Summary:
- Choosing an electric bike to ride in Calgary means considering the city’s unique terrain and infrastructure. You’ll need enough power for Cowtown’s big open roads, plus comfort and safety features that give you confidence off-roading or in traffic—depending on what kind of riding you want to do.
- One key feature to look for when buying an eBike for riding in Calgary is the inclusion of torque sensors, which deliver power based on the pressure you apply when pedaling. This provides more control and a much more intuitive feeling than eBikes with cadence sensors, and is particularly useful in eMTBs and fat tire bikes where the bike’s responsiveness is a significant safety feature.
- Many of the eBikes on this list are from Surface604 and Michael Blast. Surface604 eBikes offer practical, purpose-built frames with smartly-paired components for mountain biking, commuting, cruising, and off-roading, while Michael Blast creates eBikes with a vintage look that recalls classic motorcycles and is practically guaranteed to make you the center of attention when riding.
Riding an eBike can be incredibly fun and freeing in any city—but Calgary’s large, well-paved streets, extensive network of bike paths, and sprawling municipal parks make it a particularly excellent locale for your eBiking adventures. Of course, you need to make sure you have the right eBike to really enjoy the pedal-assisted potential of this city—but that’s where our team comes in to help.
From Surface604’s versatile offerings to Michael Blast’s vintage models, we’ve spent our careers finding some of the best eBikes in the business. Here’s our list of the ones we recommend most for Cowtown’s commuters, casual riders, cruisers, and adrenaline junkies.
Best Electric Mountain Bike
Surface 604 Shred
Price: $3499
Buy Here:
Why: eMTBs need a few things in order to be truly great—like long-range batteries so that you can offroad for hours without worrying about running out of juice, and powerful brakes to stop you from smacking into rocks and trees. The Shred has all that—but what really makes it stand out from other electric mountain bikes in its price range is the fact that it comes with built-in torque sensors.
Cheaper eMTBs often use cadence sensors, which ramp up power during pedal-assist based on how fast you’re pedaling. But the torque sensors in the Shred apply power based on how hard you pedal—creating a much more natural experience that you control more by instinct than by effort.
The result? You get to spend more time focusing on Calgary’s beautiful Bow Trail bike paths, enjoying the singletracks and downhill sections of Fish Creek, or rocking through the nearby trails in Bragg Creek, Kananaskis, or the Banff area. The Shred is worth every penny.
Check out this Surface 604 Shred review.
Best Electric Commuter Bike
Surface 604 Werk
Price: $3399
Buy Here:
Why: You get torque sensors here too, which is nice to have in a bike that’s intended for use on daily trips through town. But the Werk really shines in terms of the way its quality components have been put together to make something even greater than the sum of its parts.
You get adjustable Suntour suspension here—plus an ergonomic gel saddle, which means you’re pretty much guaranteed a comfortable ride. A 9-speed Shimano drivetrain offers plenty of flexibility for switching gears, and hydraulic disc brakes with motor inhibitors give you confidence that you’ll be able to stop quickly—an important consideration when you’re navigating Calgary’s crosswalks and busy intersections.
There’s great front and rear lighting as well, which is super useful in those stretches of the city that are a little less developed (so don’t worry about being lost in the dark if you’re riding through Signal Hill or Arbour Lake at night).
Whether you’re cruising some of Calgary’s dedicated bike paths, or you’re making use of downtown bike lanes, the Werk will take you wherever you need to go.
See this Surface 604 Werk review.
Best Electric Cruiser Bike
Surface 604 Big Sky
Price: $2899
Buy Here:
Why: They don’t call Alberta “Big Sky Country” for nothing—and it’s not a coincidence that this bike shares that moniker. This cruiser was pretty much purpose-built for bombing down Calgary’s bike paths and open roads; its robust Innova tires with reflective sidewalls and relaxed, swept-back bars make it the perfect companion for popular runs like Fox Hollow to the Deerfoot Bridge Connector and back.
There’s more to love here than just the fantastic frame geometry—you also get an ergonomic gel saddle, hydraulic disc brakes, and torque sensors for the pedal assist system. Put that together and the Big Sky is a stunning combo of brains and beauty—as ambitious and appealing as the city we all call home.
See this Surface 604 Big Sky review.
Best Electric Fat Tire Bike
Surface 604 Boar Hunter
Price: $3699
Buy Here:
Why: This bike was practically built for places like Nose Hill and Bragg Creek, with their hybrid of bike paths and dirt trails over varied terrain. The 26” x 4.5” Kenda Juggernaut tires on this thing devour dirt, gravel, and other tough riding surfaces, while the brilliant Axendo LED headlight gives you all the power you need to see larger obstacles coming long before they cause a crash.
But the reason the Boar Hunter beats out other contenders like the RadRover 6 Plus is that like other Surface 604 bikes, it comes with built-in torque sensors. While that’s a nice feature for any eBike, it’s particularly uncommon for a fat tire eBike that costs less than $3700 CAD—meaning you get very good value for money here.
Finally, if you want to take the Hunter further out into the wilderness, it’s even got luggage racks for your gear—so that “Hunter” is more than just a creative moniker. If you’re looking for a robust, adventure-ready bike that can take you deep into the backcountry, consider this your Rural Alberta Advantage.
By the way, if you air down those fat tires, the Boar Hunter makes a great winter ride… just sayin’.
See a review of the Surface 604 Boar Hunter.
Best Electric Folding Bike
Surface 604 Twist
Price: $2899
Buy Here:
Why: It’s a mistake to assume that folding eBikes are cheap or less functional than their more rigid brethren—although certainly there are some very poorly-made models out there giving them a bad name. Fortunately, the Twist is not one of them.
The reason we picked yet another Surface 604 bike for this list is that the Twist brings nearly all the features highlighted in the models above—torque sensors, gel saddles, long-range batteries, hydraulic disc brakes, and more—to a bike you can pack into the trunk of your car in about one minute flat.
Then, once you’ve driven it out to the mountains, the woods, or your friend’s house in Cranbrook, you can enjoy it to your heart’s content—while most-likely matching or beating out the performance of whatever eBike they have that doesn’t fold.
At 63 lbs, the Twist is actually one of the lighter folding ebikes on the market and ideal for people that have mixed commutes or want to be able to bring some extra mobility wherever they go.
See this Surface 604 Twist review.
Best Electric Vintage Bike
Michael Blast Greaser Springer
Price: $3299
Buy Here:
Why: We saved one of the absolute coolest bikes on this list for the very end. With all the muscle of an early American motorcycle, the Greaser Springer by Michael Blast is guaranteed to turn heads as you cruise down 17th Avenue—and you’ll swear someone is playing George Thoroughgood’s “Bad to the Bone” somewhere nearby.
The Greaser Springer is more than just one of the best-looking eBikes on the market, too—it features a Bafang 500W geared brushless hub electric motor, hydraulic disc brakes with 180mm rotors, and an A6061 aluminum TIG welded frame. That means you get juice, stopping power, and stability to go along with those gorgeous whitewall tires and that leather-padded battery compartment that looks like an early Harley’s fuel tank. Bad to the bone? More like good to the last volt.
If you want an ebike to make a splash when you ride it to your favorite brunch spot, brewery, or cafe, the Greaser Springer is it.
See this review of a legacy Michael Blast Greaser (it’s an older model, but many of the points still apply!).
Find Your Ideal eBike for Calgary
There are plenty of eBikes to choose from, but the list above represents some of the best choices available for Calgary’s unique environment and infrastructure. Find your next eBike here, then hit the road and enjoy every second.