£3K Electrically Assisted MTB

[Nordboy]

You'll really enjoy it. I just jumped on mine for an hour and a half, only 12 miles but couple of ft short of 2000ft climbing. HR was up, in the countryside.

What's not to love?

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Has he bought one yet?

Been out on mine this morning, 18 miles round Rendlesham forest, good riding but I did get a bit sick of seeing trees, I prefer my normal ride from my house.

[weeksy]

Has he bought one yet?

Been out on mine this morning, 18 miles round Rendlesham forest, good riding but I did get a bit sick of seeing trees, I prefer my normal ride from my house.

I'll wait for him to get home and reply before I put in my thoughts. Was a great little ride we had

[weeksy]

OK, got the laptop on so will add my thoughts...

It was very very interesting for me. GP was trying not to use the power and using his legs as and when, so was good to compare where the Ebike and the clockwork bike compare and how they do so together. I took some trails that were narrow and plant lined, some that were uphill and gravelly and some that were flat and relaxing.

The ebike and GP did really well i thought, apart from certain trails where experience and practice play a part, he was there happily scooting along on my tail, when i upped the pace he wasn't quite there, but i've been doing this a lot and a long time.

But, when he then caught back up, he wasn't dead, he wasn't panting like a rabid dog, he was working, but more importantly he was smiling and happy and very much enjoying it.

For me it was the sort of riding i really enjoy, views, fields, rabbits, red kites, the cake and coffee too. Whilst i love the trailcenter stuff, the between trees, round tight bends, jumps, drops and powering along, i also love the rides of seclusion, the rides of peace, tranquility and finding the peace of mind. I also love the fact you can ride along with a mate and chat random bollox which obviously you can't exactly do on a motorbike (unless you both have compatible comms kit of course)

What i liked was that it wasn't an issue either way for us, we both seemed to enjoy things, both seemed happy and the Ebike gives the levels of power and ability to allow that

2020-06-13_03-59-15 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

[G.P]

I thoroughly enjoyed it
We did around 12 miles pretty much all off road as Weeksy described. That part of Berkshire is a beautiful part of the world and Weeksy seems to know every rut on the trails we were riding. Weeksy's pace on the tighter trails was faster than I was comfortable with at first but as I got used the weight and balance of the eMTB I was much happier.
First thing to say is that there was no way in hell that I could have done that ride without e- assistance. Weeksy works his arse off to achieve the level of fitness he has and I was amazed the pace he kept up the climbs.
I tried to use as little assistance as possible so I could give my legs a work out and try and measure what the potential range might be. Its a fucking heavy thing and going up a slight incline, I found level 1 (of 5) felt like it was compensating for the extra 12-13kgs over a pedal powered version.
Level 2 made the difference between the pace I would be comfortable with and the pace Weeksy was pedaling up those slopes.
Level 3 on a steep climb meant I could keep up without really blowing hard. level 4 and 5 are just for a laugh I reckon - its fun changing up through the gears accelerating up a steep section .
The bike showed 5 LEDs fully charged and still had 4 lit when we finished. So given that, I reckon a 50-60 mile ride is doable.

The bike was super comfy, big tyres rolling on 27.5 rims and bouncy bits at both ends. Before i got on it, I had a hardtail in mind as being the best solution for the type of riding I'd probably be doing. I'd changed my mind about that in 10 minutes, having FS was just so plush and like Weeksy said, if you've got a motor to push the extra weight along, why not?

So, do I want one? Hell yeah. Will I get one? Yeah

I've promised myself I'll rationalise my 4 wheel fleet before I do anything else. I bought Mrs GP a Golf to replace her Suzuki Swift just before lockdown but didn't get rid of the Suzuki. I'm also selling the Elgrand and will buy one vehicle with the proceeds of those 2. Once that is done I'll be in for an eMTB and in the interim, I'll put some pedaling hours in to get my fitness up.

Thanks to weeksy for the guided tours today and the use of Mrs Weeksys eMTB. Much appreciated

[weeksy]

Until then, get your arse over here more regularly

There's gazillions of trails here

[Couchy]

Knew you’d enjoy it Pygmy, I’d sell you my Scott ebike but as it’s Large it wouldn’t be ideal. I must get round to doing an advert for it

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Just charged mine up, it says it will do 44 miles but I was out in sand for most of my ride today, so used a bit more assistance, I think I could get 50 miles on former going.

[Docca]

I'm going to see the Specialized I linked to in another thread next week. Potentially a good deal with an additional battery thrown in for added range.

That said, i did a knackered clockwork ride today and loved it. Mostly

[Couchy]

I'm going to see the Specialized I linked to in another thread next week. Potentially a good deal with an additional battery thrown in for added range.

That said, i did a knackered clockwork ride today and loved it. Mostly

I had a new specialised in January.....I had a new motor within the first week.......it had more faults in the second week and got rejected lol. My personal preference is Bosch motor’d bikes bought from a local dealer or recently serviced.

[Nordboy]

I'm going to see the Specialized I linked to in another thread next week. Potentially a good deal with an additional battery thrown in for added range.

That said, i did a knackered clockwork ride today and loved it. Mostly

I had a new specialised in January.....I had a new motor within the first week.......it had more faults in the second week and got rejected lol. My personal preference is Bosch motor’d bikes bought from a local dealer or recently serviced.

I went for Bosch purely due to their no messing customer service, heard great things that if there's any issues they just sort it out quickly! And the Bosch servicing/ charging network seems like it's much better and more advanced than the other manufacturers.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I went for Bosch because of their better reputation for reliability, there's also a Haibike dealer not far from me that's a fully accredited Bosch service centre.

Been out for a 10 mile ride this morning, bike's now quite muddy, really enjoyed, did the whole ride without any stops, I was stopping for a mouthful of water at 5 miles.

[millemille]

I went for Bosch partly on the advice of [mention]Couchy[/mention] and partly through looking at the various motor manufacturer sub-forums and threads on the e-mtb forum.

[Docca]

I have a work colleague who has had a specialised for 12 months and it hasn't skipped a beat. He raves about the Brose engine and I like the integrated look. Plus, it consistently wins best eMTB so I'm hoping if I do go down that route, with enough warranty it will be OK.

Having said that, I do have a Buell so wtf do I know

[millemille]

I have a work colleague who has had a specialised for 12 months and it hasn't skipped a beat. He raves about the Brose engine and I like the integrated look. Plus, it consistently wins best eMTB so I'm hoping if I do go down that route, with enough warranty it will be OK.

Having said that, I do have a Buell so wtf do I know

Just google "Specialized Brose Sprag clutch failure" or "Specialized Brose belt failure". The failure rates put me off buying a Specialized....

[Couchy]

Spesh do have a good back up which is a good thing and they do ride lovely. So do many other bikes.

If there’s a dealer local Docca go for it

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I think you can find horror stories about any of the popular EMTB motors and transmission, Bose get very good reviews, go for it, worst that can happen is bit needing a new motor thix will be covered by warranty for at least 12 months.

[millemille]

I think you can find horror stories about any of the popular EMTB motors and transmission, Bose get very good reviews, go for it, worst that can happen is bit needing a new motor thix will be covered by warranty for at least 12 months.

You can't find "horror stories" about people needing 3 or 4 Bosch motors in one bike in short order.

Specialized/Bose have a real and significant problem with the sprag bearing they use in their motors breaking up, typically at around 500 miles of use but it can be a lot earlier in that if you have a pedal strike. They are the only motor manufacturer to use a sprag clutch rather than a roller clutch and it shows. While this may be fine for the millions of motor's Bose sell for hyrbid and city bikes it's not for proper mountain bikes.

Yes, Specialized do make good mtb's - I've had loads of them over the years - and they are warrantying all motor failures but why anyone would chose a bike that is far, far more likely to have a major failure than any other comparable emtb out there is beyond me.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Been out this morning, explored an area I've wanted to for years where there's an old abandoned church where a village used to be, did about 22 miles, nearly all on loose surfaces, couple of little stream crossings, I started out with 3 bars on the battery and I ran out of power about 400 yards from home on the way back, it's quite shit with a flat battery, it's really heavy and crap to ride, I nearly got off and pushed.

[Beancounter]

Been out this morning, explored an area I've wanted to for years where there's an old abandoned church where a village used to be, did about 22 miles, nearly all on loose surfaces, couple of little stream crossings, I started out with 3 bars on the battery and I ran out of power about 400 yards from home on the way back, it's quite shit with a flat battery, it's really heavy and crap to ride, I nearly got off and pushed.

Just lifting mine out of the car makes me quake for the day that I run out of charge.

We’re you using Turbo for the most part today?

I’ve also been wondering if there are some specific dos and don’ts for maintaining an eMTB. I think I read a post from Couchy about packing out the motor with grease to stop water ingress...