However, we did not like the integration of the new Bosch Smart system and its 750 Wh battery. For a better overview, we present all 13 bikes and their tops and flops below. Thats a hefty amount of riding, and more often that not Id run out of steam well before the battery ran out. In terms of connectivity and customisability of the motor system, it sets the tone in the test field together with the Specialized S-Works Turbo Kenevo SL. Will those taller folks wish for longer chainstays? In fact, the 437mm rear centre length is identical between the two bikes, and should be noted as being incredibly short for an e-MTB with 29in wheels and 160mm of rear travel. Average speed 9.0 mp/h. Riding your bike to the park rather than throwing it on a rack is actually feasible. We are looking for the best all-rounder that can take on any trail! Class 1 e-mountain bikes (and electric bikes overall) are pedal-assist: an integrated motor provides assistance to the rider and is activated by pedaling the bike. And thats a good reflection of the market! One other important note on noise the Dyname 4.0 motor suffers none of the annoying rattle found in the current Shimano and Bosch motors. Pricing starts at $8,999 AUD for the Altitude Powerplay A30, and goes up to $15,999 AUD for the Altitude Powerplay C90. Among all the specialists, there are also a few true all-rounders that cut a fine figure in almost every situation these are the contenders for the title of Best eMTB of 2022. Top! FOCUS Jam 7.0 (Click for review) | MERIDA eONE-SIXTY 10K (Click for review) | Norco Sight VLT C1 (Click for review) | OrbeaRise M-Team (Click for review) | Rocky Mountain Altitude Powerplay C70 (Click for review) | Rotwild R.E375 ULTRA (Click for review) | SCOR 4060 Z ST XT (Click for review) | SCOTT Ransom eRIDE 910 (Click for review) | Specialized S-Works Turbo Levo (Click for review) | Specialized S-Works Turbo Kenevo SL (Click for review) | Trek Rail 9.9 XX1 AXS (Click for review) | Yeti160E (Click for review) | YT DECOY MX Core 4 (Click for review). The pursuit of maximum battery capacity Is the bike industry moving in the wrong direction? Those results are listed a bit further down in this review. This increase in air volume gave me access to more travel, while providing a deeper and floatier feel to the rear suspension, with less bouncing around during seated pedalling an important aspect for an e-MTB. We also provide a lot of specialist knowledge, behind the scenes information and a report on the hottest trends all of this is wrapped in a high quality print format. Four long years after the Canadian brand introduced its very first electric mountain bike, the 2nd generation Rocky Mountain Altitude Powerplay has finally arrived. Fork RockShox Yari RC 160mm 37mm Offset Shock Do you want a minimalist display or an unobtrusive Shimano Bluetooth connector (EW-EN100 dongle)? There are some clear recommendations for a trail all-rounder, which needs to work well for every rider and on every trail. You can certainly climb with ease, you just wont access all of the Dyname 4.0s gut-churning torque unless you put in a bit of effort. In our annual group test, in which we search for the best eMTB of the year, we tested and compared the 13 most exciting and hottest eMTBs of the season. Do you run out of juice? It is precisely these that we work out clearly and tangibly so that everyone has all the relevant information to make the right purchasing decision for themselves and their personal requirements. Cycleworld - Concord West Enquire Now Enquire Now As you can see, we didnt make the win quite as easy to determine as it would be in a world championship. An inexpensive bike with cheaper components but a coherent overall concept can perform much better than many expensive bling-bling bikes. This is the best way to find out which battery concept suits you. Specialized Levo Carbon E-Bike 2023 SAVE 25 %. - CushCore inserts as standard For example, ROTWILD use an EightPins dropper with a stroke of up to 180 mm. The Jumbotron display is fantastic, providing the rider with just enough useful information in a clear and easy to understand manner. Last years Best Buy and the cheapest bike (7,199) in the test field, it was unable to defend the title. The Altitude Powerplay Carbon 90 Rally Edition has a better fork and more travel, while the Turbo Levo Expert has 29 / 27.5 aluminum wheels and better components. Altitude Carbon 90 Rally Edition New Colour With a tough carbon frame, a 625 watt-hour battery and more than six inches of front-fork travel, this bike can climb and descend with the best of them. Partway through a ride I flipped the dropout chip into the long setting, which took all of about five minutes. The E-MOUNTAINBIKE Print Edition 2022 is our fifth annual edition and the ultimate guide in your search for the perfect eMTB. To get some more concrete numbers though, I subjected the Altitude Powerplay to our standardised shuttle range test. Their ever popular line of E-Bikes, the Rocky Mountain Powerplay, feature spec upgrades on many models along with an expanded Instinct BC line. They have a maximum load of just 94 kg and 95 kg respectively. Personally, Ive not found the reduced overrun to be an issue for the majority of trails Ive ridden, and both motors are easy to adapt to after a few rides. Every bike from size L upwards should have space for at least 170 mm. Actually, the rule here is: more is more! However, it could no longer defend its title. We dont just want to test the bikes that interest you the most. It still provides experienced bikers with good reserves, satisfies beginners with its intuitive handling and is also a comfortable touring bike, but ultimately cannot keep up with the stronger competition as an all-rounder. This Brand is Putting a New Spin on Massage Guns, The Best Running Jackets for Cooler Weather, Here's the Skinny on Ooni's Electric Pizza Oven, The Best New Style Releases from 2023 (So Far), All the Boxing and Fitness Gear from Creed III, Tesla Investor Day: 5 Things You Need to Know, Rocky Mountain Altitude Powerplay Carbon 90 Rally Edition. Unfortunately it doesnt have a clock a simple but much appreciated feature that we love about the MasterMind TCU display on the new Levo. It is also not the right choice for beginners due to its demanding handling. There are five options in total in the 2022 Rocky Mountain Altitude Powerplay lineup, three of which feature carbon frames and two that use alloy frames. There is no such shuttle mode on the Altitude Powerplay, which requires a more collaborative performance between your legs and the motor. Puncture protection is even more important on the rear wheel than on the front, so a puncture-proof casing is a must. VTTRocky Mountain Altitude Powerplay Alu 50 2019. Thanks to a 672-watt-hour battery and a compact, low-mounted motor, it rips uphill for easy self-shuttling. MD; Backorder. That said, lots of power isnt necessarily better, as you will read further on. Was From. Perhaps the noisy idler also convinced me that the Altitude Powerplay wouldnt be as efficient as its competitors. Easy installation. YT have the highest payload in the test field at 127 kg. The chainstay length can be adjusted however, with a dual position flip chip and a reversible brake mount that allows riders to easily extend the rear centre by 10mm. After tweaking the air volume in the fork and shock to improve traction and high-speed control, I decided to try out a variety of the Ride-4 geometry settings. Even in the long position, the Altitude Powerplay is still agile for a big rig. How did we test the bikes? For efficient charging, the best bet is to set a reminder to charge your bike up the night before a ride: set it and forget it until the morning of your adventure. While the Dyname 4.0 motor packs a ridiculous amount of power with near-instantaneous response, the progressive delivery makes it highly controllable. Click here for more information or order it directly in our shop! From here the next step was to investigate the dropout flip chip. Rocky Mountain Altitude Powerplay C70 | Dyname 4.0/720 Wh | 170/160 mm (f/r) 24.5 kg in size L | 8,800 | Click for review ROTWILD R.E375 PRO | Shimano EP8/375 Wh | 170/160 mm (f/r) 19,68 kg in size L | 8.999 | Click for review SCOR 4060 Z ST XT | Shimano EP8/720 Wh | 150/140 mm (f/r) 22,74 kg in size L | 8.299 | Click for review In general, it is important to choose a tire that suits the area of use and your personal needs, so that it fits you and your bike. There are opposing schools of thought when it comes to which is preferable, but in the end it all comes down to weight distribution and what's more comfortable for the rider. You can find out how to figure it out here. Secondly it can produce more grunt at lower Amps. Personally, Im not sure Id want to give up the travel though, especially when the Altitude Powerplay handles as well as it does. That cant be true! Imagine the kinds of rooty, rocky, horror fests reserved for bravest or craziest and thats where youll likely find the Bullit. Remaining: 76%. Its not the poppiest bike given its mass and suspension platform, though riders concerned by weight may wish to look towards the slightly shorter travel Instinct Powerplay. As such, it's designed for similarly rowdy riding as the Trek Rail, Specialized Kenevo SL, Giant Reign E+ and Norco Sight VLT. TCS velocorner.ch offers 15'000+ bikes from 300+ bike stores and individuals.. Our tips are again: MAXXIS Doubledown or Schwalbe Super Gravity. EMTBs are delicate, high-tech devices that need regular maintenance and care. Watch our video review of the Rocky Mountain Altitude Powerplay here: Despite its ability to mob through straight-line chunder, it rips turns with surprising nimbleness that had me constantly grinning from ear-to-ear. Price: $8999.00. In reality, the freedom of movement is limited, just like on the SCOR, despite the apparently short seat tube. No! These stop providing assistance after the bike reaches 20mph or more. Front wheel lift was a problem on steep pinch climbs, and it also felt somewhat skittish on rowdier descents. However, you dont have a free choice with every manufacturer. Altitude Powerplay lineup | Rocky Mountain DESIGNED FOR Enduro WHEEL SIZE 29" FRONT TRAVEL 170 mm REAR TRAVEL 160 mm Designed alongside our Dyname 4.0 drive system, the Altitude Powerplay has everything you need for aggressive enduro e-biking. In some ways it fulfilled those expectations, but in other ways it totally surprised me. Firstly, big kudos to Rocky Mountain for providing a masterfully detailed online manual for the Altitude and Instinct Powerplay models, which contains lots of useful information on setup, including baseline shock pressures and damper settings. When it comes to trail fun, eMTBs with large batteries quickly fall behind. Of note is that the Altitude Powerplay and Instinct Powerplay frames are virtually identical. The group test in figures: Background to the test field, the most exciting facts and interesting trends. The result is a surprisingly intuitive and controllable feel, which is especially noticeable when soft pedalling around tight uphill hairpins. Weighing in under 42 pounds (the lightest on this list) and offering a 40-mile range, the Levo SL is a true unicorn. As a result, an arms race for larger batteries has been taking place for years. First of all: you cant have whichever remote you want. The perceived noise depends strongly on the resonance of the frame and varies from bike to bike. All in all, it is a good all-rounder with sacrifices to the range and high speed. And is range really that important to you, or would you rather have good handling on the trail? Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads, Same attributes as our race proven Altitude. Until my scheduled shin transplant pans out, its difficult for me to say. Does it suit you or not? Its possible to reduce the leg effort required to bring on the motors power via the Boost setting. This is accessed in a tuning menu through the Jumbotron display, and you have five levels on offer, with the default setting from the factory being 0. Dual bearings are employed in the chainstay pivot for increased stiffness and durability, while external shields are added to all pivot bearings to ward off contaminants. Based on this information, we let you decide whether the bike suits you and your requirements. In fact, I was able to clean one bastard of a climb on my local test circuit that I have never cleaned before. For each bike, we have explored the extremes for you and present the real range of use they are suited to. And the flip side of the Dyname 4.0 motor is that it rarely pushes you unintentionally, say on a tight switchback climb. The 750 Wh battery can be removed to the side in typical Trek fashion. However, if youve miss-timed a shift and find yourself tackling a steep incline in a higher gear than optimal, the motor still manages to produce decent grunt at lower RPMs, not unlike a Bosch motor. Even though many eMTBers love to discuss the latest trends and isolated parameters such as wheel size or torque, individual factors are only of limited help in the search for the best eMTB and should be treated with caution. To make the differences as clear as possible, we use the whole scale. Who are the people behind the testing and what do they look for in their perfect bike? What does the best eMTB have to be capable of in 2022? With availability limited and eMTBs a big investment for many, its especially important to know about the latest technologies and the huge differences between models before buying one. Some now even use large 220 mm discs. Its actually great encouragement, and if you go for it, its possible to ride this bike very fast uphill. Einfach. EMTB fullys arent just at the spearhead of eMTB development, offering more fun and safety than hardtails, they are also most in demand. The test field is a real cross-section of the market offering the best, most interesting, exciting and relevant bikes for trail use. Software also has a huge influence on the riding experience and on the differences between the motors. Even while out of the saddle, with my chest hanging over the bars to keep the front wheel weighted, the power feels easy to modulate, allowing you to make the most of the high-traction suspension and grippy rubber. Impossible? There are even models that can compete with downhill-focussed bikes and with which you can hunt Strava KOMs. Exceptions are last years test winners and best buys. What makes a good eMTB and what should I look for in an eMTB? The Altitude Powerplay Alloy 30 Coil has a better fork and more travel, while the Turbo Levo Alloy has 29 / 27.5 aluminum wheels and better components. Remember the summer your little brother grew six inches and, for the first time, forced you to yell uncle when wrestling in the basement? However, due to current production and delivery difficulties, some manufacturers, including Haibike, CUBE and BULLS were unable to provide a bike. NEW: Before we get into the review, we would like to tell you about our latest print edition. In terms of ergonomics, Bosch bring up the rear. Purpose-built and race-proven, it's the ultimate enduro weapon for demolishing steep trails and making every session faster. TCS velocorner.ch offers 15'000+ bikes from 300+ bike stores and individuals.. However, there is still some mechanical noise and vibration thats caused by the idler and lower chainguide. One thing to note is that our test bike features the extended lower headset cup, which should only come on the Instinct frames. Then again, Mick found the novelty of all those features quickly wore off during his long-term test of the Levo. The Assegai is an insanely good tyre, and for me its bordering on a must-have for a big e-MTB like this. Whichever is your favourite, its important that the display and remote are in a protected position and that they are intuitive and ergonomic to use. Then you should pay close attention now! Given its weight, the stocky wheels, dual-ply tyres and sticky-compound Assegai up front, that amount of elevation gain is impressive. The suspension of a full suspension eMTB is only good if it suits your own riding style. As a Light eMTB with the lowest motor output (35 Nm) in the group test, the Kenevo SL is an exotic bike and has no chance of winning the test as an all-rounder, but it still has its advantages. Like every person, every bike has its own character that inevitably embodies both strengths and weaknesses. I had the pleasure of riding the original model at the European launch way back in 2017, but weve admittedly not had a heap of experience with Rocky Mountain bikes since then. After all, its rarely the average rated power that is decisive for real riding but the maximum power and torque in the respective support levels that the motors can release during peak loads. The longstanding outcasts of the two-wheeled world, electric bikes, have become industry darlings almost overnight. The Norco Sight VLT C1 and Rocky Mountain Altitude Powerplay C70 have some catching up to do. On smoother inclines, the motors sensitivity can also be felt through untidy pedalling technique. In this group test, there are considerable differences in terms of grip, steering precision, traction and puncture protection, which also influence the handling, riding experience and feeling of safety. Tops & flops, winners and losers of the group test, Find out everything you need to know in our motor group test, a complete reference in our sister magazine ENDURO, click here for an explanation of the term, Weve summarised what this can cost per year and what you need to bear in mind. With this in mind: forget about the numbers! At 95 kg, am I already too heavy for my eMTB? Were much more interested in what really matters. There are some very natural and easy to control motors like the Shimano EP8, and there are some that require attention, care and the right cadence, like the Dyname 4.0. Five years ago, we explained that that laboratory range measurements arent representative of the real world and that the bike industry is yet to find a useful and realistic solution to this. And Mom wouldnt be able to save you. Lokal. Rocky Mountain 2022 Slayer Alloy 30 27.5" MTB Gold/Green. - On the heavy side. This can be a good thing for cornering on really tight trails and for super-steep descending, where you want to get as much weight rearwards as possible. With eMTB technology and geometry improving rapidly, more and more members of the bike community have realized their value. Specialized even has a special Shuttle mode that further reduces the required leg input, with the idea being that you can climb uphill with the minimum of effort required, so you save all your energy for the descents. Do you run out of juice? Thats why we prefer to provide you with some concrete tips here. As part of our annual reader survey, more than 16,520 E-MOUNTAINBIKERS answered around 90 questions, helping us to make this test as relevant as possible! The most important factors to consider when investing in an electric mountain bike are battery power, charging times, and hub drives versus mid-drives. We also clear up half-truths, examine forum discussions, marketing promises and tell you what really matters. It inspires a load of confidence on technical descents, with the suspension gobbling up rocks and big hits with ease. Weve summarised what this can cost per year and what you need to bear in mind. Remember, there is no simple answer to the question of, How far will I be able to ride on a single charge? We delve deeper into the topic of range and battery capacity in the next chapter. After all, a bike is only as good as the interplay of all its components in the real world! Youll also need to replace the chainring more frequently than usual, as its made from alloy. Its also significantly more responsive under power compared to the Kenevo SL, and it rails turns better too. MSRP: $6,500; MODEL YEAR: 2023; Read Review. The Altitudes kinematic is indeed very progressive, which provides a heap of big-hit support that will no doubt suit the freeriding Vanderhams and Simmons out there. The price range in the test field is wide but this doesnt mean that the differences in performance are just as great. Manufacturer: Rocky Mountain. During one of my range tests, the Altitude Powerplay had no trouble ticking over 22km/h while going up a 12% gradient. Even still, soft pedalling doesnt automatically deliver you full power. The Altitude Powerplay Alloy 70 has a better fork and more travel, while the Turbo Levo Comp Alloy has 29 / 27.5 aluminum wheels and better components. Sadly, on the Rocky Mountain, the battery rattles. In general, you should follow manufacturer recommendations as theyll have the most experience. Together with the high level of comfort, it is a great bike for touring riders. It also features a shorter 150mm travel fork, and an extended lower headset cup to balance out the ride height. The rubber fork bumper is simple, but does exactly what its meant to without need for a funky steering limiter headset. An eMTB is more than the sum of its parts and the arms race for metrics like battery size, motor power or suspension travel rarely produces better bikes. Software topics such as connectivity or motor customisation/tuning also played an important role. The low and central centre of mass is one of the main reasons for the outstanding handling of the Orbea Rise. 2019. the best Bosch bike, the best bike with a 750 Wh battery or the best bike with 150 mm travel and 29 wheels. But whats surprised me most about this bike is just how adaptable and enthusiastic it is for all-roundriding. What is important here is what is possible, not just what is stated on paper. Class 3 electric bikes integrate a motor that activates only when the rider is pedaling and top out at 28mph (and feature a speedometer). It impresses with the best system integration, high stability on fast descents while maintaining manoeuvrability and agility, as well as its modular battery concept. The good news is that trained bikers ears will be able to tell whether the motor is in its comfort zone or is about to fade out, like when youre about to stall your car. The most powerful motors delivers 108 Nm of torque, the weakest just 35 Nm. It's perfect for hyper-aggressive riders who want to ride the hardest trails without a chairlift or truck shuttle. The trail network around Monte Arsenti provides the ideal test conditions, allowing us to work out both the big and small differences that separate the 13 eMTBs on test. There are also differences between the individual motors and bikes when it comes to motor noise under full load. Press Fit BB89.5. 2-Bolt ISCG05 Tabs. In this group test, were not just looking for the best eMTB of 2022. However, there is no navigation system that comes close to the Bosch Nyon in this test field.