Saracen’s only e-MTB, the Ariel 50E is aimed squarely at all-mountain and enduro riding. Its straight 6013 alloy tubes give it a more slender look than other e-bikes. Our large test bike has 29in wheels front and back, while the small and medium sizes get the ‘mullet’ treatment. A convertible suspension linkage means either wheel combo can be run on any size.

It’s fitted with Shimano’s EP8 motor, with 85Nm of max torque, and powered by a 504Wh-capacity Shimano battery – the smallest in this year’s test. While it’s possible to crack 1,000m of elevation gain on a single charge in ‘eco’ mode, if you use the higher settings, you need to take care to not prematurely run dry.

The rear suspension is progressive through its travel, making it well-suited to a coil shock – here, a Fox DHX2 Factory. This helps the back end flutter over small and mid-sized bumps with a super-responsive feeling, improving climbing and descending traction, and seated comfort, too. It’s a fun bike to blast around worn-out trail centre loops, with the rear suspension doing a large portion of the heavy lifting, in terms of smoothing out the trail.

While the dual-compound Maxxis tyres dig into soft mud well and roll quickly on hardpack surfaces, they struggle to find grip on slick rocks or roots. The relatively lightweight EXO casings also mean you have to run higher pressures to achieve decent carcass stability, which contributes to some pinginess on rough trails – a trait easily solved with heavier-duty rubber. We punctured the rear tyre multiple times, eventually replacing it with a 3C MaxxGrip-compound, DoubleDown-casing version.

At 24.03kg, the Ariel 50E Elite’s relatively light weight (for a full-fat e-bike) helps make it easier to change direction quickly than its 1,304mm wheelbase and long 465mm chainstays would suggest. This is aided by the 65-degree head angle – although this causes issues downhill, where the front end is surprisingly easy to overload in sharp, steep, on-the-brakes turns or when heading off large, slow drops to flat. Despite the long reach figure encouraging a forward-biased riding position and the Fox 38 Factory fork providing plenty of support, we ended up compensating for the relatively steep head angle by leaning off the back of the bike.

As much fun as the Saracen is to ride on flatter tracks, its steep head angle, unsuitable tyre casings and compounds, and limited range are a compromise too far for us.

Smooth and enjoyable on less steep trails, but let down by its head angle, tyres and battery capacity