woom UP Electric Bike for Kids Review

The woom UP is an innovative electric bike for kids that is sure to bring miles of smiles to young groms’ faces. From longer paved rides to basic and intermediate mountain bike trails, the UP is a game-changer for adventure-seeking families.

As a pedal-assist, Class 1 ebike (no throttle, just pedal-assist), the woom UP gently helps young riders pound through major miles and elevation gains. Working with them as a tool, rather than a crutch, the UP helps build motivation, confidence, and basic technical skills for even the timidest of riders.

With the power of the UP, trails that previously brought tears of frustration and exhaustion will shortly deliver screams of joy and delight instead. From tips to getting started, to where the UP excelled (and where it didn’t), we’ll cover everything you need to know about the UP in our extensive review.

woom UP Electric Bike for Kids – Results of our Test Rides

The woom UP is an exceptional mountain bike. But it’s not just interchangeable for your standard hardtail. The UP is designed to excel for certain types of rides and certain types of riders.

To get a good feel of the full capabilities of woom’s ebike, we put the woom UP 5 and woom UP 6 to test with five different kids, in four different families living in two different states!

After months of testing, we came to learn that the woom UP is truly an awesome machine that excels in what it was designed to do, but cost aside, it is also not ideal for every rider.

So before we go into the nitty-gritty of the UP (everything from battery life and motor performance to components all covered below), we’ll first break down who we believe the woom UP is best for. We’ll also cover who it’s not best for to help you determine if it’s a worthy investment for your family.

If you feel like you need to educate yourself more about electric bikes for kids in general, check out our buying guide.

Who is the woom UP best for?

We found the UP to be ideal for riders who:

(1) consistently ride trails with large elevation gains (anything from paved to intermediate single track trails)

AND/OR

(2) have the desire to ride, but not the physical or mental stamina to keep up or go long distances

Large Elevation Gains: Our testers in Utah, who almost always tackle 600+ feet elevation gains within 3 to 4 miles, experienced more benefits out of the UP than our testers in Texas who face 100+ gains in 5+ miles.

Physical or Mental Stamina: Regardless of elevation gains, our testers who lacked stamina saw great benefits from the UP. Whether riding on long paved bike trails or steep single track, the woom UP is a game-changer to enable kids to (happily!) rack up miles they couldn’t on their own.

Who is the woom UP not ideal for?

woom does not recommend jumping or doing drops on the UP that exceed 12 inches. As a result, the UP is not a great bike for really aggressive riders who are eager to hit every feature along the trail. In addition to the jump restrictions, the extra weight of the UP made it much less playful than our testers’ standard hardtail bikes and much harder to maneuver.

The heavy weight of the UP was also problematic in really technical terrain. Compared to a regular hardtail, hike-a-bike is much more challenging! Walking the UP up intense uphills or downhill, as well as lifting it over large obstacles (rocks, trees, etc.) is not fun for the rider or adults!

woom UP vs. woom OFF

Based on who we believe will get the most benefit out of the woom UP (and who won’t), many parents may be thinking… So woom UP or woom OFF AIR (woom’s hardtail mountain bike)? It really comes down to how much elevation you are tackling, but if you’re on the fence or if you ride a wide variety of trails, here’s what we found.

Both bikes are equally trail-worthy, they were just designed for a different purpose and a different style of riding. For true young groms riding various terrains, we found the UP to be a great compliment to the OFF, but not necessarily a replacement for it. The OFF is much more playful and fun going downhill (especially on steep terrain), while the UP allows you to have fun on the uphill as well!

Our more aggressive riders who love to jump, drop, and “play” on everything from bermalicious flowy trails to root-strewn single track much preferred the OFF (even with the climb to the top). The added weight of the UP was too limiting on the downhill for them to appreciate the benefits on the uphill.

Our more timid and everyday riders who would rather ride up to an epic vista than hit the jump line much preferred the UP. With less to “lose” on the downhill, they had much more to gain on the uphill.

What if your child falls somewhere in-between? Ideally, the luckiest grom on the block would have an OFF and an UP. If I had to pick one, I would pick the bike that best matches the trails your family rides most frequently.

For trails with minimal elevation gain or more advanced terrain, the woom OFF would be our bike of choice for all types of riders (along with a tow rope if needed). For trails with higher mileage and high elevation gains, the woom UP is our bike of choice for all types of riders. Although the fun riding down isn’t as epic on the UP, it is still a lot of fun and much better than never making it to the top at all. 🙂

woom UP vs. woom OFF with a Tow Rope

Prior to the woom UP, we regularly relied on the TowWhee tow rope to tow our 9-year-old tester up steep sections of trail. A tow rope is, of course, a lot cheaper than an ebike, but is it a replacement? Yes and no.

After putting the woom OFF AIR and the woom UP in a head-to-head test, we realized that both options are great, but whether you need an ebike or a tow rope really depends on your child and your riding style.

The woom UP is a better option if you plan on riding long distances or more elevation. It’s easier, more fun, and allows kids to ride independently.

Benefits of woom UP ebike over a woom OFF + TowRope

• Requires rider to be fully engaged when riding (versus sitting back and relaxing when being towed)
• Helps young riders learn how to navigate rocks and obstacles uphill
• Builds confidence
• Allows adult rider to ride behind child and coach them up trails
• Child rider can control their own speed and braking (not tethered to adult)
• Much easier and a lot more fun for both adult and child rider
• Easier to tackle longer distances as well as higher elevations
• Smoother continuous riding – don’t have to unhook when going down and then hook back up when going up

The woom OFF with a tow rope is better for those who are really in it for the downhill. If your goal is to get to the top of the hill, just so you can rock it going down, the OFF and a tow rope are your best bet.

Benefits of woom OFF + Tow Rope over woom UP

• woom OFF provides a better riding experience for the downhill
• Inexpensive (tow rope), lightweight, and packable
• Tow rope can be used with multiple riders of various sizes (even adults)

How does the woom UP work?

The woom UP is a Class 1 power-assist ebike that cuts off assistance at 12 mph. As a power-assist bike, the UP’s motor only provides a boost when the bike is being pedaled.

No Throttle – Motor Power Dependent on Child’s Effort

There is no throttle button on the UP and even when the power is turned on, the bike will not move forward without a child pedaling it (only Class 2 ebikes can have a throttle). The rider must apply power to the motor (via pedaling) in order for the motor to apply assistance to the pedals. Typically a few quick pedal strokes are enough to activate the pedal-assist motor.

This balance between power provided by the rider and the motor helps to prevent fatigue of the rider while also requiring them to make effort and engage during the ride. The UP does not allow you to simply sit back and relax while the motor does all the work. The power-in, power-out pedal-assist motor on the UP is a standard system used on all Class 1 pedal-assist bikes.

When active, the motor does NOT move the pedals for you. The motor instead provides assistance to make it easier to move the pedals. For example, with the pedal assist on, the rider may feel like they are pedaling in a lower gear, but the bike is being propelled forward like it is in a higher gear. As a result, the rider is able to go farther with less effort.

Safety Guard – Motor Assist Cuts Off After 12 mph

When it comes to speed, the UP will stop all power-assist at 12 mph. Class 1 ebikes can max out at pedal-assist at 20 mph, but woom cut the speed back to 12 mph to help kids stay safe. When pedaling on their own or flying down a hill, the woom UP has no problems traveling over 12 mph, the pedal-assist just won’t kick in to help.

3 Levels of Support

In order to vary the amount of support the rider receives, the woom UP has 3 levels of support. The highest level of support provides 250 watts of power, while the lowest provides 100 watts.

These modes can easily be switched while riding to allow the rider to get maximum assistance for steep terrain, while little or even none on flat trails. We’ll break down the differences between the levels of support later in the review.

Shifting is Still Required!

The motor also does NOT shift for your child. The pedal assist helps ease the effort needed to pedal, but the gear the bike is in still determines how hard the bike is to pedal. When pedaling uphill the UP still needs to be shifted into a low gear.

If the bike is not in a low gear when pedaling up a hill, the rider won’t be able to provide enough power to the motor (by pedaling quickly) in order for the motor to kick in and help. Even at the highest support level, the 250 watts of power doesn’t kick in until the child has applied 100 watts to the motor. So if they can’t pedal hard enough to create 100 watts power, the motor can’t engage.

Trail Performance on the woom UP

While the UP made quick work of mileage and elevation on both paved and dirt trails, the UP also excelled as a tool to help kids master their technical mountain biking skills. With less exhaustion to battle, our testers could focus on proper shifting and staying the line, versus merely using all their strength and focus to power up the mountain.

Performance Uphill

With extra power at their feet, our testers had the ability and the motivation to hit uphill rock gardens and minor obstacles at a faster, more stable speed, rather than their typical slow uphill pace.

Known challenging sections of trails were easily cleared on the UP with a big smile to match. As long as our testers were in the correct gear (as explained above), the UP provided the power, allowing our testers to focus on the trail.

As a result, we saw their confidence quickly build as they began to get the “feel” for what their bikes are truly capable of. “Mom, this bike just plowed over that like it was nothing!” This was especially true with our more timid testers.

Although their standard mountain bikes are certainly capable, our timid testers often lack the power and confidence to match. By raising their game, the woom UP gave them a boost to allow them to utilize the full potential of a true mountain bike. This confidence, however, did take some time as the UP does have a bit of a learning curve for timid or less athletic riders.

Uphill Tips for Timid Riders

We discovered three main tips to help riders better overcome the learning curve of the UP:

• (1) ride behind your child to coach them as they ride
• (2) remind them to NOT stop pedaling when facing obstacles, and
• (3) focus on gears rather than power-assist level

Ride Behind Them: With the power of the UP under their feet, timid riders often don’t realize what they are capable of. We found riding behind them to provide a little coaching along the way makes a big difference.

Reminding them to shift to a low gear before heading up hill, as well as encouraging them to power through a technical section, versus slowing down or hesitating, greatly aided in their success.

Don’t Stop Pedaling! When tackling an obstacle, remind them to NOT stop pedaling! Timid riders often hesitate and unintentionally stop pedaling while they assess the obstacle in front of them.

Once they stop and then start again, the pedal-assist will kick back in and provide them with an unexpected burst of speed which can lead to a crash. If they have not yet corrected course, this kick of speed will jolt them in the wrong direction.

Gears > Pedal-assist Mode: When tackling a hill, making sure the bike is in the correct gear is FAR more important than making sure they are in the right power mode.

If they are in too high of a gear, they won’t be able to pedal fast enough for the pedal assist to work at all. Remind them that their ebike is not an electric scooter! They have to change gears just like they would on a standard bike.

Performance Downhill

Pointed downhill, the UP certainly didn’t disappoint. The slacker geometry of the UP as well as its extra weight, allows the bike to feel more grounded and provides plenty of traction.

For more aggressive riders, the UP didn’t hesitate to get off the ground as small bumps and side hits on the trail quickly became a playground for the woom UP.  Unfortunately, woom bikes does not recommend the UP being jumped more than 12″, so the playfulness of the UP is limited.

Downhill Tips for Timid Riders

For timid riders who aren’t ready or likely to tackle jumps, we found the UP’s longer wheelbase and slacker headtube (which causes the front wheel to be positioned more in front of the bike ), to provide a comfortable and stable ride. Like the uphill, however, there is still a learning curve with the UP.

Start with Lower-grade Descents: The extra weight of the UP can be a lot for young riders when going down steep trails. Our 48 lb. tester was much more hesitant to go down steep trails on the 36 lb. woom UP 5 versus his 22 lb. woom OFF AIR.

When trying to go slow or stop, he felt that it was much harder to stop and control the heavier UP on steep terrain. As a result, be sure to start with lower-grade descents and then slowly work up to steeper terrain as they get more comfortable with the added weight of the UP.

No Power-assist Downhill: Be sure to turn off the power-assist when going downhill. When not turned off, it can lead to unexpected and unnecessary boosts of power when haphazardly pedaling downhill.

When the power-assist kicks on going downhill, it can feel a bit “jerky” as the extra power boost often isn’t needed or expected. If a trail has rolling hills, we found it best to keep the power-assist in the lowest setting.

Woom UP Sizing and Weight

What age child will fit on the woom UP?

The woom UP is available in two wheel sizes – 24″ and 26″, and is sized to fit ages 7 to 14 (depending on height).

The woom UP 5 has 24″ wheels with a seat height of 26″-34″. It was a great fit for our 9-year-old tester with a 25.5″ inseam with plenty of room for growth.

The woom UP 6 has 26″ wheels with a seat height of 31″ – 38″. Our 10-year-old tester with a 27″ inseam, as well as our 12-year-old tester with a 30″ inseam, both fit great on the bike.

To adjust for height, both bikes have a flippable stem that allows you to raise the handlebars about an inch.

How much does the woom UP weigh?

The UP is a featherweight compared to similarly designed electric bikes for kids on the market. On our scale, the woom UP 5 came in at 36.7 lb. with the battery and the included kickstand. Without the battery (the UP can be ridden without the battery) the 5 comes in at 29.1 lb.

The closest comparison to the UP we found was the Commencal META HT POWER 24″ which comes in at 41 lb. with the battery.

The larger woom UP 6 came in at 39.4 lb. with the battery and kickstand and 31.5 lb. without the battery. Commencal doesn’t make a 26″ kids ebike, but as a comparison, their next size bike up from the META 24″ (the MAX MAX Power) comes in at 45 lb.

Battery and Power Assist Details

While riding an ebike isn’t hard, anything electrical comes with technical details. As you’ve probably learned with other electronic devices in your life, you’re best off learning how it really works so you don’t miss out on important features!

How long does the battery last on the woom UP?

Truly designed for the long haul, none of our testers ever came close to reaching the capacity of the battery. The longest ride out of all of our testers was 13 miles long with around 900 feet of elevation gain. During that test, only about 1/5th of the battery capacity was used.

The life of the battery also depends on what level of power assist is used (outlined below). According to woom, if set to the highest pedal assist level (250 watts), the battery would reach capacity at an hour of continuous use. Continuous use, however, is not the same as the bike being turned on and ridden.

Continuous use means that (1) the child would not stop pedaling for an hour, (2) they would be pedaling fast enough to apply enough input into the motor to activate (must be applying force to the pedals – not just turning them), and (3) they would not reach speeds of over 12 mph (upon which the pedal-assist turns off).

All in all, unless you are planning on taking the woom UP on a several-day bike packing trip on which you wouldn’t be able to recharge the battery at night, the battery on the UP should be more than sufficient for your needs.

What are the three different levels of power-assist?

The Fazua motor has three different levels of power-assist, which they call Breeze, River and Rocket. On all power-assist modes, the UP smoothly and consistently delivers power. While other ebikes often have trouble with spinning out or losing traction due to applying too much power at the wrong time, our testers never experienced this issue on the woom UP.

The power-assist modes are changed by pushing an easy-to-reach button on the bike’s top tube, making it easy to change on the fly.

A line of colored LED lights lets the rider know what level of power assist they are in as well as how much battery life it left. Five LED lights mean the battery has a full charge. In the picture below, the battery has three LED lights lit up, so the battery is at 3/5 capacity.

The lowest Breeze mode offers 100 watts of assist and as indicated by a green LED light. The middle level, River, provides 210 watts with a blue LED light. The highest level, Rocket, provides 250 watts of power and a pink LED light. The white LED means the motor is on, but it will not provide any pedal assist.

Each level also has a different amount of required input to allow the pedal-assist to kick in. The lower the power-assist level, the lower the amount of input needed for the motor to engage.

This setup essentially requires kids to exert more effort in order to get more boost. So the highest boost level (Rocket), requires the rider to get the bike moving at higher, more stable speeds before the boost will kick in.

Power assist level	Input to activate	Power provided	Best Use
Breeze (blue)	90 watts	100 watts	Longer paved rides
River (green)	100	210	Trail riding
Rocket (pink)	110	250	Hill climbing

On all three power-assist levels our testers only had issues with the power-assist not engaging when they were trying to climb up a hill while the bike was in a very high gear.

The rider, however, must be able to pedal fast enough to reach the minimum input levels in order for the pedal-assist to kick in. Almost all of our testers learned the hard way, that if you don’t pedal fast enough (or can’t as the result of not switching to a lower gear), the bike cannot assist you up the hill and you will quickly come to a stop.

These input settings are also completely customizable. The input level to activate as well as the power provided by each power-assist level can all be changed via the Fazua Toolbox desktop app. For a brief rundown of what is possible, check out Fazua’s 7 minute video about customizing their evation drive.

Components on the woom UP

The woom UP comes spec’d with high-end components that didn’t disappoint. Although the UP can certainly be used as an all-around bike, its components have a strong mountain biking heritage.

Brakes and Drivetrain

With the ability to quickly gain speed, woom beefed up the stopping power on the UP. While both the OFF and the UP have Promax hydraulic disc brakes with a 140mm rear rotor, the UP features a 160 mm in the front versus a 140 mm on the OFF.

Like many mountain bikes, a larger rotor in the rear isn’t always ideal as it could cause the back tire to stop too quickly, leading to a slide and loss of traction. Losing traction on the front tire is much less likely as there is less weight on the front tire, so it’s not as likely to slide.

Designed to climb, the woom UP features 11 gears (the OFF only has 7!) with a responsive SRAM NX drivetrain with trigger shifters. With a large range 11-42 cassette, the woom UP 5 features an impressive low range gain ratio range of 1.56 to 5.9 that are perfectly suited for climbing. With a longer crank arm, the woom UP 6 gain ratios are slightly lower at 1.3 to 5.2.

Tires

The UP features 2.35″ Schwalbe Rocket Ron tires on super lightweight woom brand wheels. The tires feature Schwalbe’s ADDIX SPEED compound to help them roll super fast while still providing plenty of traction. The Rocket Rons also have plenty of volume to be able to run at lower pressures on chattery trails.

Suspension Fork

The UP comes equipped with an RST air fork with 80-90 mm of travel, as well as adjustable compression, rebound dampening and lockout. As the same fork that comes on the OFF AIR, the fork does an amazing job adjusting to the weight of a small child and rebounds quickly without the “stickiness” often experienced by other forks.

woom UP Electric Bike for Kids Bottom Line

Designed to minimize fatigue and maximize fun, the woom UP is thoughtfully designed to act as a tool, rather than a crutch. No free rides here! As a Class 1 pedal-assist bike the UP only provides assistance once the child makes an effort and applies force to the pedal.

Providing a gentle, yet powerful boost to help kids tackle longer trails and higher elevation, the UP is an innovative pony that any adventure family should eagerly welcome into their stable. Whether you have plans to tackle high alpine trails or pound out mileage along the paved river trail, you’ll love watching your child’s confidence soar as they eagerly tackle previously daunting mileage, inclines, and terrain.