Heybike Horizon review: Full-suspension 28 MPH fat-tire e-bike at just ,499

Heybike Horizon review: Full-suspension 28 MPH fat-tire e-bike at just $1,499

Published

1 year ago

January 31, 2024

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Heybike has been around the block several times in the past few years, releasing a series of progressively more refined electric bike models. The company’s latest e-bike, the Heybike Horizon, has nailed the comfortable step-through fat tire design with a combination of performance and price that we rarely see.

Oh, and it looks pretty darn awesome too!

But of course there’s more here than just a beautiful sunset-colored paint job. To see what I mean, check out my video review below. Then keep scrolling for all of my detailed thoughts on this awesome e-bike.

Heybike Horizon Video Review

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Heybike Horizon tech specs

Motor: 750W (1,200W peak-rated) rear hub motor
Top speed: 32 mph (51 km/h)
Range: Up to 55 miles (88 km)
Battery: 48V 14.4Ah (692 Wh)
Weight: 79.4 lb (36 kg)
Load capacity: 330 lb (150 kg)
Frame: 6061 aluminum alloy
Brakes: Dual-piston hydraulic disc brakes
Extras: LCD display, front and rear LED lights, included rear rack and full fenders, front and rear suspension, folding frame, kickstand

More than meets the eye

The Heybike Horizon is more than just a pretty paint job, though that’s a good place to start. Just look at this thing, it’s beautiful! That red, orange, and yellow color scheme looks like a sunset melting its way across the sky. In a world of black and something-on-black bikes, this stands out in all the best ways.

But there’s more going on here under the paint. Yes, it’s a variation of a folding fat tire e-bike, of which we’ve seen countless others. But it’s also got a lot of other great features.

For example, this is an affordable full-suspension design that actually feels like decent suspension. Obviously it’s not high-end suspension, considering this is a fairly budget-oriented $1,499 electric bike. But it still feels quite good for general trail riding and off-road paths. I’ve tested other full-suspension fat tire electric bikes that were much stiffer and didn’t feel nearly as comfortable, so the Heybike Horizon definitely managed to stick the landing with decent suspension that doesn’t feel like it’s merely checking the “suspension” box.

If you want something that will absorb some real bumps for everyday riding, this will do it. If you’re looking for a downhill mountain bike or hitting sweet jumps, this ain’t it.

And of course there’s that folding feature, though I rarely find myself folding such large fat tire e-bikes. This is a nearly 80 lb bike, so even folded, it’s still a big boy.

That said, the handlebar folding mechanism is particularly useful for simply making the bike shorter. Loading it into the back of a van or SUV is easy with the bars folded down, even if you don’t fold the center mechanism – and perhaps is even better without folding the center since you can still roll the bike around like a normal bike with the center remaining unfolded.

I’d say that I do the handlebar fold way more often than the full fold.

I was also impressed with the disc brakes, which were actually quite grippy. Lately I’ve been noticing that some hydraulic disc brakes on budget e-bikes just aren’t as strong as they seem like they should be, perhaps due to cheaping-out on the brake compound in the brake pads. But the Heybike Horizon has crisp brakes that actually stop you quickly, so the bike gets full marks there.

And of course there’s the performance. The 1,200W peak rated motor is no slouch, offering plenty of power and up to 80Nm of torque for hill climbing. Hitting 28 mph (45 km/h) is definitely doable.

The advertised range of 55 miles (88 km), on the other hand, is not that easily reached – at least not by me. I tend to get a range of closer to half of that figure while I’m heavy on the throttle. Using pedal assist would of course lengthen that figure, but the pedal assist lag on this model is quite noticeable thanks to the cadence sensor. At $1,499 though, I just don’t expect Heybike to come out of the gate swinging with a torque sensor, as that’s a piece of kit usually found on more expensive e-bikes.

And while I’m complaining, I’ll also say that saddle wound up irritating me more than I expected. It just started to feel weirdly hard much earlier in rides than I’m used to. I’ve sat on just about every e-bike seat out there, and I’ve got what I can only describe as an agreeable butt – I’ll sit on anything and not complain.

And yet here I am saying that with a good amount of pedaling, the Heybike Horizon started to feel less and less comfortable on my tush over time. Of course a simple saddle swap is just about the easiest modification someone could do – and in fact is often the first customization many new e-bike owners make. So that’s an easy swap, if you find the saddle not to fit your tastes on longer rides.

But the rest of the components all feel appropriate for this level of bike. The included fenders and rear rack are always great to see, and the Heybike Horizon even spoils us with fancier than usual LED lighting complete with turn signals. As usual though, I’m not a huge fan of turn signals on bikes since they just aren’t spaced very far apart and thus can be hard to interpret, but I think they’re better than nothing and can work in a pinch when you can’t afford to take a hand off the bars to signal with your arms.

In conclusion

Let’s sum it all up here: the Heybike Horizon is what I’d call a great value offering in the folding full-suspension fat tire e-bike space. The 24″ fat tires combined with the full suspension design make for a very comfortable ride over uneven terrain – even if the saddle did tire me out on longer rides.

The power is plenty and the battery capacity is decent, matching industry standards in this category. At $1,499, I’d call this a great deal. And when you add in that awesome color scheme, I’m even more sold!

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Environment

Amazon and Nvidia say all options are on the table to power AI including fossil fuels

Published

3 hours ago

April 26, 2025

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Amazon and Nvidia say all options are on the table to power AI including fossil fuels

Anton Petrus | Moment | Getty Images

OKLAHOMA CITY — Amazon and Nvidia told a room of oil and gas executives this week that all options are on the table to power artificial intelligence including fossil fuels such as natural gas.

The tech and energy industries gathered in Oklahoma City at the Hamm Institute for American Energy to discuss how the U.S. can meet the growing energy needs for AI data centers.

The Big Tech companies have invested mostly in renewable power in an effort to slash their carbon dioxide emissions, but they are now navigating a changed political environment. President Donald Trump has ditched U.S. commitments to fight climate change as he seeks to increase fossil fuel production, particularly natural gas.

There is now growing public acknowledgment from the tech industry that gas will be needed, at least in the near term, to help fuel AI.

“To have the energy we need for the grid, it’s going to take an all of the above approach for a period of time,” Kevin Miller, Amazon’s vice president of global data centers, said during a panel discussion Thursday. “We’re not surprised by the fact that we’re going to need to add some thermal generation to meet the needs in the short term.”

Amazon remains focused on slashing its carbon emissions, Miller said. It is the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy and is investing in advanced nuclear and carbon capture technology to reduce the environmental impact of its energy consumption, the executive said.

But those advanced technologies will not come online until the 2030s and Amazon needs steady and secure power now, Miller said.

“We’re very explicit that meeting customers’ demands for capacity is first and foremost in our priority list, and so having access to power is first and foremost what we focus on,” Miller said. “And we have a goal to be net-zero carbon as a company by 2040 and are very focused on that.”

Nvidia is also focused on environmental impact but wants “all options on the table” as AI faces an energy crunch, said Josh Parker, the chipmaker’s senior director of corporate sustainability.

“At the end of the day, we need power. We just need power,” Parker said at the panel. “We have some customers who really prioritize the clean energy, and some customers who don’t care as much,” the executive said.

Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark called for data center developers to be realistic about the energy sources that are currently available. Anthropic estimates that 50 gigawatts of new power is needed by 2027, equivalent to about 50 nuclear reactors. AI demand can help drive the development of “new and novel sources” of power over the longer term, he said.

The idea of using coal, however, was met with unease. Trump recently signed an order that aims to boost coal production, citing demand from AI. The Amazon and Nvidia executives did not answer directly when asked during the panel whether they thought coal had a role play in powering AI.

“You have a broader set of options than just coal,” Clark said. “We would certainly consider it, but I don’t think I’d say it’s at the top of our list.”

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Environment

Global energy giant RWE halts US offshore wind because of Trump

Published

17 hours ago

April 25, 2025

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Global energy giant RWE halts US offshore wind because of Trump

Global renewable developer and energy giant RWE has halted its US offshore wind operations “for the time being” because of the “political environment” the Trump administration has created.

RWE, Germany’s biggest electricity producer, said in March that it had dialed back its US offshore wind activities. But now, CEO Marcus Krebber said in a speech transcript, which he’ll deliver at the company’s Annual General Meeting in Essen on April 30, that its US offshore wind business is now closed (but it wasn’t all bad news):

In the US, where we have stopped our offshore activities for the time being, our business in onshore wind, solar energy, and battery storage has so far been developing very dynamically. At the start of this year, we reached an important milestone when our US generation capacity hit the 10 gigawatt mark. The construction of a further 4 gigawatts is secured.

He went on to say that renewables have created regional value and jobs, but that the company remains “cautious given the political developments.” RWE has introduced more stringent requirements for future US investments:

All necessary federal permits must be in place. Tax credits must be safe harbored and all relevant tariff risks mitigated. In addition, onshore wind and solar projects must have secured offtake at the time of the investment decision. Only if these conditions are met will further investments be possible, given the political environment.

About half of RWE’s installed renewable capacity is in the US, where it’s the third-largest renewable energy company through its subsidiary, RWE Clean Energy. RWE holds the rights to develop US offshore wind projects in New York, Louisiana, and California.

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RWE paid $1.1 billion for the New York lease area in 2022, where it’s meant to develop the 3 gigawatt (GW) Community Offshore Wind with the UK’s National Grid. Community Offshore Wind was projected to come online in the early 2030s and expected to power more than a million homes.

The developer paid $5.6 billion for the Louisiana lease in the Gulf of Mexico in 2023 as the lone bidder for development rights, and the Canopy Offshore Wind project off Northern California was not expected to be completed for another decade.

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Environment

Trump’s memecoin dinner contest earns insiders $900,000 in two days

Published

18 hours ago

April 25, 2025

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Trump's memecoin dinner contest earns insiders 0,000 in two days

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump and his allies have raked in nearly $900,000 in trading fees over the past two days from the president’s $TRUMP cryptocurrency token, according to Chainalysis, a blockchain data company.

The surge came after a Wednesday announcement in which the top 220 holders of the token were promised dinner with the president.

“Have Dinner in Washington, D.C. With President Trump,” reads a message on the front page of the Trump coin’s website. The event, which is black tie optional and hosted at the president’s private club in the Washington area, is scheduled for May 22, with a reception for the top 25 holders. A “VIP White House Tour” will take place the following day, the site says. The website also hosts an active leaderboard displaying the usernames of top buyers.

The $TRUMP memecoin jumped more than 50% on the dinner news, boosting its total market value to $2.7 billion. It was met with fierce criticism from some of Trump’s political opponents who said the move was further evidence that the president was using crypto to enrich himself. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., a prominent Trump critic, wrote on X that the sale was “the most brazenly corrupt thing a President has ever done. Not close.”

Roughly 80% of the $TRUMP token supply is controlled by the Trump Organization and affiliates, according to the project’s website. Since its launch in January, trading activity has generated about $324.5 million in trading fees for insiders, Chainalysis found. These fees are generated through the token’s built-in mechanism that routes a percentage of each trade to wallets controlled by the project — wallets that, according to the website, are linked to the coin’s creators.

Memecoins, often referred to as meme tokens, are a subset of digital assets that use blockchain technology and derive their value largely from internet culture, memes and social media hype rather than from an underlying utility or asset. The originators of memecoins can make fees when their coins are bought and sold.

They have grown in popularity in recent years as speculative assets, with some coins including dogecoin and fartcoin amassing total market values in excess of $1 billion.

Most of the $TRUMP supply remains locked under a three-year vesting plan, with coins gradually becoming available over time. Lockups like these are meant to protect investors by preventing insiders from cashing out all at once — a scheme commonly known in the crypto world as a “rug pull.” Vesting schedules aim to give retail buyers confidence that early holders won’t overwhelm the market and tank the token’s value.

Still, the dinner contest is being viewed by critics as an unusually explicit attempt to monetize presidential access.

As CNBC reported Friday, Democratic Sens. Adam Schiff of California and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts are urging the U.S. Office of Government Ethics to investigate whether the promotion constitutes “pay to play” corruption.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment. The company behind the memecoin also did not respond to a request for comment.

Delaney Marsco, the director of ethics at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit focused on campaign finance and government accountability, told NBC News the coin and dinner contest amounted to an unprecedented ethics breach — though it is unlikely to be illegal.

“Criminal conflicts of interest statutes don’t apply to the President,” she said. “That has allowed him to go against decades of of norms that every modern president since Carter has adhered to, which is to divest your financial interests, rid yourself of your businesses, and kind of go in to the presidency with a clean financial slate so that no one could accuse you of manipulating policy decisions or using your position in order to enrich yourself.”

“The fact that he is not barred by the law from having these financial interests like this meme coin allows him to engage in a lot of seemingly corrupt activity. It has the appearance of a pay to play, so the President is apparently selling access to himself,” Marsco added.

Molly White, an independent crypto researcher, told NBC News that the leaderboard only shows top $TRUMP holders — and then only by their chosen screen name, making it difficult to identify who is paying to potentially join the dinner.

Schiff and Warren have cited public reports showing that some $TRUMP investors have ties to foreign exchanges or received funds from crypto platforms banned in the U.S., including Binance.

White also noted that at least one top $TRUMP owner has an account on Binance, a cryptocurrency company that doesn’t allow American users.

Trump was elected with significant help from the cryptocurrency industry, which poured tens of millions of dollars into the 2024 election, outpacing corporate donations from traditional sectors like banking and oil. After opposing digital assets during his first term, Trump pivoted in 2024 to campaign as a champion of cryptocurrency, casting Democrats as hostile to innovation and as advocating for tighter regulation.

The $TRUMP token itself offers no product or service, according to the project’s website. It is part of a broader push by the Trump family into digital assets, despite the market’s volatility and regulatory risks.

In addition to the $TRUMP and $MELANIA meme coins, the family is backing World Liberty Financial, a decentralized finance venture that has raised $550 million across two token sales since last October. Buyers are barred from reselling their tokens and receive no share of profits — but a Trump-affiliated entity is entitled to 75% of net revenue, including token sale proceeds.

Together, these projects have created new streams of revenue for Trump and his inner circle at a time when regulatory oversight of cryptocurrency has weakened sharply under his administration.