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Norco Fluid VLT Review | An Absolutely LOADED eMTB

Designing a top-of-the-line eMTB isn’t easy. Everyone wants their eMTB to be as light as possible, or at least no heavier than necessary. But people also want as much power and range as possible.

Those two interests compete because as an eMTB gains power (bigger motor) and range (bigger battery), it also gains weight, so brands must choose how they want to balance one against the other.

The Norco Fluid VLT is a case where the brand did its best not to choose.

The Bosch Performance Line SX Motor Is a Year Old—What Does It Tell Us About the Future?

During the summer of 2023 Bosch introduced a new motor, the Performance Line SX. This is Bosch’s lightest drive unit to date, weighing only 2.0kg (4.4 lbs.). What makes the Bosch Performance Line SX so special isn’t just that it is light; it is also powerful. At peak power output it produces 600W.

Light is good for performance-oriented e-bikes such as eMTBs, road and gravel e-bikes, but light only gets us so far. There are other lightweight motors out there. The Brose-made Specialized SL 1.2 motor weighs just 1.95kg (4.3 lbs.) and produces 320W at peak. The TQ HPR 50 weighs a tiny bit less than the Specialized, at 1.85kg (4.1 lbs.) and produces nearly as much wattage at peak: 300. The Fazua Ride 60 improves on both of those by running in the same neighborhood weight-wise (1.96kg), but producing a more muscular 450W.

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