Rob Rides EMTB spent two months on the Rogue. Here's his verdict.
Rob Rides EMTB has built one of the largest channels in electric mountain biking, with over 1.1 million subscribers and hundreds of in-depth reviews since 2018. When he asked to spend real time on the Rogue, we said yes and stayed out of the way. We had no input into the script, no approval process, and didn't see the video before it went live. You can watch his full review below.
Two months, dozens of setups
As Rob explains in the video, he didn't take the easy road with this review. Over a couple of months he worked through a long list of configurations, testing both 170mm and 180mm forks, short and long chainstay options, and both the standard and progressive flip chip settings. He even tried the 29-inch flip chip position while keeping a mixed wheel setup.
He landed on a 170mm fork paired with 160mm of rear travel, running the 29-inch position with a mixed wheel setup, and steepened the head angle to balance it out. It took a fair amount of trial and error to get there, which says as much about how much the Rogue can be tuned as it does about Rob's thoroughness.
A rear end that stood out
The mid-pivot I-Track suspension was the clear highlight of Rob's review. He called it “the best rear suspension I've felt on any ebike so far,” and spent a good chunk of the video explaining why. He found it stayed supple through roots and small chatter while still ramping up support for bigger hits, without ever feeling like it blew through its travel.
Rob also pointed out that the idler pulley design keeps pedal kickback close to zero, since it moves with the suspension instead of sitting in a fixed spot. In his words, the cranks barely move at all as the suspension compresses, which is unusual for a bike running this kind of high pivot layout.
Despite the high pivot design, which has a reputation for feeling sluggish, Rob found the opposite. He described the Rogue as genuinely playful off jumps, putting it down to how progressive the rear suspension is through its travel.
Frame-only freedom
Rob highlighted something that sets the Rogue apart from most of the eMTB market, the option to buy frame-only and build up your own spec. He noted there aren't many eTMB's on the market offering this at all, and that it opens the door for riders who already have quality parts sitting in the garage from an older bike.
He also called out the packaging and small parts included with the frame, right down to the Avinox chainring tool and headset hardware, as a nice touch that's easy to overlook until it's missing.
The verdict
After two months, dozens of setup changes, and plenty of trail time, Rob's takeaway was clear. He called the Rogue a proper enduro ripper, capable of eating up chunky terrain and popping off jumps despite its weight, and said it rewards the effort of dialling it in as a genuinely sweet enduro bike once you do.
"It takes the big hits, the drops, and the jumps without ever feeling overwhelmed. It's very composed, but it is still poppy enough when you want it to be. And even just using the 160 travel setting, it does feel to me like it has more travel. If you like steep, rough trails, this is an enduro rider's dream."
