Mondraker Dusty R

The Dusty Stealth Air Carbon frame is a ground-up design, not a gravel frame adapted to hold a battery. On its own it weighs 1,710 grams, with the matching carbon fork adding just 490 grams for a 2,200-gram system weight in size M/L — light figures for any e-bike, let alone one built to handle mixed terrain. The geometry backs that up: a 74-degree seat tube angle and 70-degree head tube angle put the rider in an efficient position for long days in the saddle, while a 16-degree handlebar flare and -7-degree stem angle widen the cockpit for control when the road turns to loose gravel or singletrack. Reach runs from 363mm to 446mm and stack from 548mm to 642mm across the size range, so the fit window stretches from S through XL without changing the bike's underlying feel.

Power comes from a TQ HPR60 motor, one of the lightest and slimmest mid-drive units available at 1.9 kilograms. It produces 60Nm of torque and 350 watts of peak power with up to 200 percent pedal assistance — enough to flatten a climb without the abrupt, binary feel of higher-powered systems built for full-gravity mountain biking. An integrated dropout speed sensor keeps that assistance tied to actual wheel speed rather than guesswork, and a 580Wh battery paired with the color TQ HPR Display V04 gives riders the range to plan a full day out rather than budgeting miles around a battery gauge.

The drivetrain is Sram's GX Eagle AXS T-Type group, a wireless 12-speed setup that pairs an E.13 Piedmont Core E*Spec crankset and 42t X-Sync Eagle chainring with a 10-52t XS-1275 cassette. That range matters as much on a dead battery as it does under…