Small size full suspension eMTB for 5'5" tall older age rider ???

[decooney]

Helping a buddy mid 70s age, shorter at 5'5" tall, and he's struggling to find a known brand eMTB with reasonable quality suspension.

He's already tried a few of those cheap mail order bikes of unknown brands and not liking them much. He's back at it looking for something a little better in quality. I did see the Giant Trance E+ 2 in smaller size but it has larger 29" wheels. Something in 27.5 or even 26" wheels would be ideal.

Any ideas from anyone here?

 

[Suns_PSD]

If he is reasonably light and doesn't ride super steep terrain, I'd go for a used Levo SL, 2023 or newer. 40#s, high quality, short chainstays, mullet wheels, etc. He'll be able to easily load it too.

 

[towzer]

5ft 5 , 66 year old , 27” inside leg, ho hum

on trek exe small
and levo 2021 model, size m

if he wants to pedal and put in effort ALL THE TIME , exe, coz it’s 6lbs lighter, beware much more limited range and power

otherwise try and find a levo, cracking bike, deals to be had,.in winter I run my 29 levo on 27.5 wheels, 155 cranks fitted (gives lots of mud clearance with full mudguards, 29 didn’t)

 

[Plummet]

5'5 ain't that short. Any size small e bike will fit.

If they aren't riding super tech then full 29 is also fine. Riding steeper tech then look for mullet.

But you give zero info on riding style requirements. So advising on a type of bike is impossible.

 

[Type1]

5'5 ain't that short. Any size small e bike will fit.

If they aren't riding super tech then full 29 is also fine. Riding steeper tech then look for mullet.

But you give zero info on riding style requirements. So advising on a type of bike is impossible.

+1

Loads of riders around that height, doesn't need a special bike, just a size small in most brands will be good. If he isn't comfortable on them then I suspect there is an issue elsewhere.

 

[decooney]

He's barely a novice, rides quite slow, and merely wants suspension for comfort, and needs enough power to get up intermediate hills his mid-70s age body is not going to do at all without assistance. He lives near all these neat trails, and enjoys watching the riders, and plans to go down in these canyon places, tooling around, and needs to be able to get back out. Likes to be able to have his feet touch the ground when seated. Not an overly capable rider, just wants to be able to explore some of the areas around him but wants full "suspension" with this next bike. The change and challenge is he fits on his other mail order (lower quality) smaller/cheaper (size small) eMTBs with 26" and 27.5" wheels. You don't see too many of these eMTB bikes any more with smaller wheel sizes unless you happen to find one in size XS, X-small. So far found a Marin and Cannondale Moterra Neo fits in small size, and looking for others. He'll go demo a few of these late summer.

Really looking for specific brands/models/sizes that are known to be "smaller" in size.

Thanks to all for the replies so far. Probably good enough for now - got it from here. Happy riding.

 

[Plummet]

Check out an orbea Rise in size small.

My daughter 5'3 and wife 5'0 use a size small. The dropper postbgets the seat low for feet on the ground. 29er wheels are fine for short people cruising. The advantage is that they roll over stuff better.

It's not too heavy and the alloy model has a reasonable sized battery.

 

[Type1]

He's barely a novice, rides quite slow, and merely wants suspension for comfort, and needs enough power to get up intermediate hills his mid-70s age body is not going to do at all without assistance. He lives near all these neat trails, and enjoys watching the riders, and plans to go down in these canyon places, tooling around, and needs to be able to get back out. Likes to be able to have his feet touch the ground when seated. Not an overly capable rider, just wants to be able to explore some of the areas around him but wants full "suspension" with this next bike. The change and challenge is he fits on his other mail order (lower quality) smaller/cheaper (size small) eMTBs with 26" and 27.5" wheels. You don't see too many of these eMTB bikes any more with smaller wheel sizes unless you happen to find one in size XS, X-small. So far found a Marin and Cannondale Moterra Neo fits in small size, and looking for others. He'll go demo a few of these late summer.

Really looking for specific brands/models/sizes that are known to be "smaller" in size.

Thanks to all for the replies so far. Probably good enough for now - got it from here. Happy riding.

One of my Dads mates is 74 and the same height. To be fair he is very confident and rides blacks. But he rides an S2 Levo (29/27.5) which fits him well.

If he wants to have his feet down while seated then he needs a nice low dropper post fully inserted. Theres a big difference between brands.

Have a look at the geo charts you should get a pretty good idea.