Alta Redshift vs. Suron Ultra Bee

[Oded]

I’ve been riding the Alta Redshift for 6 years, a very powerful and high-quality electric motorcycle. Enduro rider only.
my son (16) joined me with his new Soron Ultra-B... Here's my summary:

For off-road riding with the Suron, we replaced the original 18-inch rear wheel (We got the R model that arrives stock with 18 rear and 19 front) with a real Endoro tire - Metzler 6 days (same as the stock Alta EX tire). The front was changed to a knobby 70/100 19, and we will consider switching to 21 later on.

The UB is surprisingly high-quality bike, including bolts, welds, and even brakes and suspension are fine for our current purposes. suspension is a little stiff for hard enduro, and brakes bite very well (both hand brakes).
Currently, there is no need to upgrade. I really like the Reverse feature for Hard Enduro - a pleasure when you get stuck in some weird angle.
We canceled the Regen (my son prefers the feeling of flowing through trails without engine braking), and rode in sports mode all the time.
We chose the option of least sensitive throttle (you get to choose from 3 preset settings)
.
We rode rocks, hills, and rocky single tracks. Ultra B did it with ease. my son has been been riding the Kuberg Freerider so far, so he knows how to ride, and the ultra-B is a pretty significant upgrade.

The Alta is stronger, and the suspension smoothes everything. Feels much more spacious for me (my height 1.90m), but at the cost of weight (about 120 kg). Kind of like Stark Varg in its abilities, without the cool features of the phone link, and being able to change different parameters on the fly.

I rode the ultra-B and it feels small and dense for me but with adequate power for enduro. it doesn't burst abruptly like the cheap electric ones. the ultimate test for me with electrics is how they handle very slow speeds. The ultra creeps without a problem, which is great. Alta on mode 1 is still stronger, but not by much/ initial power of the Ultra B is adequate, but when the speed rises, the Alta just keeps on accelerating with tis 350v battery, leaving the Ultra B behind.

For tall riders on the ultra, I would make sure the wheels are 18/21, raise the handlebar, and perhaps also lower the pegs.

Battery-wise, we rode 26 km on a very technical slow tearrin, hard enduro with some fire roads. 2 hours ride time and came back with exactly 50% battery on the Ultra B. rough calculation - the battery of the Alta will hold about 20% more riding time.

A fun bike, and we enjoyed it very much.

 

[timothyrgriffe]

Wow I have had a very different experience with my alta and ultra bee.

I tend to do flowy and technical single track and avg 15mph.

I have upgraded the ultra with 18/21 wheel set and handle bar risers.

I find the suspension way to soft on the back end for any real speed. The front fork is adequate but no mx fork.

And as far as range goes I’m basically creeping in to the parking lot at 30 miles on my Alta and consistently get 30 out the Ultra bee.

Power is not really even comparable Alta smokes the Ultra beee

 

[Dirt-E]

I got to try a Ultra (and Light bee) recently. I'm not aware of it was modded, but assuming the UB was stock, I was very impressed with it. It's very light and actually stronger than i thought it would be. It falls flat on its face once it's up to speed, and the throttle isn't as direct or proportional as the Alta. Overall though, it was much, MUCH better than most e-bikes and the Light Bee. I'm 6'3" and 250lbs and the UB had pretty much zero trouble hauling tail around our short loop, which I can absolutely rip on the alta. I would say the UB might be faster in the woods because of the light weight and flickability. I can't keep up with my kid on the LB even on my Alta and I'm fairly quick on it and extremely familiar with the trail, if that helps put it into context.

Regen braking wasn't anything to feel useful, but it's a feature that you can modulate (FWIW, I didn't feel that the Stark had very good regen braking either. I guess I'm just used to the heavier feel of the Alta?).

I think the UB would be excellent for anyone that wants an affordable alternative to the Stark. If you haven't tried one, I seriously recommend you find a way to a test ride one. What do you have to lose?

The light bee also gets an honorable mention. While it's not what I would call a serious off-road bike, it's actually very capable and the suspension is surprisingly good for such a tiny machine. It's great for hoodlum riding just about anywhere (street, dirt, back-yards, parking lots, alleys) and anywhere you don't get chased out of because nobody can hear you on it. While I wish they were more like $2k in price, you still get a lot for your money. They're like one of those Coleman 5hp big wheel bikes. Stupid fun, but big dumb grin on your face the entire time you're riding them!

 

[smdub]

@Dirt-E The UB you rode was modded (it was mine.) It has 18/21 wheels, a Torp TC1000 controller and have revalved half the front fork (I had to replace the oil seal on one leg so I ported the compression valve paths, changed the shims slightly, and thinner oil. Haven't had time to pull the other fork and do the same yet.) I have regen turned almost completely off to feel like a 2 stroke in the rocky stuff. I'm working on a regen lhrb.

Will be interesting how the UBs do at the TKO this year. I think it's a killer hard enduro machine. But my guess is they will all be sporting WP 40 forks. I have a set in the basement ready to go on mine.

With more mods (aftermarket battery mostly) They can match the Alta/base Varg power. Torp is at 47kW/60hp (electric) with one of their prototypes. With the stock battery you are limited to about 18kW which limits the torque as speed goes up.

 

[Oded]

Wow I have had a very different experience with my alta and ultra bee.

I tend to do flowy and technical single track and avg 15mph.

I have upgraded the ultra with 18/21 wheel set and handle bar risers.

I find the suspension way to soft on the back end for any real speed. The front fork is adequate but no mx fork.

And as far as range goes I’m basically creeping in to the parking lot at 30 miles on my Alta and consistently get 30 out the Ultra bee.

Power is not really even comparable Alta smokes the Ultra beee

This is exactly what I thought the UB will be before we tested it.
In real life we were pleasantly surprised.

Perhaps the fact that my son weighs 65 kg helps with range and power.

Our riding is strictly on rocky terrain, climbs, rocks and rocks edges. Avg speed is probably 5-10 mph.

I suppose these parameters contribute to the longer range we are seeing.

 

[Dirt-E]

Haha! I figured you might be on this forum. I'm not on here a lot but occasionally get reminders and saw this topic pop up, so I'm happy to relate my experiences.

I'm sure that with mods you can make any bike equivalent in power. I would just be worried either about durability (ie- can the frame take the abuse and punishment) and will the cost stay in check?

From what I've seen of the LB, you can get pretty wild with upgrades, which puts you almost instantly in UB price range, which makes you wish you got the bigger one to begin with. But then, you get the UB and maybe wish you'd gotten the Storm Bee. Then finally, you mod all of them up and wonder why not just get a Stark and no upgrades needed?, etc. I just see the slippery slope decisions happening. I know people love to tinker, and that's great because it's kind of a hobby. But it makes it really hard for outsiders to know where to start or what to expect. Without having the same opportunity that I had to try both LB and UB concurrently (as well 80hp Stark and own an Alta EXR) then there's not much basis for comparison. I don't know about you guys, but looking through YT videos can be even more daunting than trying to read through written reviews and advertiser marketing material.

Now, if they were to have demo days or ways to 'try before you buy', then I would say that's an even better selling point. At full retail it's a pretty big price gamble to get something that you might not be all that happy with. But I can't say it doesn't happen to ICE bikes either. A lot of them turn over in under 50 hours, so who knows?