603 Cyberbike Mullet R eMTB review

Hello friends, welcome to the most exciting dispatch from Bike & Battery ever. It's such an exciting dispatch, it has taken me almost two months to start. Why? 

I've been busy. I wish I could say I've been busy riding our new ebikes, but that's only partially true. Mostly it's been other stuff. But we do have new ebikes, and that's the story we're here for. 

At top, the 2024 Cyberbike Mullet R. This is bike number one. After having an eye on Cyberbike for a few years, we pre-ordered this unit last December as part of their Black Friday/Launch sale. It arrived 2 months later, in mid-February, a couple weeks after promised. We paid $1995, including shipping. It's the second or third generation of the Cyberbike Mullet. The full retail price is supposedly $3295, but they're still "on sale" for $2495 as of this writing.

"Mullet" means the front tire is larger than the rear. This is a thing in mountain bikes. Supposedly the larger front wheel (29") allows you to crush obstacles, while the smaller rear wheel (27.5") gives you a bit more agility.

I don't have a ton of mountain bike or ebike experience, so I'm not really the best person to tell you if this bike is any better or worse than any other bike on the market. I can tell you that price per specs, it's the best deal I could find, as of December 2023.

Here's what we got for $1995: A mid-drive full-suspension mullet eMTB with a dropper post and dual-piston hydraulic brakes.

The mid-drive is by Star Union, rated at 500 watts continuous, and 750 watts peak. It's good for 130 newton meters of torque. Star Union is a brand I've never heard of before, but so far it seems to be working just fine. It's relatively quiet, but not silent. If you're out in the woods riding, and you pass someone on an "analog" bike, they're going to know you're cheating. But you're also not likely to scare away any deer.

It seems powerful enough. It will get you up to 28mph with some vigorous peddling before the power cuts out, or about 21mph on throttle only. (There is a thumb throttle, a relative rarity on decent eMTBs. Which might earmark this as "not decent" but so far it seems pretty decent to me.)

The riding experience, so far, is smile inducing. This bike can handle a lot more than I can. Out on a ride, it will encourage you to do things that you wouldn't normally be able to do. 

So far, I've crashed twice. 

The gears and shifter  ("drivetrain") are by L-Twoo. I've never heard of them either, but they do have a website with a whole slew of gear they manufacture. This one is an 11-1 set up, with 11 gears in the back, and no front derailleur. So far, so good. 

The shocks and brakes are by Wolf. Wolf is an obvious knock off of Fox, a well known brand. They don't have a website I could find. So far they seem fine. We haven't tried to adjust them, but they are adjustable. Maybe when we get out on the trails a bit more with our brother-in-law that stuff will get figured out. So far all I can say is, "cushy ride". I even rode them down some railroad tracks. 

The rear suspension handled the bumps better than the front. That might be a matter of adjustment, or just that my heavy-ish self put more load on the back than the front, so the suspension had more to work with. 

The suspension geometry is a bit old-school, with a vertical shock. It works. The bushings mounting the shock to the frame are a potential weak spot we need to watch for. Currently with about 100 miles in the saddle, its like new. Muddy, but new.

There were a few nuts that didn't come fully tightened from the factory, at the cranks and headset. Other users have reported issues with the dropper that involved unkinking a cable. When you're ordering a bike on the Internet ("direct-to-consumer" versus a bike shop) this is something to be aware of. You're eliminating the bike mechanic from the equation, so you better be at least a little able to use and understand wrenches.

The 48 volt battery holds 625 watt hours, or 13 amp hours, and is integrated into the frame for a less "electric bike" look. New, I've found it's good for about 25 miles of fairly hilly terrain, with moderately easy peddling. So you could get a lot more on flat ground with hard peddling, or likely a good deal less on super hilly terrain with no peddling. 

So far my overall review is thumbs up. I'm sharing this bike with my wife, Deb (you're the best honey!), so I ordered a size medium. It's just big enough for me, at 6 feet, and just small enough for her, at 5'7". If it was for just me, I would have preferred a large frame. If it was just for her, she would have preferred a step-thru frame, an option Cyberbike doesn't offer. 

The next bike we received is this extended tail cargo bike, ordered directly from China via Alibaba. Tune in to the next exciting edition of Bike & Battery to learn more!