Great review Lance. I’m a former Rail owner and now have an EXE. Agree with all your points. I much prefer how it rides than the rail - range has been my only slight issue. I finally got the range extender this week which basically gives 50% extra range. Managed 53km at Woodhill today. I loved my Rail but only ever road in Tour+. With the range extender the EXE is a clear winner in my opinion. Keep up the good work Lance, love the videos!

Nice review and a beautiful looking trail. I was impressed that you could talk and ride at the same time!

I'd go the Fuel for me Lance. Lighter to throw around and get sideways in the air. Nice video review bro. I'm very impressed by the way you can talk and narrate your clips while pinning it down the trail!! 🤘

I tried out both bikes and I bought the rail. I'm so glad I did- power = fun. I just installed a speedi and it changes the limiter to 45km/h and loving it. I don't have a problem with cheating

Awesome review. Probably the best of watched. My wife and I have had the EXe 9.7's for 18 months and we absolutely love them. Plenty of mates have a full powered ebike and yes they fly up the hill quicker but I just love the lightness and playfulness of the EXe. About to upgrade to a new 9.9 EXe. Thanks again and I'll definitely subscribe to watch more reviews. Can't wait to get to NZ to ride some trails over there 😁.

Great review! I own a Trek Rail 5 and it does not feel 24 kg, the medium size frame and good geometry allow it to feel quiet nimble . In eco mode the assistance is very smooth and not overbearing. It destroys rough terrain and it so stable in these conditions. I ride an analogue Trek Fuel ex8 which is also great to ride so best of both worlds

I rode the Rail for a month and traded it for the EXE. It's perfect for me - nimble, well balanced and takes the edge of the climbs. I love that it doesn't scream "ebike". Best bike I've ever owned.

The only answer is buy BOTH

Great review Lance, agreed its horses for course and everyone wants something different out of an emtb, I've got a Fuel exe and as a fairly strong rider at 79kg’s I got 30kms and 900 meters of climbing and still had 30% left in the battery so its more than enough for me and it feels closer to a normal bike which is what I wanted also, unlike the rail which is just an absolute unmovable weapon which one of my mates has got.

I dig that color its awesome

As a Rail owner, I’m hoping they bring out the e-slash. Lighter than the rail but more travel than the EXe (170mm) and hopefully a more powerful TQ motor so no Bosch rattle. Perfect.

Great video Greg!!!! Thank you!!!

Thank you Lance! I have been wrestling with Rail or Fuel, Fiber or Alloy and came up with the same conclusion but still wanted to see if someone else had a different take on it. IT IS OBVIOUS to me at the end of the ride I'm TIRED. If there is no power left I'm really tired. Rail has great range for riding the bumps or just graveling. My first test was a first gen Rail 5 and although it had its quirks, (i had some shin strikes to prove it) the newer versions are greatly improved and I really appreciate your review. Im ordering my new Rail 7 Gen 3 today. ( and its on sale ) Thank you so much.

Great one. I am a fun rider and have a Fuel Exe ... I mostly ride in ECO mode. I do not remember riding it in any other mode. Maybe i should try them

Completely correct Lance. Rail owner here as well. Have ridden both. I ride 40-60km & 1000m+ climbing each ride and there is no way an EXE can do that even with an extender. Buy what suits you, if your riding flat XC for 15-20km then an EXE would be great. Point it up a hill and the Rail destroys it

Great review!

This man has it spot on! The rail is better for 99% of everyday life. Get the skinny cousins only if you are a really keen, good mountain biker. If not the new rail with the 750w battery is unbeatable!

Great video! 👍🏾 thanks! ☺️

Good review Lance. I am also 176cm. Normally would ride a Trek in size ML. I was able to extensively demo ride the Fuel EXe in both sizes, the 9.7 large and a 9.9 medium. found the large a bit long reach wise and the medium felt much more nimble and playful. In the end went with the Rail again, I might look at a gen 2 Fuel EXe. Apart from sub optimal sizing I really liked the Fuel EXe especially the medium. That one really felt like a completely different bike to me. If you can get your hands on one, do try it. The range would have been a minor issue for me also but we have relatively flat terrain over here. If you’re doing a lot of elevation and long rides you will surely run into it’s limitations and be better of with the Rail indeed.

Really enjoyed your take on this question mate, I agree with all the points you’ve made regarding the strengths and weaknesses of these two amazing bikes. I went with the EXe 9.7 model because of the decent spec and I really enjoy riding fast flowing single track and with the speed limiter disabled courtesy of another great NZ invention the speedi and an upgraded 160 mm 38 fork up front it’s turned into a pretty capable all mountain machine as well. I can rinse the battery pretty quick when riding with my full fat mates however and with all that speed and capability available it’s hard not to just hit full power and leave it there. However I often ride with meat powered mates and head off for adventures by myself and this is when the bike is brilliant and with care my 80kgs has etched 50km out of the standard battery. I’ve ridden it home empty a few times as well and this is not too painful . A range extender would ease the range anxiety but still going to be busting my arse keeping up with my full powered mates up the steep climbs 50 nm is never gonna beat 80 😁🤙

nice review....great trails...looks like a blast....nice riding too!....the trek fuel exe definitely has my attention....though i wish they made a top fuel e

The first thing salesman at Evocycles told me is that a lot of riders are worried about the range when you hit the hills.

I have the same bike and upgraded a few bits. I love it! You get the exercise and the 50nm is more than enough for the type of riding here in AKL. It would be a lot better if you do get the range extender.

I've done over 5000ks on my Exe since I got it in October and really like it. I've upgraded it here and there (I got the 9.5 and added carbon rims and the new Sram drive train) but love the lightness of it. I get the power and range issues but I wanted to get fit now that I hit 50 so this fits the bill well. I tend to ride in the lower two power modes and then hop on my analogue once a week to make sure I get my heart rate up a bit. I might get a Rail in the future, but that range extender might be all I need! I was hoping you'd review this at some point so thanks for the review and comparison!

I came to the same conclusion. Love my Rail!

Hey Lance, thanks for these nice videos! Quick question: would you still buy the Ktm today, or would you go for something else? Cheers

Excellent video Lance , particularly the irony and analogy bits . I reckon it's Big Guys , big Bikes Small Guys , lightweight Bikes . I'm 1.66 Mtrs tall ( or short ) 64kg weight so I'd take the lightweight every time .

Your summary is on point. If you have mates with full power e-MTB, you should only consider getting full power (and range) yourself.

Awesome video as usual, and a good analysis of the vital points most people care about. You should have asked your wife to throw the envelopes to you from behind the camera btw. :)

Great content you got there. Definitely subbing to this one :)

I have the rail 7, i genuinely never even notice when i go above the motor's limit, i don't feel it holding me back. Big up the Rail 7!!

All 3 modes set to 100%. So are you saying it DIDN'T take an hour to decide which track to ride first. Great review

Interesting video, I'd wondered myself and ended up with Rail. 25km at Woodhill does show the Fuel is a bit light. It would run short at my stomping ground of Arapuke which has steeper terrain. But the Fuel feeling like a non ebike does appeal. Simple answer, win lotto have both and a garage full of all the other cool ones!

Your bang on, horses for courses. The EXE is my first e-bike and I didn't want to depart too much from the steam bike. It's no heavier than my original downhill bike from 20 years ago, I am happy to sacrafice power for weight. As for the range I brought an eXTender mod that takes a 140wh battery and added a SPEEDi { both NZ inventions}. So now I have 500wh of battery and a top speed of 46kph. I would say 60-65 nm would be the ideal power, maybe thats the next model, but if you have more power you need more battery and then you are back where you started, a heavy bike.

Just bought gen 4 rail 9,8 GX. Cant wait for it to arrive next week. Got if on sale for 6800 dollar which is a good price for me. Also have slash 9.8 xt (2022). Its a god bike, but my legs get burned on casual every day trail riding. Hope Rail will solve this. Didnt go for fuel exe because of less suspension and battery. Im 6,8 ft 105 kg. Im afraid the battery will die fast with my weight. Plus whatever review i see on rail, everyone seem to be in awe specially on higher end models. On straight up enduro racing i shall bring my slash for pure bike fun. The duo will compliment each other. I already have plans to upgrade the rail. Vivid coil 160 mm, 170 zeb ultimate, xtr brakes, Sramo XO groupset and bontrager elite trp carbon Rims. I will do it slowly on sales. I believe when this rail is upgraded to the max will be a menace of a bike.

Motor resistance on fuel exe does exist, its not much but maybe you could say it was like 1 gear of a cassette. Although if you power the bike off then there is no resistance. Ive got the axs build which means the motor battery also powers the gear shifting. So i plan on getting an axs battery then remove the motor battery or just not worry about running low on charge

For me, being limited to only one emtb the full fat wins every time. I would like a ride on the new giant 85nm 19kg Trance though. Be perfect if the battery could be removed like the other Trances. Carry a spare in the car/backpack for those bigger rides.

The under 20kg bike is ideal for throwing on a bus, plane and its TQ harmonic pin ring transmission technology gives it the edge for me.

Was kinda hoping this video would convince me of the eXe 5 but my riding mates have full power eMTB’s so maybe I’m best with the Rail 7. I was a strong rider but age & weight seem proportional.

Hey Lance, great review, I ride my rail in turbo mode all the time, it feels weak in any other mode ! You forgot to mention a bid advantage of the rail, the fun you have passing teenagers and fit people up hills, now if you will excuse me, I have to Google some words, now what was the first one...ir..iron..ironneeeyy...ir....😂

For anyone considering either the Rail or EXE, is handling the bigger bike a more "physical" experience? Like is there more full-body effort thrashing the Rail around VS the EXE? I've got a 2018 Fuel EX 9.8 and I love it, but if I were to change it, it would definitely be either the Rail or EXE (leaning more to the latter). I like the idea of getting training in and getting even a little bit of help on longer climbs so I can do more in a day. Keen to hear thoughts!

The rail, good choice.

Got rail…wanna get one of these…to have as well.. perfect for my mostly shorter rides and better way to get heart rate up…

Awesome review, I have been debating slim shady or fat bottom girl. Now I know more about both😂 still hard to decide how long time wise do you think you could ride at Roto on the EXE? My normal bike rides there are about 2-3 hours and 18-25k. That’s with one shuttle in the middle sometimes. Thanks

👌

I own a rail but have ridden the fuel exe, I like it but it seemed a bit undergunned for me, maybe at 95kg wet and into motos also the weight doesn't make a difference and if anything I felt more confident on my rail especially in the chunk and in the air. If the exe came with a more burly build and a bigger battery it would weigh the same as the rail so for me your better off on the rail with full fat .

I would buy the exe for my wife being lighter. We still love our rail 9

I’m 64 heavy at 106 kg and 191 height. Not that fit. I don’t do big air nor small jumps, so I’m thinking a Rail will be good for me.

I just want to sound like a Mazda RX3 ! that would block out all Steve OS crap 😂 and I am just so glad you didn’t mention a Mitsubishi Triton , just imagine the loss of punters to the channel…. Soooo glad 😀 , Rail all the way too the bank for this portly chap ✋🏼🤘🏽

grande!

yey FULL POWER Es 🤣

Get a rail 7 and save a few thousand.

Good but very overprised emtbs

Neither fords are crap,

I’ve got the Spec SL with a range extender. I completed old ghost road on it with 30% battery remaining but the motor whine is getting to me after 2.5yrs of ownership. Seriously considering change to EXe just cos it’s quiet.. your video has helped me with that as I don’t ride with full fat peeps, almost exclusively steamers.. good to know that pit crew can hire me one for a decent try out.. great vid as usual Lance!