Early electric mountain bikes were overbuilt mountain bikes with batteries strapped to them. They were hard to look at, and at times, even harder to ride due to the extra weight. This all changes with the Orbea Rise. Rather than engaging in an arms race of technology, the Rise is a lightweight, smooth-handling, trail mountain bike that happens to offer electric assist.
Electric mountain bikes are often complicated, but the Orbea Rise is anything but. At the end of the day, we want to go out there and ride our bikes. Rise emphasizes smooth mountain bike handling, thanks to features and geometry shared with the Orbea Occam trail bike. But its Shimano EP801-RS and EP6 motors offer a bit more assistance to get to the top of our favorite trails. With a range of lightweight carbon mountain bikes and feature-packed aluminum MTBs, the Orbea Rise is easily one of our favorite electric mountain bikes. Ride one for yourself and you'll see why.