The best electric mountain bikes: MBR E-Bike of the Year 2023! | Mountain Bike Rider
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Published 2023-06-04
There are 10 contenders vying for the title, with bikes from Specialized, Trek, Canyon, YT, Cannondale, Mondraker, Nukeproof, Vitus, Giant and Whyte. In terms of motors, all the main brands are represented, including Bosch, Shimano, Brose, and Yamaha. And there are mullet bikes, 29ers, coil shocks, wireless gears and even electronic suspension.
All told we’re talking £73k worth of bikes, so it's fair to say that Christmas has definitely come early!
As usual we ran www.maxxis.com/ control tyres to create a more level playing field for all the bikes, choosing to run the Assegai 2.5 up front in Exo casing, and the Minion DHR II at the rear in reinforced EXO+.
We chose the mid MaxTerra compound both front and rear to balance grip and rolling resistance, which is important for battery range.
Also supporting us is www.feedbacksports.com/ with its range of workstands and tools – perfect for all the weighing, measuring, tyre swapping and battery charging.
Along with foxracing.com/, which supplied helmets, kit and its new Union shoes.
Read more here: www.mbr.co.uk/buyers_guide/best-electric-mountain-…, including all the actual weights and measurements on all the bikes as we upload the full written reviews.
It's a long video, but if you don't want to sit through the whole thing, you can skip to a specific bike below:
0:00:00 - Intro
0:01:27 - Giant Trance X Advanced E+ 1
0:06:50 - Cannondale Monterra Neo Carbon LT 2
0:12:59 - Mondraker Crafty Carbon R
0:18:36 - Vitus E-Sommet VRX
0:24:22 - Whyte E-160 RSX
0:31:38 - Trek Rail 9.7
0:40:09 - Nukeproof Megawatt 297 Factory
0:46:00 - YT Decoy Core MX
0:49:25 - Specialized Turbo Levo Comp
1:00:27 - Canyon Spectral:ON CF 9
1:08:18 - Outro
This video was produced in partnership with Feedback Sports and Fox Clothing
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All Comments (21)
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very cool to see people pointing out the stuff that is bad on all the bikes. super informative video.
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First bike is 7k. My golf gti only cost me 6.5k 😂 what the absolute hell is going on
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I recently got a Specialized Levo Comp alloy, here in the United States 5400.00 U.S. dollars. Love the bike.
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Great review as always Guys.... There are some great deals on new bikes at the moment! I won't disclose what I've just paid for an S-WORKS Levo brand new! Unbelievable piece of kit for the money!
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Best Test ever! Thank you!
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Interesting points(expert advice great information, amazing information must watch before you buy!) Funny thing about the length of the rear end. Having rode a 2019 Levo 29'er XL vs 2022 Levo S5 Mullet set up - The comparison to the Giant Trance e-Bike makes perfect sense. The way the bike handles and control in DH technical or climbs. The balance and control. One other point is RockShock vs Fox. I think the Fox has the edge IMHO. Getting the right size along with the other expert points you made!
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So many bikes to test, hard to pick a list! Rocky Mountain, Norco, Scott got some very nice e-mtb!
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Nice reviews all round Just got a turbo levo and it’s frikken rad so far. Pemberton B.C. 🤘🏻⚡️
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Great vid. Just what i was looking for...
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Wow! These are the nicest bikes I've seen lately!
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Thanks for the thorough reviews of the bikes you had in for testing. They just get better and better. Must get my Orbea Rise out instead of the roadie
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I 100% think the MBR channel is the most honest MTB review channel out there run by real riders.
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You can’t beat haibike on price and there spec is great too .
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Great reviews on all bikes and with that I’ve just got the specialised bike and it’s a dream , gone for the s4 I’m 5,10 smooth and quite .
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Good test! 👍
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Like all things in life bike prices seem to be over the fence and into the land of the silly . I paid £5,500 for my Scott ebike - had Scott bikes for the past 15 yrs - I love the brand personally. My first car cost £3000 and even today 5-6k buys a very nice car . Good video as always from the team
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I've had a blast on my 2023 Trance. Saying that I ride super tech rocky trails mostly and it nails it.
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I bought the Specialized Levo Comp Alloy but I upgraded the drivetrain to AXS and wow 👌
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Good review, always interesting to hear different peoples response to brands. Interesting your pick had the lowest spec and happened to be on special. I do like the adjustability of the specialized and the weight but without the discount (nz) and low spec , I'm over 100kg would probably upgrade fork at even more cost. Thanks for making a good review Cheers Shane
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I think you should have gone for Orbea instead Vitus as in terms of sales is for sure a more popular brand (same for Whyte and Nukeproof) and have one of the most awarded Ebikes as it is the new Orbea Wild 2023
