Looking for an e bike built for long days on mostly natural trails and hill paths
Orbea rise with the bigger battery and range extender if you want.
On the rs setting my range is 100+km. Not tried it yet but I'm sure it'll be up there (it actually shows as 250km in lower power assist).
I guess it is all about efficiency and battery capacity. You can set pretty much all systems to run at lower power and torque to get more miles. I use a Fazua 60 motor and can get a fair distance out of it turned down with a pretty small battery. A lot of online chat says that the Shimano EP801 motor is very efficient. There was a lot of noise about the Avinox motor being super efficient, but a lot of chat with owners seems to indicate it is less efficient than a Bosch motor. In the end, they probably aren't all that different. Pick a motor with a good reputation and turn it down to get the miles munched. I was more driven about whether I could easily lump my bike over a fence or do some hike a bike. That meant trying to get something sub 20kg, which meant low power motor at the time. I'd still be buying on the same criteria, so would likely plump for a Avinox powered bike nowadays.
If the app, etc. is good then you can turn a full power bike down to a lower setting and you're more likely to get a big battery. The other option is to get something that comes with a decent size range extender or an easily swappable battery.
Anything with a big battery will also have the power available too... The key to getting good range is to optimise the modes so that they are more efficient and use less power, or just limit yourself to maybe Eco and Tour modes only (having optimised them too)...
Anything Bosch, you can fit a 250W range extender too, which means if you buy a bike with an 800Wh internal battery you can have 1050Wh in total, which will give a HUGE range!
As for what bike...? Well if distance is prioritised over descending, then probably go for something a bit lighter, a bit shorter travel, full 29er and reasonably fast rolling tyres etc...
How far do you actually envisage going...? I've managed 60km and just shy of 2km of climbing in a day on my 800Wh Mondraker Crafty a couple of times now, and that's full Enduro setup with chunky tyres etc and on steep terrain... With lighter, faster tyres and more rolling terrain, I'm sure I'd get that elevation up to 2500m and distance up towards 100km... Certainly would manage those figures with a range extender anyway!
My longest ride on my Levo was 68.5km with 1327mtrs of climbing. Average speed 14.56kmh.
Think I had 6% left. Used mostly eco but some trail and a tiny bit of turbo.
Eco wasn't set as economically as it could be by any stretch though and could have been tuned down further.
Full power Brose motor with 700wh battery
I did the Jennride a few years ago and there was chap doing it on his Rise. Thats a good test. I presume he made it back...
I guess it is all about efficiency and battery capacity. You can set pretty much all systems to run at lower power and torque to get more miles. I use a Fazua 60 motor and can get a fair distance out of it turned down with a pretty small battery. A lot of online chat says that the Shimano EP801 motor is very efficient. There was a lot of noise about the Avinox motor being super efficient, but a lot of chat with owners seems to indicate it is less efficient than a Bosch motor. In the end, they probably aren't all that different. Pick a motor with a good reputation and turn it down to get the miles munched. I was more driven about whether I could easily lump my bike over a fence or do some hike a bike. That meant trying to get something sub 20kg, which meant low power motor at the time. I'd still be buying on the same criteria, so would likely plump for a Avinox powered bike nowadays.
+1 on all this.
Can you actually turn down the *power* on all motors? The Rise limits power but not torque (and you can only limit Torque in the Shimano app as an end user). Bosch didn't have any customisation that last time I looked. I'm guessing Support and Peak Power in the specialized controls are torque/power.
In the end, they probably aren't all that different.
I suspect this is actually the case - isolating motor efficiency from power delivered, true battery size ( https://ebike-mtb.com/en/emtb-motor-comparison/ found some surprising differences between claimed capacity and nominal), how the bike is ridden, rider weight is close to impossible.
Is battery swapping an option for your rides, do you often pass a mid point? I've been using a Bosch ebike with only 630wh batteries since 2020. With two batteries I can get 7000-10000 ft of climbing out of them in the real world, with big tyres and a heavy rider in the second from highest power mode. I just swap the battery at my car mid ride. If swapping is an option, a sale bike and a second battery is more likely to give you big range than an expensive newer bike with one battery.
Just like with buying an electric car, you don't neccesarily need to jump straight to that 'more' of everything. I just checked and my longest ride last year on my Levo SL was 36 miles, 3900ft of climbing / 58km, 1170metres of climbing. Thats on a small 320Wh battery, and not a flat ride, proper MTB technical riding in the Yorkshire Dales.
Add on the range extender and thats another 50% again, theoretically 54 miles, 5850ft. Thats a fairly big ride for a smalll batteried 'SL' ebike (It weighs 18kg, and I also regularly ride it with the motor off). I also reckon now I'm more used to the bike I' probably eek that out further.
It all comes down to the way you ride, the way you metre the power out, and also things like tires make a huge difference.
If I were replacing my ebike this year I'd probably be looking at Bosch SX with 400+250wh, or the TQ HPR60 with 580W built in (Trek Fuel EX+).
I'd expect an easy 100km ride on those if needed, but all will be a lot lighter and more 'trail' like to ride than some of the big-boy super enduro bikes with the full power motors and 800wh batteries.
Thanks everyone plenty to think about here, I've been riding my orange charger for 5 years sometimes carrying a spare battery with me. It's been great but carrying the battery makes for a heavy load can be uncomfortable and makes any falls a bit riskier. I'd say the levo looks like the front runner at the moment but depends on what I can get from my local bike shops or else I wait till the next time I am in Inverness or Glasgow to look at the bikes in the flesh
TQ HPR60 with the 580wh battery. I can’t think of any review of any bike that has it fitted that hasn’t commented on just how efficient it is compared to every other motor system.
I think in lower power mode you could get close to 3000m of elevation out of it. If you really wanted to, you could stick a range extender on to take it up to 740wh & probably be out from sunrise to sundown if that was your thing…
Bosch didn't have any customisation that last time I looked.
When did you last look?!?!
Been customisable in the Bosch Flow app for many years now...
TQ HPR60 with the 580wh battery. I can’t think of any review of any bike that has it fitted that hasn’t commented on just how efficient it is compared to every other motor system.
Not ridden it yet, but does seem to be massively better than the HPR50 it has replaced... And that is a big battery for a mid power machine for sure... Only heard good things so far from owners, which considering the bad rep the HPR50, is promising.
I'd say the levo looks like the front runner at the moment
Eh...?
I go out riding with mates on Gen3 Levo's with 700Wh, their batteries are depleted when I've still got 30% left on my Gen5 Bosch CX with 800Wh battery!
And you think the Gen4 Levo is any better with 840Wh battery...? Not in the slightest! It seems to be even worse than the Gen3 with 700Wh for range, at least from the handful of guys I know with them already... In fact, 3 Gen4 Levo owners I know have ALREADY sold them and gone over to Bosch or Avinox powered bikes (the DJI Avinox motor does seem to get decent range, at least when the assist is turned down massively) and another is heavily considering it right now, primarily because of poor range from the Gen4 Levo motor/battery system...
Mondraker launched this today interestingly...
Looks like a shorter travel version of my Crafty, a bit more emphasis on all day pedalling with the full fat CX and 800Wh battery too.
On the TQ note - if your looking for a true lightweight, long distance e-xc bike then this thing is mega impressive:
https://www.scott-sports.com/gb/en/lumen
There aren't loads out there and they dont suit most use cases but if you want assisted XC riding they are superb - its a Scott Spark with a motor, essentially. The old TQ system was pretty crap but the 2026 models all have the (seemingly very efficient and more reliable, as per above) HPR60, and come with 360+160wh as standard. Properly light too, perfectly possible to ride these with motor off for long distances.
I've managed to get two rides of ~51 miles and ~3150 feet of climbing out of ~90% of the 248Wh battery on my GT eGrade Bolt, in August and October '25. Average speed ~15.5mph for ~3hrs20mins.
Vast majority of road ride in eco mode set at ~75W, maybe used a tiny bit of level two set at ~150W for little ramps, turbo set at 250W and only used on substantial hills (250+ feet) with me going as best I could manage (me ~96Kg kitted up with bits in pockets; ebike ~16Kg with bidons, close to ~4W/Kg going by estimated power which seems reasonable against 4iiii readings pre- long covid on my road bike).
To help conserve battery, I'd either briefly select zero assist at the start of descents while I got back above the 15.5mph cutoff, or simply freewheel until above motor assist speed.
Weight loss was going quite well in the run up to Xmas, but all that rich food including chocolate overload has set me back ~2Kg. Getting back towards ~80Kg should get me up hills quicker and use less battery in turbo mode, but I'm pondering the purchase of a ~208Wh Mahle X35 entender battery, to make hillier and longer rides possible in '26.
You don't necessarily need a monster sized battery for mile munching, it depends on how you use the battery and how you apply your effort.