The eSUV e-bike category

Electric SUV e-bikes claim to transition easily from urban asphalt to gravel and dirt trails with wide all-terrain tires, front and rear suspension, plus practical accessories like fenders and racks.

Testing the Amflow TL Carbon

The Verge tested a new TL Carbon e-bike from Amflow, the DJI offshoot that upended the mountain bike industry with its small and powerful Avinox motors.

Price and promise

For three thousand four hundred ninety-nine euros or three thousand eight hundred ninety-nine dollars, the TL Carbon offers a crossover e-bike that can fetch groceries during the week and conquer trails on weekends.

Growing eSUV market

eSUV e-bikes are more popular than ever. Canyon, Specialized, Riese and Müller, and now Amflow all make them, though most are more at home on pavement than dirt.

The Avinox motor advantage

The TL Carbon uses the same Avinox drive system that disrupted the electric mountain bike industry two years ago. Its compact mid-drive Avinox M2 motor delivers one hundred twenty-five newton metres of torque and one thousand one hundred watts of maximum output.

Real-world trail test

The Verge tested the TL Carbon on a one hundred seventy kilometre bikepacking trip from Amsterdam to the island of Texel. The route was seventy percent asphalt, twenty percent gravel and dirt, and ten percent rutted single-track mountain bike terrain.

Impressive power and range

Loaded with an eighty-seven kilogram rider and twenty kilograms of gear, the nineteen point two kilogram bike flattened technical hills. On the longest day, the rider arrived with twenty-two percent charge after riding eighty-two point three kilometres, using seven point fifty-eight watt-hours per kilometre.

Trail compromises

As an electric mountain bike, the TL Carbon makes significant compromises. The twenty-seven point five inch front wheel doesn't roll over roots and rocks as well as twenty-nine inch wheels. The geometry is more upright than many want on trails, and suspension travel is tuned more for potholes than one-metre drop-offs.

City bike accessories add weight

The TL Carbon's integrated lighting, kickstand, bell, mudguards, front rack, and rear rack are not designed for quick removal. Removing everything to go full electric mountain bike could take thirty minutes or more, then again to return to city mode.

Theft risk in the city

In Amsterdam, the TL Carbon looks out of place and screams expensive. The gas shock, Fox branding, and wide knobby tires make it stand out from basic city bikes, something you don't want in places where bicycle theft is a problem.

“screams I'm expensive”

Tire and drivetrain issues

The Maxxis Crossmark II tires are better suited for trails but add rolling resistance and noise to city commutes. They lack anti-puncture features for commuting and the knobby tread makes fast cornering on pavement feel squirmy. There's also no chain guard, risking snagged trousers and grease stains.

Practical for one bike only

The TL Carbon lives up to the title of sport utility vehicle. If it's your only bike, it gets the job done in urban environments and on trails, but it's like putting leather seats and a stereo inside a World War Two era jeep and calling it a city car.

“like putting leather seats and a stereo inside a WWII-era jeep and calling it a city car”