I have both the Rise and an EX-e. They are kited with the same top end components - XTR on the Rise and SRAM Transmission XX on the EX-e. I will tell you straight up the Trek has dust on it and the Rise is covered in mud.
My personal pros and cons of each…
Trek Fuel EX-e:
- descends better than any other bike in the garage.
- Love the blue paint even though it seems to scratch when grass touches the bike.
- It’s so quiet you can ride it just about anywhere and no one will notice.
- The app connectivity is really nice. You have all the info you need to know. It was user updatable until just recently which now makes me mad.
- On steep climbs the motor definitely gives out.
- Battery life is about 30% less than the Orbea both having 360kw batteries.
- The motor is gutless in all modes.
- The shifts are flawless with SRAM T-type.
- Did have the SRAM dropper fail after 2 rides-they warrantied it, but it took a month.
- Trek didn’t install crank arm on drive side correctly at the factory and it fell off mid-season. Then I hooked a rock on a descent and pulled my pedal out of the cranks. Not a huge fan of SRAM’s current carbon cranks.
- Had to buy a second battery because the range is so short, but also because the range extender is literally not available anywhere
- The Trek quits giving you any type of usable power when the battery hits 10%.
Orbea Rise LTD:
- It’s a ridiculously fun bike to ride. Though it descends with much less control and speed than the Trek.
- I get almost 20 miles of range out of the bike in full boost mode.
- Its lighter than the Trek by about a pound.
- The motor is definitely louder and it rattles when descending. I have been told that the latest gen doesn’t rattle but haven’t been able to confirm it.
- Getting the Rise with a Fox 36 fork makes it a much better descender.
- XTR shifts great but has miss-shifts and it seems to be wearing way faster than the T-type. I have already replaced the rear cassette and I am on my 3rd chain.
- The Shimano app sucks. You need one app for motor adjustments and another for ride tracking. Neither of which give you battery percent, just bars. I do have a Garmin watch which connects and gives me battery percent but the whole system is a bit ghetto. It’s like my teenager built and designed it.
- The overall ride quality of the bike is good. If the Trek had the Shimano motor, it would kill the competition.
- Bike climbs up ANYTHING.
- I got way more performance out of the suspension when I tuned it with a Shock Wiz.
- Range extenders weren’t available all year.
- Design is definitely less integrated and thought-out compared to the Trek.
Hope this helps. I am seriously looking at the Heckler SL, but I have also been told that a Rise replacement is coming.
The Rise gives you the power to crush long, technical, and steep rides right out of the box and in my opinion, that’s why I own this bike. The ride is less supple than the Trek for sure, but a trade-off I can live with for now.
I thought the Trek would be a contender but it’s not. The battery dies so much faster, the motor just cuts out on anything steep, and the bike goes into safety mode at 10% battery life.
Both bikes, do however, make you feel like you are riding an old fashioned analog bike—just with your best friend behind you pushing.
