weeksy wrote: Tue Sep 30, 2025 3:26 pm
The 'tiredness' was why i chose the Eeb yesterday as i'd been up and about all weekend at the Nationals and it was too sunny to drive, but i couldn't be bothered using the manual as it was getting late and my legs were tired... There is the downside that having the 'lazy' option available does mean you are more prepared to use it.
The reality in this situation for the vast majority of people, would be that it was take the eBike, or sit on the sofa watching TV... When already tired, a manual bike ride wouldn't be on the agenda for most.
I ride with a guy occasionally who was complaining how unfit his ebike has made him, much like you are... He's easily one of the fittest people I know, and at 55 he's absolutely embarrassing people half his age on a manual bike when they've got full fat eBikes even... His eBike that he says makes him unfit, is a Whyte E-Lyte so only a Bosch SX motor and 400Wh battery anyway (and he always finished with loads of battery left, having ridden almost entirely in eco mode)...
Different things, different folks... He's had WAY more time on his hands (and the access to good trails, he lives in the FoD right by the trails) to ride than I have typically...
TBF, the difference here is that Weeksy, by fortune and design spends about 4 days a week around MTB, MTBing or cleaning MTBs.
The rest of us do tend to dip in and out because of other stuff, I ride maybe 2x a week and e-bike means I can go further / recover quicker, not bugger up the rest of the day and the next day. Hence it gets used more often.
I would prefer to use manual - they ride better, they are light to shift around and I can actually pick them up to go over field furniture. I still have three shaker bikes - but I doubt I could sell them these days as everyone wants e-bikes !
Mr Moofo wrote: Tue Sep 30, 2025 5:10 pm
TBF, the difference here is that Weeksy, by fortune and design spends about 4 days a week around MTB, MTBing or cleaning MTBs.
The rest of us do tend to dip in and out because of other stuff, I ride maybe 2x a week and e-bike means I can go further / recover quicker, not bugger up the rest of the day and the next day. Hence it gets used more often.
I would prefer to use manual - they ride better, they are light to shift around and I can actually pick them up to go over field furniture. I still have three shaker bikes - but I doubt I could sell them these days as everyone wants e-bikes !
Very much this.
Apart from the preferring to ride an Amish bike, I prefer the stability and the lower CoG of an emtb, but I agree on the field furniture and hike-a-bike downside.
I do think that your local riding terrain plays a significant part in a person's take on emtb's. Having the Peak District on my doorstep, and having ridden around it on meat powered bikes BITD, I know that an all day ride on a meat powered bike is lots and lots of pushing and grinding, which no-one can claim is fun. On an e-mtb it's nigh-on 100% rideable, if you have the skillorz, and you can cover much more ground so get to enjoy more trails and views etc.
But if I was back living darn sarf, I doubt an e-mtb would make such a difference and my thinking could well be more aligned with @weeksy
millemille wrote: Wed Oct 01, 2025 9:29 am
I do think that your local riding terrain plays a significant part in a person's take on emtb's. Having the Peak District on my doorstep, and having ridden around it on meat powered bikes BITD, I know that an all day ride on a meat powered bike is lots and lots of pushing and grinding, which no-one can claim is fun. On an e-mtb it's nigh-on 100% rideable, if you have the skillorz, and you can cover much more ground so get to enjoy more trails and views etc.
But if I was back living darn sarf, I doubt an e-mtb would make such a difference and my thinking could well be more aligned with @weeksy
I completely agree with that. The terrain locally does suit the manual more in the sense that no climb is completely bonkers here and there's very little 'sessioning' going on with where we are. That could/will change massively next year though in that context as FoD is very much an up/down sort of area if you want it to be. However i'm still going to hold off as long as i can on the Eeb thing, but if/when that time comes it'll be more like the Bosch CX type motor rather than a full fat.
It’s quite possible to have the same workout on an ebike if you choose too, my local is basically an xc course and it’s fast on an ebike making it fun. Over an hour average HR is in the 130-140 with max of 180 and that’s the same as on a normal bike, the added bonus of the eeb is speed which tbh is needed to make the course interesting.
Couchy wrote: Wed Oct 01, 2025 1:56 pm
It’s quite possible to have the same workout on an ebike if you choose too, my local is basically an xc course and it’s fast on an ebike making it fun. Over an hour average HR is in the 130-140 with max of 180 and that’s the same as on a normal bike, the added bonus of the eeb is speed which tbh is needed to make the course interesting.
Couchy wrote: Wed Oct 01, 2025 1:56 pm
It’s quite possible to have the same workout on an ebike if you choose too, my local is basically an xc course and it’s fast on an ebike making it fun. Over an hour average HR is in the 130-140 with max of 180 and that’s the same as on a normal bike, the added bonus of the eeb is speed which tbh is needed to make the course interesting.
Go try that on a local bridleway or 5
The location does help as I can ride at 100% for as long as my body allows, tbh where you live you could do the same but you’d be doing 25-30mph everywhere
Couchy wrote: Wed Oct 01, 2025 1:56 pm
It’s quite possible to have the same workout on an ebike if you choose too, my local is basically an xc course and it’s fast on an ebike making it fun. Over an hour average HR is in the 130-140 with max of 180 and that’s the same as on a normal bike, the added bonus of the eeb is speed which tbh is needed to make the course interesting.
Go try that on a local bridleway or 5
The location does help as I can ride at 100% for as long as my body allows, tbh where you live you could do the same but you’d be doing 25-30mph everywhere
That's the thing though, you simply couldn't do that here, the terrain, walkers, trails simply don't really allow it. But it's not just all about the speed, or the effort... I dunno really the Ebike isn't really me for some reason. The Rail doesn't do anything wrong as such, but not sure it does anything right either.
weeksy wrote: Wed Oct 01, 2025 9:37 am
I completely agree with that. The terrain locally does suit the manual more in the sense that no climb is completely bonkers here and there's very little 'sessioning' going on with where we are. That could/will change massively next year though in that context as FoD is very much an up/down sort of area if you want it to be. However i'm still going to hold off as long as i can on the Eeb thing, but if/when that time comes it'll be more like the Bosch CX type motor rather than a full fat.
You mean the SX which is the 55Nm motor (soon to go to 60Nm) I think... The CX is the full fat 100Nm version...
But having both is I think, why now I don't really see a need for a conventional trail bike again (keeping my XC bike for gentle bridle path rides etc.)... Absolutely loving the Canyon with SX motor, cos in eco it's basically like riding a normal trail bike (albeit one that's 4.5kg heavier), in Tour+ it's enough for me to do pretty decent sized rides on my own or with others who aren't so fit on their full fat bikes, in eMTB I can keep up with the proper full fat riders for 2-2.5hrs and up to about 1000m of vert and am getting a SERIOUS workout doing so, and in Turbo it's cool for that 90min solo ride when you don't care about the stats you just want to get as much riding in in a short space of time as you can. I actually prefer the way the motor reacts more to cadence than the CX, and I find it not as noisy or intrusive as a lot of people seem to.
Don't get me wrong, I love the full fat CX in my Mondy too, but that is what it is... A big bike for big days out on big terrain! It's less dynamic and less playful, though absolutely more planted and ready to hit the rough stuff despite only 10mm more travel both ends.
I completely agree with that. The terrain locally does suit the manual more in the sense that no climb is completely bonkers here and there's very little 'sessioning' going on with where we are. That could/will change massively next year though in that context as FoD is very much an up/down sort of area if you want it to be. However i'm still going to hold off as long as i can on the Eeb thing, but if/when that time comes it'll be more like the Bosch CX type motor rather than a full fat.
As you know, This will depend 100% on what sort of riding you want to do here, if it's the sessioning then the eeb is 100% at home and the obvious choice, but xc across the forest picking up the available singletracks that are littered all over the place then the manual is a very real option.
I've been riding the Canyon much much more than my Eeb and my fitness is way better than it was 18 months ago having been riding the eebs for 7 years.
The thing that I don't think has been mentioned is that on the eeb, everything whizzes past at 15mph, the speed is constant and there's hardly any time where everything slows right down and you can take in the forest and wildlife and stuff like you do when you're in that 52tooth gear spinning away at 4 mph.
Excellent point about feeling the forest, feeling the trails, feeling the acorns and smelling the different trees as you move through a forest, where it gets damp or sort of dry, pine, etc yours completely right that you can deffo miss that stuff on an Eeb.
Last time at FoD me and Crust just rode the Colliers in the afternoon, I think that sort of thing will be my staple over winter in FoD, depends of course on where we end up moving to. There's a nice place in Lydney at the moment actually
brand new estate that, it's only been up for a few years and still expanding. I thought that you would have been looking at somewhere more in the heart of the forest so that you'll be straight onto the trail
Taff wrote: Wed Oct 01, 2025 9:33 pm
brand new estate that, it's only been up for a few years and still expanding. I thought that you would have been looking at somewhere more in the heart of the forest so that you'll be straight onto the trail
It'll all depend upon what's available in 3-5 months when we start looking fully. Ceri would arguably like somewhere a bit closer to civilization than ours. Lydney is 10 mins away as you know by car, which is fine for me too. Ideally it'd be Berry Hill for example but wait and see really
weeksy wrote: Wed Oct 01, 2025 9:37 am
I completely agree with that. The terrain locally does suit the manual more in the sense that no climb is completely bonkers here and there's very little 'sessioning' going on with where we are. That could/will change massively next year though in that context as FoD is very much an up/down sort of area if you want it to be. However i'm still going to hold off as long as i can on the Eeb thing, but if/when that time comes it'll be more like the Bosch CX type motor rather than a full fat.
You mean the SX which is the 55Nm motor (soon to go to 60Nm) I think... The CX is the full fat 100Nm version...
But having both is I think, why now I don't really see a need for a conventional trail bike again (keeping my XC bike for gentle bridle path rides etc.)... Absolutely loving the Canyon with SX motor, cos in eco it's basically like riding a normal trail bike (albeit one that's 4.5kg heavier), in Tour+ it's enough for me to do pretty decent sized rides on my own or with others who aren't so fit on their full fat bikes, in eMTB I can keep up with the proper full fat riders for 2-2.5hrs and up to about 1000m of vert and am getting a SERIOUS workout doing so, and in Turbo it's cool for that 90min solo ride when you don't care about the stats you just want to get as much riding in in a short space of time as you can. I actually prefer the way the motor reacts more to cadence than the CX, and I find it not as noisy or intrusive as a lot of people seem to.
Don't get me wrong, I love the full fat CX in my Mondy too, but that is what it is... A big bike for big days out on big terrain! It's less dynamic and less playful, though absolutely more planted and ready to hit the rough stuff despite only 10mm more travel both ends.
Is that the canyon with the sx motor and 400wh battery ? What range is it giving you in full power mode ? Some great deals on the neuron on fly at moment with that motor and battery I’m tempted
Couchy wrote: Thu Oct 02, 2025 4:37 pm
Is that the canyon with the sx motor and 400wh battery ? What range is it giving you in full power mode ? Some great deals on the neuron on fly at moment with that motor and battery I’m tempted
It is a Neuron OnFly I bought yes, and there were some great deals indeed, but looks like they have stopped them now (except for the CF8 which remains on sale)...
Don't really ride it in turbo other than for a quick boost up a steep climb if I'm with others on full fat eBikes. General consensus seems to be around 900-1000m of vert typically for an SX with 400Wh battery though from what I've seen. Distance has much less of a bearing on battery than the elevation does, even more so on a lower torque motor.
weeksy wrote: Thu Oct 02, 2025 4:52 pm
well, until you see
As you know the Canyon had new batteries due to the housing cracking...
This is the new battery.
All of the Canyon battery issues have been related to their own batteries that they use on bikes with Shimano motor systems... Bosch don't allow 3rd party battery use, so all their bikes with Bosch motors have to have a Bosch battery fitted to it as well, and haven't seen any issues there yet.
This was my ride yesterday , mainly off piste,brambly , single-track,on specialized levo.
3 hours and average 150 bpm according to Samsung galaxy watch, that's got to improve fitness . I was bollocksed( and cut to ribbons )when I got home anyway
