Vitus E Mythique LT - A First look

Vitus E-Mythique LT range starts at £3,299 . The Vitus E-Mythique LT is a brand new entry-level full-power e-bike model with 160mm of rear travel, alloy frame, mixed wheel size and a 95Nm Bafang M510 motor. . 160mm travel e-bike using Bafang motor Bafang M510 gives out 95Nm, and 550 watts of peak power Battery is 630Wh Mixed wheel size (29in front, 27.5in rear) Three models: VR, VRS, VRX VR £3,299 srp VRS £3,899 srp VRX £4,399 srp . The ‘Mythique’ part of the ‘E-Mythique LT’ name may need a bit of explaining – or clarification – for those who of you familiar with the acoustic Vitus Mythique, which is a 140mm trail bike. . The E-Mythique LT is NOT the electric version of the regular Mythique. The LT suffix denotes that is Longer Travel. This e-bike has 160mm of travel at the rear. And this E-Mythique LT VRS model we have here has 170mm travel forks up front. And thank God for that. Full-power e-bikes should have loads of travel. . Why E-Mythique? . What is still very ‘Mythique’ about the E-Mythique LT is its price and performance combo. It’s a ‘cheap’ e-MTB clearly. But it’s also a cheap e-MTB that can be taken to proper mountain bike terrain. . There are three models in the E-Mythique LT range: VR £3299, VRS £3899, VRX £4399. You can see the full specs at the end of this article. . “What about the Vitus E-Sommet?” you ask? Well, they’ll still exist. And they’ll still be significantly more expensive than the E-Mythique LT, principally due to the use of bigger mainstream brands for the motor and general spec sheet. The E-Sommet VRS for example is over a thousand pounds more expensive than this E-Mythique LT VRS. . What’s it designed for? . What’s the remit of the new E-Mythique LT? Steep stuff. . It bears the ‘enduro’ tag but in my opinion ‘enduro’ has become a bit meaningless – especially on e-bikes. The E-Mythique LT is clearly about riding steep stuff. Steep climbs. Steep descents. . Sure, it can happily meander along any old mild terrain (all mountain bikes can do that) but its raison d’etre is technical terrain and repeat runs of The Fun Stuff. The oft mooted ‘power hour’ hot laps of your friendly neighbourhood woodland mess-about spot will be a real speciality of the E-Mythique LT. . Stats stats stats . With any e-bike the thing everyone looks at first and foremost is the motor. Swiftly followed these days by the battery, specifically the size of the battery. . So yes, the big news here is that Vitus have gone with Bafang for the E-Mythique LT. We haven’t seen much Bafang stuff on many mainstream e-MTBs but I suspect that’s about to change. Bafang have been around for as long as anyone in the ebike game and the E-Mythique LT models all use their M510 drive unit, paired to their own battery. . The vital stats here are 95Nm of torque, 550 watts peak power, which equates to around 400% of rider input. . The battery has 630Wh capacity. The battery can be charged in situ, or removed and charged externally. You’ll need the key to remove the battery from the bike by the way. . Controls and display . On to the user interface stuff. The controls. The buttons and display. . Wherever we’ve come across Bafang bikes before it’s been the controls that have been the weak link. Remotes that don’t play nicely with brake levers or dropper remotes… Displays that basically looked like the original monochrome Gameboy… . Vitus have clearly had similar concerns to us and have duly worked with Bafang to improve things massively. . The bar remote near the lefthand grip is a simple but effective three button affair. An up button for more power. A down button for less power. The third smaller button at the middle-side is the ON/OFF button. Whilst ON, the third button also acts as the info-scrolling button for the display that cycles through various stats (range, cadence, trip distance etc). The remote plays nicely with brake clamps and dropper post levers too. . The display itself is actually one of the best e-bike screens I’ve come across. Not too big. Not too small. Colour but not distractingly so. Proper Goldilocks type stuff. Easy to read and it’s quick to see whatever info you need to see at any one time. . Special mention goes to having the battery power indicator as a percentage instead of blocks. Hands up who still has their phone battery indicator set to a battery bar instead of a percentage? Exactly. No one. . Assistance modes . 5 modes: ECO, ECO+, TRAIL, BOOST and RACE. These are shown as initials in the display ie. E, E+, T, B and R. Each mode gets its own colour vibe too: ECO is green, ECO+is cyan, TRAIL is blue, BOOST is red and RACE is purple. . The amount of assistance you’re getting at any one time is also displayed as a rising and falling ‘graphic equaliser’ style bar on the right hand side of the screen. . Check out the full story plus all the deets right here: https://singletrackworld.com/charged/2023/08/vitus-e-mythique-lt-range-starts-at-3299/