We take two e-mountain bikes with the same DNA, the same Bosch Gen 5 motor, and the same geometry to the trails to see if a £5,500 price gap is really worth it. By comparing the high-end Whyte Kado Works against the budget-friendly Kado S component by component, we reveal where your money is actually being spent. Whether you’re looking for marginal gains in suspension and carbon frames or the best value for your buck, find out which bike reigns supreme on the trails.
⏱ Timestamps ⏱
00:00 – Introduction: £10k vs £4.5k
01:21 – The Whyte Kado Works Specs
03:08 – The Whyte Kado S Specs
04:42 – What’s The Same?
05:33 – Frame Tech: Carbon vs Alloy
08:14 – Suspension Performance Comparison
11:31 – Drivetrain: SRAM T-Type vs Shimano Cues
14:52 – Braking & Wheelsets
18:03 – Finishing Kit & Displays
20:18 – Final Verdict: Is it worth it?
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If you had £10,000 to spend, would you buy the top-spec Kado Works, or buy the Kado S and use the extra £5,500 for a lifetime of upgrades and riding trips? Let us know in the comments! 👇
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29 Comments
If you had £10,000 to spend, would you buy the top-spec Kado Works, or buy the Kado S and use the extra £5,500 for a lifetime of upgrades and riding trips? Let us know in the comments! 👇
I'm pretty sure the difference is 5500
There is no way the casual riders who will buy these things will be able to notice or justify the difference between a 4 or 10 grand bike. They both have a motor, full suspension, good frames and consumable parts that will need replacing whether they're high or lower end. You'd have just as much fun on the 'cheap' model, and you'd be more likely to ride it. This is no longer a question of how much you can afford, but how stupid you'd have to be to spend 10 grand on a bike! Oh, and well done Neil for a balanced and fair review by upgrading the wheels – you're not even reviewing the bike people will buy.
Basically one is a posers bike the other is half the price
Personally like to get the entry level and put my favorite parts on. Just got a Yeti Lte and putting on Push suspension.
Gee its a shame they chose shimano cues on the budget bike because it's absolute rubbish. The deore would of been a better option
My advice to anybody looking to buy their first e-bike, would be look for a higher spec level bike to start with and see if you can find it in a sale, as I did a year ago 😁 I bought a ebike nearer to Neil's kado spec, but for 5k (Cube stereo 177 action team) kashima Fox suspension & dropper post, sram electronic shifting etc…..Yes Cube isn't the most 'boujee' Brand, but they do offer great value in their lineup.
Oh and sram T type was a must for me….the extra strength of the derailleur is great….BUT a very Expensive drivetrain 😮
When people say about ' Upgrading ' later 🤔 I think about spending the money on the up keep and servicing of the better components that I bought in the first place.
Anyway this is just my thoughts & opinion and there's absolutely nothing wrong with buying the more entry level bike, at the end of the day it's about getting out and having fun.
Ripped off is what you get
I bought a kado S Ebay with 15 miles on paid £2200 and have upgraded with my hope wheels and gr4 brakes which i had then, added the new fox X2 shock and Factory Forks
Kado s .is my first emtb . Nothing more needed .gets me out and about and keeps up with a amflow on trails.what more do you need
got a 57% off 4200 euro Cube full suspension, the top of the line 2017 model, unlocked the Bosch motor so it was around 2200 euro for the best specs of 2017. Im happy its been good for 8 years now. Great bargain. Cube Stereo Hybrid 140 HPA SL 500 27,5” 2017
What I won’t get is a bike that cost more than a motorcycle…..there’s no possible way to explain it….besides corporate greed
I went with option 3
Used the Black Friday sales
Started with a Kado S 600 on sale for £3200
Then out of the box I upgraded to the spec I wanted and got parts all from sales.
Bought an 800wh battery (so I’ve got 2 batteries for big days and busy weekends) found a Bosch parts dealer on eBay so got the battery for £700 I would have bought a second battery anyway regardless of the spec
Swapped out the fork for a Lyrik (got lucky and found a new one for £350)
Swapped out the shock for a Rockshox Super Deluxe Coil for £400
Swapped the tyres to Continental Kryptotal (£65 for the pair in a sale)
Swapped the brake levers to Shimano Saint (£80) but kept the oe callipers
Added a ZTTO Dropper lever (£11)
Added DMR Deathgrips (£15)
Had some spare DMR V12 pedals laying around (free)
So by shopping around and leaving out the cost of the battery I spent £920
Then offset some of the cost and sold the fork and tyres making back £310
Making the cost of upgrading the Kado significantly to £610
Add the battery cost making a very unique & capable bike with 2 batteries that’s mine for a total of £4500
I love it! And a few weeks ago it got a Super Nice on here
When I visit the local trails there is zero coloration between price of bike and riding ability
Electric gears. The answer to a problem that doesn’t exist 😂
Should have swapped bikes for a few laps
Who cares, the majority of us will never pay for either. Five and a half thousa…. no I still don't care, overpriced nonsense.
I'd buy 2 ALU and bring friends on eMTB outings
After riding my bro ebike have come to an conclusion there crap all it can do is climb a hill better than you can peddling it gimmick waste of money
I don't have any mtb at the moment, and I'm trying to get into it. I found a Giant stance e+ for 1200€ with 3000km. No damage, no nothing. Should I buy that one or search for other bikes? (trying to get into enduro and downhill)
£2k for front suspension must be forkin mad 😂
£6000.
That yellow S looks sweet.
Even if you purchase the cheaper off the two bikes, the servicing of the bike can hit you in the back pocket , once you take possession off an E Bike , seems it's a never ending money pit to keep it on the rd , seems to me to get the best out off the E Bike lifestyle , you need to have a very good job , Doctor ,Dentist, Barrister , or at least someone capable off generating a good wad off cash every week . and unfortunately that will deal a lot off people out .
Really is time the bike companies start selling E-Bike frame Sets only (with motor/battery obvs).
I'd take RS over fox anyday. Much easier to maintain & set up & easier to live with
The interesting point to make are the "book cookers" – i.e. those who only have £5k to to spend in a given year on their cycle scheme. Can you make a £10k bike out of £4k base bike + upgrades the following year, since this is the path I've got to choose. That said, it'll be a 40% saving on both years.
As a materials and welding engineer, the disappointment/compromise I have is usually aound what happens when welds sneak it past quality control. Fatigue-cracked chain/seat stays aren't uncommon on certain frames. It's a case of how good the QA/QC has been in the far east OEM supply chain. So you're going to be left with an Alu frame from the get go.
We all know the Psylo is a bit meh, so a pair of zeb ultimates/38 Perfomance will likely go up front. I think with the heavier mass of an ebike, there's more compliance on the back end. My arse can't really tell the difference in shock quality, so I'll probably leave the boggo shock.
The M4100 brakes aren't too bad, but can be woken up no end with leve swap – A pair of M6100 levers are only £50. You won't be marred with the servo wave, wandering bite point issues of the more expensive groupsets (I switched over the lever blades from my saints to the Deore and it's phenomenal).
As for drive train, it's probably irrelevant on an ebike. Wife's elyte has AXS, whilst I run a bastardised set Deore level spec 10x mech on an ali express 11-51 cassette with a microshift 1×10 shifter and it does the job for £100 – much more serviceable.
I'd only be changing the wheels if I absolutely hammer them, so a set of DT Swiss rims on hope hubs will probably be a future replacement project.
Bugger, like the autistic melt that I am, what I described is exactly what I did to my Trek Rail 5 lolz.
TL;DR, base spec, upgraded is a good route, but you'll miss out on the benefits of a carbon frame (i've seen more weld failures than I've seen debonding/delaminations, because bike designers aren't like Stockton Rush and actually use the material in their preferred loading conditions).
I personally would not purchase an e-bike, not least because of the cost of the same even for 'entry level' but because I like been strictly human powered. But good lord who really drops ten grand on a bike?
And. what's the weight difference???
I will tell you the difference, 4k your a mug 10k ypur a bigger mug 😊