The best lightweight electric mountain bikes: SL E-Bike of the Year

After three months of solid testing, we’re stoked to bring you the MBR SL E-Bike of the Year shoot-out!

And we’ve got a stacked line-up of the hottest lightweight machines, all aiming to be top dog.

There’s the early-adopter, Specialized’s Levo SL, the gorgeous Santa Cruz Heckler SL, Trek’s stealthy Fuel EXe, the low-slung Whyte ELtye, Orbea’s latest Rise LT, Orange’s alloy Phase MX, Norco’s Vala-look-al-like, the Fluid VLT, and Cannondale’s full-power, full bore Moterra SL.

Not only do we have a smorgasbord of the latest bikes, they’re fitted with a variety of the latest lightweight motors from Bosch, Shimano, Fazua and TQ,

This year we’ve teamed up with Continental tyres to fit all of the bikes here with the same Kryptotal rubber, in Soft compound, using the Enduro casing.

Running the same pressures front and rear, this keeps the weights comparable and ensures a level playing field for the all-important range test.

You can watch the accompanying weigh-in video here:

And we’ll be dropping a range test video shortly after, that you can watch here:

The full list of bikes on test, with weights and the original prices as tested, is as follows:

Santa Cruz Heckler SL S C / 19.78kg / £7,600 / size L
Whyte ELyte 150 RSX / 19.92kg / £7,999 / size L
Cannondale Moterra SL 1 / 20.44kg / £8,550 / size L
Norco Fluid VLT C2 140 / 19.90kg / £7,999 / size L
Specialized Turbo Levo SL Expert Carbon / 18.48kg / £9,000 / size S4
Orange Phase EVO / 20.88kg / £7,900 / size L
Trek Fuel EXe 9.7 / 19.66kg / £7,600 / size L
Orbea Rise LT M10 / 19.58kg / £7,599 / size L

It's a long video, but if you don't want to sit through the whole thing, you can skip to a specific bike using the chapters below:

00:00 - Intro
01:36 - Trek Fuel EXe
06:16 - Norco Fluid VLT C2
11:56 - Specialized Turbo Levo SL
17:56 - Orange Phase EVO LE
24:57 - Orbea Rise LT
33:10 - Cannondale Moterra SL
41:05 - Santa Cruz Heckler SL
46:22 - Whyte ELtye 150

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[shaneycarter]

Great content and awesome test chaps 👍 however I'm going to say the AMFLOW DJI. All the power at a similar weight. The base model is only £5999 🤔 it's where my money went 😁
With my upgrades it will be an absolute cracker 👌👍

[lenolenoleno]

Loving how candid this review is. An absolute breath of fresh air. The pair of you (and your vids over the last couple years) have made MBR relevant again.

[cliffsangelsphotography]

I just bought my Trek Fuel EXe 8 alloy on sale a few months ago, and I absolutely love it. I love how quiet and smooth pedaling it is, and lightweight. I'm a relatively light weight rider, and the Eco mode gives me enough assistance to be ahead with my fittest normal-bike friends. The spec on the EXe 8 was near perfect, but I installed a Factory 160mm and better tires, and it really brought the bike alive. With the ebike being relatively light, it's very agile and playful; and with my upgrades it's even better.

[steveharper]

I got the cheapest Trek EXE and transferred all the Kashima and XT stuff from my Vitus Escarpe onto it. It’s great, enough power for the fire roads but the range could be better. I think the solution is a spare full size battery, not too much heavier or costly as the range extender. Great shoot out guys! 👌

[LukeJenkin-toyu]

Kenevo sl for me 10/10 . After riding a full power 26kg tank for 2 years the kenevo brings back everything I missed about mountain biking

[KMTBRider]

Specialized Levo SL is the one for me. Not tried one but I love my Kenevo SL. Super light bikes should be super light, not slightly less than full fat weight in my opinion. I think Specialized did a really good job!

[Spinwithjim]

Mad effort put in this! Love to see genuine good and bad opinions which is a lovely breath of fresh air in today’s content! 🎉

[rainerwahnsinn]

You guys are seriously one of the best MTB testers on youtube. Very informative as always! Cheers from germany.

[ThunderStruckMTB]

I love you called Orbea's headset cable routing out, because as a rider who works on all of my own stuff (have never taken anything to a LBS for service) I will never buy a bike with headset routing. EVER. Also, creaking needs to always be talked about when doing bike reviews as it is such an annoying issue and one that many bikes have.

[rickmoz]

Interesting that the 2 most efficient bikes the Heckler SL and the Levo SL 2 both motor are based on a 48 V architecture which has efficiency in mind compared to the standard 36 V on the Shimano and Bosch

[jeanmarc_in_Hudson]

Great review guys! We need this kind of conversations on all bikes. 👍

[jimbo]

I love my 21 Specialized SL , and would love a new one even better 😊

[MrOi]

just shows yet again how much of a game changer the Amflow is. 800wh battery, 105nm and less than 20kg. Full fat ebike in SL category

[cLdfUsn]

Great, interesting content! I got a Heckler SL about a month ago and the review is spot on about the handling. It’s incredibly fun to ride. Quite playful yet has some fair muscle s well and outstanding range for it’s class that this 220lbs rider appreciates. My Fazua has been *knocks on wood* quite silent. Nothing other than a low electric whine and none of all the “crunchiness” Alan Muldoon describes. Porsche bought Fazua and are implementing a raft of changes it seems and I can’t help but think that something that is Porche-owned will become a truthworthy product.

I’m anxious to see what the next wave of ebikes are gonna look like with full power and low weight à la Amflow/DJi but quite happy to wait while shredding the Heckler SL!

[XN]

This is like watching GMBN in a parallel universe, where Doddy is still working for GMBN, and where Martyn never got that debilitating accident.

[doghat]

FAZUA has finally reworked the Ride 60 drive unit with bigger bushings, and some other improvements, according to Transition. That being said, we've not thad any issues with two Ride 60 drive units. Works so well in real life performance.

[albertgumabay]

I’ve owed a 2020 Orbea Rise M10 and just bought the new 2025 Specialized SL CompCarbon, I didn’t realize how “noisy” the Rise was until I let my GF ride it while I rode the Levo next to her. Everything was rattling on the Rise, cables, squeaking linkages, disk brake rub, shimano motor rattle… WOW 😞 The Levo is for me, even if it has less power, it has a higher level of refinement and integration. Also, mention the US dealer support, when my Rise had an electrical switch problem, it was out of service for 1 month awaiting parts from Spain; eMTB’s are complex, it is important to have a good dealer network in country…. That’s why would not buy the Whyte, because of suspect US support. I suggest making this a selling point in your next reviews. Otherwise, great job on the overall SL assessments, plus I’d add the Giant Trance SL eMTB to your next review.

[WilliamrikerNCC]

Good reviews and fun to watch. I have a Scott lumen, so it has the tq motor, same as trek. Also have a kenevo, so it’s full powered. Lumen is 37lb, kenevo about 54lb, as i have them set up. The lumen is wicked fun on the trails i ride. I actually ride it mostly in a detuned eco and trail mode, and only occasionally hit full power. I still have to work hard and it feels like a regular bike with performance. 130/130 travel, seems lame these days, but comes down to where you ride. For what i do, even some light dh stuff, it’s just a blast. My kenevo blows it away for power, but it’s a diff experience. I feel like the lumen is the closest you’ll get to regular bike performance and feel from an ebike.

[richt]

Got the Norco, agree with the review. The first thing I changed was the brakes to xt 4 pot and the tires to magic mary / big betty. Its now the most fun ebike I’ve ever ridden. Feels like a normal bike but better!

[JohnWilson-jhiz]

Recently bought a new Trek Fuel EXE 9.5 model with range extender for less than £4 k which more than satisfies my usage needs, after watching your reviews of performance and price of the various brands I reckon I got the bargain of the century