Amflow PL Carbon Pro Review

Amflow and Avinox may not be household names, but we have a feeling that's about to change. Originally founded by DJI, Avinox, and Amflow, the brands are now separate, standalone brands. While DJI is primarily known for its success in the drone market, it turns out they know a thing or two about motors, electronics, and batteries. The class-leading power and torque numbers are the headline, but the bike and its software are praiseworthy on their own. The Avinox motor is being adopted widely with as many as 20 brands globally adopting their motor and battery technology. Amflow currently produces two bikes; we tested the PL Carbon Pro, which is the more expensive version. The PL Carbon is the lower-priced model, and it is every bit as impressive, featuring the same frame, drive unit, battery, and electronics. The extra $2700 for the Pro model gets you Fox Factory suspension, carbon wheels, electronic shifting, and a few cockpit upgrades, but the bikes are fundamentally the same.

Downhill Performance

If you've arrived at this part of the review, dubious of a company that you've never heard of bursting onto the scene, you're not alone. While the motor and electronics are significantly better than anything we've tested previously, we were skeptical that they'd be housed in a bike with genuine trail cred. Balancing the performance aspects of a bike like this is an art, and it involves more than just copying the latest popular geometry. Kinematics, weight distribution, cockpit spec, tire choice, and many more micro decisions go into creating a performance trail bike. Amflow seems to have nailed all of these aspects to create one of the liveliest and funnest e-bikes we've ever ridden.

Starting with the front end, our size Large test bike features 475mm of reach, leading up to a 64.5-degree head tube. Yes, you can run a 170mm fork, and it kicks the headtube back to around 64 degrees. 115mm of headtube gives the bike a stack of 628mm and a modest standover height of 785mm. If the numbers sound Greek to you, let's just say that Amflow isn't breaking any molds here, but they're squarely in the zone of modern trail bike geometry. The headtube angle and 160mm fork provide the bike with relatively relaxed steering, which is stable and predictable up to around 35 mph on most terrain. The Amflow doesn't muscle its way through the trail like the new Specialized Levo. The PL Carbon Pro finesses the trail with a lighter touch and is less hesitant to get off the ground to find the cleanest lines. At less than 44.5 pounds, the bike descends much more like an analog or sl-e-bike. Less mass gives it a bit more freedom from gravity, and that's apparent in its lively, agile feel.

Fox Factory suspension and the bike's proven 4-bar linkage give it a supple, predictable feel. It doesn't feel notably different from most 4-bar designs, which makes sense, but testers agreed it feels a bit more plush than expected and at least as plush as the Genie-tuned shock on the Levo. Likely due to the Float X's shock tune, the rear end isn't reluctant to dip into its travel and provides exceptional braking traction. The bike carries speed well, but in times when you get caught flat-footed, the motor's torque can make the difference between clearing or casing that next jump. No other bike gives you quite the reward for a single pedal stroke. The 345.5mm bottom bracket height provides a low enough center of mass, allowing you to carve corners and maintain momentum, while the short 155mm crank arms keep your pedals clear of the rocks.

The bike has a 1255mm wheelbase with 445mm chainstays; it's long enough to let you feel inside the bike without feeling cramped in the switchbacks. The bike rails berms, letting you drop deep into the corners and pop out with a quick, agile feel usually reserved for unpowered bikes. The tire choice with an Assegai up front and Dissector in the rear is particularly good for this bike; the Assegai gives heroic grip up front, while the Dissector makes the most of the bike's braking ability. Speaking of the brakes, Magura's ultralight MT7 Pro brake set uses four pistons at each wheel and 203mm rotors. We found the braking feel to be quite nice, but the power was less than we'd prefer. The all-carbon brake lever (yes, even the lever body) has a soft, muted feel, and while it decelerates readily, we've been spoiled by SRAM's Maven power and were eager to increase the bite. We swapped out the Magura Storm HC rotors and found the bite we were looking for, but still not Maven power.

We made a few assumptions about the bike before riding it, and had some feelings about the fork. After testing the Specialized Levo with a Fox 36 Rythym fork, which felt woefully inadequate, we thought the Fox 36 Factory on this bike wouldn't be stiff enough. This fork, however, is the newest 36 with a stiffer chassis, Kashima-coated stanchions, and an X2 damper, and it complements the bike perfectly. At 180 pounds, I found the fork to track well and deliver the confidence and stability I longed for when piloting it through ugly lines. We had a Push Nine One and Fox 38 on hand to swap over, but never felt like we wanted to give up the plush, lightweight 36.

Pushing the Amflow skyward was a joy; the bike isn't reluctant at all to get off the ground and feels totally composed on the jump lines. It's light enough to flick and whip, but burly enough that you don't worry too much about what the landing looks like. Landing in the chunky stuff didn't raise our blood pressure, the bike feels generous with its travel, and you don't really worry about its efficiency on the way down. The 4-bar rear and shock tune give the bike sufficient anti-rise to keep the rear tire engaged when you're on the brakes and the nasty line at the same time.

At higher speeds, the bike feels stuck to the trail, giving phenomenal traction that lets you change directions on a whim. Those high speeds are easier to reach than ever, with a Class 3 top speed of 28 mph. Like the new Specialized Levo, you can bump up the speed limit each time you ride; the bike won't retain the Class 3 setting when powered off. You can increase the speed limit on the bike's touchscreen while you ride, and you don't even have to remove your gloves to use it.

Weighed with an 800Wh battery, tubeless tires, and no pedals, the PL Pro came in at 44 pounds, 7 ounces.

Would we change anything? As noted above, we had planned to swap the fork but ended up completely sold on the new Fox 36. Brake rotors were swapped to give a bit more bite in the wet, and we moved to a 35mm rise handlebar. The Amflow 35mm carbon bar measures 800mm and has 25mm of rise, but we were craving just a bit more height from the front end. The bike is mullet compatible, and there is a flip chip to adjust when swapping wheels, but it otherwise lacks adjustable geometry.

Climbing Performance

While many factors go into how a bike climbs, the Avinox motor overshadows traditional ones like suspension kinematics and geometry. To be clear, the geometry is modern enough with a 77-degree seat tube angle and 475mm of reach. Rider positioning is right on top of the drivetrain, and you're able to generate ample power, even on steep inclines. The 4-bar suspension and shock valving give the bike sufficient anti-squat such that your hard efforts translate to the tire's contact patch, not the shock.

The Avinox M1 motor isn't just more powerful than all the other motors on the market; it delivers the smoothest power-assist feel we've tested thus far. This makes your climbs feel super-human. It doesn't feel like you're simply sitting on a torque machine; the Amflow climbs with remarkably subtle, yet potent assistance. Our favorite climb setting was a slightly detuned TRAIL mode; we lowered the torque and power settings just a bit, which didn't seem to slow us down but made a larger gap between TRAIL and TURBO. In real-world scenarios, TURBO and BOOST modes feel more like the launch modes on electric cars. Sure, they're wildly powerful and fun, but they're almost over-the-top novelty features. There's a section of road we climb to access a slabby backcountry paradise that kicks up to a 25% grade. Pedaling the extended section on an analog bike is almost torturous at 4 mph, even for a fit rider. Kick the Amflow into Turbo mode, and you're ascending this escalator-steep pitch at 15+ mph.

The bike climbs in an exhilarating fashion, index fingers on the brake levers, adrenaline pumping, using the dropper post to lower your center of gravity, and railing sweeping corners. It feels like downhill riding that just happens to be gaining elevation. The suspension keeps the rear wheel glued to the trail, and despite dizzying torque, we almost never broke traction while climbing. The Maxxis Dissector wouldn't be my first choice for a rear tire, but its wide, alternating triple center knobs offer excellent braking traction. We also rode the bike with a set of Schwalbe (Albert / Mary) radials and felt they better managed speed and cornering g-forces, but in most conditions, you're hard-pressed to outperform the Maxxis Assegai.

445mm of rear center provides enough length to keep your center of mass ahead of the rear axle on steep climbs. The bike is also compatible with an MX or Mullet wheel setup by swapping to a 27.5" rear wheel. A flip chip in the shock linkage allows you to raise the bottom bracket when making the swap, but relatively short 155mm crank arms have enabled some riders to run a smaller rear wheel without moving the chip and take advantage of slightly slacker geometry.

Power Output

If there was an elephant in the room, here it is. The Avinox motor wallops every other motor out there, with 105 Nm of torque and 120 Nm in Boost mode for 60 seconds. You might think this is only a bit more torque than the S-Works Levo, but this bike is 8 pounds lighter and reacts much more quickly. Riding the Amflow back-to-back with the Levo makes the difference between the two bikes feel vast. While the Levo Comp dished out 666 watts and the S-Works version kicks up to 720 watts, the Amflow turns it up to 1000 watts!

This isn't to say that more power is necessarily better, but the Avinox motor provides a better ride experience than any other motor we've tested or ridden. While some of our impressions are undoubtedly due to the impressive numbers this thing puts out, we spent most of our time riding it in TRAIL mode and only occasionally bumped up to higher modes. The bike's significant weight advantage over competitors makes it feel not only more capable but also more fun to ride.

The Avinox M1 has four ultra-adjustable ride modes: Eco, Trail, Turbo, and Boost. There is also an Auto mode that uses your power, cadence, current gear, and trail incline to determine the proper level of assist. You can change the order of the ride modes, add or eliminate modes, and change a wide array of variables in each mode. For each ride, you can set minimum and maximum assistance levels, set a maximum torque, add quick-start assist that delivers more power when starting on hills, and even adjust the continued assist and motor overrun. Continued assist refers to how quickly the motor responds while you're riding. Motor overrun refers to how long the motor will deliver power after you stop pedaling. There is a Smooth Shift mode that decreases power at the moment of your shift and also allows you to shift without pedaling. If you're using the smooth shift mode, you can shift while coasting, and the motor will advance the chainring so the Transmission derailleur can select the proper gear without you rotating the cranks. It sounded gimmicky to me, but I found myself relying on this advanced level of integration.

You can program the modes to overlap so that Eco assists up to 60 Nm, while Trail mode initiates assistance at 40 Nm. Boost mode can be customized to provide added power for 10 to 60 seconds, and it's availabel in any ride mode. In Boost, the bike will provide 1000 watts of power and 120 Nm of torque, but it also takes a bigger bite out of your battery's range. Being able to adjust the assist level, limit the wattage, and set the torque lets you dial the bike in to your riding style and weight. I spend quite a bit of time on a Specialized Levo SL and have found it to be an incredibly versatile bike that lets me expand my domain without feeling like I'm riding a full-power appliance. Since I started riding the Amflow, the appeal of the Levo SL has diminished. The Levo SL is only 4 pounds lighter and generates 50 Nm of torque at its highest setting, providing just over 21 miles of range. I was able to tune the Avinox motor to the same power and torque settings as the Levo SL and got over 59 miles of range from its larger battery; the appeal of the SL e-bike in it's current form may be waining.

Range

To accurately compare the range of the electric bikes we test, we use a somewhat contrived method that seeks to eliminate as many external variables as possible. We use the same course for each test and the same rider, or a rider with the same body weight. We start our test with a fully charged battery and the bike in its highest assist setting, so for this test, we had the Avinox motor in Turbo mode. We use Garmin power meter pedals to monitor the riders' input wattage, aiming to keep it as close to 100 watts as possible. For those unfamiliar with power, 100 watts is just barely pedaling but enough to trigger the motor's assistance. We use a standardized tire pressure and aim for as close to the same ambient temperature as possible.

With the Amflow juiced up, our test rider rode 28.1 miles, gaining 5654 feet of elevation, before the battery was exhausted. Notably, even though the screen showed 0% battery remaining, there was still enough power to operate the derailleur. We carefully watched the power numbers on our Garmin 840 headunit and found they corresponded almost exactly with those shown on the Avinox display.

Since we perform this test using the bike's maximum power and our minimum, you would likely get considerably more mileage per charge than we did, but this is the baseline we use for comparison. So, how does it compare? As you can see in the graph below, the Amflow bested all of the bikes in our test with the exception of the Ibis Oso and Aventon Ramblas. The Oso uses a Bosch motor with a maximum power output of 600 watts, powered by its 750Wh battery, while the Ramblas puts out 750 watts from its 708Wh battery. In Turbo mode, the Amflow delivers 850 watts from its 800Wh battery.

E-bike Controls

The controls we use to interact with e-bikes have changed significantly since we first started testing them. What started as a couple of LED lights on the top tube has evolved into full-featured color screens with app support, enabling tremendous customization. The Avinox screen and user interface are the most impressive e-bike system we've dealt with to date. For starters, the 2" OLED display is a touchscreen that allows you to dig deep into the bike's controls without busting out the app, and it features a USB-C port to charge other devices.

On the handlebars are two wireless controllers that have two buttons each. This will test your dexterity and coordination with four buttons (AXS Shifter pod) on your right thumb and two buttons and a dropper lever on your left. The two buttons on the left let you switch assist modes; holding the top button engages Boost mode, which is available in any ride mode. Holding the lower button activates Walk Mode, where the bike powers itself at walking speed, a handy feature for hike-a-bike sections of trail.

The remote on the right side of the handlebars has two customizable buttons. The top button is the screen switch, while the bottom one is a function button. Using the screen switch, you can toggle through several pages of ride data, including your power input, torque input, and cadence. Another page shows your ride distance, duration, and remaining range. Scrolling further shows your current gradient, elevation, and what gear you're in. Displaying your current gear and Smooth Shift only work on the Pro model as they require integration with the electronic derailleur. Each one of these pages can be customised in the app or removed completely. If you want more data per page, you can change the layout and customize the look of each page. You can connect with a heart rate monitor and see that data on the screen as well as all of the other high/low/averages you can imagine. You can even see the current barometric pressure, but we're not sure why.

While the features discussed thus far surpass those of most electric mountain bikes on the market, they're all within the scope of clever software engineering. The Avinox system goes further, allowing you to add a nano-SIM card to the display to track the bike in real time, remotely lock and unlock it, and even activate proximity unlocking. You can also sync ride data in the Avinox app when you're out of Bluetooth range, but keep in mind that the SIM card will require activation and service fees. Several bike protection features help keep your bike secure, and some work without a SIM card. You can set a passcode to unlock the bike, and if you enable Mobile Key Unlock, the bike will unlock automatically when it senses your mobile phone nearby. Theft detection will notify you if the bike detects unusual movement. Using the app, you can see the bike's real-time location and sound an alarm or unlock the bike from your phone.

The Amflow's 800Wh battery is equipped with a battery health management system that maintains proper health even if you don't charge it to capacity. You can set a charge limit in the app, and both Amflow bikes include a 12-amp/508-watt fast charger that can charge the battery from 0-75% in just 90 minutes. A fast charger for the Specialized Levo models costs an additional $600 but is included with the $15k and $20k S-Works models. The charge port is located on the non-drive side just above the bottom bracket and features a spring-loaded door that keeps mud and debris from entering the port. Notably, the Amflow battery weighs just 3,715 grams, giving it an energy density of 4.64g/Wh, making it the most energy-dense ebike battery we've tested and offering a clue to how they were able to make such a lightweight system.

The main display on the top tube is a 2-inch OLED touch-screen and houses the bike's power button. You can swipe up and down or left and right to access additional screens, and the screen works incredibly well with gloved fingers. Almost everything can be adjusted through the screen, but it's often more convenient to use the Avinox app with a larger smartphone screen. The app tracks your rides, showing the distance travelled, duration, elevation gain and loss, average and maximum gradients, and average and maximum speeds. It also breaks down the power, torque, and cadence values to show how much the bike contributed and how many calories you burned.

The Amflow is not currently compatible with a range extender, but you can use a 600Wh battery in place of the 800Wh pack, saving 871 grams, or just under 2 pounds. There are range-extender batteries available online, but according to Amflow, they are not authorized products and may void your warranty. Speaking of warranties, the bike has a 5-year warranty, while the Avinox drive unit, battery, display, and remotes have a 2-year warranty. Amflow also offers a crash replacement policy for the carbon frame and carbon wheels.

Build

The Amflow PL Carbon Pro and Amflow PL Carbon use the same frame, motor, battery, and controls. The difference between these bikes is the bicycle parts attached to them and the price tags, which are about $2700. We tested the PL Carbon Pro includes

• Full carbon frame with 150mm of 4-bar travel, compatible with 29" or 27.5" rear wheels.

• Fox Float X Factory shock with trunnion mount.

• Fox Float 36 Factory with X2 damper, 160mm of travel.

• SRAM XO AXS Wireless drivetrain with native power source.

• Magura MT7 Pro brakes with 180/203mm rotors

• Amflox Carbon wheels and handlebars with Amflow one-piece enduro stem

• Fox Transfer Factory dropper post 180mm

• Maxxis Assegai EXO MaxxTerra 2.5 and Maxxis Dissector EXO+ MaxxTerra 2.4" tires

• Ergon SM Pro TiNox Saddle

This is a pretty spectacular build kit with incredible attention to detail. They didn't cheap out on the cassette or spec the lower-end tires; the entire build kit feels like it was put together by someone who cared about how the bike would ride. The price on this build is currently $10,199, and while that isn't cheap, it looks like an absolute bargain next to a new bike from Specialized or Santa Cruz. The PL Carbon foregoes the carbon wheels and handlebars, using a mechanical SRAM 90 derailleur instead of the AXS model. The non-pro model also uses Performance suspension products that don't use the fancy Kashima coating, and it sells for $7499. It feels weird to say that it's a bargain, but compared to other e-bikes available right now, it's an exceptional value.

Should You Buy the Amflow PL Carbon Pro?

There isn't a better electric mountain bike on the market right now at any price. We've been huge fans of the newest generation of Specialized Levo, but the Amflow is less expensive, more powerful, offers more range, has a quieter motor, is compatible with different real wheels, and features a far more impressive user interface. So what's the catch? Amflow doesn't yet have a large dealer network, so it's unclear how service issues will be handled when they arise, but it seems they're expanding rapidly in most US markets. It feels a little aggressive to tell you to run out and buy this bike, but I'll say, I wouldn't buy anything else without giving the Amflow a serious look.

What Other Electric Mountain Bike Should You Consider?

Well, this is awkward. I just told you how the Amflow beats out every other bike, so what else is worth considering? If you value a lightweight ride, we still think the Specialized Levo SL is the best-riding mid-power bike. Limited to 50Nm of assist and packing a dainty 320Wh battery, many of the models hover around 40 pounds and ride much like analog bikes, but they're still only a few pounds lighter than the Amflow. If you want a bike with big-mountain capabilities that can monster-truck the terrain, the Ibis Oso is a heck of a bike. The Oso has 155mm of DW-travel and a 170 mm fork, but those numbers can be bumped up to 170 mm in the rear and a 190 mm fork if you're feeling brave. The bike is only available with one build kit, but it's a curated list of components at a great value.