Making eMTB boutique: An afternoon on the Velduro Rogue

New Zealand’s Velduro bikes are disrupting the e-bike market in a very simple way: by offering frame-only options for their eMTB and e-gravel bikes. The Kiwi brand only offers two models, the Rogue and, for drop bars, the Phantom. But each has plenty of room to adapt the platform to your specific needs. Both rely on the wildly powerful DJI Avinox motor system (the Phantom being currently the only gravel bike to do so) putting this small brand on the forefront of eMTB tech.

We had a chance to spend a very wet afternoon on a Rogue on Vancouver Island. Here’s a few thought on this interesting mid-pivot eMTB.

Velduro Rogue: frame only, built the way you want to ride it

Just a handful of brands, if that, offer a frame-only option for eMTBs, for a few reasons. Design is always changing and, with eMTB offering higher levels of integration, product managers at brands still want quite a bit of control over how bikes are built up, at least as they roll out of the factory.

Velduro is willing to trust riders to know their needs best. While the New Zealand brand does offer two complete Rogue builds, it also sells it as a frame-only. That lets riders build the bike up the way they want, without having to try get rid of parts after customising a stock build.

The Rogue also offers several different travel options, from 160mm to 172mm out back and from 160mm to 180mm forks. There’s also the choice of 27.5″ or 29″ rear wheels via a pair of flip chips, making this carbon fibre frame suit a range of riding styles. All of that is controlled by an “I-trac” mid-pivot suspension design, helping the Rogue stay smooth over the chunky, shefly terrain.

DJI Avinox remains the talk of the eMTB world, delivering staggering power in a relatively compact package. With 105Nm torque and a time-limited burst of power in excess of 1,000 watts, it’s left competitors chasing its stats. It’s more than muscle, though, as I found out.

A wet afternoon riding the Rogue

I picked up a Rogue specced out in a burly build from NRG. While there’s a range of ways to set up and build out the Rogue, this was definitely on the more agressive end. A Fox 38 up front and DHX with…