Considering an eeb

[Flux]

Thinking of selling both my trail and Dh bikes and replacing with a long travel ebike. The Yt Decoy mx looks good but obviously they currently have some serious issues which is concerning. There's also the specialized Kenevo which I'm currently doing some research into and also the Mondraker Dune Xr has 180mm front but the battery is smaller and with less power than the Yt, on the plus side it's a good 3kg lighter.
I ride Bpw, Dyfi, Wind hill, Stile cop and do a foreign trip every year, Chatel, Whistler etc...also enjoy occasional xc round lake and peak district, but definitely do more dh style of riding.
I do enjoy jumps, drops and don't mind a bit of tech.
Has anyone got experience of these bikes or anything else I should consider, what's your thoughts on the Yt situation.
Do heavy e bikes jump well, require more effort to boost?
I assume it's very easy to derestrict these bikes as will only be used offroad and I don't see the benefit if it holds you back at 15mph but i am completely naive when it comes to ebikes.

[MingtheMerciless]

I'd say buy local so when/if you have a warranty issue it's relatively easy to sort and from a manufacturer who isn't in a financial hole.

Bosch motors seem to have a good reputation for reliability , Specialized did have a poor reputation for reliability BUT their warranty support is second to none and the newer motors are supposed to be a lot better. The DJI motor is the new kid on the block and very powerful (1000W) and easy to derestrict, reliability and support unknown. I have an EP8 Shimano motor (now superseded by the EP801) and thats survived 3 years and 2500 miles, mostly derestricted and I've just had it serviced at the E-Motor centre in Barrow in Furness for about £180 and it feels like new.

Of the motors I've ridden best feel and power delivery: Specialized, Bosch, Shimano and I have ridden the DJI but only a few hundred yards and it was just silly powerful.

TBH on an uplift you might as well keep the DH bike for that and reserve the Ebike for grand days out, blasts and uppy/downy days.
I'll admit I'm pretty wheels on the ground rider but steep and tech stuff is fine on an e-bike, you need a bit more input than a lighter bike but they still go round corners.

Personally I'd go with a bigger battery (which can be removed from the frame) and full fat motor for less range anxiety and more fun, techy climbs can really be attacked.

DJI seem to be the easiest to derestrict (at the moment), Shimano and Specialized you can get a chip/speedbox that plugs into the wiring harness which is a bit of faff to fit and App to sort out the limit but be wary of Bosch as they are very strict and if they suspect you've chipped the motor and its "bricked" itself because of this you probably won't get it fixed (been told this by two LBS).

[Taff]

If you normally fly with your bike to your annual holiday, you won't be able to take the eeb battery on an aircraft so you'll need to source a hire battery / some other alternative.

[Ditchfinder]

For uplifts / DH I would prefer a normal bike TBH.

Winch & Plummet style XC is where I'd want a Ebike

[Flux]

Mmm, interesting, I'm now wondering if I'd be wasting my money buying an ebike, as peddling when I do it, isn't a problem.

[millemille]

2022 Focus Sam2. Bosch Gen 4, 625 battery, 29er (tried mullet, great for going down but no good for going up), 170mm rear, 200mm front, crashed it through the Hope Technology catalogue.

Monster truck of long travel DH bike that can do the ups pretty well. Not light, 27kg or thereabouts with a heavy duty stainless steel motor bash guard and tyre inserts.

Goes downhill better than any of the dedicated downhill bikes I've had. One of the reasons I went for the Focus is because it's one of the few EEB frames that is DH5 rated so you can fit a double crown fork and race it and the warranty is still valid.

I'd go for the Bosch Gen 4 because it's the last Bosch motor that can be reliably derestricted and fully rebuilt.

[Couchy]

As mr mille says if you go Bosch and want to derestrict you’ll be buying second hand and last of the gen4 before they went smart system. Same with the latest specialized they have locked them down and the derestrict companies are struggling to reliably derestrict them.
I’ve got the previous spesh and a trek with the gen4 Bosch motor. Both are good the spesh is more linear in its delivery but I prefer the Bosch motor as it feels more powerful. On paper it isn’t but that’s not how it rides. Other half has a Yamaha which again is similar figures on paper but in reality feels weaker. If you’re not gonna derestrict buy any of them as you’ll get the warranty but a full power restricted bike is frustrating to ride as above the limit they are hard to pedal.

[millemille]

@Flux whereabouts in the country are you and how tall are you?

[Mr Moofo]

@Flux whereabouts in the country are you and how tall are you?

Indeed - if you are near the south coast you can try mine - but its a Trek Rail and XL. But Bosch motor

[millemille]

I'm Derbyshire dales/Peak District and the Focus is an XL.

[Mr Moofo]

Re the viability of an Eeb. The downside is that you do tend to grab it as the first option. As a 65 year old it probably means i can get out and do stuff more often than my old aching bones would let me do normally.
The are heavy, less agile - can have “different” handling characteristics. That said I go much faster up hills on a eeb and much faster down hills!
That said, i would prefer to be much fitter and ride shaker - they handle better, are lighter etc

[Flux]

@Flux whereabouts in the country are you and how tall are you?

East mids but at 5'8" I'm deffo not an xl.
Thanks to both that offered though.

[Flux]

Re the viability of an Eeb. The downside is that you do tend to grab it as the first option. As a 65 year old it probably means i can get out and do stuff more often than my old aching bones would let me do normally.
The are heavy, less agile - can have “different” handling characteristics. That said I go much faster up hills on a eeb and much faster down hills!
That said, i would prefer to be much fitter and ride shaker - they handle better, are lighter etc

I think there's definitely an ebike in my future but I'm not quite convinced the time is now. I'm 55 but very fit so the main benefit i could see is riding places without an uplift, winhill, Stile cop, chicksands etc as you'd get some many more runs in without being too knackered. But as my main focus is bikepark stuff, I need to be sure I can still jump well on it. I can see where an eeb would be very useful for jumping, if the conditions are running slow or you make a mistake come up short on the previous jump, it can be quite hard to quickly get a dh bike back up to speed to clear the next one where an eeb will accelerate so much quicker.
Think I need to hire one to try for myself. Don't like the sound of the latest motors being locked down though.

[weeksy]

Deffo not a YT as they've fucked a load of customers.

I'd say the vast majority go wrong in some way, so buy whichever dealer is easiest to get to and deal with.

They are awesome things but once you've had one it's very hard to get the fitness back again. They do mean you can ride things you think you can't usually and the weight isn't a massive issue riding.

[Taff]

I bought my first Cannondale eeb in 2018, replacing that with a whyte e150 in 2021 (the Cannondale will be for sale soon with a refreshed motor).
Just over a year ago I bought my Canyon Neuron for xc fitness type riding, since I bought the Canyon my Whyte is barely ridden, I only use it for self uplift or if I'm on a big day out with mates.
I've talked to quite a few people that have done the same, absolutely loved the eeb for wire a few years, and they are brilliant, but ultimately go back to manual for a lot of their riding.