Each e-bike was taken on a test route by two riders. The 5km route in and around Wellington’s CBD included city traffic, fast flat roads, hills, kerbs, wooden bridges and a busy waterfront path shared with pedestrians.

We also put the e-bikes through a gruelling 20km route around Wellington’s Wadestown and Northland suburbs. The main challenge was climbing a 2km-long hill five times at a steady 20km/h (a kilometre of vertical ascent) and descending the same twisty narrow road between climbs. It also included a short, steep section of rough path with a narrow barrier negotiated at walking pace, an undulating 5km of suburban streets, and a steep descent requiring brakes to keep the e-bike to the 50km/h speed limit.

Our riding tests, along with a static assessment of the features and functions of each e-bike, were used to score the performance of the motor system and the bike. Overall score includes:

Motor system (50% of overall score)

• starting, stopping and responsiveness (40% of motor system score)
• hill climbing assistance (30%)
• controller and display (20%)
• high-speed assistance (10%).
  

Bike (50% of overall score)

• uphill and slow riding performance, ease of mounting and dismounting, off-bike handling (50% of bike score)
• downhill and fast flat riding stability, safety and comfort (30%)
• comfort and safety on bumpy and rough surfaces (20%).