If you’ve been around this website for more than a minute, you might’ve noticed we use a scoring system.
But what does it mean?
You can’t just slap any number between 0 and 100 and call it a day. There must be some form of a grading system, right?
Right!
Our score is calculated based on our review and the reviews of experts and users online.
To be more precise, 80% of the score is based on our review, and the rest (20%) is based on expert and user reviews. Here's a cool infographic that summarizes the process.
How We Calculate Our Portion Of The Score
Since our score takes up the brunt of the final score, let’s go over it first.
Our testing process is pretty straightforward all things considered. Once the bike arrives at our office, we start with with a simple visual inspection and then move on to riding it for around two weeks.
After this lengthy test ride (or rides), we start compiling our review scoring the bike’s components.
Scoring The Frame
The frame is the most crucial part of every bike. This is doubly true for e-bikes. The better the frame, the less you need to worry about the bike literally cracking in half as your ride over gnarly offroad trails.
Not that every e-bike is built for offroad trails, but having a thought frame really helps.
This is why the frame takes up 20% of our 80% score.
The first thing we look at in the frame is its overall construction. We inspect the welds and take note of any weak spots. If there are any weak spots, we test them out during our test rides.
The next thing we score the frame for is the weight. The lighter the frame, the higher the score. That is, if it’s not affecting the bike’s structural integrity.
Next, we test out the suspension and the cabling. The comfier the suspension and the better the cabling the higher the score.
Scoring The Motor
The motor is just as crucial as the frame. Testing out the motor is done during our test rides.
We test how well the motor accelerates and goes uphill and its responsiveness.
We also consider how much power and torque it can churn out. The higher the power and torque, the higher the score.
Speaking of scores, the motor score takes up 20% of our 80% score.
We also take into account the number of pedal assist levels as well as whether the bike comes with a throttle or not. If there is a throttle, the score is bumped up by 1.
Lastly, we score the motor’s controller. We test its user-friendliness, and features, as well as how readable it is under direct sunlight.
Scoring The Battery
The motor is pretty much useless unless it’s powered. So it’s natural we put the battery through its paces.
First, we check whether the advertised range matches up to the real-world results. The way we do this is pretty simple - we fully charge the battery and ride the bike until we squeeze every last drop of electricity from it. Then we compare the milage we got with the one stated by the manufacturer.
Next, we score the battery placement. The more accessible it is, the higher the final score.
Lastly, we check the recharge time. The longer it takes to recharge, the lower the score, and vice versa.
The battery score takes up 20% of our 80% score.
Scoring The Wheels And Tires
The wheels and tires are just as crucial as the frame. If the wheels are prone to buckling or breaking easily, you’re gonna have a pretty bad time.
This is why the score for the wheels and tires takes up 10% of our 80% score.
We test out these components by simply riding the bike around and checking their integrity after each ride. If there’s any cracking, or buckling, or if the tires don’t provide enough grip for the terrain they’re built for, we deduce points.
We also test how well the breaks behave. If we notice they’re not as responsive or as grippy for our comfort, we deduce points.
The wheels and tires take up 10% of our 80% score.
Scoring The Comfort
The last thing on our checklist is testing out the e-bike’s comfort. While a big portion of this score is derived from simply riding the bike around we also check for other stuff.
What other stuff?
Well, most importantly, we check how easy it is to get on and off the bike as well as how comfortable it is for different heights.
We also test out how well the suspension (if there is one) works in combination with the tires in absorbing road shock.
Comfort takes up 10% of our 80% score.
How We Calculate The Expert And User Reviews Portion Of The Score
Okay, now that you’re all caught up on how we calculate our 80% of the score, let’s take a look at how we factor in all the user and expert reviews.
How We Factor In Expert Scores
The way we factor in expert reviews is pretty simple. We scour the Internet for every expert review worth its salt and convert it into a number on a scale from 0 to 10.
We then calculate the average score and add it to the user score portion.
How We Factor In User Scores
User reviews are a thing of beauty. They can give you a pretty unbiased picture of how a particular bike performs.
However, manufacturers can also influence them by adding either fake reviews or by greasing up some of the customers with extra goodies and customer care for a positive review.
This is why we go over every user review carefully and weed out those that are fake or paid.
Lastly, we take into account the amount of user reviews. If there are under 5 reviews, we don’t even bother reading them and move on to expert reviews.
Just like with expert reviews, we convert each user review into a number between 1 and 10. We then calculate the average score, and Bob’s your uncle!
We Filter Ratings To Ensure They’re Unbiased
Like we mentioned above, some e-bike manufacturers try manipulating the user scores by either adding fake reviews or greasing up customers for a favorable rating.
This can really mess with our scoring system, which is we built a robust system for detecting and filtering out fake, paid, and spam reviews.
The filter system is the pride and joy of our in-house developer. It unitizes a whole bunch of technologies such as IP restrictions, AI integrations that detect certain patterns, as well as mechanisms to detect spammy content.
Furthermore, we don’t factor in every expert review we stumble upon. Instead, we look for unbiased and quality reviews. And since this is a pretty delicate process, we do this manually.
We go through each expert review and check whether the review has a heavy focus on promoting the product instead of reviewing it. If that is the case, we disregard it and move on to the next.