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As electric fat tire e-bikes become increasingly popular, more designers are getting creative with their suspension setups to differentiate themselves from the sea of other e-bikes out there. Now, the Fucare Scorpio takes a classic dual rear suspension design and applies it in a unique way to electric bicycles.
And it raises the question: Can you have too much suspension?
Fucare Scorpio Video Review
Fucare Scorpio Tech Specs
- Motor: 750W (1,400W peak-rated) rear hub motor
- Top speed: 32 mph (51 km/h)
- Range: 30-60 miles (50-100 km)
- Battery: 48V 20Ah (960 Wh)
- Weight: 84.4 lb (38.3 kg)
- Load capacity: 400 lb (181 kg)
- Frame: 6061 aluminum alloy
- Brakes: Dual-piston hydraulic disc brakes
- Extras: Color display, front and rear LED lights, included rear rack and full fenders, front and rear suspension, kickstand
Outfitted for multi-purpose riding
The Fucare Scorpio is obviously a multi-role e-bike. They set it up with front/rear LED lighting, full fenders, and a rear rack, showcasing utility and commuter-style riding gear. But then again, it’s got full suspension and fat tires with dual-sport blocky tread for better off-road performance.
So this isn’t just a single-purpose electric bike, but rather something of a dual-sport electric moped, in my opinion.
There’s also the high-speed operation that is capable of reaching up to 28 mph (45 km/h) – or technically 32 mph (51 km/h) in unlocked mode. Few people ride that fast off-road, meaning Fucare likely gave the bike that much speed as a nod to road riders who want to treat the Scorpio as a small commuter motorbike.
And all of that sounds great – especially for the rather modest price of $1,399. But then there’s the suspension to talk about.
So much suspension
On the face of things, the suspension sounds great. There’s a conventional suspension fork up front and a pair of shocks in the rear. The issue is that those dual rear shocks, which seem to harken back to classic dual-coilover rear suspension design popular on motorcycles and mopeds of yesteryear, don’t seem to fit the bike.
It’s not that the design isn’t sound. Dual shocks is a tried and true setup. The issue seems to be the spring rate of those shocks. I’m not 100% sure, but I have a hunch that they forgot to halve the spring rate when they doubled the suspension.
I’m only 150 lb, which isn’t even half of the 400 lb rated max load of the bike, but I can barely make the rear suspension budge. If I jump on it, I can get a small amount of flex in the tail, but that’s it. It feels almost like a