The Mondraker Level R electrical mountain bike sits within the model’s ‘super enduro’ class, the place the main target of efficiency is on the downhills. Mondraker claims the bike is extra versatile than you’d anticipate, suggesting it’ll be greater than succesful when climbing.
Running on 29in wheels entrance and rear, the Level R shortlisted in our 2022 Bike of the Year awards options Mondraker’s Forward Geometry. This makes use of quick fork offsets matched with quick 30mm stems and lengthy attain figures, all claimed to extend stability, whereas sustaining responsive steering.
Its 170mm of Zero Suspension System rear-wheel journey is damped by Fox’s DHX2 coil-sprung shock, and matched with a 44mm offset Fox 38 fork, boasting 180mm of journey. The Mavic E-Deemax 29 wheels are wrapped in Maxxis DH Casing rubber, additional boosting its downhill credentials.
Mondraker has fitted Bosch’s Performance Line CX motor, with an enormous 750Wh battery and the smartphone-appropriate Kiox 300 show.
Mondraker Level R body and suspension particulars
Constructed from Mondraker’s Stealth Alloy, the model claims every of the bike’s tubes is designed to have one of the best weight-to-stiffness ratio doable.
The chunky down tube shops the battery. The motor and controller cables, and the brake and equipment cables, are all routed internally through down-tube ports.
Accessory mounts function on the underside of the highest tube, however there are not any bottle cage mounts, regardless of there being sufficient room contained in the entrance triangle.
The chainstay has in-constructed chain slap safety, whereas the area beneath the decrease linkage is full of mesh foam to cut back the possibilities of mud accumulating. The seat tube is straight however has a tapered form, decreasing seatpost insertion depth.
Suspension kinematics
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The 170mm of rear-wheel journey is managed by Mondraker’s twin-hyperlink Zero Suspension System, with each linkages compressing the shock from the highest and backside.
Mondraker claims this method permits it to tune the place of the moment centre or digital pivot level because the bike compresses, influencing anti-squat, anti-rise and development.
It’s claimed to have minimal chain progress all through the journey, which ought to cut back the quantity of pedal kickback.
Mondraker claims it has 100 per cent or extra anti-squat in every of the bike’s gears all through its journey vary. This means the suspension is much less more likely to bob underneath energy.
It’s additionally claimed to haven’t any brake jack, equating to a low anti-rise determine, the place the suspension is extra more likely to lengthen reasonably than compress underneath braking, doubtlessly making it really feel extra supple.
Mondraker says its starting stroke is delicate to enhance traction and luxury, whereas making the suspension progressive via its journey to provide mid-stroke assist and backside-out resistance.
According to Mondraker’s personal leverage-price graph, the Level is eighteen.67 per cent progressive, with a low 2.26:1 leverage ratio because of a protracted stroke shock. The Level R is paired with a coil-sprung rear shock, however is much less progressive than rival bikes.
Mondraker Level R battery and motor
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Bosch’s Performance Line CX motor, with the model’s Smart System and enormous 750Wh battery, is bolted to the Level R. It boasts 85Nm of torque and 250w of help.
This model of Bosch’s motor makes use of the Kiox 300 full-color LED show, management unit and LED distant. This can connect with Bosch’s Flow smartphone app, the place rides could be recorded and shared, extra trip information displayed, and modes customised.
Unlike Purion-equipped Bosch bikes, the Kiox Smart System has 4 modes: Eco, Tour+, eMTB and Turbo, plus a stroll help mode. Tour+ offers help in an analogous option to the eMTB mode – the place the more durable a rider pedals, the extra help is supplied – however isn’t person-tunable.
Mondraker Level R geometry
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Mondraker’s Forward Geometry idea, the place longer reaches are matched with shorter offset forks and shorter stems, has grow to be a broadly accepted methodology of bettering bike dealing with.
The Level R applies this idea in abundance and is out there in sizes small to additional-massive, with attain figures beginning at 450mm and increasing to 510mm.
For my 178cm body, I examined the big Level R with a beneficiant 490mm attain and 30mm stem. It has a reasonably low 357mm backside-bracket top, lengthy 455mm chainstays and a prolonged 1,290mm wheelbase.
Mondraker claims a reasonably conservative 65-diploma head tube angle, which I measured as 64.6 levels, and a steep 76.5-diploma efficient seat tube angle.
Mondraker Level R specs
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Thanks to parts that scream ‘downhill’, Mondraker additional cements the Level’s meant use.
Up entrance is Fox’s spectacular 38 Performance fork with GRIP damper and 180mm of journey, matched with a trunnion-mounted DHX2 Performance Elite rear shock, fitted with a 350lb coil spring.
Elsewhere, it has Mavic E-Deemax rims on Mavic hubs, wrapped in DH casing Maxxis Assegai 29×2.5in MaxxGrip compound tyres back and front. This is the hardest and tackiest rubber Maxxis makes.
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It has a SRAM GX/NX/SX Eagle drivetrain combine and Code R brakes with a big 220mm entrance rotor and smaller 200mm rear. There are Race Face cranks and a Fizik Terra Aidon X5 saddle.
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The remainder of the ending equipment, together with bar, stem, grips and dropper seatpost, comes from ONOFF, Mondraker’s in-home model.
Without pedals, my massive take a look at bike weighed 27.27kg.
Mondraker Level R trip impressions
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I examined the Level R in Scotland’s Tweed Valley, house to the UK’s spherical of the Enduro World Series.
I rode the bike on the identical trails used for the EWS, which vary from ludicrously steep descents via to flat-out DH tracks. Conditions modified from mid-winter slop to heat, dusty and quick-working terrain.
Mondraker Level R setup
I inflated the Fox 38 fork to 98psi and put in three quantity-reducer spacers, which gave me 38mm or 21 per cent sag. I set the exterior rebound adjustment to completely open and left the compression adjuster within the open place at some point of the take a look at.
The bike got here equipped with a 350lb/in spring, which gave me 21mm or 28 per cent sag. During testing, I discovered this to be good for my preferences. However, I set all of the shock’s compression and rebound adjusters to completely open.
Thanks to the downhill-casing Maxxis tyres, I used to be in a position to inflate them to decrease pressures in comparison with bikes with thinner-casing rubber. Generally, I set the entrance to 21psi and the rear to 24psi, however went softer if it was significantly moist and more durable in dry circumstances.
Mondraker Level R climbing efficiency
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When ascending, the Level R has an aura of calmness, the place rider inputs don’t have destabilising results on its chassis.
The centralised pedalling place is created by its lengthy entrance and rear centres (the space between the entrance wheel axle and backside bracket, and backside bracket and rear wheel axle respectively), that assist unfold a rider’s weight extra evenly between the back and front wheels.
Enhancing its ascending prowess additional is the steep seat tube angle that positioned my hips immediately over the underside bracket reasonably than behind it. This helped enhance climbing consolation and pedalling effectivity.
Combined, these gave the Level R an upright seated driving place, the place most of my weight was concentrated via my sit bones reasonably than my fingers. This suited the winch-and-plummet type of driving the Level is designed for.
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Front-wheel carry on steep ascents was decreased as a result of I wasn’t having to decrease myself in direction of the bars, and traction was additionally improved, the place it was intuitive to feed the motor’s energy via the again wheel with small, deliberate weight shifts.
At the beginning of its journey, the suspension was impressively fluttery and easy, which means it did an excellent job of absorbing small bumps and path chatter, bettering grip and luxury.
However, when pedalling exhausting over significantly tough terrain with medium to massive-sized hits, the rear finish might really feel choked and fewer keen to soak up bumps.
Given the leverage price is much less progressive than different bikes that don’t endure from this downside, it could be secure to guess the anti-squat figures above 100 per cent will likely be enjoying an element in stiffening up the rear finish.
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I used to be in a position to trip round this by anticipating the bigger bumps and unweighting the rear finish to go mild, reasonably than crashing via them and counting on the suspension to do the exhausting work.
The impressively damped and grippy downhill-casing 3C MaxxGrip compound tyres additionally helped easy out vibrations and supplied immense grip, matching the ability of the Bosch motor nicely.
It is a big bike, nonetheless. And whereas its size is essential in making it really feel calm, the seat tube can also be lengthy, with restricted put up insertion making it really feel tall. Shorter folks, or these with shorter legs, may wrestle to dimension as much as entry longer attain figures and nonetheless be capable of match on the Level.
Battery life
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With a battery greater than its rivals, I anticipated the Bosch Performance Line CX Smart System motor to ship an epic vary. However, the Mondraker’s weight, thick casing and sticky rubber tyres, and Kiox 300 show mix to empty the battery rapidly.
I used to be fortunate to exceed 1,300m of climbing in eMTB or turbo modes, whereas getting over 1,500m was nearly doable in path+. Eco proved to be extra frugal, however because of that weight determine, I used to be working a lot more durable in comparison with lighter bikes.
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Even with the bike turned on however stationary, a single per cent of battery would drain in 10 to twenty minutes.
In the upper help modes, the Bosch motor felt unimaginable, offering a peppy, pure-feeling trip. Although it proved to be much less economical than the EP8, it was actually extra highly effective, additionally beating the motors on the Specialized and Giant bikes on this Bike of the Year class when it comes to grunt.
Mondraker Level R descending efficiency
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Despite the headline weight determine, the Level R was sprightly however nicely-behaved heading downhill, for probably the most half.
It actually felt calm and composed on steeper or sooner terrain, the place the lengthy wheelbase, attain and chainstays all performed their half in decreasing see-sawing and chassis destabilisation brought on by bumps.
This meant I used to be doing much less work to maintain the bike degree and in management, giving it a peaceful trip.
In flip, this decreased fatigue and allowed me to focus on selecting strains, going sooner and having extra enjoyable.
In tighter turns, it was additionally surprisingly simple to deal with. The head tube angle – that’s arguably steeper than you’d anticipate on a motorbike with the remainder of its geometry figures – and quick stem helped preserve steering fast and sharp, particularly in steeper turns the place the forks had been compressed by my weight, additional steepening it.
Impressively, the steep head tube angle didn’t trigger the entrance wheel to tuck, which is usually an issue on steeper bikes.
The fork’s air spring and spectacular GRIP damper – that arguably feels higher than the GRIP2 within the 38 – contributed to maintaining the entrance finish from diving too far into its journey, preserving steering management.
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This additionally meant my weight might be over the entrance of the bike to help management with out the steering turning into twitchy.
The Mondraker is without doubt one of the few bikes the place I wouldn’t desire a slacker head angle, given its weight and different geometry numbers, and its geometry makes the Level R massively succesful on the downhills.
Like on the ascents, the rear suspension felt supple for a overwhelming majority of the time, and appeared eager to soak up smaller bumps and path chatter nicely.
This gave it a easy, grip-ample trip that made sticking strains over rocky, rooty and bumpy terrain very rewarding.
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On bigger drops to flat, it additionally had loads of ramp-up, not bottoming out harshly or consuming an excessive amount of of its journey unnecessarily. There was additionally loads of mid-stroke assist in berms and when driving via compressions.
However, in eventualities after I was placing power via the pedals, inflicting the chain to stress – resembling pumping a bump or driving with straighter legs – the rear suspension might really feel harsh and unable to soak up bumps, ceaselessly inflicting the rear wheel to emit a donging sound because it hit into the terrain.
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After 60km, lots of the Mavic rear wheel’s spokes had de-tensioned, proof it was having to soak up a big portion of the terrain that the rear suspension couldn’t.
Even after tightening the spokes, a couple of rides later they might start to lose stress. While this might be a difficulty with the rear-wheel construct, I believe it’s extra doubtless right down to the rear finish not monitoring the bottom in addition to it might.
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The tyres additionally performed their half in bettering the Level’s downhill manner. The thick, damped carcasses did an important job of insulating among the bumps the rear finish couldn’t take up and had been definitely worth the weight and battery-life penalties elsewhere when it comes to grip and puncture safety.
Other manufacturers take word, these tyres are acceptable for enduro-type ebikes.
How does the Mondraker Level R examine?
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In phrases of journey, the Scott Ransom eRide 910 and Nukeproof Megawatt 297 Factory (XT) are direct opponents. Despite that, every bike has its personal character, with the Level R feeling as if it has probably the most journey and composure of the three.
Its tyres actually affect its trip high quality loads, particularly in comparison with the Ransom, which is arguably underneath-tyred.
Against the Megawatt, the Level R is extra plough and fewer enjoyable, regardless that the Nukeproof’s suspension feels higher via the whole journey vary.
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A whole lot of its enjoyable trip high quality is right down to the Nukeproof’s decrease weight, shorter chainstay determine and 27.5in rear wheel.
For some folks, its 27.27kg weight will likely be a damaging, for others will probably be a profit.
Battery life was disappointing, given the 750Wh headline capability is 20 per cent greater than the opposite Bosch ebikes’ 625Wh batteries on this take a look at.
For the additional weight, there wasn’t a 20 per cent improve in vary. Swapping out to lighter, much less cheesy tyres would assist enhance its life, however this may negatively affect different parts of the bike’s trip.
Mondraker Level R backside line
If you are inclined to hammer down the steepest, gnarliest or quickest tracks, the Level R is an actual performer, outshining loads of different bikes designed to do the identical factor.
It’s much less of a generalist although, and flowy, flatter trails aren’t as partaking to trip as on lighter-weight counterparts.
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Its suspension isn’t and not using a few quirks, with harsh reverberations brought on by bumps getting transmitted via the body or punishing the again wheel greater than on different bikes. However, firstly of its journey, it’s supple and offers loads of grip.
The Bosch motor is fantastically highly effective, however on this bike it appears to be inefficient. Whether that’s right down to the Smart System or the spec is difficult to pinpoint.
If you desire a exhausting charger with a descending bias, the Level R is a superb bike and fairly priced.
How we examined
Despite this being the inaugural version of eMTB Bike of the Year take a look at, we’ve had loads of expertise testing ebikes to their absolute limits. That means discovering out which of those eight bikes is one of the best electrical mountain bike presently on sale was made a little bit simpler.
Although that’s not say our job was easy, and selecting a winner got here right down to the wire, the place the second and first place bikes swapped positions extra occasions than we checked our tyre and shock pressures.
The majority of the ebike testing occurred in Scotland’s Tweed Valley, house to the legendary Glentress path centre, Golfie enduro tracks and Innerleithen downhill runs. The terrain we examined the bikes on, due to this fact, was broad in scope and consultant of what a contemporary enduro bike ought to be capable of deal with, whether or not that was gravity-fuelled laps on the DH tracks, epic enduro missions with lengthy descents or gruelling path rides with hours within the saddle.
To win this 12 months’s take a look at, we had been on the lookout for a motorbike that supplied one of the best all-spherical bundle with fewest compromises and was in a position to carry out on each kind of driving we might throw at it. In an ode to a motorbike tester’s cliché, it needed to descend like a downhill bike, pedal and climb like a cross-nation bike and be as snug to trip as an enduro bike.