OHM Mountain E-Bike Review

The Mountain is the most durable and resilient off-road e-bike and it comes with some top class components such as TRP Zurich hydraulic disc brakes, a 10-speed Shimano Deore XT drivetrain, and an air suspension fork.

The difference between the OHM mountain and other available electric mountain bikes is the hub motor design. It is extremely quiet, offers regen drive modes and regenerative braking, doesn’t affect shifting and is therefore easier on the chain, sprocket, and derailleurs, and it can be started with a throttle as well as torque sensing pedal assist.

Talking about speed, the OHM Mountain can be setup as a Class 2 product with throttle and assist limited to 20 mph or you can ask for a Class 3 system where the top speed would be 28 mph in pedal assist mode and 20 mph with the throttle.

If you’re choosing to use it as an “all terrain” commuter platform, you could add a rear rack for cargo or panniers and OHM can also add a USB charging port and integrated lights if you pay more. The frame is Aluminum alloy with a top quality paint finish and upgraded head tube, bottom bracket and yoke.

Thru-axles and wider Boost hubs provide strength and the overall weight is ~51 lbs which is good considering how powerful the motor is and the battery capacity. A few compromises were made around how the kickstand was mounted, and you can hear it rattling whenever you ride the mountain trails but this is easy to remove.

This bike has one of the coolest hub motors ever. This is the D-Series 500 watt gearless hub motor. It’s very wide but skinny, and is encased in a composite plastic shell compared to heavier Aluminum alloy.

The motor gets a good mechanical advantage from the wide design and because there is more air inside, it also stays cooler. With up to 50 Newton meters of peak torque, it’s very good for climbing if you pedal along and it can climb moderate inclines with the throttle only, as long as you have a bit of momentum going.

Unlike most other hub motors, this one is connected just to the hub and spokes run around the casing instead of connecting to it. The benefit is longevity and resilience, you get a more natural and consistent feel with this motor design.

Gearless hub motors have fewer moving parts, nothing is rubbing inside and therefore, they tend to last longer.
Powering the bike is an efficient and powerful 48 volt 11.6 amp hour battery.

Unlike some of the older BionX batteries that mounted in a rear rack or onto the downtube, this one seats into it a bit. This lowers the battery position and provides some extra space in the triangle section of the frame for bottle cage bosses and a lower top tube.

Between the four frame size options, the lower top tube, and some changes between the stem, bar, and crank arm length of each size, the bike offers a great fit. The battery pack can be charged on or off the bike frame, and this allows for independent storage as well.

You can tell how full the battery pack is by using the display panel, the bluetooth app, or the little control ring near the right grip or you can touch the metal plug port on the left side of the battery and it will light up with green, orange, or red. This battery holds onto the frame with ease, uses six rubber pads to reduce any kind of noise and scratching between the pack and the frame, and it charges quickly.

It weighs less than a pound, is super compact, and yet it puts out 3.45 Amps compared to just 2 Amps on most standard chargers.

There are many display alternatives, whether you’re choosing to use the minimalist LED readouts on the control ring, or the transflective backlit color LCD display, or your smartphone, you can control four levels of assist and four levels of regen.

The most important control features are always available to you, also, the + and – keys on the control pad are very intuitive. Primarily, you can choose how much power you want delivered by the motor. There is also a left and right key which can be used to navigate the LCD display to show different views.

The basic view is very good, it shows 10 bars to illustrate how full the battery pack is but if you arrow to the right twice, there is a data view display readout that shows battery percentage along with more trip stats and details.

It’s so cool to have this as an option, in part because data view is black and white which could be less distracting for some riders. Note that you can also enter into a settings menu by arrowing right to setup and then holding the grey key for a few seconds. This is definitely one of the nicest displays ever and it’s very flexible while still being simple.

Considering all factors, this is not the best bike for all mountain type riding with bumps and rocks everywhere. The larger tires are designed to be stable, comfortable, and floaty so you can ride over obstacles and soft terrain compared to nimbling around them.

It’s lovely that the bike comes with a chain keeper to perform well on bumpy terrain, and that you get premium touch points like the Ergon grips and saddle along with the Schwalbe Nobby Nic tires