2022 Heybike Brawn Review

Video Review

Written Review

The Brawn from Heybike is a motorcycle inspired off-road beast. A powerful motor, an integrated battery, and huge motorcycle-style forks are just a few of the things that make this bike one of the most exciting machines we've tested. At a price point of just under $1,800, this is a trail-shredder you might want to pay attention to.

Heybike offers a 1-year warranty, free shipping, and a 30 day money-back guarantee return policy.

And with that, let’s dive into the specs!

The Brawn-branded, 750-Watt hub-drive motor has enough power to propel this bike over any terrain we threw at it. We rode up hills, across sand, through dirt, over rocks, and the ability of the Brawn to adapt and overcome was impressive. We’re not sure how much torque this particular motor has, but it feels like 85 to 90 Newton meters that we see in most hub motors of this power. 

This hub motor is encased in the rear wheel wheel, which is sporting a 26" x 4" Chao Yang fat tire. These fat tires have big knobs, which are capable of maintaining excellent grip in pretty much any scenario.  They even have the added safety feature of a super visible reflective sidewall stripe, which is fantastic to see. With big tires like this, you have a range of air pressure that you could run. So, if you are on concrete you can run these at the higher end of the recommended PSI for better range, but if you were on sand or dirt, or something like that, you could run these tires with a little less air, getting yourself more grip. 

The Brawn is a Class 3 Ebike, meaning it can reach top speeds of 28MPH. It gets up to those top speeds fairly quickly, and is able to maintain those speeds, with with a max range of up to 65 miles with pedal assist. Even at these top speeds I felt the front forks were balanced really well to provide a lot of comfort without sacrificing control. 

This bike utilizes a cadence sensor for pedal assist, but it also has a thumb throttle over here on the right hand side of the handlebars. Even though the gearing was pretty solid, I found myself using this thumb throttle quite a bit because it was just so much fun! And to make sure the fun continues for quite some time, the Brawn has high capacity battery!

The battery here is a 48V, 18Ah, 846Wh, locking and removable battery. Plenty of juice to tackle a full day’s ride in the urban jungle, or a literal one. If you’re looking to remove it, there is plenty of space between the downtube and the front tire, meaning that you don’t have to go through the struggle of finding just the right angle to remove the battery, as we’ve seen on some Ebikes. Big thumbs up for getting this right! Since the battery is located underneath the rider, it tends to make this bike feel more balanced, and offers an overall better riding experience. 

The Brawn is a pretty heavy electric bike, coming in at just under 80 pounds, but even at that weight, I still feel as though it has enough power and battery capacity to make up for that. Plus, it has the added benefit of being able to carry up to 400 pounds. That’s great news if you’re someone who is looking to add some saddlebags and carry extra gear. 

There are a few things missing here, that we would hope to see, based on the price of $1,800 and the first of those are going to be the fenders. Based on the locations you would be expecting to ride this thing, fenders would be a welcome addition to this hill climber. Now, there are several after-market fenders that would work well here, but it would be nicer if they were included with Brawn, straight from Heybike. It’s definitely not a deal breaker, but something to consider. The other thing we’re missing here is a rear rack. You may or may not want a rack, and that will depend on your use case, but I’d like to see the option of adding an included rack to my setup, but we don’t get the chance here. On the other hand, the lack of a rear rack can provide us with a cleaner look, and more sporty aesthetic. These are all small things we think that could elevate the Brawn as a whole, but they are far from reasons to walk away from this bike, especially when we consider the exciting things it DOES come with. 

The first thing we loved about the Brawn is the large headlight, which is integrated into the battery. Battery integration is a huge plus, because we won’t have to worry about sourcing small little batteries, and making sure they’re always charged. It’s bright enough to use as your sole headlight for a late night excursion, but far from a light canon that pierces the darkness. Since we have those included sidewall reflective stripes, and accents of white, at least on the black frame, this is something I would feel pretty confident riding around at night. This headlight is also higher up than a traditional fork-mounted headlight, and it just continues to add to the safety aspect of the Brawn. 

The second thing that really makes The Brawn stand out is the hydraulic dropper post. This is something that we don’t usually see on bikes at this price point, and it’s a welcome addition to this already pretty sweet ride. For those who have not ridden with a dropper post before, I can assure you that it is worth the investment! If you’re going to be going over uneven terrain, having the ability to adjust your saddle height and center of gravity is a game changer! A few other extras here are going to be a dedicated light button and horn on the lefthand side of the handlebars, bottle cage bosses, with included bottle cage, and derailleur guard. 

To bring this behemoth to a stop, we’ve got Tektro hydraulic disc brakes, with 180mm rotors on both the front and rear wheels. Having hydraulic brakes here was definitely the way to go, and the fact that we’re given 180mm rotors is also excellent to see. The braking system here works great, and this especially important given the higher-than-average weight capacity of 400lbs, top speed of 28MPH, and endless terrain options you have for this bike. 

We’ve got a 7-speed Shimano Tourney derailleur in the back, and a Shimano SIS-Index shifter up front. It’s nice to see name brand parts for our gearing system, even if they are entry-level Shimano products. And right out of the box everything functioned as intended.

The stem here is non-adjustable. This isn’t a big deal, considering we might be taking this on more substantial terrain, and this stem provides added stability over traditional adjustable stems. If you find you can’t live without an adjustable stem, there are plenty of aftermarket parts available that will be right at home on the Brawn. The other nice thing to see up on the handlebars is the double locking grips. If these are tightened correctly, there’s no way your hands will be slipping around on treacherous terrain. Another win in the safety department in our book. 

The LCD display here tells us the usual amount of information. This is another entry-level component, but it gets the job done, is easy to see in direct sunlight, and fits well with the current cockpit setup. 

Overall, the Brawn is one groovy Ebike and punching well above its weight class when we consider all of the offerings it has. Are there a few minor things we’d suggest adding to its stock configuration? Sure. But, this is a bike that would be a blast for any thrill-seeking adventurer that is ready to take their Ebike game to the next level. 

See the Heybike Brawn website: https://bit.ly/3gysy4E