Engwe L20 3.0 Boost Review: Step-through e-biking, boosted

The L20 3.0 Boost has been released via Engwe directly in Europe. Its starting price is €1,399, or €1,299 with the code ENGWEV100OFF. 

It has yet to join its 2.0 forebear on amazon.com, but can be found on amazon.de, albeit without a discount at the time of writing. 

Engwe ships the L20 3.0 Boost in a large, yet more or less manageable box thanks to its partly-assembled nature. The fenders and rear rack were included and did come pre-installed, which is not always the case when buying an e-bike. The latter is rated to carry just 25 kilograms (kg, or 55lb) of cargo at a time, though.

There is plenty of foam and padding (very often zip-tied directly to the bike and its parts themselves) thereby reducing the risk of damage during transit.

All basic equipment required to put it together were included, although they proved less than adequate in some tasks such as installing the front wheel, at which point I had to break the 'real' tools out. In addition, some of the bolts (such as those needed to attach the kickstand) were missing and needed to be replaced after the fact. Hopefully, retail versions of the bike get better treatment.

Once freed of its packaging and assembled, the L20 3.0 Boost's updated step-through form-factor becomes apparent.

This unit of the bike comes in its Black colorway (although there is a more unique Champagne option that might appeal more to some buyers), and has a much more angular build compared to its L20-series forebears.

This is even carried through into the kickstand, which has some decent weight so as to support the bike in parking or storing it. The saddle is also very substantial, which might not be to every user's liking, but is very well appreciated in this review. 

Once assembled, the bike has Engwe branding and logos on its frame, seat-post and on a large metallic plaque mounted on its front fork. It is foldable at the handlebars and the middle of the frame, although it is easier to simply store it in a garage, shed or hallway.

It has 7-speed Shimano gears, which work as expected, and attachments for a bottle cage, though no cage is included. Cable management is also done out of the box, and is neat and unobtrusive.

Finally, the screen is of the up-to-date, large and centrally-mounted type. It supports a full-color display with fairly intuitive symbols and/or characters for every control and error type as appropriate, although it could be a little clearer in bright daylight. It also gets dimmer when the headlight (which is bright enough) is activated.

The L20 3.0 Boost is marketed as a particularly "compact" example of its category, and is indeed reduced in overall length compared to my last e-bike - although it is heavier thanks to its thicker frame, battery and tires.

It has a hub motor as opposed to a more modern mid-drive unit, and is rated for 250 watts (W) of output in accordance with EU regulations. It also has a torque sensor rated for up to 75Nm - which demonstrably kicks in from the first turn of the pedals to make setting off significantly easier (especially compared to my first e-bike which had no torque sensor at all; I am not going back to that now).

Then again, I initially found it slightly more difficult than usual to get up to top speed because of its additional weight - in fact, I relied heavily on the top levels (4/5 of 5) of its pedal-assist system (PAS) before I fully adapted to it. There was much more constant pedalling involved in that process, and much more effort involved in using lower PAS levels.

Then again, once the Boost is up to top speed, it's easier to stay there, probably thanks to its more powerful battery. 

Nevertheless, for someone like me there is a general sense of having acquired a mobile resistance trainer and e-bike in one, which in terms of fitness is...great, I guess.

On a more positive note, I almost immediately felt more stable and secure on the road with the 3.0 Boost compared to other e-bikes I have tested (even that of the e-MTB variety with bigger tires). Even the roads of the most inconsistent quality (with the biggest potholes) seemed beneath these 20 x 3-inch tires' notice, and it could even tackle the steepest gravel trails I could find - although they were defeated by one recently torn up by diggers moving trees felled by Storm Eowyn.

The upgrade to "full" suspension definitely contributes to that experience, although the bike still feels solid as it looks despite its extra flexibility. It has even been through a very mild crash thus far with only minor scratches and scrapes. The hydraulic brakes are equipped with fixed calipers and are very effective, even on downward slopes.

It does have a standard chain rather than something more modern made of carbon, so some maintenance over time will be required.

The L20 3.0 Boost's defining feature is bound to a dedicated extra button under the bike's main controls (which consist of on/off, PAS +/- and electronic horn buttons in a tight, convenient cluster, as you might hope to find once on the road) next to the left handlebar.

It activates its very own "BOOST" graphic on the screen in bright orange, and does indeed seem to confer an extra jolt of power when climbing hills.

Saying that, it causes the bike to judder somewhat when you are on an incline and already at PAS 4 or 5, and does nothing at all when the bike is either on flat ground or at rest. The function seems best suited in situations when one is on PAS 1 to 3 and suddenly encounters a hill that somehow turns out to be steeper than it looks - an occurrence that is all too common in this part of Ireland.

All in all, the Boost button is definitely is no kind of throttle in disguise, however one might suspect from its description.

The L20 3.0 Boost's charging experience is another highlight of life with this bike, as it features Engwe's new 8A Fast Charging system. It requires a custom 'power brick': a relatively large and heavy item, it must be said, although it incorporates a much clearer, brighter charging light compared to those of other e-bikes I have tested. 

It is rated to charge the battery from 0 to 100% in about 2 hours - an estimate that has demonstrably proven accurate from multiple rounds of testing. It's a significant improvement from the 5-7 hour wait I've gotten used to in older e-bikes.

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