The saga may be coming to a conclusion…
Called into the very local Whyte dealer this weekend to see if they can do the Works model at the price it is discounted to elsewhere. Unlikely to be an issue.
There was a possible curve ball in that they had the elyte Evo RS on deal at £6199, same battery and frame but with the Gen 5 CX motor. Bit it has Code Bronze brakes and a lower suspension package so I think I’d be forever hankering for not getting the works.
Some other thoughts,
The dealer is very local.
The Bosch system parts seem very standard, so availability for spares should be ok. For example, by contrast, the Cannondale has a bespoke battery so that could mean issues on availability if things go wrong. The Bosch battery is their standard powertube so should be readily available.
The Works would be compatible with the CX motor should I want to get a power upgrade in the future, but happy to put the effort in at the moment.
Both the above points rate for avoiding obsolescence.
The “works “ spec wants for absolutely nothing out of the box.
So, waiting to hear if they can do the price.
But, they also had the Orbea Rise LT M10 on offer at £6249. A very nice bit of kit.
Bit it has Code Bronze brakes and a lower suspension package so I think I’d be forever hankering for not getting the works.
Brakes are (relatively) easily swapped if there's a big price differential, and "top-level" suspension isn't always actually better.
What's the price difference and what are the suspension parts?
Works is £6500.
Evo RS is £6200
Aside from the CX motor, everything is lower spec. Now, if they did the “Stag Evo” at £6500, that may be different…
Worth a read if you're in the market for an ebike. Huge review -
I'm about to purchase my first e-bike with a similar budget & finding all this really interesting. I was originally going to go with the Amflow but now it's looking like choice between a Vala & the new Levo. I'm going to the Leisure Lakes demo day at Gisburn on the 10th of May so hopefully i'll come away a bit better educated.
Good luck at the demo day, I can’t unfortunately make it. Let us know how you get on and thoughts.
Im now starting to rethink again, and wondering if a Gen5 Bosch motor is going to be long term better. The update might just be a DJI reaction, but Gen4 might be now reaching obsolescence. I reckon any bike now with the Gen 4 might be a tough bike to sell, as unlike the SX and Gen5, the Gen 4 and 5 aren’t interchangeable.
The Elyte R/S though, small battery still, and the updated Gen 5 might rinse through it. (unless you tune it down, obvs)
I'd personally go newer motor/battery tech over suspension. That's assuming it's say factory level and gen 4 against Performance and gen 5 anyway. I think the gen 5 bosch motor is meant to be much quieter and lighter and if it's coming with the 800wh battery then that would definitely seal it for me.
Bosch announced their power and torque increase for the cx gen 5 motor today. 100nm and 750w peak power.
The Evo is CX Gen 5. The works is SX. Both have a 400wh battery and come with a 250Wh range extender. Works has the full factory fox suspension and Hope/T Type transmission. Evo has RS select + suspension and lower grade drivetrain.
The massive review above commented that the smaller battery of the EVO did really work with a 400wh battery. That’s my concern.
Im definitely overthinking this. Really, all I’m after is a good bike that can give me a hand now I’m getting on. It isn’t for shuttling laps. I’m not that bothered about racing uphill. Ideally nice and light (as can be).
I think it is coming down to the Whyte elyte works as it is on offer, or the Shimano powered Orbea Rise M10 LT, at £6,200 (on offer at the same local shop). The rise has a 630wh battery as standard.
With such a wide choice, it's easy to overthink it! I just went with one I'd demoed (though in older versions) and really enjoyed riding every time (Cannondale). I don't regret my decision at all. Quieter motor would be a nice thing, but can't see the point in any other mods to the motor. Partner has a Trek, not in the big review, but they seem superb bikes too.
I've been following this thread with interest from the start - although I've got a lower budget. I had a passing interest in a Decathlon bike but had been pointed to the bargains at Pauls. I had booked a days ebike hire for my son and I over in Whinlatter at the start of April so decided to put off the decision until after that, to make sure that ebikes were for me.
We both loved the Cubes over at Whinlatter, so I was swaying towards the entry Cube FS with the gen 5 Bosch motor and 800w battery and just over £3000. Until the Raymon TrailRay 140e 10.0 29 came back into stock at Pauls for £2,133.95 delivered. Such a bargain, couldn't go past it, Yamaha 85nm motor, 720Wh battery, RockShox forks and shock. Arrived on the Thursday before Easter, I've ridden it a couple of times since and I've been really impressed, it's a keeper for me. And as has been suggested further up the thread, the difference in cost can pay for plenty of upgrades and adventures!
After doing the demo day I plumped for a new levo. It was a combination of motor feel plus the battery capacity which swayed it.
Tested a Vala, Levo 4, Merida e160 sl, orbea wild and another Merida which wasn't the sl one. The sl merida rode best due to minimal weight but the motor was a bit lacklustre for my 100kg frame.
Picked up one of the last Levo 3s available in S5 with a pretty meaty discount, buzzing with it is an understatement!
My Amflow arrived a couple of weeks ago, and I've been fortunate enough to give it a good run out at the FoD and Risca. Happy to report the bike was absolutely brilliant. It's an extremely capable bike, handling the flow trails, jumps, drops and steeps of FoD and Risca without missing a beat. I'm still fiddling with the assist settings but rode mostly in Eco & the excellent Auto mode, and finished the ride with 18% battery left. Could have done a few more runs but my body battery gave up before the bikes did! (Warm weather and BPW the day before may have taken it out of me though, probably) 
Just a bit of an update here as I had come close to buying one of the eLytes from my local dealer. However, I have been into the shop three times over the last couple of months to try and sort out a demo which I was supposed to hear about but never did and I’ve also been in to ask them if they can match the current discount price as I would rather buy it from a local shop. Again, I have had no contact from them so it leaves me a little bit frustrated and, quite frankly, feeling that I will just take my custom elsewhere.
Maybe they are sick of the sight of me and think I’m wasting time, but it is a very sizable outlay for me and I’m not a serial bike changer.
I’m taking a couple of weeks holiday over this upcoming spring bank so even more time to deliberate. 🤪
My Mondraker Crafty arrived last week, went off to be wrapped, I swapped drivetrain/brakes/wheels and a few other components out and got out twice on it over the weekend just gone...
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So far so good too! Superb geometry, the bike feels really balanced and planted and very familiar (in a good way) right away... Gen5 CX is quite a lot quieter than Gen4 and feels a little more refined too (certainly not night and day, but you do notice it), and the Eagle 90 is amazing!!! Really impressed with it all...
Forks are going to have a GRIP X2 damper fitted v soon (they don't need it per se, I just like having the extra tunability) but the stock Float X shock feels really good anyway (I have added the compression adjuster though)...
Great review of the bike here too...
So far done 2x 21 mile rides with around 800-900m of climbing, mostly in eMTB but some Tour+ and a bit of Eco thrown in too, and used 50% of the 800Wh battery both times (so would have been getting mega range anxiety on a 400Wh battery!)...
Best of luck @rockhopper70 with whatever you decide, but no need to tolerate poor service... Buy from someone who wants your custom...
My bargain-tastic ebike is costing me more than I thought… my wife and daughter had a go and loved it 🤣 soooooo I found a lovely looking used Merida E160 for a pretty decent price and collected it today 🙂 damn the internet 😆 , pretty good choice though as it is like a brand new bike, I’m really pleased with it. My wife tried it and loved it and it’s now stashed away at a friends waiting for my daughters birthday in late July, it will be given with the condition that my wife / her mum gets to use it too… I can obviously see what’s coming next.
For anyone buying a Gen 3 Levo, after riding it for a bit I'm downsizing the rear disc, the Mavens are amazing but it's just too easy at 75kg to lock up the back wheel unintentionally.
Well, while I was on holiday, the shop that didn’t help has closed down. Doors locked, all stock gone and administrators called in. So my next nearest decent bike shop is Saltaire (Terrain), Chevin Cycles in Otley or Leisure Lakes in Bury, all around 45 minutes away now.
The latter has this, around the same money as the elyte works.
Possibly too much bike for me, but great for big days out.
Well, while I was on holiday, the shop that didn’t help has closed down. Doors locked, all stock gone and administrators called in. So my next nearest decent bike shop is Saltaire (Terrain), Chevin Cycles in Otley or Leisure Lakes in Bury, all around 45 minutes away now.
The latter has this, around the same money as the elyte works.
Possibly too much bike for me, but great for big days out.
That Wild M10 looks like a cracking bike! When you say too much bike, if you are doing lots of faster uphills on challenging terrain, from my perspective anyway, you need a lot of bike to keep it comfortable 🙂 and then there is the going down, grins for miles 😊
Still deliberating, going to have to commit and some point but this is now looking a very solid package.
The full range is released on Friday apparently…
Mid assist, but with a decent sized battery as stock.
I finally cracked and bought the fuel exe alloy 8 for £3400. Very happy with it so far. I can get 45-50km from the battery in eco which is decent enough. Hopefully the warranty is good when I inevitably need it!
That's the first I've seen of the new version. Looks like a great option.
Double post
Still deliberating, going to have to commit and some point but this is now looking a very solid package.
The full range is released on Friday apparently…
Mid assist, but with a decent sized battery as stock.
There is always something new coming, if you endlessly wait for the next one, you’ll end up not with anything.
The new bike is apparently imminently due to be released, but rumoured to not actually be available until next year.
I think OP has already demonstrated that they're not in a big hurry, to be fair.
😀
IME 20kg+ bikes handle significantly worse than sub-20kg bikes, on technical terrain at least.
Of the two bikes in the OP, I'd go for the Whyte byt a large margin.
And whatever eeb you get, it will be 'obsolete' in a couple of years, if that matters to you. The era of full-power big-range sub-20kg eebs is not far off (it isn't here yet despite what DJI-ists think/say).
IME 20kg+ bikes handle significantly worse than sub-20kg bikes, on technical terrain at least.
Totally agree. Mrs a11y's Giant full-power at 26kgs feels like a tank (in a bad way) on descents compare to my 20.5kg Heckler SL. I took the compromise on power/range to get something that feels like a normal bike, might regret that at times but haven't in the 6_ months so far.
I didn't look at the Whtye E-Lyte as it was well out of budget when I was buying, but looks a bargain at the moment for the spec (£6.5k Works spec).
Yeh,6.5K a bargain for a bicycle.Or maybe for a car?
Yeh,6.5K a bargain for a bicycle.Or maybe for a car?
Fair shout, wrong word to use. £6.5k a good deal for a bike of that spec compared to the £10k list price. Like it or not, that's the going rate for this sort of bike.
I suspect we all experience heavy e-bikes somewhat differently and the end of the day, we like what we like. Mine is most definitely on the heavy side and over the past three weeks I have done a lot (40,000 feet +) of very technical, tight, often near vertical and seriously ungrippy descending on trails I ride lots of bikes on, from my perspective:
The heavy ebike gives me a lot of stability and grip, even when flicking the back wheel round on tight steep corners.
Objectively, it is very fast and agile on the downs, especially feature rich trails.
I have more confidence on the ebike when I’m right at the limits of my ability vs much lighter enduro bikes.
The ebike absolutely sucks at doing a manual off a decent drop into a sketchy landing from a standstill but no issues if moving. I don’t know what an SL would feel like as I’ve only done trails and jumps on them.
The ebike jumps brilliantly, although the odd jump that requires lots of pop on a normal bike requires a more heroic effort on the heavier bike.
Bunnyhopping stuff on the flat is definitely harder with a heavy bike; better technique is needed over fallen trees using the front wheel onto the tree followed by the pop, not as easy for me.
I’m sure others will have different experiences but that’s where I’m up to. I do enjoy jumping from bike to bike and my normal bikes do now “feel” poppier, make of that what you will! 🙂
