2021 Tower Beach Babe Review

Video Review

Written Review

Power — 500 nominal watts, 750 peak watts, 65 Nm torque 

Speed  — 25 mph (Unlocked

Battery and Range — 48 volt 14 ah, 50 miles

Pedal assist sensor — Cadence sensor

Display — Greyscale, LCD

Frame and weight — 6061 Aluminum alloy, 52 lbs

Suspension —  Solid forks

Gearing — Skilful, 7 speed

Brakes — Tektro, hydraulic disc, 160 mm rotors

Warranty — 12 month comprehensive

Price — Starting at $1,895 USD

Welcome back to another episode of Electrified Reviews! I hope today brings you peace and happiness, and I hope you’re excited for this review!

Today we’re reviewing the Tower Beach Babe. This is a step-thru electric bike built for beach cruising and while it’s called the Beach Babe, I think this would be a pretty groovy ride for a beach dude as well. 

This cruiser style electric bike has good components all around and is not only a comfortable ride, but an approachable one too thanks to the step-thru frame. It also happens to be considerably lighter than most full size electric bikes at just 51 pounds. That’ll make loading and unloading this electric bike much easier. 

The Tower Beach Babe has a starting price of $1,895 USD and comes in one color, black, and one frame size. Something worth noting here is that Tower offers a 1 year comprehensive warranty on these bikes, and that’s not something you always see at ebikes at this price point. Nice!

This is our second Tower we’ve reviewed — we also reviewed the Beach Bum a while back, which is the traditional step-over version, and we’ll link to that in the description — and with that, let’s dive into the specs!

The Beach Babe 2 has a 500 nominal watt geared hub motor with 65 Newton meters of torque. And this motor configuration is a pretty good one. It’s got enough power to turn steep hills into much gentler ones, but it’s not so powerful that it’s going to eat up the battery.

And this motor will give you an unlocked speed of 25 mph, which you can reach using the half-grip twist throttle or the cadence sensing pedal assist. There is some latency with motor activation and deactivation, as there is with all cadence sensors, but thankfully the throttle is live from 0 mph, and there’s also motor inhibitors built into the brake levers. 

The battery on the Beach Babe is a 48 volt 14 amp hour battery with Samsung cells, which is one of those upgrade points that can really make a difference in the long run. This battery gives the Beach Babe an estiamted max range of 60 miles, which might you could maybe get on the lowest pedal assist setting, but real world range will likely be around half that. Still, during our testing we road around quite for about 15 miles on the max pedal assist setting and with little pedaling and the battery indicator barely moved. That’s a great sign.

The battery is locking and removable and is located behind the seat post. Now, this battery location makes for some clean lines on the Beach Babe, but it does make the bike a little back heavy since the motor is in the rear wheel as well. 

The Beach Babe weighs in at just 51 pounds but still has a max carry capacity of 350 pounds, which is pretty impressive. Part of the reason the Beach Babe is lightweight is because there’s no suspension, and that makes for a somewhat stiff ride on bumpy roads. There is some cushion from the suspension saddle, but you could also grab a seat post suspension if you want a super smooth ride. 

The tires on the Beach Babe are excellent. The Schwalbe Fat Franks have K-Guard puncture protection and slime, so if you are able to get a flat on this bike, it’s probably going to be from something massive like a nail.

The derailleur on the Beach Babe is a Skilful 7-speed with a Shimano SIS Index Thumb shifter and switching gears feels a lot like it does with a Shimano Altus. Tower got the gearing spot on with the Beach Babe and pedaling at 25 mph in top gear is a breeze. 

To bring the Beach Babe to a stop we’ve got Tektro hydraulic disc brakes with 160 mm rotors in the front and rear. These brakes offer ample stopping power, especially with the Schwalbe tires, and there’s also motor inhibitors built into the brake levers which helps ensure you have the shortest possible stopping distance. A great safety feature, especially with a bike like this that goes 25 mph and has a cadence sensor. 

There is a headlight on the Beach Babe and while it does a good job at increasing visibility, it’s not really powerful enough for night riding. 

Wire management is great, with everything bundled nicely and wrapped in plastic, with most of the wires being internally routed. 

The display is on the left side of the handlebars and is easy to read even in direct sunlight.

Overall, the Beach Babe is just a really fun electric bike to ride. The step-thru frame makes getting on and off much easier compared to a traditional step-over frame, and with the wide handlebars and cushy seat it’s also a comfy ride. This is a great choice for those looking for a good quality step-thru cruiser style electric bike that won’t break the bank.

See more of the Beach Babe: https://www.towerelectricbikes.com/womens-el