credit: Eric Bangeman

There are some minor quibbles with the Moto. First is the assist. Like the Trek FX+ 2, the Moto motor would occasionally give me the sensation of being pushed from behind. It's not unsettling—more of a gentle reminder that I wasn't doing all of the work. Second, the Moto's moped-like design means the e-bike has a large turning radius. Keep that in mind if the bike needs to be maneuvered or stored in tight quarters.

Lastly, the Moto really isn't good for much other than commuting or riding around for fun. That may not be a dealbreaker for some folks, but a rack or some sort of cargo-carrying capacity would make the Moto much more useful. Pedego will offer a sissy bar with a built-in rack as a $100 add-on for the Moto, but it is not yet available.

But those are quibbles. What really sets the Moto apart from the competition is the build quality. The difference between Pedego's offering and, say, the Heybike Tyson is night and day. There's a reassuring solidity to the Moto—it's a well-engineered and well-built e-bike, which it ought to be, given the $3,995 price tag. You can readily find cheaper and more practical e-bikes, but finding one with the build quality and fun quotient of the Moto will be tough.