Research-based review. The score and figures here are compiled from published specs, verified owner reports, and independent third-party testing — not yet from our own instrumented test rides. We'll update this page when our hands-on numbers replace them. How we score
The verdict
The Charger4 is no longer sold new, and that is the whole story: it remains the most complete commuter we have scored, and the used market is now the only way in — at a price that finally makes sense.
Who it's for now
This page is here for two people: someone who already owns a Charger4 and wants to know what they have, and someone considering a used one. Riese & Müller has replaced it with the Charger5, so nobody is buying this bike new any more, and the original $7,499 sticker is history rather than a price. For an existing owner the news is good — this is a platform with a long service life ahead of it and a mainstream Bosch drive system underneath the German bodywork. For a used buyer, the Charger4 is one of the few genuinely premium e-bikes where depreciation works in your favor, because the thing you are buying is engineering that does not age quickly. Anyone who wants a warranty, dealer hand-holding, and the latest Bosch electronics should be shopping the Charger5 or a Trek instead.
Ride feel
The Charger4 is a large, heavy, extremely composed bike, and everything about it is tuned for covering distance rather than darting through traffic. The 61-lb weight sits low and central, the 80mm Suntour fork and the RX suspension seatpost take the edge off rough pavement together, and the 27.5×2.4-inch Schwalbe Super Moto-X tires supply the rest — the combination is why owner accounts describe hour-plus rides on poor surfaces without complaint. The Bosch Performance Line CX is the benchmark commuting motor for a reason: 85 Nm arriving proportionally, holding power on long grades instead of fading as it heats, and quiet enough that tire noise dominates. On the US Class 3 build the bike is stable rather than nervous at its 28 mph ceiling, which is the specific thing that made this model worth its price and the specific thing the Class 1 Charger5 no longer offers here.
Battery & range reality check
750Wh feeding an efficient mid-drive is the pairing that made this a genuine touring commuter. Riese & Müller quoted up to 100 miles; verified owner logs and independent testing put honest mixed use at 45–70 miles depending on assist level and speed, and the dual-battery variant roughly doubles that. For a used buyer this is where the real diligence lies. A battery is a consumable: a pack that has been through several hundred cycles or sat discharged over winters will not hold what a new one did, and it is the most expensive part to replace. Ask the seller for the charge cycle count — any Bosch dealer can read it off the system — and price a replacement pack into the offer if the number is high or unknown. A healthy pack turns a used Charger4 into a bargain; a tired one turns it into a project.
Build quality
This is what the original price bought, and it is also what makes the bike worth buying used. Magura MT5 4-piston brakes, a Deore XT 11-speed drivetrain, fully integrated lighting and wiring, and a frame and finish executed to a standard that survives years of weather. The drive system is Bosch, not a house-brand controller, which means diagnostics are standardized and parts still exist — the single most important fact for anyone buying a five-year-old e-bike. The caveats are ownership caveats: R&M's warranty terms generally sit with the original purchaser, so a second-hand bike should be assumed to have none, and the dealer network is thinner than Trek's or Specialized's, so check there is a shop within reach that will do motor and software work before you commit.
What it's worth now
As a new purchase this was always a hard sell at $7,499 — a Trek Allant+ 7 delivers the same CX motor and a denser dealer network for roughly half. As a used purchase the arithmetic inverts. Premium e-bikes depreciate faster than their engineering does, so a well-kept Charger4 with a healthy battery is the rare way to own genuinely over-built hardware at mainstream money. Budget for a fresh pack, a brake bleed, and a full Bosch service history readout, and shop for the belt-drive or dual-battery variants — both were expensive options new and are usually barely priced-in second-hand. If a bike you are looking at needs a battery and a drivetrain, walk away; those two together will approach the price of a current mid-range commuter.
The verdict
The 9.5 reflects what this bike is, not what it costs today: the most complete commuter we have scored, and still the reference for what an e-bike can be when nobody is cutting corners. It is not a current buy — the Charger5 is the bike Riese & Müller sells now, with the Smart System, a bigger pack and optional ABS, and a US-spec top speed of 20 mph. Buy a Charger4 second-hand, with the battery health verified and a dealer within reach, and you are getting more engineering per dollar than almost anything sold new.
Researched & aggregated by ElectricBikes.com
How the Riese & Müller Charger4 GT Touring scores in our research
The category scores below are averaged from all our research on the Charger4 GT Touring — published specs, verified owner reports, and independent third-party reviews. Numbers marked with an asterisk are research averages.
Real-world range
45–70 mi*
Battery
750Wh Bosch PowerTube
Motor torque
85 Nm
Scores by category
* What the asterisk means. This figure is the average from all our research — compiled from published manufacturer specs, verified owner reports, and independent third-party reviews. We update these averages as new data comes in.