Full-suspension and fat tires are basically the holy grail of comfort when it comes to e-bikes. They’re excessive in many situations, but that doesn’t stop a large swath of new e-bike shoppers looking for both. The only problem is they both tend to add to the cost of an e-bike, often pushing the number into the $2k range or higher. But what if you could get a full-suspension fat tire electric bike for under a thousand bucks? That’s what the Mukkpet Tank offers, and so I was excited to test it out and see how good it could be.
To be fair, the e-bike’s actual MSRP is $1,299, but the sale price of $999 seems to be pretty common so I’m comfortable calling it a sub-$1k bike, at least most of the time.
To see how the bike rides, watch my review video below. Or for the readers, keep on scrolling. Or check out both – you do you, my friend!
Mukkpet Tank E-bike Video Review
Mukkpet Tank Tech Specs
- Motor: 750W rear-geared hub motor
- Top speed: 25 mph (40 km/h)
- Range: Claimed up to 50 miles (80 km)
- Battery: 48V 15 (720 Wh)
- Weight: 86 lb (39 kg)
- Payload capacity: 400 lb (181 kg)
- Tires: 26 x 4″
- Brakes: Mechanical disc brakes
- Extras: Full-suspension fork, color LCD display, LED headlight tail/brake light, Shimano 7-speed drivetrain, included fenders and rear rack platform, cast rims for spokeless design, kickstand
Good, not great
Let’s be real here. For under a thousand dollars, you can’t expect anything on a full-suspension e-bike to be top-notch quality. And nothing here is.
But that doesn’t mean it isn’t still decent for the price. I know that to get below the $1k figure, I’m going to see some sacrifices. So what I’m really looking for is how do those sacrifices affect the overall picture.
For example, the suspension simply can’t be amazing because good suspension is expensive. And it’s definitely not amazing, but that didn’t stop me from riding over terrain that would have sent me flying on a hard-tail bike. Some of the worst topographical surprises for commuter e-bike riders are those tree roots that pop out of sidewalks, lifting up blocks and creating the sensation of riding over a giant washboard that previously hosted a few battle tanks along the route.
That kind of terrain can rattle your bones, but the Mukkpet Tank actually made it rideable while keeping my butt in the saddle. That’s basically what it’s meant to do – not giving high-performance, sporty handling. But rather, soak up some big bumps and turn them into little bumps. For that, it seems to work just fine. Yes, it’s clicky and clacky, which is usually a sign of cheaper springs and stops. But it works, which is what cheap e-bike hunters are after.
Then there’s the performance. Hitting 25 mph (40 km/h) is fast enough for almost anyone, even if it doesn’t totally max out the 28 mph (45 km/h) limit of Class 3 e-bikes. The 48V 15Ah battery is even surprisingly large for this price. You won’t get the 50 miles (80 km) of range they claim, at least not without pedaling your heart out alongside the 750W motor, but half of that range is easily doable even on throttle.
And you’re not going to get nicer features like UL-certified batteries on a bike like this, which is part of the equation going in with such a low-cost bike, but that’s a decision everyone has to make for themselves. Do you want to pay a bit extra for that peace of mind, or do you want to save that cash?
And I’m not sure I’d trust the 400 lb (180 kg) max weight rating, especially since I’m not even at half of that figure, but neither are most riders – so I’m not sure it will be an issue.
The rest of the bike is a combination of good enough and surprisingly good. The 7-speed Shimano derailleur? Good enough for recreational riding. The chunky rear rack? Surprisingly good, plus has plenty of space to tie down cargo or lash on a basket.
The mechanical disc brakes? Good enough, though I know they’re going to require more frequent tuning. The color screen? Surprisingly good, and more than I expected on a bike like this. Same goes for the cast rims instead of wheel spokes, which not only looks great but also means you don’t have to worry about rusting or breaking spokes.
The one area that really killed my mood was the super long pedal lag, a telltale sign of a lower-cost cadence sensor to activate the pedal assist. It means that you’ve got to wait a second or two from when you start pedaling until when the motor kicks in. For folks who like to pedal, and especially those in hillier areas, that’s going to be more of a bummer. For folks that spend most of their time at constant speed on long sections without stops, or for those that just use the throttle, the cadence sensor won’t bother you.
Oh yea, and the other mood-killer is probably the weight. At 86 pounds, this is a hefty little runabout. But hey, you wanted full suspension, right?
What’s the verdict?
So let’s sum this up. The Mukkpet Tank is a strangely named full-suspension fat tire with some nice features. The suspension isn’t great, but it’s there and offers a full-suspension ride that hardtails can’t match. The speed and power are great, the range is pretty good, and the build quality is decent.
There’s nothing overly fancy, and there are some downsides like the mechanical disc brakes and the laggy pedal assist sensor.
But all told, the bike does a good job of fulfilling the role of a modest, folding fat tire e-bike. It’s comfortable and seems to work pretty well. It’s hard to gauge longevity, and I sure would have liked to see a UL label on here somewhere, but the bike still has some value to it.
I probably wouldn’t jump to call this my prime bike, but I’d happily have one for a friend to join me on rides – at least for a friend who says they need full suspension. For anyone else who can deal with a hard-tail e-bike, deals like the Lectric XP 3.0 seem to offer more value, at least in my opinion. But they don’t have that key feature of full suspension, which for whatever reason, some people seem to think they need. So if that’s you, then this bike would do it for you, and for a more than reasonable price.
