Review: GoTrax Mustang Electric Bike

Looking more moped than ebike, the GoTrax Mustang electric bike appears to share more DNA with old-school dirt bikes than it does modern electric bicycles. At least, in appearance it does. Resting on its kickstand outside my garage, the GoTrax Mustang looks as if it’s ready to play a role in the new season of Stranger Things.

However, while it boasts imposing size and plenty of heft, the Mustang, the newest offering from Dallas-based GoTrax, is surprisingly nimble and easy to operate, owing in large part to its relatively short wheelbase. As soon as you start turning the pedals, it’s easy to forget that it’s a bicycle basically built on a moped platform.

Tons of Torque

Photograph: Michael Venutolo-Mantovani

Before we get into the personality of this bike, let’s lay out the specs. The Mustang is powered by a 750-watt motor nestled into the bike’s rear hub, which can deliver up to 90 newton-meters of torque to its wheel. If you aren’t versed in torque ratings, rest assured that 90 Nm is more than enough to get me, a 6′4″, 255-pound bike commuter, up a hill near my home that averages a 4 percent gradient, with incline pitches over 15 percent. In other words—or, I guess in Waylon Jennings’ words—90 Nm flattens the hills.

All of that is powered by a 48-volt, 15-Ah LG battery that, according to the company, offers up to 86 miles per change (more on that in a minute), charges from dead to full in fewer than two hours (by my watch), and boasts a UL 2272 safety certification, which will help you sleep better at night.

Of course, all of that weight and power needs to stop, which is why the Mustang comes with Tektro hydraulic brakes mated to a pair of massive 180-mm disc-brake rotors. Again, take that hill I have to climb up to my office—reverse it for my commute home, and imagine all 255 pounds of me plus the 50-plus pounds of the bike itself bombing down –15 percent grades.

Photograph: Michael Venutolo-Mantovani

Those rotors and Tektro brakes combined to not only give all 300 pounds of Mike-and-bike plenty of stopping power, they also allowed me to feather my speed with extreme precision as I wound my way down the curvy hill toward home.

Like most new ebikes, the Mustang—which employs a generic Shimano seven-speed thumb-shift gearset—features five pedal assist levels and has an independent thumb-based throttle, allowing the rider to fully avoid pedaling should they chose (at the sake of draining your battery even faster, of course). It sits on wheels that are small in diameter (20 inches … think a BMX bike) but massive in width (4 inches, so wider than your average mountain bike).

Those wheels combined with a front suspension system that appears to offer around 100 mm of travel make for a comfy ride. It also features a massive LED headlight, which did plenty to illuminate the road in front of me. It’s an essential element during the midwinter, when the sun goes down before most people’s workdays end.

Photograph: Michael Venutolo-Mantovani

And though it only has a one-sided kickstand as opposed to a scooter-style under-frame stand, the bike’s short wheelbase means it never felt unstable when I hopped off and kicked the stand down. It also comes with a nifty little setting that’ll give you a little extra boost while walking the bike. Again, if you’re pushing a 50-pound bike uphill, you might need some extra oomph.

Other than the ultra-cool, deep-red-logo-on-flat-metallic paint job, the real showstopper on the Mustang is its control system, which features a stunning, full-color LCD display that shows in real time your speed, remaining battery, pedal assist level, odometer, and how much of the motor’s available 750 watts are being used at any given moment.

One Man Show

Remember those 86 miles I mentioned before? The ones you can reportedly get on a single charge? Well, that’s probably only if you live in a flat area and keep your Mustang on the lowest power setting. The product page on GoTrax’s website has a handy little chart that tells you about how far each mode is estimated to get you on a full charge.

But here in Chapel Hill (which, rest assured, is aptly named), I got closer to 28 miles on a single charge, constantly switching back and forth between all five power modes plus an often wide-open throttle. Granted, 28 miles is not bad, especially if, like me, you use your ebike to commute just a few miles to and from work or school.

While there are mounts on the downtube for a decent-sized (and innovatively positioned) basket, there don’t appear to be many other mounts for front- or rear-rack options, panniers, or additional seating. It all gives the sense that the Mustang, like those dirt bikes of 1980s yore, is really only meant to be ridden by one person at a time. If you’re in search of a family hauler or something more adept at replacing your car for everyday errands, the Mustang probably isn’t the bike. Rather, it seems to be built almost exclusively for zipping from point A to point B and back.

Photograph: Michael Venutolo-Mantovani

Speaking of seating, the biggest issue I had with the Mustang was the fact that it appears to only be available in one size with a seat that is not adjustable. Again, for someone who stands 6′4″, it made it all but impossible to ride comfortably. In the dozen or so hours I spent riding the Mustang, it felt like I was riding my kid brother’s BMX bike, as my knees splayed out from the bike (a position that any cyclist can tell you could lead to minor pain at best, and lasting knee injury at worst).

Digging around GoTrax’s site, there appears to be neither a height chart to recommend how tall riders should be in order to enjoyably ride a GoTrax, nor any options for different frame sizes. Meanwhile, the bike’s bench-style saddle is not adjustable, meaning the Mustang is a one-size-fits-all bike. The only problem is, its one size doesn’t fit all.

While I didn’t manage to get multiple friends of different sizes on the Mustang, I’d be hard pressed to imagine anyone bigger than 5′9″ or 5′10″ being able to comfortably pedal a Mustang for more than a few minutes. All in all, it's a pretty affordable bike. However, I might recommend seeing if you can find anyone in your town who owns GoTrax's popular Ranger model, whose dimensions are similar to the Mustang, to check if you can fit first.