When Forbidden Bike Co. decided to release an eMTB, the Vancouver Island brand didn’t just slap a much-hyped motor system into its existing platform and call it a day. Instead, the Druid was completely re-designed around two different travel eMTBs. The Druid LitE, tested here, is the shorter-travel lighter model and partner to the burlier Druid CorE.
When I say re-designed, I really mean re-designed not just tweaked. Forbidden fully changed up its geometry philosophy for the electric version of its Druid. I certainly had some reservations about the re-think going into this test. So it was interesting to learn more about the intention behind the design and to see how it played out on trail.
Druid vs. Druid LitE: eMTB specific geometry?
If you’re interested in the Druid LitE because you liked the look of the Druid, there is good news and there is bad news. The bad news is, on paper, the LitE is totally different than the OG Druid. The good news? The changes are intended to deliver a similar experience, at least part of the time, while accounting for the changes required to make it electric. And this mostly works.
Before we get into that, there are two other important notes. First, Forbidden changes the Druid layout to have a longer, straighter seat tube to give more room for longer-travel dropper posts. Second, Forbidden uses proportional geometry, including size-specific rear centres and seat angles. That makes the e-Druid’s two of the very few eMTB’s to have proportional geometry. And, if you ride one of the outlier sizes, that makes a big difference to how a bike feels on trail.
Beyond that, the Druid LitE uses a carbon fibre frame for its 140mm rear wheel travel, with a 150mm Lyric up front. That’s on the shorter end of travel for eMTB’s but, like with the original wizard, this bike does a lot with that travel.
Challenging the status quo on geo
Back to the eMTB geometry. Forbidden goes into a lot of detail about the changes here. The basic idea is to keep the rider’s weight more naturally balanced between the wheels. Specifically, while descending. Forbidden does so by going for a MX wheel as the standard configuration and adding significantly to the stack. That substantial increase in stack means that, while this bike’s reach looks quite short on paper, the brand says that what you could call its “effective” reach is in line with the Druid it electrifies.
Launching an eMTB, or two, isn’t an inexpensive endeavour….
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…