I never followed up yesterday...I had the opportunity to test the new 2020 MuleST 1000wt and 2 new Rambo Pursuit G4s...there was a distinct difference in all three, but there is also almost a $2k difference in price between the Mule and the Rambos as well, so keep that in mind as you read.
Yes, I said two 2020 Rambo Pursuit G4’s the only difference, one was standard, the second had upgraded suspension forks and seat post. Let me tell you, the ride was night and day different. The test was rather simple, there was a 40lb weight that he strapped to the rear rack and sent me on my way. I am 5’10” roughly 170lbs.
For those local to northern Chester County, the ride was in Woody’s Woods from the Coventryville Road lot to the radio tower which is one of the more steep climbs in this area. Walking from the lot to the tower with your gear is a rather daunting task. Believe it or not I didn’t measure the distance, but that climb has easily taken me 40-minutes with my gear, trying to get up there without dying of exhaustion.
I wanted to run all three bikes using the throttle only, I didn’t want to pedal at all to see how they handled the climb and descent. I did take a wide circle around the tower on each trip to get a feel for the bikes off of the trail. I should mention the trail to the top isn’t paved, but it’s a solid, maintained trail.
Both Rambo’s performed about the same with regard to power…I was effortlessly going up the trail, but on more than one occasion, I did get the feeling that I needed to pedal, but pedaling didn’t help the process. The bikes certainly were not struggling to go up the hill and were very stable. The brakes seemed a little sloppy, especially coming downhill, both handled the little bit of off trail with ease. The real difference between the two was in the ride itself. I think I felt every stick, stone, ditch and bump with the standard bike. It certainly wasn’t unbearable, but my wrists, elbows and rear-end took a little more than I would have expected. To say the ride was stiff would be an understatement. The bike with the shock forks and upgraded seat post, literally felt like a completely different bike. I tried to make it a point to hit the same spots and to say the shock was cut by 75% is probably another understatement; it was likely much higher than that….
The Mule was a totally different beast…it did have shock forks and seat post, which he told me were standard. The Mule went everywhere effortlessly and the ride was smooth, to be fair it was close to the Rambo with the shock absorbing forks and seat post. The difference was in the feel, while the Rambo’s made it there were times when I felt like the little train that could…in that I was pushing the bike, whereas with the Mule, it almost felt as though it had plenty more to give if I wanted to push it. To be fair, I was moving a little too fast for my comfort on the way down and the brakes on the Mule were VERY responsive. The 1000wt motor is programmable down to 750wt for applications where that distinction is a requirement. Jay told me the programming is simple (not real sure what that means). The Step Through feature of the Mule was also appealing. My first reaction was it looked like a girls bike from when I was kid; you know where the boys bikes had the high nut-crusher bar, but the girls bikes had the top part of the frame that dipped lower. I could see this being very desireable if your riding with any bit of bulk and/or heavy boots. It was comfortable to stand over at 26”, where as the Rambos were 29”. Again, I didn’t notice the stand over height as much as I did the ability to get on and off…I wasn’t wearing anything heavy as it was close to 70 degrees.
It was clear to me the Mule was the best of the bikes, whether it was $2k better; that’s probably debatable. The Mule comes standard with Air shock forks and a suspension seat posts, as well as, fenders, and rear rack. You can find it around $4400 with free shipping…the Pursuit G4 can be found around $2400 with no upgrades. The forks and seat post could likely run about $250 -$500 depending on your choice, the fenders and rear rack another, $150-$200 for an estimate total ($2800-$3100).
From what I can gather, the real difference is in the specifc components, the Mule’s Bafang Ultra M620 750w/1000w mid-drive Motor not only has all metal gears (whereas the Bafang 750W BBS02 High Torque Mid Drive of the Rambo has Teflon gears), the Ultra of the Mule also has the integrated Torque Sensor which is apparently superior with pedal assist (I did not engage). I will also note that shifting gears on the Mule was much smoother than the Rambo.
Here is link to the trail with topo lines so you can see the climb.
http://southcoventry.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Woodys-Woods-Trail-Map-2015.pdf
Links to specs for Mule and Pursuit.
https://www.bakcou.com/product-page/mule-st
https://www.rambobikes.com/rambo-pursuit-750w-26-matte-black-charcoal/
If $$ were no issue, the Mule was top of the day….how far over the top, $1600 - $1300, not sure, that’s probably up to the individual rider. The fact that you can dial that motor up or down and has all metal gearing is likely a big advantage as well.
Hope this helps.