2021 Ducati MIG-S E-MTB Is Worthy of Your Personal Museum or Garage

This idea holds true even for the e-bike domain. What, you didn’t know Ducati made e-bikes? This is nothing new, as it’s not the first or only e-bike model from the team. Even their history started with something similar to a bicycle with a motor strapped to it, albeit not an electric one, but hey, times change.

What we are looking at here is the 2021 MIG-S. And yes, it is an all-around electric MTB from one of the world’s best-known two-wheeler brands. So, let’s see what we get for the $5,295 that this bike starts at.

The first thing we need to pay attention to when considering an e-bike (no matter who manufactures it), is the frame. For the MIG, Ducati went with a 6061-alloy frame using hydroformed tubing with forged and CNC parts. This makes it durable, light, and ready to carry all those heavy electronics. How light? It rolls in with a base weight of 49 lbs. (22.5 kg), undercutting many other e-bikes on the market.

Because it’s destined for the mountains and trails that have been winking at you for the past ten months, you won’t find a hardtail here. That rear is a Fox Float DPS with 140 mm (5.5 in) of custom tuning, while the front brings a Marzocchi Bomber Z2- Air with 150 mm (5.9 in) of travel. I wonder what king of drops you can do with this setup?

Oh, I nearly forgot to mention, this bike and others from the Ducati line-p are closely designed with Thok E-bikes. If you don’t know who they are, you will soon enough. But you can get to know them better through the work and styling done on the MIG-S.

Next up, the all-important Shimano Steps E8000 motor, or as Ducati calls it, the engine. This 6.1 lbs. (2.8 kg) piece of hardware is strong enough to dish out 70 Nm (51 lb. ft.) of torque while running on 250W. What the S made me realize is that you don’t really need to go any bigger on an MTB as it would completely take away any of the burn you might want from the climb.

To power all that Shimano goodness, guess what? More Shimano! For power we find a 630Wh battery which has absolutely no mention to any sort of range. Why? Because Ducati knows that range isn’t so easily calculated. It all depends on so many variables that it’s difficult to gauge something like that, so it’s better just not to mention it. But it does offer three levels of pedal assist that can be selected right from the LCD display.

For the wheels, Ducati decided to try a little something different and threw on a Thok e-plus 29 in. front tire with a 27.5 in. on the back. This lets the front easily climb over larger obstacles while the rear can still keep the control a 27.5 offers. The tires are supplied by another famous brand, Pirelli.

As for controlling and slowing this beast down, SRAM is taking care of that with 4-piston calipers and 203 mm rotors. More than enough to lock up or not when you need them to.

Aside from these main points, the MIG also includes a lower center of gravity due to the way the frame supports the battery pack. This is only to be an advantage when you’re out on the trails. Now, let’s be frank, no matter how you look at this marvelous creature, it’s damn near perfect. So, stop looking at it and go get one. Heck, don’t even ride it and just put it up in your personal Ducati museum.