Vitus E-Mythique LT VRX review

Vitus’ E-Mythique LT eMTB is the brand's answer to enduro-ready performance without breaking the bank.

The top-spec VRX – from a three-model range – retails for £4,399.99 / $4,599 / €5,099.99, £100 less than the most affordable E-Sommet VR.

Despite its relatively diminutive price tag, wise spec choices and modern geometry should mean the E-Mythique LT won’t leave budding electric enduro fans lusting for any immediate post-purchase upgrades.

Fitted with Bafang’s 95Nm M510 electric bike motor and 630Wh battery, the Vitus’ drive unit promises as much range and torque as its competition.

Keith Bontrager’s saying, "strong, light, cheap, pick two" applies here. The size-large mixed-wheeled (29in front, 27.5in rear) E-Mythique LT VRX tips the scales at 25.44kg without pedals, which is undeniably chunky.

Out on the trail, the E-Mythique is remarkably easy to jump on and ride confidently thanks to sorted and balanced geometry.

Easy to set up and well-chosen dampers add to this; tapping into performance for smooth and grippy on-trail sensations is quick to do, despite their relatively basic designs. It gobbles up choppy terrain insatiably, isolating you from unwanted, tiring inputs.

Combined with a slack head angle (63.5 degrees), generous reach (476mm) and long wheelbase (1,275mm), diving headlong into technical, fast, rough and challenging terrain is awesome fun.

The E-Mythique's scope stretches beyond its obvious enduro focus; long days in the saddle are comfortable and battery life is impressive.

The Bafang motor also provides plenty of punch, feeling more powerful than Shimano’s EP8, but just as frugal. It also proved itself reliable during the test period; something that can't be said of all electric bike motors.

If you’re on a budget but pining for an enduro-ready electric mountain bike, the E-Mythique LT VRX is a sensible choice.

Vitus E-Mythique LT VRX frame, suspension and motor

Built from 6061-T6 double-butted aluminium, the E-Mythique LT’s outline is similar to its sibling E-Sommet.

However, it shares more tubes with its namesake shorter-travel Mythique than the other ebike in the brand’s line-up.

Cables are routed internally via ports on the down tube, there’s plenty of slap-muting chain protection on the rear stay, and it uses SRAM’s Universal Derailleur Hanger, opening future upgrades to the brand’s Transmission gears. It runs Boost 12x148mm hub spacing, with the rear end based around a 27.5in wheel.

Suspension

Thanks to a progressive leverage ratio (2.83 to 2.06), there’s plenty of ramp-up in its 160mm travel Horst-link suspension design.

It uses a trunnion-mounted metric 205x65mm rear shock, a standard size permitting easy upgrades.

There’s roughly 55 per cent anti-rise, meaning the suspension should extend when the rear brake is applied, helping it remain more active.

Anti-squat sits just below 100 per cent at sag in a ‘climbing gear’, which should make the suspension relatively active on the gas without bobbing too much.

Motor and battery

Eschewing the big four motor manufacturers (Bosch, Shimano, Brose and Yamaha), Vitus has worked closely with Banfang on developing the M510 motor’s software tune, mode selector ergonomics and display design.

The result is 95Nm of torque and 550W of peak power across five pre-set modes comprising Eco, Eco Plus, Trail, Boost and Race.

Trail mode’s assistance delivery is variable, where increased rider input ups motor output, similar to Shimano’s Trail and Bosch’s Tour and eMTB modes.

Vitus says software updates down the line will unlock rider-customisable motor assistance levels.

A removable 630Wh battery is stowed in the down tube. It’s claimed to deliver more than 1,800m of ascent on a single charge when used in the lower-powered settings.

Vitus E-Mythique LT VRX geometry

The E-Mythique LT’s enduro-ready geometry figures don’t throw up any surprises.

Its four-size range (S to XL) caters for riders from 160cm to 201cm tall – according to Vitus – with the shortest and longest reach figures coming in at 434mm and 510mm respectively.

A slack 63.5-degree head angle is matched with a steep 77.5-degree seat tube angle.

Moderately short top tubes (573mm to 649mm) should help keep the seated position upright and relaxed, while long 445mm chainstays and wheelbases help provide stability.

Its geometry isn’t adjustable, but the 160mm fork travel VR model has slightly different figures from the VRX’s 170mm fork tested here.

Vitus E-Mythique LT VRX specficiations

Headlining the bike’s spec is a RockShox Yari RC fork with 170mm of travel and a Super Deluxe Select R shock.

Adding to the checklist of astute choices is a SRAM NX/GX Eagle drivetrain mix and tough-carcass Vee Tire HPL rubber, designed specifically for ebiking.

Elsewhere are SRAM’s DB8 four-piston mineral oil brakes with 200mm rotors front and back.

WTB ST Light i30 TCS rims are laced to Vitus hubs, while there’s finishing kit from Nukeproof’s Neutron range of parts. Finally, a Brand-X Ascend dropper – with 170mm of travel on the large – is fitted.

My size-large test bike weighed 25.44kg without pedals.

Vitus E-Mythique LT VRX ride impressions

I tested the E-Mythique LT VRX in Scotland’s Tweed Valley, home to the UK’s round of the enduro world cup and 2023 MTB XC world championships.

The trails ranged from DH and enduro-specific runs through to all-day epics in the Lowland hills and laps of the local Glentress trail centre, while remaining rocky, rooty and challenging throughout.

Trail conditions were unapologetically British as the country experienced some of the wettest July and August weather on record. However, that meant the bike had a thorough workout.

Setup

Setting up the E-Mythique LT was relatively easy.

The shock came fitted with three volume-reducer spacers installed, and I left these in for the duration of the test period. For my 77kg kitted-up weight, after initially inflating the air spring to 175psi, I reduced pressure to 168psi, giving me roughly 30 per cent sag.

The fork had one volume-reducer spacer installed from the factory, which I increased to three. I started with 90psi in the spring, but reduced this in 5-psi increments to 75psi. At this pressure, I was happy with their smoothness and the amount of bottom-out resistance.

Chunky mode controllers usually cause brake, shifter and controller setup clashes, but this wasn’t the case with the Vitus’ slimline mode selector’s design.

My test bike’s tyres were already set up tubeless from Vitus. However, customers who wish to go tubeless will need to buy some sealant and remove the factory-installed tubes.

The rims are pre-taped and Vitus supplies valves, making tubeless setup relatively easy.

I set the front tyre to 27psi and the rear to 30psi, perfect for my riding style, trail conditions and the bike’s weight.

Vitus E-Mythique LT VRX climbing performance

When climbing, the super-plush, smooth and active rear suspension does an impressive job of isolating you from small and medium bumps.

Imperfections on worn-out fire-road and trail-centre surfaces, which usually create backside-numbing trail buzz, are neutered almost entirely. It provides a comfortable platform to focus on increasing speed or having more fun.

The fork mirrors this smooth action, moving happily in and out of the first part of its travel smoothly and quickly.

Even the chunky Vee Tire Co Attack HPL rubber feels well damped – muted even – on this type of terrain, despite my preference for harder tyre pressures.

Frequently, cheaper tyres have a harsher, more plastic feel to their ride, as their carcasses and tread are made from less sticky rubber and don’t deform as well. This isn’t the case with the Vees.

The traction isn’t perfect on greasier roots and rocks. The rear wheel spins across diagonal surfaces, especially when it is being driven hard by the motor’s output, requiring a little extra care to maintain control.

Ride softer terrain and they bite impressively, chewing into the ground and driving forward motion.

Comfortable geometry

Its steep seat tube angle places your hips directly over the bottom bracket, helping improve climbing comfort and efficiency.

The upright riding position limits fatigue by concentrating your weight through your backside rather than through the palms of your hands. In this respect, it's archetypal of a winch-and-plummet enduro bike, and it’s all the better for it.

You can cover plenty of ground comfortably, too. It’s just as at home on all-day epics as it is loyally serving your uplift demands in preparation for the next gravity-focused fix.

Even though it rides well with a soft setup, thanks to plenty of built-in progression its geometry is maintained when your weight cants onto the back wheel on steeper climbs. This helps maintain steering control on savage inclines sometimes caused by an over-sagged rear end.

Vitus E-Mythique LT VRX motor performance and battery life

At lower cadences or speeds, the M510 is impressively quiet, remaining more hushed than Bosch’s Performance Line CX and Shimano’s EP8 motors.

Increase cadence, speed or pedalling ferocity and the noise levels get closer between each motor, but the Bafang’s sound is more constant than the ‘turkey gobble’ the Shimano makes and is lower-pitched than the Bosch’s whine.

Power delivery is very smooth, with no jerkiness or binary on/off starts, even when you’re setting off in Boost or Race on a particularly spicy climb.

In all modes – even Race – the assistance tails off as cadence exceeds a certain point. This is similar in feel to the EP8 but unlike the Bosch, which holds power regardless of your pedalling speed.

There’s a definite sweet spot between 78 and 92rpm; sticking to it gets the most assistance from the motor.

While Boost and Race mode feel punchy when lined up against an EP8, both are down on Bosch’s equivalent Turbo and Race settings.

While neither system is better or worse than the other, if you’re after outright power, the Bosch is still the pick of the bunch.

Both Bosch and Bafang have long overruns in Race. This is great for cresting technical climbs, but less helpful when you’re on a steep descent, do a half crank to reposition your feet and find the motor is driving you forwards. Sticking to the lower-powered modes when going downhill avoids this.

The motor is much quieter when descending than Shimano’s EP8. Although there’s still a small amount of freewheel clack on rough terrain, it’s barely noticeable.

In terms of battery life, using just Trail mode I managed 1,365m of ascent over 31.94km before it ran out of juice.

In Boost and Race, 1,200m of ascent was possible. It’s on par with Shimano bikes fitted with the 630Wh battery, while offering slightly more power, but has a little less range than a Bosch-equipped bike with the 625Wh battery.

I found the auto-off to be too quick; the system shuts down after five minutes, barely long enough for a pre-descent pee, drink, snack and chat.

The remote buttons are too easy to press. I frequently cycled between outputs during the ferocity of descending, ending up in Race mode when I really didn’t want to be.

Locating the speed magnet on the spokes is less refined compared to brake-rotor mounted designs. The magnet is more exposed to impacts, and it could be knocked out of place. The sensor’s location means a future upgrade to a disc magnet isn’t possible.

Overall, the Bafang is impressive in almost all aspects, and has proven to be tough and reliable during the test period, despite unsympathetic post-ride cleaning procedures.

Vitus E-Mythique LT VRX descending performance

Unsurprisingly, its smooth climbing character is mirrored on the descents.

Hard chargers and lighter riders will feel equally rewarded by the front and rear suspension’s performance.

Hit a square-edged obstacle at pace and the rear end is free to move up out of the way quickly, insulating the bike’s chassis from bump inputs.

This keeps control high and rider inputs low; you don’t have to work hard to stay on track.

With plenty of progressive ramp-up as it gets further into its travel, it doesn’t bottom out too easily or compress deep into its stroke on each hit, remaining ready for the next bump.

For lighter riders, the sprung-to-unsprung mass ratio contributes to the suspension’s plush and speedy action. This gives lighter riders a similar bike feel to heavier or harder ones, boosting control and confidence for all.

Big-hit bottom-out resistance is good, too. Drops to flat or chunky compressions are absorbed well, with a soft landing to full travel.

Pop and balance

Its kinematics also create plenty of pop. Hopping from one line to the next, or pumping the terrain playfully, is both fun and fast.

There’s little penance for running it soft; it doesn’t bottom out harshly, it retains its pop, but also provides plenty of grip and comfort.

It’s balanced, too. Both the shock and fork compress and extend in harmony, and their spring’s progression is matched, removing any stability-upsetting front or rear biases.

The Yari’s 35mm upper legs don’t feel under-gunned for its weight and the frame’s aggressive attitude, proving there’s still life left in narrower-stanchioned forks against the backdrop of ever-increasing diameters.

Its relatively tall 648mm stack provides confidence in the steeps; driving weight through the bars into the front wheel doesn’t make you feel as though you’re about to flip over the front. This is great for attacking steeper, technical trails.

However, the seat tube is tall. The seat glances your backside when descending, and while not ride-ruining, you certainly notice it when you really open the taps. A longer-travel, lower-stack post might help, but so would having a shorter seat tube in the first instance.

Turning on a dime

Combining with the poppy suspension is its front-to-rear-centre ratio, and stack and bottom bracket heights. These help you switch between lines confidently, lift the back wheel up around tight turns and flow accurately down the trial.

Adding to its cornering prowess, the geometry enables you to hunker into a banked turn. It also helps the rear end drift eagerly on flatter corners because more weight is over the front of the bike than the rear.

Traction needs to be feathered in if you want to keep the rear end from drifting, but the breakaway into a slide is smooth and gradual, and very easy to control and hold.

The tyres add to this. While the carcass offers plenty of support and puncture protection, and remains damped and smooth over bumps, the tread’s compound can squirm and skim over greasier roots and rocks, or hardpack surfaces.

This makes it drift and slide – albeit predictably – in certain scenarios. It’s great fun if you’ve got the skills to hold it on the edge of grip, but might be a bit of a handful if you’re less experienced.

As on the ups, there is masses of grip on softer terrain, where the harder knobs bite aggressively into the ground.

A tyre upgrade to models with a tackier compound would calm the handling down instantly, however.

The DB8 brakes have a firm, consistent lever feel and proved to be easy to bleed. However, on longer descents that firmness can feel wooden; increasing lever pressure doesn’t up power at the rotor.

On longer descents, my hands and arms began to pump up. Switching to bigger disc rotors or installing sintered pads might improve power, but the best solution would be swapping the DB8s for more powerful mountain bike brakes.

How does the Vitus E-Mythique LT VRX compare to the Vitus E-Sommet VRX?

The similarities between these stablemates make them compelling competitors.

First up, the E-Mythique LT VRX’s price (£4,399.99) is significantly lower than the RRP of the E-Sommet VRX, which costs £5,999.99.

However, CRC tends to have tantalising deals on the E-Sommet, with (at the time of writing) the VRX model costing £4,999.99, only £600 more.

Which brings me on to specs. For that extra E-Sommet cash, you get SRAM’s latest GX Eagle AXS Transmission, Ultimate-level ZEB fork and Super Deluxe RC2T shock. Nukeproof Horizon rims are wrapped in grippy Maxxis tyres, and it’s got Hayes Dominion A4 brakes.

However, it’s fitted with Shimano’s EP801 motor, which as I’ve found out, is less powerful than the Bafang.

Travel, geometry and wheel sizes are pretty consistent across the two bikes, although the E-Mythique LT’s figures are slightly slacker and longer than the E-Sommet.

The bikes share characteristics on the trail. Both are easy to ride, both have impeccably smooth suspension and both have a bias to rear-end drift rather than grip.

If it was my cash, I’d look at spending the extra £600 for the E-Sommet VRX. Once you’ve swapped out the E-Mythique’s tyres and brakes, you’ll have spent at least half that, and the E-Sommet VRX’s kit is near-impossible to upgrade out of the box.

Vitus E-Mythique LT VRX bottom line

The E-Mythique LT VRX is a great bike for the money, in all respects.

Moving to Bafang’s motor – away from the more established manufacturers – appears to have no drawbacks. It’s powerful, smooth and has proven to be reliable. Add in good battery life and it’s a tantalising prospect.

Both up and downhill, the E-Mythique feels comfortable and capable thanks to well-considered and balanced geometry.

Its components balance performance and price well, but you might want to upgrade the brakes and tyres, depending on the type of terrain you ride the most.

Justifying its cost compared to the E-Sommet is tricky, given the appetising discounts usually on offer, because Vitus’ original eMTB is fitted with better parts for not much extra cost.

If you’re set on avoiding Shimano motors – and some may be – the E-Mythique LT is the perfect launchpad into the world of long-travel electric enduro bikes.