The best 2024 emtb doesn’t exist, but it easily could!

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.



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.

Propain Ekano AL
YT Decoy Core 1

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.

2023 Orbea Rise M20


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!
About author
knut7
Main editor at emtbforums.com and owner of emtb.no.
https://emtb.no/contact/

Comments

From the factory its a $200 upgrade for the more energy dense cells, and a $100 downgrade for the standard firmware on the EP801 (not having to program them). Charge their customers an extra $2000 for the "full power" rise.
Objectively if you could get your hands on the stock EP801 and replace the cells in your battery pack you could do this very cheap. So get to it and let us know how it goes!
 
From the factory its a $200 upgrade for the more energy dense cells, and a $100 downgrade for the standard firmware on the EP801 (not having to program them). Charge their customers an extra $2000 for the "full power" rise.
Objectively if you could get your hands on the stock EP801 and replace the cells in your battery pack you could do this very cheap. So get to it and let us know how it goes!
I'd love to do this, but I don't think I've got the contacts needed. I previously rode a Rise H30 where Orbea forgot to apply the RS-sw. We compared it to a Canyon Torque:ON 504Wh EP8 and the Rise wasn't as powerful. We dropped the power on the Canyon and at 73 Nm they seemed comparable. I guess the Rise is limited by the BMS, making it difficult for me to create a full power Rise my self. As if getting my hands on the 5800 mAh cells isn't hard enough :)
 
An Orbea Rise LT with 170/150 coil travel, 85nm, 630wh would be nice. It would probably be a little heavier and cost a bit more.
 
Why is the saddle on backwards in that silhouette of the bike? Make climbing feel like descending?
The image was so boring with just a regular black silhouette. So I decided to do some modifications. Like the saddle, the front of the frame, the shock, and a couple of adjustments that are harder to spot.
 
Oops ... 160/150.
The 140 mm 29er forks can be much lighter, and flimsier, than the 160 mm forks. I guess that's why Orbea went 140/150 mm forks. But yeah, it would be interesting seeing the next gen Rise with a 160 fork.
 
I wouldn’t say that a Fox36 160mm is flimpsy. Should be adequate foe most normal weight riders. I an running 160f/155r (mm) on my Rise. Quite a good setup.
 
I wouldn’t say that a Fox36 160mm is flimpsy. Should be adequate foe most normal weight riders. I an running 160f/155r (mm) on my Rise. Quite a good setup.
Yeah, I was talking about 29er forks that only goes up to 140mm. Those are flimiser and usually much lighter.
 
I'd like to see a 540W with new cells and available right away 252W Range Extender with new cells. A bit more travel to make it more of a trail/light enduro, 160/160 or 150/160. Also would like to see them beef up the frame just enough to take the flex out of the current model. Cascade's link for my 2022 has really stiffened up the rear end. Also a flip chip would be valuable to make mullet compatible. A little heavier duty main axle and shock mounting bolts that are known to break. Of course no RS firmware and yea you'd have a full powered SL emtb that is several kilos lighter than most of the full power bikes on the market.
 
The Giant Advanced E+ elite is pretty much this perfect bike, new cells, full power motor. It’s a mullet and a bit heavier than the Rise, but if Giant can do it so could Orbea! Pretty sure they won’t though, sales of Wilds would be affected
 
Top