What defines a high end high quality e-bike frame?

Bin doing some thinking about various e-bike frames on the market from Europe and China and wondering what defines a high end e-bike frame and the parts such as bike suspensions compared to high end mountain non e-bike frames on the market. Also looking at e-bike frames online there are a lot of similar to European frames but what is the difference in quality. Also is high end e-bike frames defined by the suspension and components added to a e-bike frame such as Fox or RockShox. Also can European e-bike frames compare to say a Norco or a Ghost frame?

Guess one of the questions is will buying a higher end e-bike frame and adding high end components be the equivalent of buying a high end mountain bike with a good motor installed on it?

Different needs for different use cases and owner preferences.

I need chromoly steel for easy weld / bend / modding,

high strength for heavy load weights and off-road pounding

so can't afford to give a stuff about weight.

I also want compatibility with mainstream / old-school drivetrain components, maximum flexibility chop and change brand / lines

so no proprietary interfaces please for me.

Others value aesthetics highly, or lightweight above all, and don't plan to do much DIYing

so completely different bases for that "quality" value judgement.

Would you rate the Qulbix 76 Bicycle FRAME KIT and 140 Moto FRAME KIT as high end e-bike frames comparable to high end brands such as higher end full suspension trail bikes? Especially with higher end suspension parts such as Fox or RockShox front and rear suspension units. Would this justify paying a premium for these frames? Also what would be the best higher end tires up to 3" for mix road and trail use?

You need to realize that bicycles from the local bicycle store (Trek, Rocky Mountain, Specialized, Kona, Giant.... etc) spend millions upon millions of dollars a year on frame geometry, weld quality control, weld testing, appearence, frame strength, frame quality control, testing of frame strength, testing of suspension components used on their frames, destructive testing of frames. That impart goes to their heavily insured part of the business. You think generic frames are insured? Heck I'd even bet the brand name budget for paint design and sticker design and placement budgets would amount to 1000 times the budget of enduro frame design, qc, testing from the likes of Cyclone TW, Qlbix, whatever other names you can come up with............ COMBINED! Enduro frames assembly line in China wound up and ready to spit out cookie cutter frames to save pennies for profit margin. What are the qualifiers? Does it look like a bicycle, check... pass. The BSO model. Then when it comes to carbon fiber or other exotic frame materials like Titanium, I'd be even more hesitant to buy from no name bicycle makers, including Enduro frame makers and forks and any other no name/generic suspension makers. Next up is if you are really going to be using the Enduro, say jumping or downhill or doing flips, or 60mph ebike on bicycle frame then you really do need go to the brand name dh bicycle route. But if your just doing casual riding and want your bicycle to stick out of the crowd with tons of space for a battery and walk bow legged............ Enduro man! :thumb:

There are no high end ebike frames available yet. You can buy them only as fully built ebikes. Some of them will come available on the market sooner or later, but ask yourself if you will be willing to pay the price that major bike manufacturers are asking for their high end frames, that would range between 1500 and 3000 USD.

A frame can’t be judged by the components that it is built with. When you buy a frame, you have the choice to build it with your choice of components and that too, can be very expansive. High end frames and components are not targeting the average user, let alone the DIY crowd.

A high end bike frame is often an ideal e-bike frame.



This is an early 2000's Turner O2. One of the sturdiest yet lightest frames of it's age. It held up to 40-60mph duty and could have handled even more if the rear swingarm was longer.

It was built to handle severe mountain duty. The dropouts were thick. The triangle space was perfect.
This was once a $4000 bike. I paid $250 for the frame on ebay... jumped at the deal.

So yes, in the lack of a high end purpose built ebike frame, a bike frame could do, too.

^That is one long controller, 18fet?
Well I see six fet bolts, but those are bolted onto the aluminum fet back plate.

Yup, 18fet and about 1.2kw-hr of 20C RC Lipo.

High end? High quality? Need to Spec it a bit more. Both terms are extremely subjective. You could have both satisfied in a Trials bike or Downhill type of bike frame? If your looking for performance, you can have extremes in power, weight, and stability-safety at higher speeds. Sub 25mph bike or 50 mph bike. 3" or 8" suspension travel. Very different animals.