A Desert Journey With Heybike’s ALPHA Mid-Drive Fat Tire E-Bike

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Here at CleanTechnica, we review a lot of bikes in all shapes and sizes. But some kinds of bikes are far more common than others. 20” and 26” fat-tire e-bikes are very common in the United States, probably because they’re the SUVs of e-bikes. They’re comfortable and absorb bumps well. Perhaps more importantly (especially around here), they are very good at powering through sand.

Sadly, there’s one big shortcoming with most of the fat tire e-bikes that we review: a single-speed hub motor.

In short, there are two places to add an electric motor to a bicycle. You can either put it in the middle of the bike, between your feet, or you can put it in the wheels, directly driving the bike instead of transmitting power through your gears like you do when pedaling.

Most budget e-bikes (those priced below $2500) come with a hub motor.

Don’t get me wrong; these bikes can still be a lot of fun. No matter what gear you’re in, the rear hub motor can help you move forward. Even if you start in the wrong gear, a hub bike can push you forward and give you a chance to either pick up speed or switch to the right gear. Even if the chain breaks, a hub motor bike can move forward with the throttle and get you back to the trailhead.

But there’s one big problem with hub motors: the lack of gears to choose from. Because they only have one gear ratio (usually through a planetary gearset), they don’t give great performance at low speeds or great range at higher speeds. This is most noticeable when you come across a steep hill and you don’t get the kind of torque multiplication you need for the bike to conquer it.

Moving up to a mid-drive motor isn’t cheap, though. In most cases, getting a good one means spending well over $3000. I think it’s often worth it, but “worth it” doesn’t help much if you don’t have the dough.

The other problem with most high-end mid-drive bikes is that they’re pretty traditional. I love regular mountain bikes with 2” tires, skinny-tired road bikes, and comfortable Dutch-style commuter bikes. But, I’m also a stereotypical American and I love 3-4” tires that can power over the desert sand I typically ride in. There are very few of these fat tire bikes available with a mid drive.

Heybike Fixed This Problem For Me

When I heard a few months ago that Heybike* had an affordable (under $1699 when on sale) fat-tire mid-drive bike coming, I was pretty excited. And, no other corners were cut. It has hydraulic brakes, a color screen, and many other premium features you’d find on those $3,000 bikes. It even has some things that those bikes don’t, like a 400-pound weight rating, which leaves plenty of room for cargo even if you’re just starting your weight loss journey.

We’ve worked with them before, and the people at Heybike were willing to let us have a couple for testing.

But having the right numbers on a spec sheet really doesn’t mean much. I had to know whether the ALPHA would really perform in the harsh desert environments I like to conquer in the spring and fall in the Southwest United States. So, I took them on a trip to Moab.

Along the way, I had to stop in a place I’ve always wanted to camp in and ride around: San Lorenzo Canyon. It’s a few minutes north of Socorro, New Mexico, and it’s a gravelly wash surrounded by sheer sandstone cliffs on both sides. It not only gave me some great sights, but also gave me some sandy hills to try out.

The truth is this: I couldn’t find a hill that the ALPHA didn’t conquer in first gear in the highest pedal assist setting. Sandy steepness that most trucks struggle with? Not a problem. Steep gravelly hills I wanted to climb to get cell service for a minute? The ALPHA went right up.

The ability to grip and climb just about anything makes the ALPHA more of a UTV than an SUV. At one point, some folks with a side-by-side were cooking around on a sandy side trail in the canyon, and I went on the same trail at nearly the same speed they did. It really is that powerful and capable.

Hitting The Trails in Moab

Rather than tell you all about my experiences in Moab with the bike, Heybike wanted to show you. The following video shows a little about our first day of testing in the deserts of Utah.

On the first day, I stuck with some basic, mild trails. We went to the paved trails near Highway 128 and US-191. I also took some time to do some mild riding on dirt, including the scenic Shafer Trail in Canyonlands National Park. Just as in the sandy canyons of New Mexico, it performed flawlessly.

On the next day, after the film crew left, we hit some much harder trails, including a portion of the Wipeout Hill trail where Jeep was showing off its latest concepts.

Sadly, most mountain biking trails near Moab aren’t open to e-bikes, leaving only trails meant for trucks, SUVs, dirtbikes, and ATV/UTVs open for business. These trails are entirely unsuitable for most hub motor e-bikes because they have steep hills that most would simply poop out on.

But the ALPHA didn’t have a problem except on hills that started with a ledge a truck would have to climb. On all other hills, I was able to pick a line and pull right up to the top, then go down the other side. Even when there was something that’s too much for a bike, like a ledge, I could simply lift the bike up and over, then keep going.

While an ALPHA certainly can’t keep up with electric motorcycles, it’s just about the perfect tool for getting almost anywhere and conquering almost any trail. If the bike can’t make it up under electric power, it’s pretty easy to lift or push around the obstacle.

Plus, it’s great for use in cities and just around the neighborhood. If you’re looking for something to commute with during the week with some potential for weekend exploring, this could very well be the bike for you.

All images by Jennifer Sensiba.

*This article was kindly sponsored by Heybike.