E-MTB trail bike - I'm I mad?

[TheFungle]

I suspect this is a well ridden path at the moment but I'm seriously thinking of making the move (back to) mountain biking from mainly road with a gravel detour.

I finished off 2019 really strongly on the road as was in a happy place fitness wise. Lockdown and CV19 really knocked my enthusiasm, mainly I suspect due to my commute no longer providing me with my base miles.

I've now convinced myself that I want an E-MTB trail bike!

My MTB frame of reference is slightly out as my last bike was a 2004 Yeti 575.

I want a fun bike that I can explore the local area (I'm based on Harrogate) and just have a general blast on. I'll still have my gravel bike for road riding and I've my Wilier full time on the Kickr.



This Orbea ticks seemingly all the boxes.

Lightweight, good range, strong motor. I had considered a Specialized Turbo Levo with the 90Nm motor but I suspect that will be just a bit too much oomph.

[jamm13dodger]

What motor is on the Orbea and what size battery? Those 2 things would dictate my main decision points on the bike. I'd want the Bosch ideally and at least 625Wh or better for what I do.

[lizardbrain]

The levo motor feels a bit more like a very efficient mtb bike. More natural feeling.

The Bosch’s has more torque and feels more like a rubbish motorbike.

I much prefer the latter! But they are quite different and worth testing. Many prefer the former.

Edited by lizardbrain on Monday 14th March 11:46

[Howaboutthis]

Have you perused E-Mountainbike online magazine? Endless hours of fun.

[vwsurfbum]

Definitely test ride both the half fat Orbea and a full-fat version.

Going lightweight is great if its just you and want a little bit extra power, but as soon as you ride with others on an Eeb you'd be wishing you bought the full fat.
Personally, I wanted a light trail bike with a bit of power, I ended up with a Heckler after a few friends got them and then there was no way you can mix the two.

[Hugo Stiglitz]

Your definitely in the right place looking at the orbea and Levo IMO.

Can you hire out a ebike first?

I did and absolutely hated it. Rode it round the Peaks for a day and although it fired up hills in turbo mode it just left me with a dead wood feeling, the descents were st as I couldn't feel any playfulness and the brakes really struggled for power with my speed combined with 105kg weight.

I also hated putting it sans wheels into the back of my car and I gouged out a bit of the car due to angling the heft in (I'm not weak in my upper body but at 8am using your core muscles to carefully lower in and extract out whilst tired was tiring.

I ride a long travel titanium 29er. It climbs. Boy it climbs funnily just using me. It can also go on a roof rack.

Ebikes are loved by many but you may find them marmite like I did.

Try first I say.

I've zip against ebikes and I too was looking at the H20 and Levo. A bloke I sometimes ride with rides one and hes a better rider than me but they just leave me cold. The feel between my thighs reminded me of a early 00s freeride bike.

Edited by Hugo Stiglitz on Tuesday 15th March 19:09

[PushedDover]

Alternatively- Turbo mode is the equivalent of ‘Launch Control’ or insane mode or whatever
Amusing for a little while

Then it’s about ‘using’ the motor to assist and open up the opportunity, to delete the wind, to allow you to ‘let’s look up there’

[TheFungle]

So I had a day long demo of the Orbea Rise and I was left......disappointed.

Modern trail bike geometry clearly takes a bit of getting used to but this thing felt massive and not especially enjoyable to pilot.

As a medium fat E-Bike (65Nm) it had plenty of punch but didn't have the magic shove that I was expecting.

Reflecting on my ride which was mostly XC based, I think what I'm after is something akin to an early 00's XC hardtail, something to take out on the locals trails to smash about without falling into the trail centre trap of bigger, bigger, bigger.

Although I did very briefly try a Trek Rail with the 90Nm Bosch motor, now that thing shifts!

[Bathroom_Security]

I wouldnt go back in terms of geometry. 63HTA can feel very nimble although I think bike length (wheelbase) can be a killer.

I hate the 'light' ebikes I think they are rubbish and feel broken but some people love them

took me 5 rides to get used to My 22 Levo then it just clicked. thought I had made a mistake at first

[vwsurfbum]

Sounds like you've made up your mind, you need a full fat playful ebike, like a heckler

[OutInTheShed]

I've enjoyed a few goes on e-bikes, but for me they just overlap too much with what I want to do on an 'analogue bike' walking and motorbike.
The actual number of times and places it's the best choice of activity would be quite small for me.

For something that costs over £5k, it would have to be my main hobby and get used every weekend. I suspect the depreciation will be steep, yet there's not much secondhand market, so it's not like say a motorbike where you can buy a used one, keep it for a few years and be reasonably sure of getting 3/4 of your dosh back. Even if you did, I don't think I'd ride it enough to get value or justify the space it takes up.

I do quite a lot of walking, usually 2, maybe 3 5+ mile walks a week with the Mrs.
I get out on the pushbike most weeks, and go off road with it 'sometimes'.
I feel better for the exercise, been doing more these past two years.
I aim to use my motorbike more this year.

I can see it will be different for other people, if their mates have ebikes(there's a bunch I see around the lanes, looks like a posh/ electric version of 'Last of the Summer Wine, they are usually stopped chatting somewhere), if it works for commuting or if you don't want the exercise.

A couple of the people I know with e-bikes have more than one!
The naughty powerful models seem to tempt people.

[Birr97]

A complete left field idea but have you considered a hardtail?

I've got a Ragley Marley trail/"hardcore" hardtail and it's a complete blast.
Climbs great with it being a lot lighter than a typical full suspension, let alone an E-bike.

Great for a blast around the woods as well as tougher/steeper trails. I'm currently the limiting factor right now and not the bike.

Anything with a 64/65° head angle should do the job.

[Hugo Stiglitz]

The Trek Rail is what I hired. Lumpen, horrible thing. Shifted in turbo mode...


But the weight of the bike and me combined made the suspension and brakes struggle.

Why do they fit air shocks to 50lb bikes that have to carry another 200lb?!

The brakes aren't strong enough.

In the end I went with a titanium 29er Kingdom with Lyrik ultimates.

Today I rode down the Jacobs Ladder in the Peaks dabbing twice.

It didn't struggle. This weekend I'll be riding the North Downs.

If I see any full suss ebikes there I'll be amazed.

[interstellar]

I have a YT Decoy and bought it due to peer pressure. My pals I rode with starting getting them and I was being left behind.

We now race each other up the hills which is different but great fun!!

I would look at YT , Whyte or Focus. All great bikes

[Engineer 1]

I don't understand why people buy the overpriced, underperforming bikes that are factory made and shop sold. Good luck getting custom parts in 5 years. I am a road rider so I use rear hub drive conversions, overvolted for more power, but too heavy on the back end (in fact everywhere due to the large battery)for rough trails. just pick a good bike, or a cheap one and add quality parts like bottom bracket sealed bearings, gear types and shifters etc). sometimes the manufacturers use the same frame, put better gears and other parts on and mark up the price. a good mid drive motor if you want to jump it etc. a chain guide to stop the chain hitting the frame, and a battery as low down as you can get it, always use a quality battery as cheap ones are false economy. that way you can build a good bike if you have the know how with more power and still serviceable in 5 years.