Honda makes just about everything with a motor, from lawnmowers and generators to cars, motorcycles, and even airplanes. Now the Japanese giant is adding another electrified vehicle to the list – a premium electric mountain bike.
Unveiled at EICMA 2026 in Milan, the new Honda RN0 marks the company’s first entry into the premium electric mountain bike market. And unlike many automotive-branded e-bikes that amount to little more than a licensing deal and a familiar logo slapped on someone else’s frame, Honda appears to have actually put some engineering muscle behind this one.
The RN0 was jointly developed with German high-end e-MTB manufacturer ROTWILD and features a proprietary carbon monocoque frame and distinctive gull-arm swingarm inspired by Honda’s motorcycle chassis development experience.
There’s actually some real history behind that connection. Honda experimented with mountain bike development in the early 2000s, culminating in its wild RN01 downhill racing bike. In 2005, that project won the overall series championship in the UCI Mountain Bike Downhill World Cup. Honda never turned the RN01 into a consumer bicycle, but more than two decades later, the RN0 is effectively picking up where the company previously left off.
The roughly 24 kg (53 lb) RN0 is set up as a multi-role electric mountain bike, featuring 160 mm FOX 36 FLOAT Factory Kashima front suspension paired with a FOX FLOAT X Factory Kashima rear shock. 5-inch wheel in the rear, while Shimano DEORE XT four-piston brakes handle stopping duties.
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