Choosing my first e-bike from these 3....

[Pezzar]

Any real life experience? had a rough budget of £5k - and after watching and reading lots of reviews I'm down to.....
Cheapest - Vitus E-Sommet VRS £4.6k. Good specs, good reviews possible downside weight, 'feels' heavy and THAT headset?

Middle ground - Nukeproof Megawatt 297 Comp - 5k, nice specs similar weight to the Vitus but reviews as a better ride?

Top of budget - Orbea Rise H15 - £5.5k. Nice spec, light, rides more like a normal MTB. Brakes look a bit weedy so a possible upgrade there?

I'm leaning Orbea as though more expensive, after 15 years of riding normal mtb not sure how I'm going to feel on 'full fat'? FWIW my normal riding is Cannock Chase reds (Donkey, basically with some tasty off piste in the drier months) and the odd trip out to places like Degla. Nothing to gnarly or jumpy. So if anyone can add their own thoughts to help me along it would be much appreciated.

Cheers in advance.

 

[Shjay]

I used to own a Vitus E-Sommet 2019 with external battery, was the E7000 motor. I loved the bike, did a lot of changes to it. I now have an M20 Rise, the more I ride the Rise the more I love it, it’s a great bike although mine has wheels forks etc swapped out, had all the parts already, the H15 is good as standard spec, I enjoy riding the lighter ebike although my e-Sommet was lighter than the 2021/22 Vitus & Nukeproof bikes

 

[Pezzar]

I used to own a Vitus E-Sommet 2019 with external battery, was the E7000 motor. I loved the bike, did a lot of changes to it. I now have an M20 Rise, the more I ride the Rise the more I love it, it’s a great bike although mine has wheels forks etc swapped out, had all the parts already, the H15 is good as standard spec, I enjoy riding the lighter ebike although my e-Sommet was lighter than the 2021/22 Vitus & Nukeproof bikes

Cheers yeah, so now the NP and Vitus are around 25kg, maybe I shouldn't worry too much about the weight as that what a motor and battery is about - right? It's just coming from a lovely light and poppy Ibis Mojo HD3 full carbon, I'm concerned about the ride feel. Then again is that going to be worth 6 or 700 quid more? tough one.

 

[Randy]

Cheers yeah, so now the NP and Vitus are around 25kg, maybe I shouldn't worry too much about the weight as that what a motor and battery is about - right? It's just coming from a lovely light and poppy Ibis Mojo HD3 full carbon, I'm concerned about the ride feel. Then again is that going to be worth 6 or 700 quid more? tough one.

If you want lively and poppy don't buy the Vitus - its a plough bike. I'm on a 2020 E-Sommet which is great but if I were to swap with anything it would probably be the Orbea.

 

[Pezzar]

If you want lively and poppy don't buy the Vitus - its a plough bike. I'm on a 2020 E-Sommet which is great but if I were to swap with anything it would probably be the Orbea.

Cheers for that - it's exactly the kind of advice I need - from actual riders. It's going to cost more but it does look like the way I'm heading.

 

[Pezzar]

I used to own a Vitus E-Sommet 2019 with external battery, was the E7000 motor. I loved the bike, did a lot of changes to it. I now have an M20 Rise, the more I ride the Rise the more I love it, it’s a great bike although mine has wheels forks etc swapped out, had all the parts already, the H15 is good as standard spec, I enjoy riding the lighter ebike although my e-Sommet was lighter than the 2021/22 Vitus & Nukeproof bikes

Question on the Orbea - I know you've got the carbon version therefore a bit lighter than the H - but brakes - what are on yours and do they do the job?
I'm a bit of a lump and am concerned that twin pot brakes are going to be a bit weedy for a fully loaded me and bike. Have the option to upgrade to XT's on the H15 but it's already over budget as is.

 

[Rich-EMTB-UK]

Get the Orbea and upgrade the brakes later if you need to.

 

[InRustWeTrust]

If you want lively and poppy don't buy the Vitus - its a plough bike. I'm on a 2020 E-Sommet which is great but if I were to swap with anything it would probably be the Orbea.

I have a vrs 2020 and of course it is a train downhill but still think it is quite poppy so you can jump on small rocks and other things you find.

 

[InRustWeTrust]

in my opinion the orbea is a pretty boring bike as it is like a "regular" bike with a little help from the leaner engine.

but it all depends on what feeling you want when you ride a e-bike, if you want it to feel like a real e-bike or like a regular bike with a little help, the rise dont have as much range as normal e-bike and It doesn’t offer the same speed and stability as a normal e-bike.

 

[Pezzar]

Tbf I want an ebike that feels more like a mtb so it sounds good to me. Also on the range, think it's better than the battery suggests on all the reviews I've read ( it's a 540 on the H15).
I believe the weight and de-tuned motor also helps battery life. Always an option to get the extender in the future (doubt I'll need it for my riding).
One of the things that has held me back from e-bikes has been the different ride characteristics, up til now it was pretty much full fat or nothing. Now the 'lite' versions are a thing there is a happy medium.

 

[Pezzar]

Get the Orbea and upgrade the brakes later if you need to.

Yeah considered that but they only want £156 (Orbea) to upgrade, more expensive and more faff for me to retro fit XT's. If someone can tell me the standard brakes are ok, all good.

 

[MadTurnip]

I've got a 2021 Vitus E-Sommet VRS, its great, but it is indeed a plough. Maybe thats just because I'm a light rider at ~67kg, so the bike is nearly half my weight. Likely less of an issue if you are a heavier rider. The bike as a result does eat up steep rough terrain. My options were limited at the time so I'm quite happy with my choice and the bike. But for my next bike I would like to go back to something lighter. My heavier friend at 90kg doesn't seem to have the same complaints as me about my bike. And he rides a considerably lighter 2019 Esommet 21kg?

 

[Pezzar]

I've got a 2021 Vitus E-Sommet VRS, its great, but it is indeed a plough. Maybe thats just because I'm a light rider at ~67kg, so the bike is nearly half my weight. Likely less of an issue if you are a heavier rider. The bike as a result does eat up steep rough terrain. My options were limited at the time so I'm quite happy with my choice and the bike. But for my next bike I would like to go back to something lighter. My heavier friend at 90kg doesn't seem to have the same complaints as me about my bike. And he rides a considerably lighter 2019 Esommet 21kg?

Cheers mate, really good point that. I'm the same as your mate so maybe it wouldn't be as bad for me, do you find you are wrestling it a bit on tight and twisty? Which is a lot of what my riding is.

 

[MadTurnip]

Cheers mate, really good point that. I'm the same as your mate so maybe it wouldn't be as bad for me, do you find you are wrestling it a bit on tight and twisty? Which is a lot of what my riding is.

No I manage fine. Some really tricky tight corners get me about once every 1-2 months (corners I see others struggle with in videos on a standard mtb). If anything my friends compliment my fast confident techy riding. Some of which I attribute to the bikes characteristics but thats just my opinion and not based on any evidence.
I generally ride steep techy tracks that do have some tight corners (Ire / Uk riding seems to be a lot of tight corners) and the bike is a beast on anything (Jumps I struggle with, but I do struggle with them on an ordinary mtb anyway, something I'm trying to improve this year).
The 2021 model has quite a short chainstay with a longer than previous reach. This to gives it a long feeling with a tight back end. I love to jam on that rear brake and slide it around steep switchbacks.

 

[Tubby G]

I’ve had a full fat for almost a year and the bike is a complete tank. Fantastic range and it will eat up anything in its path, but not so agile on the tight twisty natural trails

My partner has had a Rise for around 5 months now and keeps up with me in terms of speed and range on all our rides, although we do chill on the climbs and not charge up them. I ordered a Rise at the same time but mine was only delivered last week

If you’re riding tight twisty poppy droppy pumpy jumpy natural trails then I’d recommend the Rise all day long. If you prefer long distance days out then a full fat might be your thing. If you do both then buy a range extender for the Rise and slap that on when needed

The Rise will easily do 20-25 miles including steep climbs, which for us is usually sessioning a few trails over and over. The full fat will easily do 35-40 miles on a less demanding XC type ride, and around 30 miles when sessioning the natural trails, but personally I find a 20 mile ride on the Rise more exhilarating than a longer distance ride on the tank

 

[Tubby G]

I’ve had a full fat for almost a year and the bike is a complete tank. Fantastic range and it will eat up anything in its path, but not so agile on the tight twisty natural trails

My partner has had a Rise for around 5 months now and keeps up with me in terms of speed and range on all our rides, although we do chill on the climbs and not charge up them. I ordered a Rise at the same time but mine was only delivered last week

If you’re riding tight twisty poppy droppy pumpy jumpy natural trails then I’d recommend the Rise all day long. If you prefer long distance days out then a full fat might be your thing. If you do both then buy a range extender for the Rise and slap that on when needed

The Rise will easily do 20-25 miles including steep climbs, which for us is usually sessioning a few trails over and over. The full fat will easily do 35-40 miles on a less demanding XC type ride, and around 30 miles when sessioning the natural trails, but personally I find a 20 mile ride on the Rise more exhilarating than a longer distance ride on the tank

Just noticed you’re after the H15 which has the bigger battery, we’re on carbons so have the smaller battery so the ranges I’m discussing are based on those, not the alu hydro range, which no doubt will give you more

 

[Shjay]

Question on the Orbea - I know you've got the carbon version therefore a bit lighter than the H - but brakes - what are on yours and do they do the job?
I'm a bit of a lump and am concerned that twin pot brakes are going to be a bit weedy for a fully loaded me and bike. Have the option to upgrade to XT's on the H15 but it's already over budget as is.

I am over 90kg kitted up, I am running MT5s I already had with 220 rotor up front & 203 on rear had the rotors & brakes on e-Sommet they stop me very easily & not bad price for 4 pots

 

[Tubby G]

I am over 90kg kitted up, I am running MT5s I already had with 220 rotor up front & 203 on rear had the rotors & brakes on e-Sommet they stop me very easily & not bad price for 4 pots

We fitted MT5’s on both our Rise’s too, with a 203mm rotor up front

 

[Pezzar]

We fitted MT5’s on both our Rise’s too, with a 203mm rotor up front

So stock Shimanos a bit underpowered then? thought so - disappointing on a 5.5 grand bike.

 

[Pezzar]

I’ve had a full fat for almost a year and the bike is a complete tank. Fantastic range and it will eat up anything in its path, but not so agile on the tight twisty natural trails

My partner has had a Rise for around 5 months now and keeps up with me in terms of speed and range on all our rides, although we do chill on the climbs and not charge up them. I ordered a Rise at the same time but mine was only delivered last week

If you’re riding tight twisty poppy droppy pumpy jumpy natural trails then I’d recommend the Rise all day long. If you prefer long distance days out then a full fat might be your thing. If you do both then buy a range extender for the Rise and slap that on when needed

The Rise will easily do 20-25 miles including steep climbs, which for us is usually sessioning a few trails over and over. The full fat will easily do 35-40 miles on a less demanding XC type ride, and around 30 miles when sessioning the natural trails, but personally I find a 20 mile ride on the Rise more exhilarating than a longer distance ride on the tank

Brilliant mini review and much appreciated.

 

[Rich-EMTB-UK]

Yeah considered that but they only want £156 (Orbea) to upgrade, more expensive and more faff for me to retro fit XT's. If someone can tell me the standard brakes are ok, all good.

worth the £156 for peace of mind tbh.

 

[Tubby G]

So stock Shimanos a bit underpowered then? thought so - disappointing on a 5.5 grand bike.

Never tried the stock brakes so can’t comment. Told the LBS we ordered the bikes from that we wanted MT5’s fitted and they offset the cost of the Shimano brakes against the Magura’s, as they’ll use them for their own stock. I just like the stopping power of Magura’s and find them easy to service, change pads, source spare parts etc

 

[Pezzar]

worth the £156 for peace of mind tbh.

Think I'm going to just stump up, you're right.

 

[Julz]

My OH has the mid range Megawatt while I’m on a 2022 turbo levo alloy. I’m a bit quicker on the climbs but his bike is seriously impressive on the descents. We like techy steep tight stuff (Golfie in Tweed Valley is our local). His bike feels way better than mine in that stuff and it’s plenty poppy too. Most we’ve got out of them in terms of range was 50miles with 1650m of climbing. Mostly in Eco but some very steep climbs we were in trail mode.
I’d deffo recommend giving the megawatt a try if you can demo one.

 

[Andyb13]

I have full fat Trek Rail which are just plough through anything bikes and I also own an Orbea Rise team, the Orbea is great fun to ride still poppy and easy to throw corners, if your still fit then go for the Orbea. I have ridden Cannock a few times and it would suit the Orbea,

 

[jeanmarc]

Tough choices... The Vitus and Nukeproof seem to be in a similar program/geometry (like the the Giant Reign E+ 2022 that I’m riding). Only good comments about the Orbea Rise but that bike is definitely in another category.
Good luck choosing!