I've been looking at the Rise for a while and now looking at either the H15 or M10. I currently have a 2020 Turbo Levo with an upgraded Fox 36 160mm fork, love the bike but I do think it is quite heavy. 90% of my rides with others are with friends on regular bikes, but I can not ride a regular one due to a small chronic medical issue. I am advancing my rides and learning drops and such and would love a more agile/lighter bike. The full levo is also often more than I need; I still like to work on the uphill and mainly use it in the 15%-40% assist (40% of steep climbs). I've never ran out of battery.
On average my rides are 12km/7miles with 600 meter/ 2000ft elevation. That would be the average ride, sometimes I do 20km. I did one ride of 32km last year, but even then still had 35% of battery left.
I am a short female of about 145lbs, would be looking at a size small. Now I was set on an M-series until my bike shop told me they have H15's coming in as well and now I am in doubt... Do I go for the carbon, lighter M series, or do I get the H15 with slightly more weight? Does anyone one know the actual weight difference (as in, is it a 2kg or 5km?)?
Would love some help making a decision...
Interesting query, I think I can give some insight. I have an XL rise m20 (egregiously modified and made heavier, tires etc) and my wife has a medium m20 that is mostly stock. I've checked out the H series of rise's at my local bike shop and pedaled them around the parking lot to compare them to mine, my wife has not done that yet... but she has ridden hers with the range extender. I can feel the difference between my bike with the range extender on vs off. that just so happens to be the weight difference between the H series and the M series (all other things being constant). It's not detrimental to what the rise is as an experience.
The m series with range extender or h series without... is very much a mountain bike experience instead of a traditional full power/weight ebike experience. The extra weight of the range extender and the h series, makes it a bit harder to bunny hop the bike and makes the bike a single notch less nimble to direction changes and transitional lean over situations. That being said, my wife, who struggles with advanced techniques and does not ride assertively and confidently, does notice the extra weight when she is at her technical ability limit. I wouldn't say it stops her from achieving things on the bike or affect her riding negatively, but maneuvering the bike in/around the garage is more difficult, getting on teh bike rack is more difficult, getting the front wheel off teh ground requires more commitment from her, that she doesn't always have the confidence to do. For context, my wife is 5'8" - 120lbs on a medium. My wife is for sure, a novice rider across the board and doesn't do anything gnarly what so ever. I'm the exact opposite.
The summary version is that I wouldn't sweat it between the two, but the good news is that they are different enough that I feel, there is a set of if/then decisions to make that would lead you to one over the other.
I would chose the m series of the h series if:
-the majority of my ebike rides were going to be in the 10-15 mile - 1,500 - 2,000 of vertical rides
-I planned on buying the range extender so I could tailor the weight of the bike to the ride I intend to do
-if I struggled with issues dealing with moving the bike around, and getting it on bike rack and I had similar dimensions that my wife does (4lbs doesn't seem like much, but it does make a difference when you're only 120lbs)
-If I planned up having this bike for a long time, and was planning on upgrading it
I would chose the h series over the m series if:
-I had no intention of buying the range extender and just wanted a more simplified battery setup without choices
-was the kind of person that was hard on my equipment, and crashed a lot and didn't want to worry about it
-I wanted ultimate battery capacity, but still didn't want a full power ebike and the weight that comes with it
-had budget constraints and/or felt that I could get a better bike overall with the same budget, if I sacrificed a bit on overall weight, to move up a tier in model to get better suspension/brakes etc
I would chose either interchangably and not look back if one was in stock and the other one wasn't. In truth, they are both great bikes... for the most part, you can't tell the difference in the weight... but the m series does allow you to keep the bike under 38-39lbs in a medium or start with a light bike, and add double down tires and cushcore and still be under 40 lbs. The h series, allows you to have a more simplified, battery setup that matches a wider range of rides with this bike, at a crazy value price point.
TLDR? You win either way....
-
Shimano Firmware. Since receiving the bike I've been instructed to take it to my local dealer to have the firmware changed to the RS version to maintain the warranty status 
