Long travel eMTB options for a small rider — 800Wh, DH geo, lighter than Scott Ransom?

[Vicki]

I'm on a Scott Ransom, mullet and running Fox 40’s .

I want a new bike, I’m a small woman 164cm, I want a lighter bike but long travel , I ride mostly in Spain and France so long descents and rough rocky. Good level but don’t hit massive jumps so maybe 170mm travel would work. I like more DH geometry but I don’t want a bike that picks up on the front end on techs climbs. I want an 800 wh battery so I feel like I have an upgrade from my current Bosch 625, and I want something lighter than my bike. What are my options for a long travel bike please?

@Greg Watts

 

[Greg Watts]

Hi Vicki — right, let's get you sorted. Long travel, light(er), 800Wh, and ideally not a wagon that monster-trucks every line. That's a real sweet spot in 2024/25, and there are some genuinely good answers.

The shortlist worth your time:

• Orbea Wild M-Team / M-LTD — Bosch CX, 800Wh (or smaller 420Wh if you go featherweight later), 170/160mm. Carbon frame around 23kg in higher builds. Geometry is modern but not absurd — sits in that "playful enduro" bracket rather than full DH bus. Available in size S with 430mm reach, which suits 164cm well. Built in Spain too, so dealer support across your riding ground is excellent.

• Specialized Turbo Levo Gen 4 — new 3.1 motor, 101Nm, 840Wh option. 170/150mm travel. Lighter than the Gen 3 and the S2 frame fits a 164cm rider properly. Mullet by default, which helps with not "picking up at the end" — the smaller 27.5" rear lets you move around on steeps without the bike steering you.

• Mondraker Crafty R / RR — Bosch CX, 750Wh (not quite 800 but close), 150mm rear / 160mm front. Forward Geometry means a long front centre and short stem, which gives DH-bike stability on descents without the wheelbase feeling unwieldy at slow speed. Size S available. This is the one if you want descending confidence above all.

• Whyte E-Lyte 150 Works — if you'd flex on the 800Wh demand. Bosch SX, 400Wh + 250Wh range extender, 150mm travel, around 21kg. Less battery, but the lighter weight transforms long days. Worth a mention because "lighter bike" and "800Wh" are slightly in tension.

My pick for you: Orbea Wild in size S. You get the full 800Wh you want, modern but not extreme geometry, Spanish dealer network, and Orbea's MyO customiser lets you spec coil shock / different fork travel from factory. It hits every brief without compromise.

On the "picks up at the end" point — that's usually long chainstays and a slack seat tube combining badly. The Wild's 444mm chainstays (size S) and 78° effective seat angle keep your weight forward and the bike neutral. Avoid anything with 450mm+ stays unless you're really attacking gnar.

What's your current bike, and what's the budget ceiling? That'll let me narrow this further — Wild M-Team is £8k+, Wild H10 alloy is closer to £5k and gets you 90% there.

 

[Vicki]

Hi Vicki — right, let's get you sorted. Long travel, light(er), 800Wh, and ideally not a wagon that monster-trucks every line. That's a real sweet spot in 2024/25, and there are some genuinely good answers.

The shortlist worth your time:

• Orbea Wild M-Team / M-LTD — Bosch CX, 800Wh (or smaller 420Wh if you go featherweight later), 170/160mm. Carbon frame around 23kg in higher builds. Geometry is modern but not absurd — sits in that "playful enduro" bracket rather than full DH bus. Available in size S with 430mm reach, which suits 164cm well. Built in Spain too, so dealer support across your riding ground is excellent.

• Specialized Turbo Levo Gen 4 — new 3.1 motor, 101Nm, 840Wh option. 170/150mm travel. Lighter than the Gen 3 and the S2 frame fits a 164cm rider properly. Mullet by default, which helps with not "picking up at the end" — the smaller 27.5" rear lets you move around on steeps without the bike steering you.

• Mondraker Crafty R / RR — Bosch CX, 750Wh (not quite 800 but close), 150mm rear / 160mm front. Forward Geometry means a long front centre and short stem, which gives DH-bike stability on descents without the wheelbase feeling unwieldy at slow speed. Size S available. This is the one if you want descending confidence above all.

• Whyte E-Lyte 150 Works — if you'd flex on the 800Wh demand. Bosch SX, 400Wh + 250Wh range extender, 150mm travel, around 21kg. Less battery, but the lighter weight transforms long days. Worth a mention because "lighter bike" and "800Wh" are slightly in tension.

My pick for you: Orbea Wild in size S. You get the full 800Wh you want, modern but not extreme geometry, Spanish dealer network, and Orbea's MyO customiser lets you spec coil shock / different fork travel from factory. It hits every brief without compromise.

On the "picks up at the end" point — that's usually long chainstays and a slack seat tube combining badly. The Wild's 444mm chainstays (size S) and 78° effective seat angle keep your weight forward and the bike neutral. Avoid anything with 450mm+ stays unless you're really attacking gnar.

What's your current bike, and what's the budget ceiling? That'll let me narrow this further — Wild M-Team is £8k+, Wild H10 alloy is closer to £5k and gets you 90% there.

Are there any avinox options? I don’t want a range extender, usually do long days. Also look at slightly longer travel not shorter, I’ve got bad knees and wrists and just want to be comfortable. My current bike may be heavy and a ploughs through stuff, but that’s why I love it - it’s planted and I can point and ride it with no stress. I am only looking for a new bike because I’d like to try something lighter to see if it aids my jump technique, and also my bf has just bought a crest line so I’ll have to keep up with the avinoz motor. I haven’t bought a crestline as I am worried about the stand over height and curios to see if a slightly less burly bike than one would suit me

 

[Greg Watts]

Hi Vicki — apologies, my first reply was stuck in 2024. The Avinox (DJI) side of things has moved on a lot, and there are now proper 800Wh integrated options in small sizes, so let me redo this properly.

Your brief, as I read it: Avinox motor, full 800Wh integrated (no range extender — you do long days), travel a touch longer rather than shorter, lighter than your Ransom eRIDE (~25kg), a small frame for 164cm, and keeping that planted, point-and-shoot feel you love.

My pick for you: Forbidden Dreadnought E

This is the one. Trifecta V2 high-pivot 4-bar, 170mm rear / 180mm front, mullet (29in front / 27.5in rear), high-modulus carbon. Avinox M2S on Tier 1/2 (130Nm, 1300W) or M2 on Tier 3/4 (110Nm), and crucially you can spec the full 800Wh battery on any tier (600Wh if you ever want it lighter). The high-pivot rearward axle path is exactly the planted, plough-through-square-edges feel you love about the Ransom — Pinkbike called it "a DH bike with a motor" — but on a modern carbon Avinox platform a long way under your Ransom's weight. It comes in S1 (rider height 5'2"–5'6", 425mm reach, 63° head angle, 76.75° seat angle), which fits 164cm properly rather than as a token small, and the mullet rear helps standover too. Sold through Forbidden's dealer network rather than off-the-peg; the T1/T2 builds aren't cheap.

Strong alternatives:

• Teewing Flux — Avinox M2S, 800Wh, 180mm front / 178mm rear, high-pivot with an idler, ~22kg, and notably cheap at around £5,900. Same "Ransom on 40s but lighter and on Avinox" idea for a third of the boutique money. One caveat: the smallest frame I have data for is M (455mm reach) — check sizing for 164cm.

• Forestal e-Siryon V2 — Avinox M2S, 800Wh, 170mm rear / 174mm front, ~21.5kg. The lightweight option: 3kg+ off your Ransom while keeping long travel. 64° head angle, 76.5° seat angle, F2 frame (S/M, ~460mm reach). Premium-priced.

• Mondraker Zendit — Avinox M2S, 800Wh, 170mm front / 165mm rear, ~22.8kg, around £7,400. Genuine S (436–440mm reach), and Mondraker's Forward Geometry gives DH-bike stability on descents without a sketchy slow-speed front end — exactly your "don't want it picking up on tech climbs" point. Rear travel is 165mm, so just shy of "longer".

• Whyte Karve EVO — the UK option: Avinox M2S, 800Wh, 180mm front and rear, ~23.9kg, around £5,650. Long travel and good value, but the smallest size I have is M — confirm a small fits before anything else.

Worth knowing: Forbidden also do the Druid E (Avinox, 800Wh) but it's 160/150mm — shorter than you want, so the Dreadnought E is the right Forbidden for this brief. The Atherton S.170E nails the geometry (custom sizing, 180/170) but is 700Wh only, so it fails your no-compromise 800Wh requirement. And the YT Decoy X is Avinox/800Wh but at ~25.4kg it's actually heavier than your Ransom — so it fails your single most important criterion and I'd skip it.

For your knees and wrists: the Dreadnought E and Forestal high-pivot platforms are the most planted and least harsh on repeated hits — exactly what you want with sore joints on long, rough descents — and all of these beat a 24.8kg Ransom on weight alone.

What's your budget ceiling? That splits this cleanly — Teewing/Whyte are sub-£6k, Mondraker mid, Forestal/Dreadnought premium — and I can narrow to one.

 

[Vicki]

Hi Vicki — apologies, my first reply was stuck in 2024. The Avinox (DJI) side of things has moved on a lot, and there are now proper 800Wh integrated options in small sizes, so let me redo this properly.

Your brief, as I read it: Avinox motor, full 800Wh integrated (no range extender — you do long days), travel a touch longer rather than shorter, lighter than your Ransom eRIDE (~25kg), a small frame for 164cm, and keeping that planted, point-and-shoot feel you love.

The grounded shortlist:

• Forestal e-Siryon V2 — Avinox M2S, 800Wh integrated, 170mm rear / 174mm front, and crucially around 21.5kg. That's a genuine 3kg+ off your Ransom while keeping long travel. 64° head angle, 76.5° seat angle — slack and planted up front but steep enough to stop the front wandering on techy climbs. The F2 frame (S/M, ~460mm reach) suits 164cm. This is the one that hits "long travel AND properly lighter" best. Premium-priced, though.

• Teewing Flux — Avinox M2S, 800Wh, 180mm front / 178mm rear, high-pivot with an idler, ~22kg, and notably cheap at around £5,900. Closest thing to "Ransom on 40s but lighter and on Avinox" — the rearward axle path gives exactly that planted, plough-through-square-edges feel you don't want to lose. One caveat: the smallest frame I have data for is M (455mm reach), so check sizing for 164cm before committing.

• Mondraker Zendit — Avinox M2S, 800Wh, 170mm front / 165mm rear, ~22.8kg, around £7,400. The standout here is fit: a genuine S (436–440mm reach), and Mondraker's Forward Geometry gives DH-bike stability on descents without a sketchy slow-speed front end — exactly your "don't want it picking up on tech climbs" point. Rear travel is 165mm, so just shy of "longer", but the geometry does a lot.

• UNNO Mith Pro — Avinox M2S, 800Wh, 170mm front / 160mm rear, ~21.2kg, true S1 size (430mm reach, ~706mm standover). Lightest of the long-travel bunch and a real small size. Boutique pricing (~£11,500).

• Whyte Karve EVO — the UK option: Avinox M2S, 800Wh, 180mm front and rear, ~23.9kg, around £5,650. Long travel and good value, but the smallest size I have is M — confirm a small fits before anything else.

Ruled out, honestly: Forbidden's only Avinox bike is the Druid E, but it's 160/150mm — shorter than you want, so it's out for this brief (I was wrong to point you at a "Dreadnought E"; that doesn't exist as an Avinox bike). The Atherton S.170E nails the geometry (custom sizing, 180/170) but it's 700Wh only, so it fails your no-compromise 800Wh requirement. And the YT Decoy X is Avinox/800Wh but at ~25.4kg it's actually heavier than your Ransom — so it fails your single most important criterion and I'd skip it.

My pick for you: Forestal e-Siryon V2 if the budget allows — it's the only one that delivers genuinely long travel, full 800Wh, AND a big real-world weight saving over the Ransom, with planted geometry that won't fight you on climbs. If you want the same idea for roughly a third of the price and don't mind checking sizing, the Teewing Flux is the value play and arguably the most "Ransom-like" ride of the lot.

For your knees and wrists: all of these will be more comfortable than a 24.8kg Ransom simply through weight, but the Forestal and Teewing high-pivot platforms are the most planted and least harsh on repeated hits — which is what you actually want with sore joints on long, rough descents.

What's your budget ceiling? That splits this cleanly — Teewing/Whyte are sub-£6k, Mondraker mid, Forestal/UNNO premium — and I can narrow to one.

Is there going to be an Orbea Wild with Avinox motor?

 

[Greg Watts]

Is there going to be an Orbea Wild with Avinox motor?

@Vicki — short answer: it's now confirmed and imminent. The Orbea Wild Avinox is dropping next month, mid-June — so the worst-kept secret in eMTB is finally out in the open. The forum's been speculating about it for months and the wait is nearly over.

To be clear on what the current Wild actually runs, since I muddled this earlier: the Wild is a Bosch bike — Performance Line CX, 100Nm on the latest firmware — not Shimano. The Shimano EP801 RS lives on the lighter Rise, not the Wild. Orbea have deep Bosch integration on the Wild, so an Avinox version means a genuine frame redesign rather than a motor swap. As @Plummet laid out, the retooling runs roughly $50k per size per frame design — which is exactly why the big-volume brands move slower here than the boutiques.

So where does that leave you: if Avinox is the priority and you can wait until mid-June, the Wild is now your answer. If you need something on the trail sooner, the Mondraker Zendit is still a grounded pick from your shortlist — Avinox M2S, 800Wh, 170mm front / 165mm rear, ~22.8kg, a genuine S at 436–440mm reach, and Mondraker's Alicante base means strong dealer coverage across Spain and France. The Forestal e-Siryon and Whyte Karve EVO are also still in the running.

What's your budget? That's the one thing that'll collapse this shortlist to an actual answer.

EDIT: Corrected the Wild Avinox status — it's now confirmed and releasing mid-June next month, not an unconfirmed rumour. Thanks @Ou812 for the heads up.

 

[Ou812]

Is there going to be an Orbea Wild with Avinox motor?

The Avinox Wild is being released next month, I wasn’t given a date but was told mid June.