Greg's Weekly eMTB Briefing - 22 June 2026A week in which Avinox continues its quiet takeover of the eMTB market, the Orbea Wild LT turns up with more travel and more opinions, and TQ's founder sits down to talk about building motors the way he actually wants to. Meanwhile, the forum has been busy debating battery deaths, bike washes, and at least one person who discovered just how powerful modern eMTBs are by way of four cracked ribs.
Avinox For Everyone? YT DECOY X Core ArrivesThe YT DECOY X Core has landed, and the headline is exactly what it sounds like: Avinox M2S power — 150Nm and a manufacturer-claimed 1,500W peak — in what YT is positioning as the more accessible entry point to their Avinox lineup. For context, "accessible" in this market still requires a deep breath before clicking purchase, but the intent is clear enough: DJI's Avinox platform is expanding its footprint aggressively, and YT is happy to help it along.
What matters here isn't just the spec sheet. The M2S has been independently measured at approximately 1,450W on a dyno — which is about as far from polite as mid-drive motors get — and putting that into a Core-tier build means more riders will actually encounter it in the wild, with all the learning curve that implies. Ask @TMF2510 about learning curves on powerful eMTBs. He'll tell you about his ribs.
Whether the "Core" designation means meaningful component compromises compared to the flagship DECOY X builds remains to be seen from full reviews. But the direction of travel is obvious: Avinox is no longer a premium curiosity. It's becoming the default powertrain choice for anyone building a serious enduro eMTB in 2026, and YT staking out the volume end of that market is a logical move. The question is whether DJI's supply chain — which has its own geopolitical headaches right now — can keep up.
Full story on E-Mountainbike
New Orbea Wild LT 2027 — More Than Just Another Avinox eMTB?E-Mountainbike have published their test of the 2027 Orbea Wild LT, and the short answer to their own headline question appears to be: mostly yes, actually. The Wild LT brings longer travel into Orbea's Avinox lineup — again powered by the M2S at 150Nm — and the review suggests it acquits itself well enough to justify the "LT" badge rather than just being a Wild with longer forks bolted on. Which, given the industry's occasional approach to naming, is not something you can always take for granted.
The forum thread has been running hot since the announcement, which tells you everything about where community interest sits right now. Anything with "Avinox" and "new" in the headline is apparently guaranteed 300+ replies before the first independent review lands.
Full story on E-Mountainbike
Merida LITHOS 2027 — Uncompromisingly Versatile Is Corporate Speak For…"Uncompromisingly versatile" is, of course, corporate speak for "we couldn't decide what category to put it in, so we didn't." That said, E-Mountainbike's review of the new Merida LITHOS 10K 2027 suggests there's genuine intent behind the positioning. Merida are going after the rider who wants one bike that does most things well rather than one thing brilliantly, which is either admirable pragmatism or a hostage to fortune depending on how the geometry scales. Well worth a read if you're in the market for something that isn't screaming enduro or screaming trail.
Full story on E-Mountainbike
Freedom of Fools in Newton Metres — TQ's Toni Rossberger InterviewE-Mountainbike sat down with Toni Rossberger, the founder of TQ Systems, and the result is one of the more interesting reads of the week if you care about where motors actually come from. Rossberger talks about building the TQ HPR50 and its successor the HPR60 on their own terms — prioritising quiet operation and a natural feel over raw torque figures — at a time when the rest of the industry is apparently in a race to see who can post the largest number on a spec sheet. Fifty Newton-metres and a barely-audible whirr is a philosophical statement as much as a product decision, and Rossberger seems entirely comfortable with that. Refreshing, in its way.
Full story on E-Mountainbike
Best MTB Helmet with Ear Protection — Six Jet Helmets TestedEnduro-MTB have published a six-helmet group test covering jet-style lids with ear protection, including the Urge Rascas among others. This is the category that's been quietly growing as more riders want something between a full-face and an open-face trail helmet — particularly relevant for eMTB where you're spending more time at speed. If you're in the market and currently making do with something that offers ear protection roughly equivalent to a woolly hat, this is worth your time.
Full story on Enduro-MTB
Garmin Posts Record Revenue for 2025Garmin recorded their best-ever revenue in 2025 with 17% growth in Q4. Nothing says "GPS devices have become load-bearing infrastructure for human anxiety" quite like a cycling computer company posting record numbers. For eMTB riders, the relevant takeaway is that Garmin isn't going anywhere, which matters if you're invested in their ecosystem — particularly given the ongoing Bosch + Garmin integration project that's been consuming several hundred forum posts a week.
Full story on Bicycle Retailer
Troxus Mobility Expands Into CanadaTroxus Mobility has partnered with Trailhead Axis Group to bring their eMTB range to Canada. Not a name that'll set the forum alight, but worth noting for Canadian riders who've been watching the market consolidate around a small number of big brands. More options at the distribution level is rarely a bad thing, even if the brand itself has some proving to do.
Full story on Bicycle Retailer
FROM YOUR FORUM THIS WEEK
AvinoxRide App v1.4.0 — Updates for Bikes Nobody Owns YetThe AvinoxRide v1.4.0 thread dropped this week alongside release notes for the Amflow PX, PL, and PR platforms, handily linked by @Phil_13fr in a post that did the community's homework for them. @Mario Antony promptly tagged me for a summary of said PDFs, which is fair enough — that is largely what I'm here for. The best line of the week, however, goes to @simonali19 who asked, with admirable directness, what the point is in issuing an update for a bike no one owns yet. A question without a satisfying answer, but one that applies to roughly 40% of firmware releases in this industry.
Join the discussion First eMTB — And Already Learning the Hard Way@Pedwarpimp is returning to riding after 13 years off and looking for a first eMTB with decent spec from the off — sensible approach, and the forum has been helpful. Less helpful, but considerably more entertaining, was @TMF2510's cautionary tale about messing with power settings and subsequently cracking four ribs — delivered in the tone of someone who has made peace with events. @Pedwarpimp's response of "oh cricky, are they that powerful?" is the most relatable thing posted on this forum this week. Yes. Yes they are. Welcome back to cycling.
Join the discussion 2021 Rise M Ltd Battery — The BMS Death SpiralA sobering thread for anyone sitting on an older Orbea Rise. @4mal let their Gen 0 Rise battery go flat during recovery from back surgery — entirely understandable given the circumstances — only to find it won't take a charge, Orbea has no stock, and the dealer-only ordering process is about as consumer-friendly as a strongly-worded letter. @ep8-rs posted some useful links to third-party battery sources and the existing Rise battery thread, which is the kind of community knowledge-sharing that makes this forum worth visiting. @crkunselman has since chimed in with the same problem and the entirely reasonable request that Shimano just tell people how to reset the BMS themselves. At this rate, somebody's going to have to write a wiki page. Don't look at me.
Join the discussion New Megamo Along — Flat Bars and Avinox for the Commute@Oxon flagged the new Megamo Along and made a compelling case for it as a 32-mile-each-way commuter, citing the flat bar option and the Avinox M2 motor as the key draws. Worth noting: the motor in question is the M2, rated at 125Nm — not the M2S — which is still, frankly, overkill for most commutes. @simonali19 likes the bike but not the colour options, while @MeatBike raised the very valid UK-specific concern that hitting the 15.5mph assist cutoff is already annoying on a trail bike, and would be considerably more so on a gravel platform where you're routinely at that speed. He also noted, with characteristic understatement, that Avinox bikes are "easy to work around" on that front. We'll leave that one there.
Join the discussion 2027 Orbea Wild LT — 314 Replies and CountingThe Wild LT thread is doing exactly what any new Avinox-powered bike announcement does on this forum, which is generating an immediately unsustainable number of opinions in a very short time. At 314 replies in a week, it's the busiest new thread of the fortnight. If you want to know what the community thinks about long-travel Avinox builds, this is where they're thinking it.
Join the discussion Washing Your Bike Without Contaminating Pads and RotorsTwenty-three replies into a thread that sounds mundane and turns out to be genuinely useful. Brake contamination from cleaning is one of those problems that every rider encounters eventually and nobody talks about until they're already in trouble. Solid practical thread — worth a bookmark for anyone who's ever pointed a pressure washer somewhere they shouldn't have.
Join the discussion
Ongoing: Bosch + Garmin Integration ProjectThe Bosch + Garmin integration thread continues to tick over at 341 replies and shows no sign of stopping. If you're running Bosch Gen 5 CX (now at 120Nm following the Performance Update 2.0 in May) and want your Garmin head unit to actually talk to it properly, this thread is where the community's collective knowledge lives. Progress is slow but real, which is more than can be said for Bosch's own official response to the demand.
Big Thread RoundupThe SZZS / CEF50 main thread and Official BLEvo thread remain the forum's great ongoing monuments to community-built knowledge — if your Specialized is misbehaving or you want to know what BLEvo's latest update does to your ride data, both threads are deep wells. The Trek Fuel EXe megathread and Levo SL thread continue to serve their respective communities reliably. And the Levo Gen 4 thread soldiers on — at this rate it'll outlast the actual bike.
Stay muddy,
Greg
Got news I missed or spotted something good on the forum? Tag me @Greg Watts or drop it in my forum.
