I don’t own an eMTB, so I still get excited about having pedal assist every time I get to test one. But would a ‘lite’ class eMTB bring me the same joy as a high-powered model? Devinci’s E-Troy Lite quickly answered that question with a solid YES.
My initial hunch was, “why would you buy a model that offers less assistance or range than you could have?” Well, the E-Troy Lite convinced me there is definitely a place for ‘mid’ or ‘lite’ eMTBs. If you’re not buying an eMTB with the intent of tackling huge epic rides, a bike like the E-Troy Lite will still get you pretty far, pretty darn easily.
Those looking to keep up with younger or fitter riders, or who just don’t have the time for five to six-hour rides could be perfectly well served with the E-Troy Lite. Also, you get the benefit of riding a more normal feeling 44.5lbs bike instead of a beefy 55-60 pounder.
Devinci E-Troy Lite: Basic Specs
For all the details on the new E-Troy Lite, check out my launch article from earlier this year. Here I’ll quickly run through the basic specs and features: The E-Troy Lite frames are built from Optimum G04 6061-T6 aluminum. The frames are handmade in Chicoutimi, Quebec, an area known for producing high-quality aluminum.
Devinci’s Split-Pivot suspension linkage handles the E-Troy Lite’s 150mm of rear travel. The bikes get 160mm forks and roll on a mixed-wheel setup.
Devinci claims the E-Troy Lite’s weight at 42.99 lbs. My scale showed 44.55 lbs (including pedals).
Bosch Powertrain:
Bosch supplies the powertrain for the E-Troy Lite. Assist power comes from a Performance Line SX motor, which has a maximum 55Nm of torque and 600W power output. The motor is powered by a 400Wh Bosch CompactTube battery. That might not sound like a huge amount of power or capacity, but read on to find out how these numbers stack up on a 44.5lbs bike…
At the handlebar, Bosch’s compact wireless mini remote controller allows you to switch between assist modes and enable walk mode. The E-Troy Lite offers four assist levels: Eco, Tour+, eMTB, and Turbo.
Geometry:
Just by the numbers, I knew I’d be happy with the E-Troy Lite’s geometry, which is great because there are no adjustments built into this bike. At 5’10”, the medium frame’s reach of 461mm felt lengthy but not too stretched out. Out back they’ve struck a nice balance of agility and stability with 438mm chainstays.
For climbing the E-Troy Lite’s geometry was great – My body weight was well centered between the wheels, and I rarely felt the need to stand up while climbing. 99% of the time just a shift in body position was all that was required to keep weight on both wheels and the tires gripping. The rear end never felt too long on tight switchbacks, and the steep 77.8° seat mast puts you in an aggressive pedaling position. With a BB height of 346mm and 165mm crank arms, I had very few pedal strikes during my test rides.
As for descending, I enjoyed the E-Troy Lite’s comfortable front-end length. The reach isn’t crazy long, but never felt short on the trail. Its 63.6° steering angle is on the slack side, allowing for stable handling at speed and plenty of capability on steep, rough terrain. The rear end is just long enough to balance out the bike’s reach, and with the 27.5” rear wheel the E-Troy Lite rails through corners quite nicely.
Handling:
The E-Troy Lite’s weight is right in the middle between a normal bike and a full-power eMTB. The E-Troy rides far lighter than a big eMTB but still feels a bit heavy versus a normal bike. The weight does not go unnoticed while jumping but with your wheels on the ground, it’s easy to forget about. The bike does offer some of that more planted feeling heavier eMTBs produce, but again it’s right at the mid-point between a non-assisted and full powered ebike.
I think MX wheels were a great choice for this bike, as it helps the E-Troy Lite maintain a nice degree of agility and playfulness. Also, the rear tire clearance is helpful on steep descents, and the marginal loss of rolling speed vs. a 29er is more than compensated for by the motor!
Battery Life/Range:
I was pretty impressed with how far the E-Troy Lite’s 400Wh battery got me. Clearly, the reduced weight of the ‘lite’ bike translates to less strain on the motor and battery. This bike doesn’t match the range of a much larger capacity eMTB, but it goes as far as I usually want to!
I did most of my riding in the Tour+ and eMTB modes, as even Tour+ provides enough assistance to make climbs a laughing matter. After many rides, I’d say if you’re switching between these two modes you can expect around four hours of ride time on a full charge. I should note I’m not a very heavy rider at 135lbs.
From Eco to eMTB mode, the E-Troy Lite uses its power pretty conservatively. Switching into Turbo will eat up the battery fairly quickly – I used up one bar (out of five) in about 30 minutes of climbing. A local shop mechanic told me he rode this bike in Turbo only and killed the battery in about two hours. If you’re all about riding in Turbo, you might find the E-Troy Lite a bit light on range, but anyone who toggles between the lower assist levels should be pretty pleased.
Charging the battery was quick. The longest it took was about three hours, going from nearly dead to the charger automatically shutting off.
Assist Power:
Assist power is where the E-Troy Lite’s power-to-weight ratio really shines. With a maximum motor output of 600W, the power isn’t that far off a larger eMTB to begin with. Now take +10lbs off the bike, and I found there was hardly any compromise even with just 55Nm of torque.
Typically with eMTBs, I describe their Eco mode as ‘weight compensation’, but since the E-Troy is lighter than full-powered bikes, its Eco mode provides a more noticeable assist. However, Eco doesn’t offer a ton of boost once you start going uphill. It helps considerably while cruising to and from the trailhead or traversing, but jumping to Tour+ is when you really start enjoying uphill trails.
Even in Tour+ mode, there’s plenty of power available for all but the steepest climbs. While the next level up (eMTB) is the self-regulating mode that adjusts power output, the Tour+ mode does this to some extent too. On steeper terrain, the assist ramps up, and it is noticeable. This extra boost makes riding in Tour+ mode very intuitive and convenient. If you’re not in a hurry, this mode will get you pretty far with little effort.
Riding in eMTB mode offers more assist power than Tour+, and it dynamically adjusts the output as you ride. At the highest, eMTB provides as much boost as the Turbo mode, but usually, as you’re pedaling along it stays a bit below that level. This mode became my favourite as it’s responsive to pedal inputs, you get plenty of assist power and it still uses battery power conservatively.
Like most eMTBs, riding in Turbo is just plain hilarious. It had me laughing out loud as I launched into uphill switchbacks with excessive speed! A light touch on the pedals gets the E-Troy Lite blasting forward so easily that I rarely even used Turbo mode. On really steep climb sections, I did switch to Turbo and it rallied me up everything without hesitation.
All of the E-Troy Lite’s power assist levels are adjustable through Bosch’s eBike Flow app, but I was happy with the bike in its factory configuration. Each level has a discernably different feel, and they cover the range from ‘a little help’ to ‘LET’S RIP!’ quite nicely.
For me, the E-Troy Lite’s ultimate test was when I rode with two very experienced ebike friends on their full-powered Specialized Levos. Throughout a 2:30-hour ride, I rode almost entirely in eMTB mode and had no trouble keeping up with them. This ride also brought some of the steepest climbs I’ve ever tackled, and the E-Troy Lite took it all in stride.
The only time I ever felt a lack of power assist from the E-Troy Lite was due to rider error. Like every eMTB I’ve ridden, if you’re a bit late getting on the pedals for a sudden incline, or if you’re in too high a gear, you won’t get the cadence or torque required to prompt a proper response from the motor. I did experience this with the E-Troy Lite a few times, but I’d call it bad technique on my part. As long as I kept the pedals spinning appropriately, the Bosch motor performed consistently and reliably.
The Performance Line SX motor makes a bit of noise when it’s assisting at higher levels but overall it’s reasonably quiet. Throughout my testing, I had no functional issues with any of the bike’s electronics.
Suspension:
Being a fan of Trek’s ABP linkage, I suspected I’d like Devinci’s similarly designed Split-Pivot Suspension linkage. In the end, I would say it’s a great design, offering good small bump sensitivity and a nice level of progressivity.
Devinci’s linkage requires more air pressure in the shock than your body weight. At their rep’s suggestion, I set the E-Troy Lite up at 30% sag. The RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate rear shock wound up requiring 145psi for my 130lbs body weight. Quick note – I was gaining weight back during this test after losing a significant amount due to a health issue.
This setup was bang-on for me until the last part of my test, and then I did experience a few clunky bottom-outs on my final few test rides. After hopping on a scale, I realized I had put on a few pounds and should have bumped up the psi to around 150. Otherwise, my shock setup was pretty normal for me, sticking close to recommended settings and never feeling the need to deviate far from them.
While climbing with the shock in Firm mode, the linkage would dip about 50-60% into its travel. This offered a solid pedalling platform, but still left adequate traction for bumpy singletrack climbs. Now since this bike has a motor, I did most of my climbing with the shock open and enjoyed a more comfortable ride and all the traction available. In open mode the shock will dip to 75-80% travel, which I’d say is a bit much for a non-assisted bike… but it’s no problem with a motor helping you ride uphill! Why not let the rear wheel stick to the trail better when there’s no sacrifice of efficiency?
On descents, the linkage handled impacts quite nicely. Small bumps were smoothed out very well, and with some extra heft, the rear wheel stuck to chattery trails. The linkage did a fine job of dulling bigger impacts and the progressivity was great, letting me hit 99% travel on most rides without bottoming out. With the suspension’s smooth action, I never thought much about the smaller 27.5” rear wheel.
There is enough mid-stroke support to give the E-Troy Lite a more natural ride feel than a full-power eMTB. While it doesn’t equal an unassisted bike, the E-Troy Lite offers a pleasantly lively and supportive ride just as it seeks to. With some speed behind it, the bike pops nicely off bumps, it doesn’t wallow into its travel while you’re pumping through rollers or berms, and it will spring out of corners nicely.
Components:
The RockShox Lyrik Ultimate fork performed great and rode stiff enough that I wouldn’t say this bike needs the beefier Zeb. With no tokens and my typical setup recipe the fork worked perfectly well for me.
The only component I had a problem with was the Magura MT5 brakes. The problem was that it took five full rides for them to bed in and start producing any kind of stopping power. On one early ride, I nearly rammed into a tree due to extremely weak braking. On another early ride, I was dragging both brakes while descending a trail, and they were barely slowing me down. After five rides the MT5’s finally became rideable and grabby on the first pull. From there on they remained reliable and consistent, but I still wouldn’t applaud their braking power.
One day while charging the bike I accidentally pulled the battery charge port’s rubber cover off the frame. After a bit of poking and prodding, I was able to pop it back into place without disassembling anything.
Overall the SRAM GX AXS shifting was great, but on my last few test rides two gears did get a bit skippy. This is the first time I’ve ridden an AXS drivetrain that required any kind of adjustment, and of course, it’s just a minor fix.
The SDG Belair 3.0 seat is comfortable enough, but the one on my test bike was super creaky. Every second my butt was in the saddle it was making a lot of noise. Devinci stocks a 175mm SDG Tellis dropper post on a medium frame, which is awesome. The post performed without fault.
One hard hit left two punctures in the Maxxis Dissector EXO+ rear tire. It was a small drop onto a pile of sharp rocks, and I wasn’t surprised I flatted… but a DH casing might have survived! A DH tire would be ideal for the rear end of any eMTB.
I did put a very small ding in the rear rim when I flatted the tire, but otherwise, the RaceFace ARC30 rims held up great throughout my testing. Even after the hard hit, the rear rim is no more than 2mms out of true and there’s no hop in the wheel. Finally, the RaceFace Next R35 carbon handlebar is a nice touch to the build, and I like the 800mm width.
MSRP for the E-Troy Lite GX AXS 12s is $7,399 USD. The frame comes in one Gloss/AL13 color.
