Haibike LYKE or Trek Fuel EXe? These are two of the new breed of lightweight e-bikes that’s got everyone excitedly rubbing their hands or scratching their heads in puzzlement. We love both bikes and we totally ‘get’ the concept of mid-level assist, even if some people are still unsure about it and prefer their power meaty and full-on.
As soon as the Fuel EXe came out, our Operations Manager, Alistair, got one and now our Bikes Manager, Alex, has invested in one of the first LYKEs to come into stock. For Alistair and Alex, these are their first e-bikes and both were sold on them after just one test ride session in Dalby Forest.
Watch them discuss these bikes on our YouTube channel in the video below.
Before we get into the comparison, for anyone who is new to these more natural feeling e-bikes, here’s what you need to know about this new category.
Both Trek Fuel EXe and Haibike LYKE are far lighter than standard e-MTBs, with much quieter motors and more subtle assist than their full fat big brothers, the Trek Rail and Haibile AllMtn. Where Rail and AllMtn deliver 85Nm of torque you can really feel, the experience with Fuel EXe (50Nm) and LYKE (60Nm) is very natural, like a playful, nimble acoustic bike. Both also conceal their motors cleverly within the frame at the base of the seat tube.
The Fuel EXe’s TQ motor has attracted heaps of praise for being virtually silent and the LYKE’s Fazua Ride 60 motor is very similar, although perhaps a little more noticeable.
Let’s look at the key specs side by side, using the mid-range LYKE CF 11. We would put this between the Fuel EXe 9.7 and 9.8 but for the purposes of this comparison we’ll use the 9.7.
Both bikes come with lightweight frames, with the Fuel EXe getting Trek’s OCLV Mountain Carbon and LYKE having Haibike’s LYKE Carbon frame. Both weigh in very close to the 18kg mark with their off-the-shelf componentry, a saving of 5kg on the typical weight of a Trek Rail or a Haibike AllMtn. A lot of the weight savings come from having less powerful motors and smaller batteries so there is a trade-off here, though some people prefer less power, as we’ll discuss later.
Trek Fuel EXe has longer travel on the front and rear, with Fox Rhythm 36 fork, Float EVOL air spring with 150 mm travel and Fox Performance Float shock with 140 mm travel. The Haibike LYKE comes with a 140 Fox 36 Float performance fork with 140mm of travel and Fox Float Performance DPS Evol shock with 130mm travel on the rear. The right amount of travel is very much a personal choice and comes down to whether you’re happy to sacrifice some pedalling efficiency for a ride that will handle roots, rocks and drops better.
The Trek Fuel EXe is equipped with a new-to-market TQ Harmonic Pin Ring 50 motor that delivers up to 50Nm of torque and 250 Watts of power. As we said above, it’s virtually imperceptible from a noise point of view and is very compact, fitting into the frame without shouting ‘e-bike’. Haibike LYKE comes with the Fazua Ride60 motor which also delivers 250 Watts of power but slightly more torque than the Fuel EXe at 60Nm. Again, it fits very nicely into the frame.
The power from both motors kicks in very naturally and doesn’t give you the surging feeling sometimes associated with full fat e-bikes. Alex and Alistair have been using theirs mostly on the low and middle settings – more of which later – because they still want to get a workout from their riding. Both say that’s enough assist to prolong the fun and boost them up the ascents so they can focus on lapping the downhills.
The Trek Fuel EXe comes with a TQ 360Wh battery and the LYKE with a 430Wh Intube battery. Both are integrated into the seat tube for a much sleeker look than an exposed version and both can be removed without tools for quick swapping or charging. Trek offer a 160Wh range extender while Haibike’s is a 210Wh version.
Haibike haven’t published an official range estimate and Trek give their figure as two to five hours on a full charge of the main battery. Alex and Alistair have been riding their bikes on the lowest setting for the flats and dialling it up to the middle setting for the climbs. We would estimate three to four hours for both bikes on a single charge based on a mixture of uphill, downhill and flats, with the rider contributing too.
This is the crux of the whole lightweight, natural-feeling e-bike category. Both the Fuel EXe and LYKE feel like very nimble full sus MTBs, if only a little more planted than their acoustic equivalents (not that Haibike have one). The assistance feels just right and is delivered in a smooth and subtle way, and both are assured and capable when the going gets rough. It’s very easy to forget you’re riding an e-bike on both models, once you’ve got used to them, and we can’t give much higher praise than that.
Here’s what Alex said:
“I found the LYKE feels just as nimble as the Trek Fuel EXe, plus, the LYKE has a lot of branded components that I would have upgraded to if I’d bought the Trek. The Mavic Crossmax wheels and the Maxxis Dissector tyres that come on the LYKE are exactly what I’m running on my other bike at the moment.
“LYKE is mega value for money. It’s a great quality specification for the price and very desirable brands on the components.
“We went out on these into Dalby Forest and we were up and down for a couple of hours. We had a whale of a time!”
Here’s Alistair’s view:
“I’m a big fan of the Fuel EXe. I think Trek have done a great job on this.
“I love downhill stuff. This just meant I could get straight back up to the top and do the downhills again, still getting a good workout, just lapping the downhills, and when I was going downhill, it didn’t feel like an e-bike.
“I love the way LYKE looks. I think Haibike have done a mega job on developing it. It’s got the carbon frame and looks really slick. Personally, I’m still sold on the Trek: I love the engineering and build quality but you can’t argue with the value for money on the Haibike.”
Come and see us in store in Southgate, Pickering, where you can test ride both bikes.
See Alex and Alistair discussing these two great bikes on our YouTube channel. Don’t forget to like and subscribe.
