£3K Electrically Assisted MTB

[Nordboy]

Semi-skilled middle aged man with unhealthy obsession for trying to drag bicycle into air off anything remotely resembling a bump is surprised that 50+lb bicycle with poorly set up suspension isn't very good.

In other news, water wet and fire hot....

Getting down the trail is where the fun is, that's what it's all about at somewhere like FoD, for me, the clckwork gets down qicker, easier and with more fun.

This is my point about choice. I had immense 'fun' on an ebike around the FOD. I managed to get up the hills and coming down was a great laugh (until I crashed badly that was). So, what may be fun for you, with your better fitness and skill levels, would be horrendous for me. The coming down for me is a means to an end, I doubt I'll ever have to skills to not make a total fool of myself somewhere like bikepark wales!! I actually like the going up, the exploring trails, just being out in the open. And my ebike allows me to do that and have fun at the same time. And I love the fact that the trails etc are now open to people like me. I do find the whole anti ebike, mt-bikers thing a bit strange though?

[weeksy]

Semi-skilled middle aged man with unhealthy obsession for trying to drag bicycle into air off anything remotely resembling a bump is surprised that 50+lb bicycle with poorly set up suspension isn't very good.

In other news, water wet and fire hot....

Getting down the trail is where the fun is, that's what it's all about at somewhere like FoD, for me, the clckwork gets down qicker, easier and with more fun.

This is my point about choice. I had immense 'fun' on an ebike around the FOD. I managed to get up the hills and coming down was a great laugh (until I crashed badly that was). So, what may be fun for you, with your better fitness and skill levels, would be horrendous for me. The coming down for me is a means to an end, I doubt I'll ever have to skills to not make a total fool of myself somewhere like bikepark wales!! I actually like the going up, the exploring trails, just being out in the open. And my ebike allows me to do that and have fun at the same time. And I love the fact that the trails etc are now open to people like me. I do find the whole anti ebike, mt-bikers thing a bit strange though?

I'm not Anti-ebike... out of the 4 of us, 2 wee on Ebikes and i'd ride with either/both of them each and every day. I completely get your point about fitness but what makes me laugh/confused is some Ebikers don't seem to grasp that their bikes are not as much fun/good/etc (for ME) as their ebikes are. For example at FoD yesterday the Ebikes could have destroyed us on the uphill sections, but on the flat/down i wasn't holding anyone up, so it's only the Uphill they're actually 'better' in my experience. But that is counteracted by them being a hell of a lot worse downhill IMO. Rattly, heavy, sluggish to turn (although that may have been the 29er wheels or Geometry differences) but there was just nothing to endear me to it.

I'm not saying clockwork bikes are for everyone and i'm not saying they don't have their place.

But it doesn't mean i have to like/want one either

[Nordboy]

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't implying you were anti e-bike, I know you've tried them and that your good lady has one. But theres an awful lot of mtb'ers who are!! for some strange reason? You only have to look on a few of the forums to see how riled up people get about ebikes!

Different strokes for different folks just about sums it all up.

[Couchy]

Semi-skilled middle aged man with unhealthy obsession for trying to drag bicycle into air off anything remotely resembling a bump is surprised that 50+lb bicycle with poorly set up suspension isn't very good.

In other news, water wet and fire hot....

Semi skilled ? I’ve improved

But the forks on mine aren’t great tbh, with rebound on full they still bounced like there was no rebound. Letting pressure down to 50psi has made the rebound feel good but now they bottom everywhere.
Not to worry I’ve priced up new forks and some 27.5 wheels. It’s more expensive than changing bike, the new one arrives on the 19th

I do love my ebikes and a fast blue route on a derestricted one is still very exciting as I’ve done today, there’s not a cyclist that could argue or keep up tbh .........

[millemille]

Semi-skilled middle aged man with unhealthy obsession for trying to drag bicycle into air off anything remotely resembling a bump is surprised that 50+lb bicycle with poorly set up suspension isn't very good.

In other news, water wet and fire hot....

Semi skilled ? I’ve improved

But the forks on mine aren’t great tbh, with rebound on full they still bounced like there was no rebound. Letting pressure down to 50psi has made the rebound feel good but now they bottom everywhere.
Not to worry I’ve priced up new forks and some 27.5 wheels. It’s more expensive than changing bike, the new one arrives on the 19th

I do love my ebikes and a fast blue route on a derestricted one is still very exciting as I’ve done today, there’s not a cyclist that could argue or keep up tbh .........

How many tokens you got in the forks?

[Couchy]

These RS 35mm don’t work like that, basic and can’t alter internals. Spoke to suspension folk. The lack of rebound is a known weakness, with more than 50psi in forks they just don’t have enough adjustment on the rebound. Pretty poor fork all round.

[weeksy]

I personally think the 27.5 wheels along with a better fork will make a massive massive difference. I'll get the Shockwiz from Crust sent up to you, so you can get it setup right. For me though 29er wheels just don't feel right on a DH/Enduro, they're great at covering terrain.

[formula400]

We had 1 bike the other day that had 29inch wheels and it was the un-popular one that no one wanted to ride

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I really like my 29" wheels, they're fantastic if you want to move between ruts and great over roots, personal choice of wheels would be 29 front and a 26 rear, I've no idea why bicycle manufacturers like to have the same size wheel front and rear, nearly all off road motorcycles have a 21" front and 18" or 19" rear.

I might change my rear wheel for a 26, though 27.5 would be easier.

[matt]

Mine has 29 front,27.5 +rear. Love it.
So far I've not found a downside to this ebike, 55km of single-track yesterday, fly's up the hills if you want it to and smashes the downs and technical bits better than my old normal bike, (it does have more travel and better quality suspension than I've had before mind )I don't notice the weight at all.

[Mr Moofo]

I really like my 29" wheels, they're fantastic if you want to move between ruts and great over roots, personal choice of wheels would be 29 front and a 26 rear, I've no idea why bicycle manufacturers like to have the same size wheel front and rear, nearly all off road motorcycles have a 21" front and 18" or 19" rear.

I might change my rear wheel for a 26, though 27.5 would be easier.

Why ? What would the advantage be?

I have changed a 29er HT to mullet ( 29er front and 27.5 plus on the back) and my Flare Max. I hated the undamped "bounce" you get - and they just seemed draggy. 2.6 tyres were way better than 2.8 - but it still works better on 29 front and back.
One issue with the Cotic on a 2.6 tyre as a mullet was that the bottom bracket height drops about 10mm. And it is already low. So it handled ok - but the pedal strikes were a PITA.
So if anyone want to buy a hope Pro 4 wheel / 27.5 with a 2.8 Maxxis High Roller , let me know ...

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

As this thread has turned into my eMTB blog, I'm now up to 330 miles on my Haibike, still very happy with it, found a load more places to ride close to mine, my regular short rides are now 10 miles and I'm also doing at least one 20 mile ride a week, I'm definitely fitter as I'm using a lot less turbo than I was, and my stomach has got smaller as my FZR400's tank no longer sticks into my stomach on track days.

How do you stop cycling shoes from stinking after they've got soaked in farm track puddle water?

[rusty]

How do you stop cycling shoes from stinking after they've got soaked in farm track puddle water?

You don't, you just leave them in the garage to dry

Ideally you need two pairs, one to wear while the other ones are drying. If my shoes get particularly wet or muddy, they get rinsed with a hose then chcucked in the drying cabinet to dry before the next ride.

[Couchy]

Picked the whyte e150s up yesterday. Done 40 miles on it and I’m very happy. The new motor software is more powerful and the bike rides far more how I like. It’s faster and much better handling, quicker everywhere than the orbea. Even if we allow for,the fact I left the lock lever on the rear shock in lock......I’d already said it climbs like a monster but is quite stiff, obviously so I’ve been riding a 30mph HT on the local trails which explains my back and knee. Ignoring that the bike is awesome.

[weeksy]

[Beancounter]

Picked the whyte e150s up yesterday. Done 40 miles on it and I’m very happy. The new motor software is more powerful and the bike rides far more how I like. It’s faster and much better handling, quicker everywhere than the orbea. Even if we allow for,the fact I left the lock lever on the rear shock in lock......I’d already said it climbs like a monster but is quite stiff, obviously so I’ve been riding a 30mph HT on the local trails which explains my back and knee. Ignoring that the bike is awesome.

I’m very jealous. The missus did try to encourage me to buy an e150 but I didn’t want to lay out that much cash whilst I was still only 50/50 about getting back into MTB. Glad to hear it’s awesome, there’s something about Whytes, they just feel quite complete.

[weeksy]

Picked the whyte e150s up yesterday. Done 40 miles on it and I’m very happy. The new motor software is more powerful and the bike rides far more how I like. It’s faster and much better handling, quicker everywhere than the orbea. Even if we allow for,the fact I left the lock lever on the rear shock in lock......I’d already said it climbs like a monster but is quite stiff, obviously so I’ve been riding a 30mph HT on the local trails which explains my back and knee. Ignoring that the bike is awesome.

I'm actually really looking forward to the next write up as taking the pro-pedal/lockout off will clearly transform the bike on the rougher stuff. If it's like most modern bikes it's not quite a full HT type lockout, but what we called pro-pedal back in the day, stiffening to about 75% to stop pedal bob. But the difference between that and fully open is obviously massive.

Without getting too harsh here, i also think you're too set in your ways with suspension and you need to listen more, 20% sag isn't optimal, it's 40% that's optimal, you have the motor to give you speed, so losing out on some of the power through transference through pedals/bob/suspension doesn't matter, you want ultimate levels of bounce, it's not just giving you compliance, but when setup right it's giving increased grip and stability in corners too. I know you know about motorbikes, but listen to the people who know about MTBs If you can't take my word for it, ping Crust a PM or Whatsapp and get my Shockwiz sent up to you, or let me know by the 1st and i'll bring to FoD. I don't make the settings up i tell you, they're through masses of trial and error along with using the Shockwiz on multiple bikes time and time again.
Remember at the FoD you rode my G160 and got off it with "wow, that's really compliant and awesome handling"... That's not just because it's soft, but damped/rebounded correctly. As we're a very similar weight, what works for me, will work for you.
Too stiff and too much rebound, i'm 99.9% sure that's exactly what a Shockiwz will say when you plug it in... Forget what you know about motorbikes... despite my banter about engines, it's not actually a motorbike

[Couchy]

It’s all good, the rear sag is usually set to 30% which is the ballpark figure for an ebike. I’ll try other settings just to experiment. Yeah the lockout wasn’t a complete lockout and tbh comfort aside I liked how it felt fast and direct, soft and bouncy doesn’t feel as good to me but for the sake of my knees and back I won’t be running it as a near HT anymore .
Yup yours felt good but that was comparing it to the orbea with the utter garbage forks that had little damping, the new whyte feels very good too.
But I’ll Ride this some more and then get the shokwiz and see what that says, if it can be improved more then even better

[weeksy]

It’s all good, the rear sag is usually set to 30% which is the ballpark figure for an ebike. I’ll try other settings just to experiment. Yeah the lockout wasn’t a complete lockout and tbh comfort aside I liked how it felt fast and direct, soft and bouncy doesn’t feel as good to me but for the sake of my knees and back I won’t be running it as a near HT anymore .
Yup yours felt good but that was comparing it to the orbea with the utter garbage forks that had little damping, the new whyte feels very good too.
But I’ll Ride this some more and then get the shokwiz and see what that says, if it can be improved more then even better

Good man Sounds like a plan. obviously because of weight of bike and rider being so massively different compared to motorbikes, setting changed and sensitivity can be much more pronounced.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

On motorcross and enduro motorcycles you always set the sag as a figure in mm rather than as a % of the travel, from memory static sag with rider was 40mm (but I could be wrong)