E-Bike of the Year 2021 | Part 2: Direct-sales E-Bikes | Mountain Bike Rider

Six 2021 direct-sales e-bikes put through the ringer – it's part 2 of our very first E-Bike of the Year award.

To read the full reviews, click the link:
https://www.mbr.co.uk/buyers_guide/best-electric-mountain-bikes-348254

To skip to the sections on each specific model, use the time stamps below:

2:35 Intense Tazer 279 Expert
7:08 Commencal Meta Power Essential
12:11 Vitus E-Sommet VRX
18:55 Radon Render 10.0
24:01 Canyon Spectral:ON CF 8.0
28:43 YT-Industries Decoy Shred
In this, the second part of our E-bike of the Year test, we’ve got all of the new 2021 direct sales e-bikes. And what a line-up we have in store for you. With the latest models from Canyon, Commencal, Intense, Radon, YT and Vitus, the short list reads like a who’s who in the comparatively small world of direct sales e-bikes.

The target price point is £5.5k, and while that translates to top-end for Vitus, Commencal considers it entry-level. Whatever way you slice it though, by cutting out the middleman and buying an e-bike online you can save yourself a stack of cash, or simply get a better specced bike for the same amount of money as one available from a traditional brick and mortar store.

But even with the handsome savings that direct sales brands typically offer, it’s still a daunting prospect dropping so much cash on an e-bike sight-unseen. So how do you know which one to go for? To answer that question...just read on.

In the video we’ll uncover the strengths and weaknesses of each design and by the end of this shootout you’ll be armed with all the information you need to pull the trigger on that new rig.

With business model and price being the only criteria for this test, we have a wide range of travel options, from the 140mm Radon Render 10.0 all of the way up to the 165mm YT Decoy and 167mm Vitus Escarpe. The Intense Tazer and Commencal Meta AM Power both have 160mm of travel while the Canyon Spectral:On CF 8.0 hedges its bets with 150mm.

We also have a mix of wheel sizes. The Radon Render 10.0 and Commencal Meta AM Power both rocking 29in wheels, while the other four bikes have mullet configurations, so 29in up front with a smaller 27.5in wheel on the rear. But even here there isn’t consensus, Vitus opting for a 2.5in rear tyre on the E-Sommet, Canyon choosing 2.6in, while Intense and YT both rock high-volume 2.8in tyres out back.

One thing that’s almost universal with the direct sales brands though, is the dominance of the Shimano motors. Canyon, Vitus and Commencal are all powered by the new compact EP8 motor, while Intense and YT use the older E7000 and E8000 systems respectively. Why aren’t all the Shimano bikes using the latest EP8 motor? For Intense, it’s simply about price as the top-end Tazer Pro has EP8 but that bike is £6000. For YT, it is limited by its current frame design, which means it can’t simply pop the hood and drop the latest motor in.

In fact, Radon is the only brand to break ranks, opting instead for the Bosch Gen 4 motor. How this plays out in the test, remains to be seen, but raw power isn’t the only criteria we’ll be judging these e-bikes on. Infact, once you get used to having the assistance of the motor, all of the things that impact the handling of regular mountain bikes come into play. So we won’t just be looking at battery capacity or torque, as you could argue that weight distribution, suspension and sizing have an even bigger impact on handing due to the extra weight of an e-bike.

Which brand has balanced all of these attributes best to produce the most capable and versatile direct sales e-bike remains to be seen. So leave you biases and preconceptions behind, and enjoy this, our first Direct Sales E-bike of the Year test.

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