Mountain Bike Purchase Advice

[RGG]

I'm looking for a Front Suspension Mountain Bike.

For DIY electric conversion.

The intended use would be "off public roads" use - getting around the Spa circuit for example.

The conversion won't need to be 250 watts limited.

I'm flexible on wheel size and open to suggestions.

The Prefix was / is 26! - I've no experience of the further developments in wheel diameter options.

The last new bike I bought was a Proflex XPX circa 1995 so that's where my knowledge base ends to date.

I'm looking for the best deal, new for around £500, anything that has a good to great discount

I don't need the latest years model, happy with any previous years runout stock.

Can anyone give me some good ideas of what is available at the moment?

Thanks.

[Master Bean]

Voodoo Braag from Halfords.

[Benson11]

Have you got a build kit in mind or are you planning to put your own kit together, the components in the kit will dictate some of what you need from the bike in terms of wheel size, brakes, gears, axle diameter and width etc.

Some kits will come with a complete motor in wheel assembly but I guess some will come with a hub that you can build into your own rim etc.

26inch bikes aren't widely available anymore, most will be 27.5, 27.5+ (wider rims/tyres) or 29inch. Either option is a lot better than 26 tbh as it gives better roll over ability for bumps and you'll find tyres are easier to come by, I'd say go 29inch as this probably the majority standard now.

In your donor bike look for disk brakes, the best fork possible and consider what gears will work with your conversion kit and aim to include those if possible

[RGG]

Benson11 said:

Have you got a build kit in mind or are you planning to put your own kit together, the components in the kit will dictate some of what you need from the bike in terms of wheel size, brakes, gears, axle diameter and width etc.

Some kits will come with a complete motor in wheel assembly but I guess some will come with a hub that you can build into your own rim etc.

26inch bikes aren't widely available anymore, most will be 27.5, 27.5+ (wider rims/tyres) or 29inch. Either option is a lot better than 26 tbh as it gives better roll over ability for bumps and you'll find tyres are easier to come by, I'd say go 29inch as this probably the majority standard now.

In your donor bike look for disk brakes, the best fork possible and consider what gears will work with your conversion kit and aim to include those if possible

The 26 wheel dia" , yes, like you say things have moved on, considerably; the bike would be a 27.5 because of my height challenge?

The e bike consideration - I can see that KirbEBike seems to be top or close to top of the tree: is that good thinking or are there conversion kits available with comparable quality and a lower price to consider?

Any advice would help me out.

Edited by RGG on Wednesday 5th February 13:35

[Tony1963]

RGG said:

The 26 wheel dia" , yes, like you say things have moved on, considerably; the bike would be a 27.5 because of my height challenge?

The e bike consideration - I can see that KirbEBike seems to be top or close to top of the tree: is that good thinking or are there conversion kits available with comparable quality and a lower price to consider?

Any advice would help me out.

Edited by RGG on Wednesday 5th February 13:35

29ers are available in xxs size…

[RGG]

Tony1963 said:

RGG said:

The 26 wheel dia" , yes, like you say things have moved on, considerably; the bike would be a 27.5 because of my height challenge?

The e bike consideration - I can see that KirbEBike seems to be top or close to top of the tree: is that good thinking or are there conversion kits available with comparable quality and a lower price to consider?

Any advice would help me out.

Edited by RGG on Wednesday 5th February 13:35

29ers are available in xxs size…

Thanks for this, so if it's an e-bike conversion (heavy) 29 would be a better choice.
Better stability.
The bike would be used to get to the top of the Spa Circuit and so on - putting in a few miles around and about during a race using the mostly gravel tracks.

[Benson11]

RGG said:

The 26 wheel dia" , yes, like you say things have moved on, considerably; the bike would be a 27.5 because of my height challenge?

The e bike consideration - I can see that KirbEBike seems to be top or close to top of the tree: is that good thinking or are there conversion kits available with comparable quality and a lower price to consider?

Any advice would help me out.

Edited by RGG on Wednesday 5th February 13:35

Honestly I don't know much about ebike conversion kits, I'm good with mountain bikes and parts overall though, looking at KribEbike's website it looks pretty good, I don't know how those prices compare to others but I guess you'll end up around £2k for the completed bike at the end so you probably can by an off the shelf for the same money but will be less power. Some points to consider for a quick look on their site:

- They can cater for any wheel size
- Gears seem to be limited to 7-10 speed on the rear cassette so this is something to bear in mind on the donor bike
- The high power kit they are listing appears to be single speed which would need some further thought
- The kits appear to be disk brake compatible, but the levers look like they are designed for cable disk brakes, so again look out when buying the donor bike
- Axle widths aren't super clear but it looks like compatible with 135mm and 142mm, so avoid any bikes with wider "boost" axle widths
- Its not clear what drop out standards the wheels work with, I guess these are only quick release/bolt in type wheels, so avoid any thru-axle donor bikes

Final point and I guess you aren't too bother by this, but the kits they are listing are illegal for UK or public use, but I guess for race track stuff like you are saying will be fine

[RGG]

Benson11 said:

RGG said:

The 26 wheel dia" , yes, like you say things have moved on, considerably; the bike would be a 27.5 because of my height challenge?

The e bike consideration - I can see that KirbEBike seems to be top or close to top of the tree: is that good thinking or are there conversion kits available with comparable quality and a lower price to consider?

Any advice would help me out.

Edited by RGG on Wednesday 5th February 13:35

Honestly I don't know much about ebike conversion kits, I'm good with mountain bikes and parts overall though, looking at KribEbike's website it looks pretty good, I don't know how those prices compare to others but I guess you'll end up around £2k for the completed bike at the end so you probably can by an off the shelf for the same money but will be less power. Some points to consider for a quick look on their site:

- They can cater for any wheel size
- Gears seem to be limited to 7-10 speed on the rear cassette so this is something to bear in mind on the donor bike
- The high power kit they are listing appears to be single speed which would need some further thought
- The kits appear to be disk brake compatible, but the levers look like they are designed for cable disk brakes, so again look out when buying the donor bike
- Axle widths aren't super clear but it looks like compatible with 135mm and 142mm, so avoid any bikes with wider "boost" axle widths
- Its not clear what drop out standards the wheels work with, I guess these are only quick release/bolt in type wheels, so avoid any thru-axle donor bikes

Final point and I guess you aren't too bother by this, but the kits they are listing are illegal for UK or public use, but I guess for race track stuff like you are saying will be fine

Thanks again for these considerations and suggestions - the brake differences in particular and the single speed designs.
I'm still looking for the package - bike and kit and Spa looms ever forward.

[Benson11]

If you want to build an e-bike, something like this would probably work based on the above criteria:

https://www.evanscycles.com/brand/trek/marlin-4-mo...

Or if you are willing to pedal a bit, be a bit lower power, but buy off the peg and no faff of building, I'd recommend something like:

https://www.evanscycles.com/brand/trek/marlin-6-20...

Its probably worth visiting a shop to get a go an e-bike and talk it through with them, there's tonnes of discounts out there at the moment! A few brands for bikes I'd recommend would be:

- Trek
- Giant
- Scott
- Canyon
- Cannondale
- Specialised
- Orbea

To name a few, theres plenty of good quality stuff out there any loads of review sites for almost every bike.