Ghost recently revamped its assisted range with the aim of competing with the best electric mountain bikes on the market. And while you can still buy the excellent Hybride ASX with mixed wheel sizes, the new E-Riot platform forms the basis for Ghost’s 29in Trail, All Mountain and Enduro e-bikes. Travel increases in line with application so Trail has 140mm, All Mountain gets 160mm and Enduro boasts 170mm travel.

Need to know

• 140mm travel e-bike using the Bosch Performance CX (Gen 4) motor
• Carbon front end houses Bosch Power Tube 625Wh battery
• Fox Factory-level suspension, where fork travel is pumped up to 150mm
• 29inch wheels and front and rear specific Maxxis Minion 3C MaxxTerra tyres with Exo+ reinforced casing.
• Size specific bars and dropper posts on all four frame sizes. Size S also gets 27.5in wheels
• Modular disc brake mount and SRAM UDH gear hanger

The Ghost uses a twin-link design to drive the FOx DPX2 shock

In the Trail category there are four models – two carbon and two aluminium – the Pro featured here is the second-string carbon bike. Only the front triangle is carbon however, the one-piece links and welded swingarm are both made from aluminium. The bike is available in four frame sizes and features geometry that has been extrapolated using Ghost’s Super Fit algorithm. As far as I can tell from my measurements it is pretty standard stuff in terms of angles and lengths.

That said, the small size does have proportionally shorter chainstays and 27.5in wheels. The other three sizes in the Trail range roll on 29in wheels and Ghost also runs wider handlebars and longer dropper posts on the bigger frames.

Bosch supplies the excellent Performance CX motor and 625Wh battery

Motor and battery

The Ghost E-Riot Trail Pro sticks with the tried and tested Bosch Performance CX (Gen 4) motor with a Power Tube 625Wh battery and Purion display. The battery is housed in the down tube and, while there’s a discreet charging port next to the motor, the battery can also be removed for charging indoors.

To offer some splatter protection, Ghost uses a plastic cover on the underside of the down tube that hooks into tabs at the bottom and is then secured at the top with a captured thumb screw. We’ve had similar plastic covers work loose and even fall out on other e-bikes, but the one on the Ghost has been secure and rattle free.

Frame and components

Ghost uses another plastic cover on the top of the down tube to hide the cables. It’s sort of like internal routing but at the same time you can access the cables by removing the cover, which makes servicing and replacement that much easier. However, it’s debatable how useful this feature is because at best you replace outer cables maybe once a year and the cables also have to be anchored at the head tube, which doesn’t do a lot for the aesthetic.

There’s also a downside to the design – the cover uses a SnapLock fitting and during testing the press-stud partially unclipped causing the cable cover to rattle. It is good to see a Fidlock magnetic bottle mount already pre-installed on the frame though, and there is space in the front triangle for a full-sized bottle.

Other frame features include a SRAM UDH (universal derailleur hanger) and a modular disc mount, which eliminates the need for adapters. Ghost offers the modular bolt-on mounts for 160-203mm disc rotors and they cost £30 each.

Swapping disc mounts lets you change your rotor size

To stop the bars swinging round and the controls gouging a big groove in the top tube Ghost fits a Blocklock headset. Not that we need worry too much because there’s no humpback in the top tube of E-Riot Trail Pro. The Limotec dropper post isn’t a brand we’ve encountered before but we know it’s a Taiwanese manufacturer and the Alpha is cable operated, has a 34.9mm diameter. It doesn’t have a split clamp on the remote lever, which is a faff when you’re trying to organise the controls as you have to remove the grips if you want to change the order.

Ghost is also running a straight seat tube, so the post has a full range of adjustment.

Balanced front and rear, the Ghost is surprisingly quick on its feet for a 24kg e-bike

How it rides

Ghost’s Traction Link rear suspension uses a twin-link design and on this model comes with a Fox Float DPX Factory rear shock. Ghost claims, ‘it never loses traction’ and I’d definitely agree with that statement because the rear suspension on the E-Riot Trail Pro is like butter.

It’s incredibly supple but at same time there’s plenty of support so it never bottoms out harshly. The bike itself feels short in the reach even though it measures 487mm, but it’s flickable and actually rides a lot lighter than the weight suggests. As such, it’s agile on tight twisty trails and even when you get to the limits of the 140mm of travel, the 150mm Fox Float 36 Factory fork steps in to deal with the extras.

The Bosch motor delivers in all situations while the 625Wh battery

Ghost ships the E-Riot Trail Pro with mostly Shimano XT but it wasn’t all plain sailing as the UDH hanger was listing badly out of the box. The beauty of the design though, is that I was able to rob one from another test bike. To keep the E-Riot Trail Pro on an even keel, Ghost has fitted Maxxis rubber, a Minion DHF 2.5in front and a DHR II 2.4in rear – and both get the softer MaxxTerra 3C compound and reinforced EXO+ casing.

Ghost claims, ‘it never loses traction’ and I’d definitely agree with that statement

One of the things we really like about the E-Riot Trail Pro is that it’s not too stiff, there’s a good amount of resilience in this bike. It can’t hurt that the bike has a smaller 31.8mm diameter handlebar and slightly narrower Syntace V30 rims.

The Ghost E-Riot is fast, fun and great value considering the spec.

Bosch launched a new smart motor and a big 750Wh battery for 2022, but the Gen 4 is still potent. I’m not a big fan of the humongous Purion display, but the whole system is reliable and, even with the smaller 625Wh battery it’s possible to clock up some serious miles.

My biggest criticism of the E-Riot Trail Pro then, is that the two plastic covers aren’t colour co-ordinated or even stickered up, they just look a bit cheap in black on a bike costing £6K. That’s a shame because the rest of the bike is clean – there’s no goofy top-tube shaping or bell-bottom BB – it’s just well proportioned.

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