The e-bike market is booming and diversifying. A lot of manufacturers chased bigger battery capacity for increased range, more torque for better pedal response, and a burlier build to capitalise on the inherent weight of a large e-bike. While doing this, brands like Specialized thought there may be some other options, and bikes like the Levo SL, Orbea Rise and Transition Relay have been released, or are about to be on the trails. While some of our own testers wondered why you’d want less power and range, the answer seems simple when you ride a bike with a lower torque, smaller motor and lighter battery. The ride response is far more intuitive and the pedal assist blends into the background. Mid-power eMTBs are the perfect complement, not replacement, to the full power, high torque, longer travel models out there.
With that in mind, in July Trek released the Fuel EXe, 150/140mm 29er trail bike with a new 50Nm motor and 360Wh battery. This joins the Trek Rail and Trek Rail Smart System models that use the Bosch CX Gen 4 motor with 85Nm of torque and upto 750Wh batteries in the 160/150mm 29er frames.
The Trek Fuel EXe has a little more travel and progressive geometry than the Orbea Rise or Specialized Levo SL, with the trail focused build kits to match. However it’s not a mid-powered
