The e-bike motor race has been rather incredible over the past couple of years, with Avinox no doubt leading the charge (in terms of headline figures anyway). Bosch and Specialized have slowly been following suit, boosting their motors’ outputs to keep up, but one brand has remained fairly silent during all of this – Shimano. However, rumblings of Shimano making an e-bike motor comeback have arisen after the launch of Honda’s return to mountain biking in the form of the RN0, as it’s equipped with something rather new from the drivetrain giant.

While that Honda bike is rather interesting in itself, as it harkens back to old-school Y-frames and touches on its renowned heritage in mountain bike racing, the motor is what’s really catching attention.

Although it has the letters (and number) ‘EP8’ plastered onto the side, it’s definitely something new from Shimano, and that’s only proven when scrolling through first ride reviews of the Honda RN0 from sites like BikeRadar and Singletrack.

2026 honda rn0 white
2026 honda rn0 white (Image Credit: Honda)

While the motor still officially remains under wraps, those wraps aren’t exactly tight, as Honda has listed a bunch of the motor’s details. Honda’s website states that the new unit doles out 100Nm of torque and 750W at peak power, while fuelled by a 720Wh battery. So, those figures aren’t especially setting the motor market alight, but it’s good to be taking about Shimano again, in the e-bike space.

Additionally, it looks like the Auto Shift feature remains on the new system, which automatically changes gears according to the rider’s cadence, and there’s an Auto Assist feature which automatically adjusts the level of assistance by measuring the trail’s gradient and the rider’s input. Honda also lists an ‘Assist Carryover’ function, which looks like it’s the same as an overrun, so the motor will still produce some power for a short period after the rider stops pedalling.

Other new things include a full-colour top tube-mounted display, which is a first for a Shimano drive system, and it comes with the ability to charge external devices via USB-C.

We’ll report more as more details come to light, so keep your eyes peeled…