e-MTB buying help

[RacingPete]

Want an e-MTB, borrowed one in the lakes and loved it (was shattered by end of the day so definitely exercising, but everything was much further and faster it was far more enjoyable)

I grew up in Dalby Forrest so did loads of MTB when young, and my current MTB is from 2000, a Marin Mount Vision, so love a full suspension, though recently got a Defy 4 road bike and liked that geometry better.

Anyway - haven't a clue where to start to look for a good one to buy. Budget is probably 3.5k or 100-150/mth (which is probably how I will finance it).

I live around the corner from Bracknell, so will be mainly used in Swinley forest doing the trails in there (can probably fit it in during lunch as fully WFH), and then occasional trips to bike park wales or Whiinlatter or other parts of the lakes.

Some bikes I like the look of, but no idea if good or not

https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Scott-Strike-eRIDE-940-20...

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/vitus-e-sommet...

Any help would be great

[BIRMA]

RacingPete said:

Want an e-MTB, borrowed one in the lakes and loved it (was shattered by end of the day so definitely exercising, but everything was much further and faster it was far more enjoyable)

I grew up in Dalby Forrest so did loads of MTB when young, and my current MTB is from 2000, a Marin Mount Vision, so love a full suspension, though recently got a Defy 4 road bike and liked that geometry better.

Anyway - haven't a clue where to start to look for a good one to buy. Budget is probably 3.5k or 100-150/mth (which is probably how I will finance it).

I live around the corner from Bracknell, so will be mainly used in Swinley forest doing the trails in there (can probably fit it in during lunch as fully WFH), and then occasional trips to bike park wales or Whiinlatter or other parts of the lakes.

Some bikes I like the look of, but no idea if good or not

https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Scott-Strike-eRIDE-940-20...

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/vitus-e-sommet...

Any help would be great

I'm a fairly new convert to e-MTB's I visited my local Giant retailer where I was able to try a few. As usual budget creep set in but fortunately Giant are doing 3 years Interest free credit, and I'm a sucker for interest free deals particularly if you can't buy the bike cheaper elsewhere.
I can't fault the Giant bike and glad in some ways I opted for the larger 625 watt battery, haven't run out of power yet.

[RacingPete]

Thanks BIRMA... what bike did you get? And doing some more reading seems Shimano or Bosch are the power trains to go for - is that correct? Any differences between the two?

[cavey76]

Worth checking if your employer has C2W and or if unlimited or at the higher level. Mines has the former and allowed me to get it through salary sacrifice.

To the bikes, as someone said on very lengthy eMTB forum. Local is good, especially now as availability is a 'mare. My localish(40 miles away) store had Cubes, or didnt, but he could source them. Like you i tried out them at a higher place. Only got to try out the 140mm travel but thought b*gg*r it and went for the 160mm version

https://www.cube.eu/nl/2021/e-bikes/mountainbike/f...

It has the bosch motor which over about 1000km has been rock solid. When i first did 30km rides i was a bit nervous and nursed it round on eMTB and Tour mode for the first time till i realised i would still have 30-40% battery left before i was happy to sit for a ride in Turbo.

My mate got his 2-3 months behind me and has had it a few weeks. Normally faster than me he is notably slower as he goes through the, "Holy st this beast needs the anchors slammed on earlier than usual" phase.

Shimano EP8 motor is very very new but i guess it is going to be a solid proposition coming from Shimano.

I like the 625Wh battery in the Cube as it gives me great range.

[cavey76]

RacingPete said:

Some bikes I like the look of, but no idea if good or not

https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Scott-Strike-eRIDE-940-20...

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/vitus-e-sommet...

Any help would be great

And i did the classic PH thing of ignoring your post and suggesting something entirely different.

Those two would have me in a quandry. The Scott, great bike but has a smaller battery which would annoy my sense of wanting most....the Vitus, again great bike but i prefer the Bosch motor.

Saying that on the trails i ride in NI, short stuff round Belfast and the more adventurous stuff in Rostrevor Vitus are the brand du jour.

[RacingPete]

cavey76 said:

And i did the classic PH thing of ignoring your post and suggesting something entirely different.

Those two would have me in a quandry. The Scott, great bike but has a smaller battery which would annoy my sense of wanting most....the Vitus, again great bike but i prefer the Bosch motor.

Saying that on the trails i ride in NI, short stuff round Belfast and the more adventurous stuff in Rostrevor Vitus are the brand du jour.

No worries recommending something else - love the look of that Cube! I literally picked two bikes I liked the look of, but now starting to read up on components etc (my knowledge is from 2000, so Shimano XTR, RockShox etc and taking time to catch up). Even choosing if 27.5 or 29s (the hire bike I used were 29s and got use to them quickly on tight trails so more likely to go that).

[cavey76]

I am like you started in early 90s with a Kona Lavadome. Had various hardtails in between then late noughties sourced a mint Kona Explosif frame and built it myself with a low end Mazorchi fork. I have been riding that ever since. Only when my employer changed the C2W rules and my mate suggested eMTBs did i give them any consideration. I would have been the same as the other sceptics on the eMTB buying thread who accuse you of cheating.

Nowadays, i rattle out a quick 35 min run during the odd lunch break and every couple of weeks i get out super early and do a decent ride, 30KM of really tough offroad aboard the Cube.

A few thoughts - I was thinking i would keep, restore my Explosif for the sake of having a hard tail for when its needed. Stuff that. I am just waiting now for when Bosch come out with a 1000Wh battery so i can upgrade.

Even when i do less gnarly stuff with the kids i'll take the Cube and act as uplift and give them a shove up hills. They love it.

I worked in a bike shop in the 90s when at Uni and was that poorer kid who lived off the rich kids seconds...I'd watch as they aspirationally upgraded Ringle hubs to Chris King and i would take the Ringles' at a saving. My Cube is stock, The brakes are super powerful, Sram only jumps one cog at a time, meh, who cares? The Zeb fork is brilliant...but the non bike upgrades extras are killing me. I have bought Endura trousers because i am a lightweight and didnt like the jaggy bushes stinging me. I felt the need to upgrade my road specific helmet to a full face Bell job so i look a complete Bell(end). Oh and its winter now so i needed £40 of RRP mudguards. That was insufficient so another £100 was spunked on waterproof Endura trousers. Still fingers were cold so Endura got another £20 out of me for full finger gloves. Oh and Five Tens are flipping brilliant. The point, eMTBs are very capable but your ancilliary requirements get more as you are riding more.

One of the areas i enjoy, moreso than the downhill even are those flowing slightly up or down hills where the contours are against you keeping up a momentum. With the battery and motor you can get back up to speed quickly and enjoy the jumps and stresses taht the terrain put you through. Like you said it is a different sort of workout.

Enjoy the buying process, just do it and get out there!

[BIRMA]

RacingPete said:

Thanks BIRMA... what bike did you get? And doing some more reading seems Shimano or Bosch are the power trains to go for - is that correct? Any differences between the two?

In the end I went for the Giant Trance E+1 PRO, the shop did have a Reign which when I tried it, iwas superb but nearing £6K just trying it 'around the back of the shop' made me decide that my budget just had to go a bit higher than my original £2K.
I have been riding Moto X and Trial bikes all my life, although E-MTB is a different discipline one of the first things I did was attempt a full lock turn. This has served me well in trial riding because when I tried my first Bultaco trial bike I was instantly able to do a full lock circle with it. I went on to ride at Club level on that bike and I 'grew into it more over time' when I tried the Trance I was able to more or less do the same although a bit shaky I could see it suited me.
I may be wrong but I think the standard of manufacturing and the components on most current E-MTB's is so high it could be down to what colour you like as much as anything. I really like the auto mode on the Giant it enables me to enjoy and concentrate/learn the uphill sections where I ride regularly.

Note. I have just read a couple of posts on the Giant owners Facebook page about waterproofing issues with Giant bikes, by all accounts some owners have dried the bikes out and applied various waterproofing compounds and not had any further issues with their bikes. Just to add I've not experienced this but I tend to be out of choice a bit of a fair weather rider despite having invested in Gore-Tex shoes and waterproof trousers.

Edited by BIRMA on Friday 13th November 10:14

Edited by BIRMA on Friday 13th November 10:29

[RacingPete]

Interesting about waterproofing. Just watched a good review on the four main powertrains: Bosch’s gen4, Yamaha, Shimano E8, brose. Looks like the Bosch was best and there were issues with brose and Yamaha for ingress... shimano was too new to have data

Looking across the board I think Bosch is the choice and will look at bikes with that.

[RacingPete]

And now read review that brose is really quiet and good all rounder, and they have looked at water ingress in latest version.

It’s a minefield!

[BIRMA]

RacingPete said:

And now read review that brose is really quiet and good all rounder, and they have looked at water ingress in latest version.

It’s a minefield!

You're absolutely right there about it being a minefield. The first day I got mine I took the battery out and had a good poke around as you do, being a practical sort of chap I did think to myself 'battery terminals at the bottom of an electric bike with no mudguards' so I sprayed everything with WD40 as to whether this may have helped when brand new I don't know.
Also I've been a bit averse to wet weather since the Weston Beach Race that I did on my Yamaha Banshee Quad back in the late 80's and got so wet I decided never to knowingly go out in the wet again. So I have to confess to being a fair weather rider these days.
As I mentioned one feature I have grown to really like and run the bike in it all the time is the Giant Auto feature, it looks like a lot of work has gone into the workings of the idea and have to say it really works for me.
I did go through quite a few Youtube reviews of E-MTB's even the ones with dudes with their cap on backwards who spoke in a way that made it clear I was not their target audience.
I also think buying from an outlet local to you has advantages, the guy in the Giant shop said to me you need a medium sized bike something I could have easily made a mistake over, plus as a customer they can set it up and carry out any updates from the manufacturer.

As someone who my friends knew as the bloke who said 'sod riding anything on two wheels without and engine' I have had to update that to 'sod riding anything on two wheels without a motor'

Edited by BIRMA on Saturday 14th November 18:17

[RacingPete]

Just to keep documenting my journey on buying an e-MTB I have narrowed down to a more informed shortlist:

Orbea Wild FS M20
Haibike AllMtn 7
Cube Stereo Hybrid 160 HPC TM
Cube Stereo Hybrid 160 HPC Actionteam
Vitus E-Sommet VRX

I have been researching most of the weekend and these all have over 600wH of battery life, under 6k, 2021 bikes and have decent components/suspension/brakes fitted.

There is a mixture of motor drives, and looking at some of the reviews I am liking the quietness of the Yamaha PW-X2, but also like the robustness of the Bosch Gen 4. The EP8 seems to not deliver as much punch in high cadence as the other two, but do like that Vitus frame.

I think any of them will be good, and really it is down to what deal I can find (plus availability)!
Will keep this thread posted on what I find

[stuarthat]

I have the cube action 160 it’s a lot of bike for the money Kashima coating plus xt
Also they done key worker discount 15% or trade in any bike 21 model £5060 I believe .

[BIRMA]

This might be helpful if you haven't read it already, budget creep is a bugger isn't it.

https://ebike-mtb.com/en/best-emtb-group-test-revi...

[RacingPete]

BIRMA said:

This might be helpful if you haven't read it already, budget creep is a bugger isn't it.

https://ebike-mtb.com/en/best-emtb-group-test-revi...

Yep, 3.5k to now a list of bikes around 5.5k

Thanks for the link!

I have found a cube action from a localish dealer, so might be the one!

[BIRMA]

stuarthat said:

I have the cube action 160 it’s a lot of bike for the money Kashima coating plus xt
Also they done key worker discount 15% or trade in any bike 21 model £5060 I believe .

The Cube brand does seem to come out on top in a lot of revues, If you read the Trustpilot reviews of the brand I bought Giant you wouldn't touch them.

[BIRMA]

RacingPete said:

BIRMA said:

This might be helpful if you haven't read it already, budget creep is a bugger isn't it.

https://ebike-mtb.com/en/best-emtb-group-test-revi...

Yep, 3.5k to now a list of bikes around 5.5k

Thanks for the link!

I have found a cube action from a localish dealer, so might be the one!

Cube do seem to be highly rated, I also think buying from a local outlet is the way to go especially software updates etc.
Although not to everyone's liking I have found the Facebook groups on a specific bike very informative.

Edited by BIRMA on Monday 16th November 08:31

[RacingPete]

I have woken up this morning thinking spending 5.7k on a mountain bike seems a little ridiculous! Plus the local dealer only does 18mths interest-free finance so makes it around 250/mth with a decent deposit.

My man maths had it that my wife spends nearly 100 quid on exercise classes, so me spending that much a month would get me doing more exercise and a lovely bike! Please convince me this is worth it

[Trophy Husband]

RacingPete said:

I have woken up this morning thinking spending 5.7k on a mountain bike seems a little ridiculous! Plus the local dealer only does 18mths interest-free finance so makes it around 250/mth with a decent deposit.

My man maths had it that my wife spends nearly 100 quid on exercise classes, so me spending that much a month would get me doing more exercise and a lovely bike! Please convince me this is worth it

Buy best buy once!

I have a pal who started with a £3k Haibike about 3 years ago. He got right into it and is on his 5th eMTB. Top of the range Specialised. he reckons he's lost £10k in trade-ins whereas if he'd bought best first off he probably would have only replaced it a year or so ago.

[sjg]

Whatever Mountain Trax or another decent local bike shop stock. Chances are high you'll have some sort of warranty issue, so being able to just drop it off is a big plus.

They do the Whyte ebikes which look great, bit over your budget but can 0% finance over 2 years if you pay 1400ish upfront. They have demos available too.