I haven’t ridden all the 2024 emtbs. And all 2024 emtbs haven’t even been launched yet. So, I am of course not able to say which bike is the best. But there is one bike that could be a strong contender in my book. A powerful, lightweight, and reasonably cheap bike. Hear me out in this video or keep reading below.
The next bike I want to bring up is the YT Decoy. It's not a lightweight bike, but the price isn’t that bad. The Decoy has a full power Shimano motor and a 540 Wh battery. Another emtb that comes with a 540 Wh battery is the Orbea Rise. This bike has a relatively low starting price, and it’s much lighter than the two afore mentioned bikes.
Okay, now I’m getting somewhere, I promise. The Orbea Rise H30 is a sub 5K €/£ emtb weighing 20,9 kg. Orbea, and all other emtb manufacturers, should get their hands on the new and more energy dense cells as soon as possible. They might not be that much more expensive as production cost is high priority for new cells.
This bike would properly blur the line between lightweight and full power emtbs, and it’s a glimpse into where emtbs are heading as battery cells keep improving. It's too early to call, but this Orbea Rise could easily be my favorite 2024 emtb. I would call it the Orbea Rise KN-edition, named after me of course. There you go Orbea. You’re welcome!
A few random bikes
The Propain Ekano CF with the Sram motor was launched late 2023. This is a full power emtb with a 630 Wh battery. But it’s not a lightweight bike and it’s not cheap. The Ekano AL alloy version is cheaper, it comes with a Shimano motor and a similar 630 Wh battery.The next bike I want to bring up is the YT Decoy. It's not a lightweight bike, but the price isn’t that bad. The Decoy has a full power Shimano motor and a 540 Wh battery. Another emtb that comes with a 540 Wh battery is the Orbea Rise. This bike has a relatively low starting price, and it’s much lighter than the two afore mentioned bikes.
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Is this going somewhere?
So, why do I bring up these seemingly random bikes? Most of them aren’t even new for 2024. All three bikes have a big powerful motor. Sort of. The Orbea has a regular EP6 or EP8 motor that has been detuned in software. But more importantly, they all have the same battery configuration with 30 of the 21700 format battery cells. The bigger 630 Wh Sram battery is the same as the 540 Wh batteries, only with newer and more energy dense cells.Okay, now I’m getting somewhere, I promise. The Orbea Rise H30 is a sub 5K €/£ emtb weighing 20,9 kg. Orbea, and all other emtb manufacturers, should get their hands on the new and more energy dense cells as soon as possible. They might not be that much more expensive as production cost is high priority for new cells.
Seriously, the old Rise?
Orbea should skip the RS software for detuning the motor. I mean, YT and Propain/Sram are using this battery configuration with full power motors. It makes no sense for Orbea to keep detuning the motor, not on a bike with a reasonably big 630 Wh battery! That’s all it takes for Orbea to launch a full power, sub 21 kg emtb at 5K €/£! And this is just the entry-level alloy version. For a little more cash, you could buy a sub 19 kg full power Rise with good range.This bike would properly blur the line between lightweight and full power emtbs, and it’s a glimpse into where emtbs are heading as battery cells keep improving. It's too early to call, but this Orbea Rise could easily be my favorite 2024 emtb. I would call it the Orbea Rise KN-edition, named after me of course. There you go Orbea. You’re welcome!
