REVIEW – These days there are quite a few options if you’re looking for an electric bike for fun or commuting (or anything in between). My experience testing and buying a few e-bikes over the years has shown me that there can be big differences between seemingly similar bikes. Because so many brands can only be ordered online, it’s impossible to test ride many of them before buying, so I put the Puckipuppy Boxer Off-Road E-Bike to the test for over 50 miles and hours.
What is it?
The Puckipuppy Boxer Off-Road E-Bike is an off-road bike with fat tires (mountain bike style). It features dual suspension, Shimano shifters and a powerful 20 amp-hour battery for longer range.
What is included?
- Puckipuppy Boxer off-road e-bike
- AC charger
- Installation tools
- Installation hardware (bolts and nuts)
- cable ties
- Rechargeable rear light
- Manuals/Instructions
- cable ties
- Front light
- Pedals
- Tire pump
Technical data
Click to expand
- Battery: 48 V 20 Ah with BMS
- Charger: 48V 2A
- Top speed: 28 miles per hour
- Weight: 77 lbs
- Range: 40-80 miles (depending on rider weight, terrain and throttle/pedal assist usage)
- Engine: 750W
- Maximum load: 400 lbs
- Tires: 26″ x 4″ thick tires, puncture proof
- Display: LED
- Brakes: Hydraulic disc brakes front and rear
- Crankset: 210 mm, forged alloy
- Front derailleur: 7-speed Shimano
- Front fork: Adjustable suspension
- Throttle: Thumb throttle
- Pedal assistance sensor: cadence
Design and features
The Puckipuppy Boxer Off-Road E-Bike has an aluminum alloy frame and is available in graffiti gray (tested), blue, dark green, metallic gray and forest camo. I chose the graffiti gray colorway because it stands out from the many other bikes in the city.
The seat is the best I’ve ever sat on, period. I know pro riders wouldn’t choose this type of seat, but if you’re a casual rider just riding around for fun (or commuting to work or running errands), you’ll love it. It’s super soft, has a little suspension in the seat itself, and was a pleasure to ride for miles. The seat post, however, is one of the smallest I’ve ever seen (the tall frame and rear suspension design leave little room in the rear tube for the seat post). I swapped it out for a much taller one because of my long legs.
The handlebars are wide and straight and have (from left to right) the control unit, hydraulic brake lever, central LED screen, Shimano thumb shifter with gear indicator, hydraulic brake lever and finally the thumb throttle. The grips are comfortable and easy to grip. Like the seat post, this was too low for my riding style and my 6’4″ height, so I added a bar end and a curved, higher handlebar. Everything was easy to attach to the new handlebars and there were plenty of cables left over (sometimes when you go higher and the cables are too short you have to replace those too).
Speaking of cables, they were all neatly packaged and there is extra cable packaging in the box. Pictured above are the front shocks and tire tread. I like the locking option for smooth riding on paved roads, and the tire tread provides a smoother ride than most fat tires, but still provides good traction on gravel and loose ground.
There is a preload adjuster on the left side of the front fork, but it was fine for me out of the box so I didn’t tinker with it.
The control panel has, among the main controls, a power button, up and down buttons for the PAS (pedal assistance) levels and for menu navigation, a light control for the headlight and an electronic horn button.
The Shimano thumb shifter does a great job and it’s easier to tell what gear you’re in than most. The gears were also perfectly set up right out of the box, which isn’t the case with every bike we get to test. The thumb throttle is easy to press and doesn’t jump forward when pressed.
The rear suspension absorbs shocks extremely well. Bumps and potholes that would normally rattle my bones when riding are made into gentle bumps by the combination of rear suspension and comfortable seat. The rear suspension is not lockable, but even when pedaling hard, I didn’t experience the bouncing you get on some dual suspension bikes (bouncing results in less power being given to the drivetrain, effectively making pedaling harder).
Assembly, installation, setup
The Puckipuppy Boxer Off-Road E-Bike is delivered like most E-bikes purchased online: mostly assembled, apart from the front wheel and handlebars.
I threw it on my bike stand and got to work. Following the instructions in the manual was easy, and if it’s your first time doing it there are videos online too. Make sure the front fork is facing the right way and carefully slide the front axle into the fork. This is easier if there are two of you, or if you can secure the front fork so it doesn’t wobble like I did. You also need to make sure the disc brake will fit in the disc brake (and remove the shipping tab from the disc brake before fitting the wheel).
Next comes the handlebars. This step is as simple as rotating the handlebars into position and securing four bolts. Bonus points if you have a torque wrench, but if not, you’ll want to tighten it just enough so that the handlebars don’t rotate when you apply a decent amount of force to them.
The pedals are plastic and nothing special. I will probably replace them in the future, but they serve their purpose.
The included AC charger is very light and takes a while to charge the bike. It arrived with about 50% charge and it took at least 4 hours to reach 100%.
Performance
Let’s start the performance section with my only real performance complaint: the screen is harder to see in bright sunlight than most. There’s a brightness setting hidden in the menus to make it a bit brighter, but almost every other bike I’ve tested is easier to see in daylight than the Puckipuppy Boxer Off-Road E-Bike. I could always see the speedometer, but for important information like battery level, I had to lean closer and/or squint in bright conditions.
From there, it was almost all uphill, metaphorically speaking. In the default setting, the throttle gently takes you to about 20 mph and stays there (though it doesn’t have cruise control – a feature some bikes and scooters have that lets the bike keep going if you hold the throttle for a few seconds). Pedal assist ranges from 0 (none) to 5 (in this setting, I easily reached 30 mph on flat ground with moderate effort). I didn’t experience any “ghost pedaling” (a scenario on e-bikes where you have to turn the pedals, but with no resistance, just to keep the motor on), the gears still allowed me to add power even at full PAS. The thumb throttle is unaffected by the PAS level, it is disabled when PAS is set to 0, and works the same for all other PAS settings.
To test the range, I did a mix of city and off-road riding, almost exclusively on the gas. After 30 miles in one day, including several decent uphill rides, the Puckipuppy Boxer Off-Road E-Bike’s battery was still at 50%, on target for the stated range of 40-80 miles. Here’s a video of some of my off-road testing:
After several rides with the default settings, I played around in the menus and set the speed limit to 35 mph and also changed the drive mode to a higher setting (this increases acceleration). I got about 30 mph using just the throttle and had a blast zipping down the trails. However, check your local e-bike laws or only ride on private property if you want to do that! Higher settings will drain the battery faster, but I was still on track for a 30 mile range when riding mostly with the throttle at that higher speed setting.
What I like about the Puckipuppy Boxer Off-Road E-Bike
- Very nice top speed and performance after changing the settings
- Smooth ride and suspension are better than most
- Excellent range
- Better handling than expected for size and weight
- The most comfortable bike seat I have ever used
What needs to be improved?
- Too heavy for narrow mountain bike trails (but lighter than comparable bikes I’ve tested)
- At the time of review, no luggage rack was offered
- Short seat tube means
- The display may be difficult to read in bright sunlight
- The tail light is not connected – there are no brake lights and must be switched on and off manually
Final thoughts
The Puckipuppy Boxer Off-Road E-Bike has become our favorite “fun bike” and complements our practical Xtracycle Swoop cargo bike very well. When I ask our toddler each day which bike he wants to ride, it’s always the Boxer. I love the range, the power (although I set it to 24km/h and smooth acceleration settings to be more toddler friendly/safe) and the dual suspension for comfortable riding. I added a rear rack and toddler seat and it’s a great bike to take to the park, river trails and even mountain paths.
Price: $1,899 ($1,399 at time of review)
Where to buy: Puckipuppy and Amazon
source: The sample of this product was provided free of charge by Puckipuppy. Puckipuppy had no final say on the review and did not pre-screen the review before publishing it.
