My bike of the year is an odd choice, given how badly it scored in our latest review. The Trek Fuel EXe 9.7 managed to get just 6/10 in the lightweight e-bike of the year test, largely because it’s underpowered compared with the competition… and overpriced too.

And yet when I cast my mind back over the past 12 months of riding, it’s the Fuel EXe I keep coming back to, it sits right up there as the most enjoyable bike I pedalled in 2024. For me that’s the single most important element of mountain biking, not how fast, far, high or consistently you ride… but how you feel when you do.

Sorry, but in spite of the motor flaws I love the Trek Fuel EXe for its pure pace and peppy ride feel

OK, the best things about the Fuel EXe first. Trek has fitted the Fox Float X to the 8.9 bike and that’s unleashed it as one of the quickest bikes I’ve ridden for raw speed. That’s testament to the killer suspension. There’s only 140mm travel to play with so this is very much a trail bike, but that’s exactly what I want for Surrey Hills riding.

This is no noodle though, the full carbon frame is as stiff and solid as an enduro bike, proving once again that Trek really knows its business when it comes to building frames. I’ve piled into some big old berms at high speed on this thing, safe in the knowledge it won’t budge or spit me off at a weird angle.

The TQ motor just isn’t powerful enough in the modern e-bike world, but I can live with it

When Muldoon reviewed this bike he lamented how it felt like an analogue bike. Of course he meant the underpowered TQ motor, but I love the fact it feels like an analogue bike – lightweight, easy to move around like a real trail bike, and whisper quiet with an almost-imperceptible motor.

If Trek had built this bike around the Bosch SX motor it would be spot on, as it is the TQ motor is indeed underpowered for an SL bike, with just 50Nm torque. That’s not altogether terrible for the long distance rides I enjoy, but the real problem for me is the range of the bike, the shortest in our test. That’s fixable though, there’s a removable battery meaning you can buy a full size 360Wh second power pack for less than £500, doubling my range. Given that the bike is on sale right now, I don’t think it’s time to give up on the Trek Fuel EXe just yet.

The Santa Cruz Hightower is an incredible bike for its pinpoint balance of supply suspension and poppy playfulness

Santa Cruz Hightower

Back in the summer I said the new Hightower wouldn’t be a Santa Cruz without using VPP suspension, then a month later the Vala e-bike came along with a regular four-bar design and proved me wrong.

No matter, I’m used to that. Besides, the Hightower’s latest VPP system is the sweet spot for the kind of suspension response I’m looking for on a trail bike, and just about the closest bike I can find to do it all.

What I mean by that is it can handle some seriously rough terrain, now Santa Cruz has tweaked the suspension in favour of a plusher feel. I reviewed the CC XO AXS RSV Hightower after testing it on some of Italy’s rockiest and gnarliest tracks – I’m talking boulder fields, slimy roots and big sketchy natural drops that seem to come out of nowhere. And the bike ploughed through the lot, damping the trail and working like an enduro bike despite packing in just 150mm travel. The only thing I couldn’t tell was just how much the Hightower had lost of its original lively character.

Of course you can ride big rocky natural stuff on most mountain bikes, but the Hightower does it with composure and confidence

Fast forward three months and I’ve ridden the Hightower in the Surrey Hills now, somewhere the home turf is very much softer and less chunky. Keeping speed here is more important here on most of the trails that reward a playful, light-feeling bike that can return your inputs on jumps and natural doubles. I found it to be a perfect natural environment for the Hightower, it still feels tight and poppy enough to make all the gaps I have the guts to pull for, and while the Grip X damper in the latest Fox 36 isn’t exactly plush it does suit this kind of riding.

A proper do-it-all mountain bike then? Not exactly, but it’s a perfect compromise for me. My only gripe with the Hightower is that it costs such a lot of money.