bergsnj
Well-Known Member
yup. pretty great spec for the money with the sale they had going on.
E-bikes are a thing
- Thread starter jdog
- Start date
JonF
Well-Known Member
It seems ebikes have diverged into more or less 2 main designs: 1. the more minimalist approach focusing on lighter weight, shorter travel lesser assist and smaller battery capacity and 2. the full bore, long travel bruiser approach with all the watts and amp hours. Sure there are some 'tweeners but as technology progresses these ends of the spectrum are ever advancing and some folks are drawn to one end whereas some are drawn to the other.
If you have a bike from one of these different camps, what made you choose to go that route and why?
I ping-pong back and forth and can't really say which would be more ideal for me when i consider how ebiking changes my approach to riding. On one hand a nimble, lightweight bike would suit everyday rides being more nimble and having sufficient assist and longevity for most trail systems. But am i really looking to replicate existing riding with a little assist? On the other hand, a full fat bike means going faster, farther and harder and who really cares about being overbiked at that point when i can go new places and ride new things. Its a tough call really.
Fuel ExE vs Ibis Oso....
If you have a bike from one of these different camps, what made you choose to go that route and why?
I ping-pong back and forth and can't really say which would be more ideal for me when i consider how ebiking changes my approach to riding. On one hand a nimble, lightweight bike would suit everyday rides being more nimble and having sufficient assist and longevity for most trail systems. But am i really looking to replicate existing riding with a little assist? On the other hand, a full fat bike means going faster, farther and harder and who really cares about being overbiked at that point when i can go new places and ride new things. Its a tough call really.
Fuel ExE vs Ibis Oso....
Ian F
Well-Known Member
I'm interested in that debate as well... Right now, I lean towards a "full hog" long travel beast for riding at trail systems with a gravity focus - Glen Park and Spring Mtn come to mind. While a lighter bike seems more suited to regular trail rides, I don't know if I quite want to ride one instead of my "normal" bikes.
SAM
Well-Known Member
Do you know he's on an ebike from looking at his profile or is this some guy selecting "ebike ride"? I thought when "ebike ride" is selected, results are excluded from normal segments. Maybe it would be compared to other ebike rides?
Class 3 ebikes only assist to 28 mph, so he's pushing that extra weight to get to 32.6 mph (average!), unless he's on a motorcycle or your segment is downhill (i know it's probably flat).
Cassinonorth
Well-Known Member
It's super easy to flag e-bike rides from the web app.
iLuveketchup
Well-Known Member
I have the 'relatively' light emtb (still F'n heavy to me) and have chosen for the following reasons..
- Aesthetics.
- While I think my emtb is heavy, the relative light weight makes it feel like a standard analog bike.
- I don't need full power. The only time I take it out of the ECO setting (25NM of assist) is on fire road climbs. One thing I didn't realize was that you will end up spinning the rear tire when on a high tq setting on slow techy climbs. But it could be from my bad riding. YMMV
- My Rise is my go-to bike for trails like Frederick Watershed and Glen Park. I've bought it for these type of trails where you have a long climb up, only to bomb down... rinse repeat. My Rise has Assegai/DHR w/ cush, 64.5* head angle. I never told myself that I needed a bigger bike at those trails. Maybe I'm not smashing the rocks fast enough.. don't know.
- I was concerned about the lower range (smaller battery) but honestly I poop out after ~4hrs and I've never out pedaled the battery. One caveat is that you will need to charge the bike more often. For example, I can get away without charging a full power emtb for over a week. But I would have 25% left and have to charge my bike after 2 rides. This would be with ~5hrs of riding.
If I were to get an emtb now, Trek EX-E or Pivot Shuttle SL for a lighty and the YT Decoy for the fatness/bang for the buck/aesthetics for a fatty.
Just to note, my Rise is more of a tool to self shuttle and run more laps. I still find my analog bike to be more fun and rewarding.
Just IMO.
- Aesthetics.
- While I think my emtb is heavy, the relative light weight makes it feel like a standard analog bike.
- I don't need full power. The only time I take it out of the ECO setting (25NM of assist) is on fire road climbs. One thing I didn't realize was that you will end up spinning the rear tire when on a high tq setting on slow techy climbs. But it could be from my bad riding. YMMV
- My Rise is my go-to bike for trails like Frederick Watershed and Glen Park. I've bought it for these type of trails where you have a long climb up, only to bomb down... rinse repeat. My Rise has Assegai/DHR w/ cush, 64.5* head angle. I never told myself that I needed a bigger bike at those trails. Maybe I'm not smashing the rocks fast enough.. don't know.
- I was concerned about the lower range (smaller battery) but honestly I poop out after ~4hrs and I've never out pedaled the battery. One caveat is that you will need to charge the bike more often. For example, I can get away without charging a full power emtb for over a week. But I would have 25% left and have to charge my bike after 2 rides. This would be with ~5hrs of riding.
If I were to get an emtb now, Trek EX-E or Pivot Shuttle SL for a lighty and the YT Decoy for the fatness/bang for the buck/aesthetics for a fatty.
Just to note, my Rise is more of a tool to self shuttle and run more laps. I still find my analog bike to be more fun and rewarding.
Just IMO.
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I bought the rise because i was making the transition from analog to e. Since my knee wasnt playing nice on my regular pedal and kept me from riding i decided to give this route a go. Boy am i glad i did. In fact if these were a thing 10 years ago and know what i know now i would have bought one then.
Now to present, the new Orbea Wild (full power) weighs the same as my Rise H15, logic says mattyb will be upgrading at some point this year.
More power more squish sign me up. Too much fun to be had pussyfooting around.
Numbers dont lie, my HR stays comfortably in 130 avg, 160s for the highs. Im riding harder stuff and climbing trails only ebikes can. No more walking your bike. I still ride with my amish friends and gaining ebike friends, doesnt get much better then that. That knee issue has not been a problem since last analog ride, sadly i suppose but i havent tested that theroy in almost a year and i dont plan testing anytime soon. Because i AM having too much FUN 🙃
Now to present, the new Orbea Wild (full power) weighs the same as my Rise H15, logic says mattyb will be upgrading at some point this year.
More power more squish sign me up. Too much fun to be had pussyfooting around.
Numbers dont lie, my HR stays comfortably in 130 avg, 160s for the highs. Im riding harder stuff and climbing trails only ebikes can. No more walking your bike. I still ride with my amish friends and gaining ebike friends, doesnt get much better then that. That knee issue has not been a problem since last analog ride, sadly i suppose but i havent tested that theroy in almost a year and i dont plan testing anytime soon. Because i AM having too much FUN 🙃
SAM
Well-Known Member
Yeah, says ride. Should say ebike ride, if he is on an ebike. Wow, only 1,200 ft elevation over 155 miles!
SAM
Well-Known Member
I bought the Rise (M10) for general trail rides. I don't need full power E and the 40 lb weight compared to full fat 50 to 55 lbs makes a difference in how the bike handles for trail riding IMO. Another reason I went for lighter is it is a lot easier to heft when you have to hike a bike or lift the bike over, under and thru a mess of trees fallen across the trail. I do a lot of exploratory rides and rides on less ridden trails and often come across road blocks.
A recent example:
A recent example:
VelocityboyII
Member
JPark
Well-Known Member
I think the super light e-bikes are perfect if you ride with fast acoustic riders and want to keep up with them.
If you are riding with other e-bikes you'll probably want the full power bike. While it's true the weight will restrict you in some ways, the power will allow you to do other things (like hitting jumps up inclines). I can't bunny hop onto a picnic table with my big ebike.... but I couldn't do that before so no problem!
The subject of the mid-power bikes is interesting. When I look at my ride stats I rarely hit 100% assist on my full power bike so maybe a mid-power bike would work for me but I haven't tried one yet. I opted for long travel suspension. I figured if climbing is taken out of the equation I may as well have close to a downhill bike for the descents.
As far as battery sizes go I have a 540w, which most people think is too small and my riding buddy has a 750w. When we're done with our ride I have 25% left and he has 40% left. The difference is he carried a few extra pounds of battery weight that didn't get used. Parks with long fire road climbs will burn through your battery more than technical terrain. As the battery ages I may be wishing it had more power but they're not too expensive to replace.
I'm starting to think you need a bigger battery when your are in BETTER shape. For me, my ride is over when my legs get too fatigued from standing on the descents and I usually have plenty of battery left. If I was in better shape, I could do more descents and would drain the battery more on the climbs.
JPark
Well-Known Member
and it's easy to get on the leaderboard in the e-bike category because there are so few e-bikes.
ME: "cool! I'm 3rd all time.... out of 3 people"
Ironjunk
Well-Known Member
Yes i climbed the needle in andover probably slower than my meat bicycle. Got 4th at like 5 mph average. There is a guy that did 10mph average up to get the kom. He was cruising up that hill to do 10.
iLuveketchup
Well-Known Member
Just another point regarding full power vs the 50-60nm 'light' emtbs.. I don't want a full power bike so that I can do things that I otherwise could not have done. For example, going up a super steep climb. I don't want a new experience. I want to do the same things as my analog bike but with more frequency/laps. Just my use case for an emtb.