The Monarc Marker is equipped front-to-back with solid components. At its heart is a 750W rear-hub motor made by Bafang. The motor has been custom tuned to reduce noise; our first test ride was, indeed, pleasantly quiet. It produces a monstrous 1440 peak watts and 85 Nm of torque: enough power to crush just about any hill.
The two included batteries I mentioned above are both 48V, 720 Wh power packs made with LG 21700 cells. They are IPX7 rated, meaning that, in theory, they can be submerged in 1 meter of water for up to a half hour without being damaged. Additionally, they’re paired with a 5-amp charger that should power up a fully depleted battery in around 3 hours.
With relatively limited time to complete this review using a pre-production Marker, we weren’t able to complete our full run of real-world performance tests. We did, however, complete a max-assist range test using a single battery, showing that riders should expect a minimum range of around 32.5 miles.
Doubling this distance with the included second battery should allow riders to cover at least 65 miles with both batteries—which meets and slightly exceeds the 55-60-mile estimate provided to us by Monarc.
While many similarly-priced models employ 8-speed drivetrains, the Marker gives riders an extra gear with its 9-speed Shimano CUES setup. Its 11-36T cassette offers an uncommonly wide gearing range, which is well-suited for accelerating on flats and offering great mechanical advantage on hills.
The bike’s 4-piston brake setup offers strong stopping power. Developed in conjunction with Star Union, the Talon P4 hydraulic brake system is more robust than the common two-piston brakes often paired with fat tire e-bikes; we noticed in our test ride that they felt strong, though it was relatively easy to cause the Marker to skid.
Monarc equipped the Marker with a stout, Manitou-style reverse-arch suspension fork. This Gneiss fork offers a coil suspension with 80mm of travel, along with lockout and preload adjustment. It also features a thru-axle for extra sturdiness, which was apparent while riding and cornering.
The Marker rides on a set of knobby 26×4” fat tires from Kenda. While not too dissimilar from those of many other bikes in this category, these have a relatively chunky checkerboard-like tread pattern that seemed to roll smoothly on pavement while also offering substantial grip on dirt and gravel.
Other impressive features include a color touchscreen display, a multi-button control panel that serves as a secondary interface, an MIK cargo rack with a 60-lb capacity, a set of wide 710mm handlebars, integrated lights and turn signals, and soft, supportive ergonomic rubber grips. Our pre-production test bike was missing some small things, but consumers should also expect fenders, too.
All in all, it’s an impressive component package that delivers a ton of value and great functionality appropriate for the Marker’s style.
