E-Sommet VRS vs E Mythique VRX

[Darkred]

This may seem a basic or silly question to some, but i am not a EMTB aficionado and don't swap out many parts on my bike - so any opinions on this would be gratefully received .

Going to buy a new one and very sold on Vitus e-mythique but the sommet is discounted on chain reaction at the moment to around the same price

I quite like the idea of the more torque from the bafang motor (think its 10NM more than the shimano on the sommet) but i think the sommet has better suspension ? again i am very un-clued up and wont be swapping anything, and dont want anything that needs too much set up.

Bike will be used for a slightly fat lad thrashing around the peak district mainly, and the odd trip to the lakes, so it does not need to be high end (just need good brakes, good motor, decent suspension, a dropper and some sticky tyres )

Which would you buy in my position and why ? Thank you for any help

 

[mustclime]

The real question is do you want to be a beta tester? Befang drive units are made in mainland China not Taiwan. Given a choice, I avoid items produced in main land china.

 

[Zimmerframe]

The Mythique has slightly more attractive descending and climbing geometry than the Sommet, if you noticed or not would probably be down to the rider and terrain.

If I'm just bumbling about I don't really notice much difference between my Kenevo/Jam2 or the Mythique despite different geometries, but I have them all set up with bar/seat positions/distances very similarly - whereas you do notice differences when descending or climbing or if you're just generally going for it !

The Sommet has slightly more travel at the rear.

The Zeb on paper is a better/nicer fork. In reality I wouldn't like to say which is better (they both can also be upgraded), the Suntour Zeron on my Mythique feels a lot stiffer than my Lyric or Fox 36 (though for the fork itself is a total bag of crap - but I'm pretty sure it's faulty).

I'm impressed with the M510 in the Mythique. It's on a par with the Brose or the Bosch Gen4. On a negative, it has the same rattle when not pedalling as the Gen4 and the Shimano.

I think I'd also consider the VRS over the VRX. I think the TRP brakes will be better than the DB8's and the Suntour is by all accounts a great feeling fork. If you didn't get on with the rear shock, you could upgrade that.

I have the VR (it was the only model available to buy in France on day 1) but wanted the VRS.

@mustclime has a very good point though. Do you want to be a beta tester for a motor which has been around a while now and is on it's second incarnation with revised electronics and torque sensor. Or do you want a motor which is known to have reliability issues, invariably atrocious warranty support and is pretty much unrepariable and designed to be disposable.

In terms of real world riding and ownership and odds of actual problems and differences in performance, I think which ever you went for, you'd find it would most likely do everything you'd want from it - the differences won't be vast.

 

[mustclime]

You should checkout Luna cycles sometime. They started running befang motors 4-5 years ago, search them on YouTube some time. They even offer throttle conversions with their bikes if that’s your thing. Luna used to have a forum and it was filled with posts of people having issues with their befang units. Burned up motors, bearings with water intrusion, cracked casings, control issues. Anyway, anyone that tells you befang units are better than the established brands is just full of it. Keith Bontranger used to say “ cheap, strong, light…. Pick any two you want”. People are always trying to find that unicorn setup, maybe you will find a cheap, light and strong befang unit.

 

[Zimmerframe]

You should checkout Luna cycles sometime. They started running befang motors 4-5 years ago, search them on YouTube some time. They even offer throttle conversions with their bikes if that’s your thing. Luna used to have a forum and it was filled with posts of people having issues with their befang units.

I believe they were the exclusive distributor for the Dengfu E10 in the US (Chinese carbon frame). I thought a lot of the Luna's were equipped with the 600 motor and mainly had throttles ? Most likely used like mini MX bikes. All motors can and will fail and certainly all can suffer from water intrusion ! You can imagine a lot of owners jet washing their bikes. My Brose needs a re-build from water ingress due to owner stupidity. The issue is, can you get your motor repaired or even replaced or are you screwed ?

Before I bought mine I spoke with the E-bike motor Center about Bafang problems. They said they'd hardly seen any of them. In their view that was down to the availability of spare parts and the existing support network.

Like others have said to you before, it's difficult now to find anything which isn't made or doesn't have sub-components which are made in "mainland China". OK, your experiences aren't good. But it doesn't mean it's a blanket rule.

Bontranger used to say “ cheap, strong, light…. Pick any two you want”. People are always trying to find that unicorn setup, maybe you will find a cheap, light and strong befang unit.

OK, so by your logic :

Brose Mag S - 2.9kg
Bafang M510 FC 2.0 - 2.9kg
Bosch Gen 4 - 2.9kg

Shimano EP8 - 2.6kg

Obviously, you might be completely correct. We might all have stuffed motors in 1000km's, but there seem to be plenty of people who've been running the motors for longer who haven't.

Like I said, I'm sure the OP will be happy with which ever bike he chooses and most likely won't have issues with either. The Bafang optioned bike just gives you more scope on repair ability and upgradeability - even now you can swap the motor out for a different version if you wanted.

The OP asked :

Which would you buy in my position and why ? Thank you for any help

I've tried to be objective in that reply, you've been subjective purely based on not liking things "made in mainland china" - even though you have no experience with the bike or the motor and possibly not even the Shimano motor ? But you have a Kenevo, which is a great bike, so you're hopefully happy with your choice - even though the forums are full of posts about broken motors.