We’re glad you’re here learning about the benefits of low-maintenance, belt-drive, internal gearhub electric bikes. You’re ready to join the ebike revolution…but you can’t figure out which is the right Vvolt mid-drive model for you.
That’s OK, because at the end of the day our Centauri and Sirius models are fairly similar. We have a deep dive into the details of the Centauri over here, or keep reading below to find out if the Sirius might be the right choice for you.
When mountain bikes first appeared in the ‘80s they were a revolution, precisely because they were made to excel on all kinds of roads and trails. At the time, the term All-Terrain Bicycle or ATB was as popular as “mountain bike,” reflecting the kind of riding that many folks do. A little street, some unpaved roads and maybe some light-duty trails.
We took a page from the book of mountain bike origins when we designed the Sirius. It’s easy to handle on all kinds of roads, and the suspension fork adds just enough cushion to tame big potholes on the pavement as well as rutted gravel and occasional singletrack use.
Diving further into our definition of “easy handling”– lots of performance-minded modern mountain bikes suffer with sluggish steering on paved roads. They’re great on technical trails with bermed corners, jumps, roots and rocks…but it’s a departure from the “all terrain” origin of this kind of bike.
So we reined in the steering in Sirius, using a steeper head angle to keep the front end tucked under you when you’re climbing pavement. This pairs well with the short-travel fork, encouraging you to get a little spicy when the terrain encourages it, but reminding you that this is an “all terrain” ebike and not a trail-shredding machine.
With all that being said, the Sirius definitely edges out the Centauri when it comes to fun on unpaved terrain. It’s also capable as a commuter, but not designed for it in the same way. Sirius has mounts for a rear rack and fender, but unlike Centauri the fork does not accept full fenders, racks or baskets.
Fall '23 update:
*We formerly endorsed the use of PDW full fenders as in the below image, however further testing revealed the fender can contact the fork crown under full compression of the fork as in landing from a jump or hitting a big pothole. Following this finding we no longer recommend the use of full fenders. We now endorse the Topeak DEFENDER XC1 for Sirius riders seeking a front fender solution.
Now that you're up to speed on the Sirius...how about a spin through the features on the Centauri?
