Does anyone make decent short travel e-bikes at all? I only ever seem to be able to find 150mm+ bikes whenever I look.

Is there such a thing as a 120mm or 130mm full sus e-bike?

Canyon Neuron:On
Trek Powerfly & E-Caliber
Giant Stance e+
Cube Stereo Hybrid 120

Orbea rise is 140, Trek Fuel EX-E is 140 also

Canyon have the Neuron:ON in 130mm

Pivot Shuttle SL if you have deep pockets. 150mm front but 130mm rear. get the grey though the blue and red looks like a Spiderman bike.

Rise is 140 rear, fork 140 or 150.

It’s defo more trail bike than enduro and the lightness enhances that iyswim. It’s not a steamroller.

I suppose you might ask the question what characteristic is having less travel bringing to an ebike?
Saving weight isn’t the thing that it is on a neeb so would it really bring any other advantage?

If you’re having an ebike, then pedalling an extra 20mm of travel isn’t really here nor there in some ways?

Something like the Rise, you can build light to be more of a trail bike, or you can stick 160 forks on it and dh tyres and build it that way.

I’m not sure the distinctions exist so much as they do on regular bikes 🤔

That’s a valid point regarding the travel. I’m used to short travel bikes so that’s my go-to. Ebikes are alien to me, I don’t know the first thing about them!

@Sodajim not a chance. There’s no way in the world I’m spending £12k on a bike.

Does anyone make decent short travel e-bikes at all? I only ever seem to be able to find 150mm+ bikes whenever I look.

Not suggesting you can’t have one, but the majority of the time if you’ve got a full fat motor, there’s little reason to run a lightweight 130mm fork vs burly 170mm one. It tends to be more toward the emtb-lite version like the Rise/Trek EX-E/Levo SL, that get shorter travel, but it’s not a rule.

Pedaling efficiency isn’t really something to worry about when you’ve got another 250w at your disposal! Not is a ‘poppy and energetic ride’ when the bike weighs 25kg… 😁

It just doesn’t make sense for full fat ebikes. Mid power though, I can definitely see the benefit there.

crossed don’t blame you nor would I!

I felt sick with guilt for 2 weeks after stumping up for my Rise!

The carbon Orbea Rise – rides very lightly for an ebike and weighs around 17.5kg for an ebike – certainly a lot lighter than my YT Decoy did at 23kg.

crossed
Free Member
That’s a valid point regarding the travel. I’m used to short travel bikes so that’s my go-to. Ebikes are alien to me, I don’t know the first thing about them!

Why are you looking at them, so we can help point you towards the some options? I’m on my third, and loving them but we all come to them for different reasons. I was ‘forced’ as all my friends had gone e-bike, and I felt I was holding back their rides at the end. The main rule of thumb is, buy local as they break, so having local support is well worth it. So what do your local shops sell/stock?

i’d love a shorter travel, not so long, sensible powered ebike. the 150-170mm steamrollers are just a bit shit on local tight twisty nadgery trails. mine is a 150 and its a bit overkill. i’ve taken to riding my normal bike more on the local xc routes as its fairly pointless riding them on an large travel eeb.

everyone says you don’t need efficiency due to the motor, but actually you do. Otherwise you cane the battery. ive taken to climbing with the shock locked out as it makes a noticeable difference to range i get from teh battery.

also a downside to having a 170mm monsterbike is that no one bothers with the decent corners any more due to riding massive barges of bikes that they cant manhandle properly.. they just straightline the techy bits they cant ride as they are stupidly overbiked. its sucks the life out of the trails. not everything is supposed to be a crappy ‘flow trail’! idiots. We dont have elevation so we have to have tech bits to make it even slightly fun.

a big travel eeb will be noticeably less fun on trails that are just not that gnar.

i’d love a shorter travel, not so long, sensible powered ebike. the 150-170mm steamrollers are just a bit shit on local tight twisty nadgery trails. mine is a 150 and its a bit overkill. i’ve taken to riding my normal bike more on the local xc routes as its fairly pointless riding them on an large travel eeb.

I came to the same conclusion, so binned off my 170mm Vitus eSommet (easy enough as it needed to go back for warranty anyway so just asked for a refund) and bought an Orbea Rise instead… Haven’t looked back!

everyone says you don’t need efficiency due to the motor, but actually you do. Otherwise you cane the battery. ive taken to climbing with the shock locked out as it makes a noticeable difference to range i get from teh battery.

I disagree about the shock lockout, that’s more of a function of pedalling style and/or bad suspension design… A good bike doesn’t need a lockout on the shock regardless. But that aside, agreed… I’m getting the same range and climbing stats from my 19.5kg Orbea Rise (17.5kg is a pipe dream with a noodly 34mm fork, XC tyres and stupidly light components I’m afraid) as I did from the Vitus, but from a 360Wh battery rather than a 504Wh… So that makes it roughly 30% more efficient by my quick maths.

also a downside to having a 170mm monsterbike is that no one bothers with the decent corners any more due to riding massive barges of bikes that they cant manhandle properly.. they just straightline the techy bits they cant ride as they are stupidly overbiked. its sucks the life out of the trails. not everything is supposed to be a crappy ‘flow trail’! idiots. We dont have elevation so we have to have tech bits to make it even slightly fun.

a big travel eeb will be noticeably less fun on trails that are just not that gnar.

Whilst this is a bit of a sweeping statement and not everyone is going to ride their full fat eBikes in this way, I do see where you’re coming from as I’ve noticed a significant trend in this way too. Not all but certainly a lot are straightening the trails up. I certainly found my Vitus eSommet wasn’t much fun on tighter twistier trails, which makes up the bulk of what I ride. Have found the rise feels so much more like a normal MTB just with a bit of assistance when I need it, and that, crucially, puts a much bigger smile on my face…

Why are you looking at them, so we can help point you towards the some options?

I’m not actually sure if I want one yet, just had a few days in the Lake District and noticed that the majority of bikes I saw were E-bikes.
I’m toying with the idea of getting one but not sue I want some 30kg monster truck thing as it’ll be total overkill for the riding I do.

I’m toying with the idea of getting one but not sue I want some 30kg monster truck thing as it’ll be total overkill for the riding I do.

most full fat ebikes are around the 25kg mark – Thats still pretty hefty though.

I think my next ebike will be one of the lighter lower powered variety, just havent decided which one yet.Like the look of the kenevo SL, but when I tried the levo SL with teh same motor, I thought it was just a bit too much on the low powered side.

In terms of shorter travel ebikes I reckon the trek fuel exe looks great.

Currently riding an orbea wild fs which weighs in around 24kg’s with the big battery, or 23kg with the small battery. Could probably get it down to 21-22kg’s with some light tyres and rims, but then I’d be getting punctures every 200metres, so no point in doing that.

Watching with interest.

Don’t think it will be long before I need one to get out on the trails, but I don’t want a 25kg+ monster bike option with 150mm+ of travel. Not least because I’m just not into (or that good at) the full on rad gnar anymore.

Light, short travel with some assistance – sounds about right.

if you dont need teh mega assistance thn the fauza motors look and feel pretty nice and are low weight. the batteries are also light enough to carry a spare. its not got the punch of full motor but its enough for areas like teh surrey hills.

If i lived in the lakes or wales and was riding steep long hills regularly i’d go full fat just because you’ll need the extra power more often. once rolling you dont notice the weight. its down to your riding style and type of terrain really.

with a motor you do reconsider what is rideable upwards and you will ride up things you normally would not. mainly because it is fun.

There is someone in my wider riding group with haibike ebike I think from a few years back. I was surprised to learn it had only 120 forks in it. It appears to be of the full fat variety.
I don’t own an ebike but imagine I will at some point in the next 3-5 years. I’d be going to the lighter end of the market for a first eeb for sure. I think the issue is if you think about what you ride on a neeb and buy something aimed at that (so for me that would see me buying something like a rise) you may later regret it because owning an eeb opens up different styles /categories of riding which aren’t accessible if you have to do all the work yourself. (Self uplift in effect- so big burly bike makes more sense)
It’s not a purchase I’d want to regret making…

Orbea Rise H30 is 140mm but rides really firm. I’ve taken lots more air out than the recommendations, and its definitely at the trail end of the scale. I got mine in March, terrified of a bad decision, and its been f. awesome.

Why would you have a short travel full sus e-bike?

If you’re getting electric assistance then why not have a bit more travel or grippier tyres?

If I was in the market for a new e-bike, I’d be torn between the Levo and Kenevo.

I never found the Levo SL I rode underpowered at all. I’m about 80kg and reasonably fit so it worked great for me, even in the mid power setting. My pal weighs closer to 100kg and doesn’t ride that often and he blew through the battery on his in no time.

I was pushing my pals son whilst pedaling up hill on the max setting and was passing other folk at like double their speed. It was a blast!

I’ll have one in a couple of years when they get more reliable and prices come down a bit.

I’d probably go with a slightly longer travel (169-160ish) ebike and then set the suspension up properly.

Slightly off topic but why do nearly all the ebikes I’ve seen, even with good and fast riders on them (including today at FOD) seem to run their suspension at about 40% sag and super wallowy? I know pedal efficiency isn’t that important compared to a regular bike but surely not blowing through half your travel (slight exaggeration, maybe) on the pedal up is just a waste.

I do like the look of the Transition Relay with the Fazua motor (half fat?) but think I’d end up going full fat as it’ll be towing 1 or 2 small children up hills a lot of the time. And for short travel lightweight stuff I have a low and slack hardtail

Slightly off topic but why do nearly all the ebikes I’ve seen, even with good and fast riders on them (including today at FOD) seem to run their suspension at about 40% sag and super wallowy?

Are you observing this when they are going past you uphill while sat down?

Seated on a steep incline is going to add a lot of load and therefore sag to the rear, compared to the suspension being set up for ~30% sag stood up descending.

Just whenever they’re riding, both uphill and in the car park. It was just something I noticed today.

once rolling you dont notice the weight. its down to your riding style and type of terrain really.

I think you sometimes do. I used an e-mtb, a 2017 Turbo Levo, as a sort of bridge back to analogue(?) riding from long covid. It weighs around 22 or 23 or something kilos, a lot anyway. I still ride it occasionally as a recovery/easy day thing and while I quite like it, I find it cumbersome on nadgery stuff and on steepor, techy things, I hate the feeling that given half a chance it’ll take off like a run-away train, ditto on anything slippy and off camber.

I guess if I rode it as my main bike, I’d maybe be a little more used to it, but weight and bulk are definitely noticeable ime at least. Ironically it might be less concerning if it had a bit more travel than its 140mm front and rear in that I’d trust it to simply plough over/through car-sized rock gardens and compensate for rubbish run-away line choices.

I suppose that means I’m another who’d question the point of shorter travel e-mtbs, though lighter makes more sense.

If you’re getting electric assistance then why not have a bit more travel or grippier tyres?

This is exactly my reasoning. After years of racing XC I wanted a trail bike that ride like a race bike. I have a rise M10 but with 2.5 Minnions and it rides quicker than my Spark uphill but a hell of a lot more fun on steep technical climbs and any downhill action.

If I went ebike now I’d be tempted to go for either the trek fuel exe / orbea rise or the new Transition Relay.

I think the specialised bikes are quite low powered (Levo / kenovo sl) to get their low weight – whereas these middle sort of powered bikes seem a better compromise. Also not monstrously long travel.

I went with a 2022 Giant Trance XE +1 as it copes with my 120Kg, has a large battery and isn’t too much of a weapon, having 150/140mm of travel front and rear.

The geometry isn’t as rad and slack as some and it definitely likes to keep the wheels on the ground but, at 25Kg it does still mash through the trails if I chose to (I don’t).

For me it was about getting an emtb with a load capacity big enough and battery to give me enough range. Not so much a monster truck to plough on, and the Giant stood out when selecting a bike.

Still heavy and unwieldly on slow twisty trails and not really agile in any way, so I’d take reviews and comments about shorter travel full juice 23Kg+ ebikes with a pinch of salt if you are looking for a XC ish emtb.