My initial scepticism (it’s cheating! You don’t need one if you’re healthy!) has been tempered by the counter-arguments on here (but it’s fuuuuuuuuuuun) so I finally got around to demo-ing one for an hour on my local trails yesterday.

Both arguments are correct! It’s massively easier than normal (did twice the distance I’d normally do in an hour, for much less effort)… anyone who says you get as much of a workout as riding an un-assisted bike is either a) pretty unfit or b) smashing it up massive hits at 15mph all day long, as I found it very easy to hit the limit on flat or gently uphill singletrack for comparatively little effort. This terrain was (unexpectedly) ideal for the eMTB I was using as, having slowed for a corner, only a tiny effort was required to re-accelerate afterwards as the power delivery was instant (Bosch… as I understand it other systems are not as immediate). A similar effort on an unassisted bike would leave me breathing very heavily at the end of the section!

It was great fun as well. Effortlessly accelerating/maintaining speed was a rush. Hopefully will get another chance to demo one this weekend on some different trails. Would love to demo one in Wales too as that’s a different type of riding to what I do locally (there’s a good vid on bikeradar where they ride some up and then down Snowdon!) It would mean I could do an epic ride on every day of a trip, rather than have to worry about saving my legs!

The only downside I can see is the massive cost… more than twice what I’ve spend on a bike before to get anything decent. In fact it would be – motor aside – a worse bike than I have currently. But is the fun factor worth it?

I had one (well three actually) in a period of nine months.

Rode about 2,000 miles off road on them.

I wore a pulse meter to see if the effort was significantly less than riding a normal bike. I was surprised by the results!

My average pulse riding a normal bike ( on the same route) was about 145 bpm, the ebike was about 135 bpm.
The biggest difference was that I didn’t get near my max pulse of around 160 on the ebike.

I like them, but had loads of trouble with the motor, thee official fixes via Bosch, broke down about 25 times at least.
Had a complete warranty replacement bike ( twice), first one had mechanical issues with shock linkage, that lasted 50 miles. The second brand new replacement went wrong electrically after 50 miles!

Needless to say, I’m not going anywhere near them at the moment, although I’m a fan.

The technology just isn’t up to proper off road riding at the moment.

The biggest difference was that I didn’t get near my max pulse of around 160 on the ebike.

exactly, you are putting a steady amount of effort in but you don’t need the interval-trainining style lung-busting effort every now & then like on a normal bike, which is what really adds up (for me) on a ride (can ride steady all day!)

What bike did you have? The one I demoed was a Scott e-Genius 720 (with the Bosch motor). I take it you got rid after the 2nd replacement went wrong?

The only downside I can see is the massive cost

Eh? The ones I seen tend to be £1000 maybe £1500 more, as that’s what the battery and motor costs…

anyone who says you get as much of a workout as riding an un-assisted bike is either a) pretty unfit or b) smashing it up massive hits at 15mph all day long

Did you actually ride it on the eco (base) setting rather than just TURBO all the way round? Ppl who actually use these to extend there riding use the Eco setting and yes you do get a good work out, no not as much as an unassisted bike but that why you use the e-bike to go further..

I think there great fun and to me I cycle for fun & a bit of fitness, not to be part of some BS ‘sport’ with rulez.. that said most of my local riding is pretty flat or flowy trails, where the 15.5mph limit is actually extremely annoying.

Yes, had a full refund after the second replacement bike died.

All the bike manufacturers ( well alot, say 65%) are using the Bosch system. I don’t think its an issue of the actual bike manufacturer, its the Bosch system bolted onto the chassis.

In fairness, the Specialized system looks interesting, but again its Specialized locking you into their design, never been a fan of propriety systems.

The Shimano Steps looks good as well.

And now Rocky Mountain are doing their own thing, but it does use a normal bottom bracket with a low q pedal factor.

The bottom bracket on the bosch system is integrated into the motor. The crank interface is that awful ISIS spline.
If the bottom bracket bearings fail, or start to rumble, then its motor out and off the bosch.

Mine were rumbling from about 750 miles, no power washing done, just normal washing with bucket and water.

Eh? The ones I seen tend to be £1000 maybe £1500 more, as that’s what the battery and motor costs…

I’d say £1500 is a fairly significant chunk of cash 🙂 , also not much by way of last-season offers though (from what I can see), so the bike I demoed was £4.1k, versus me paying £2k for a £3.5k RRP bike last time I bought one, so a lot more money in real terms.

Did you actually ride it on the eco (base) setting rather than just TURBO all the way round?

Sport, which is between the two.

That said most of my local riding is pretty flat or flowy trails, where the 15.5mph limit is actually extremely annoying.

Yeah that’s what I found, although I wouldn’t say it was annoying (it was still extremely fun) just there’s no real incentive to push on past the limit as the extra effort would be massive!

In fairness, the Specialized system looks interesting, but again its Specialized locking you into their design, never been a fan of propriety systems.

I read a review of the Spesh Levo which said it was a bit shit for tech climbs as the motor lagged pedal input. Would love a go on a Shimano Steps bike though.

Mine were rumbling from about 750 miles, no power washing done, just normal washing with bucket and water.

hmmm not great, presumably the BB is user replaceable (just a bit more effort than normal?) or does it have to be done by a dealer?

also not much by way of last-season offers though (from what I can see)

They sold out really quickly once the prices start to come down, a bunch of my friends got them and really got some very good deals.

so the bike I demoed was £4.1k, versus me paying £2k for a £3.5k RRP bike last time I bought one, so a lot more money in real terms.

That’s a ridiculous comparison, it should be the non-ebike version of the (£4000) model you tried is not going to be £2000, it’s be £3000, so not double the cost.
I’d not suggest that £1000-1500 isn’t a chunk of money but it what the parts cost, so it not going to disappear.

The Spesh firmware has been updated recently, it’s much less laggy now, not that I found it a problem previously.

That’s a ridiculous comparison

don’t want to harp on about this, but it isn’t IMO. If I want to go out and buy a normal bike now, there are loads & loads of cracking offers on great bikes up to 50%. If I want an eMTB, there aren’t. That’s why I said “in real terms”.

Bosch bottom bracket rumbling or bearings disintegrated means motor out and back to Germany , pretty sure of that.

There are one on two videos online, not user serviceable, really bad design, bottom brackets do need some form of attention when riding off road, even CK bottom brackets need a little love every so often.

Still a long way to go really, I won’t be back on one anytime soon.
Wish I could, as it got me out more, suffering from pain in my hip and adductor again.

Bosch bottom bracket rumbling or bearings disintegrated means motor out and back to Germany , pretty sure of that.

Just had a look at the web page from the shop I demoed with, they charge £18 to replace a BB. Surely they are doing that themselves for that price, meaning it must be user serviceable albeit maybe a special tool required?

Actually one thing that sounds a bit rubbish about the Bosch is you need to take it to a dealer to upgrade the software, who will charge (although the shop near me promise free updates for 2 years)

Good, didn’t know the shop could do it.

Must be ok then, still very exposed to the elements though, not a good design, mine was shot after around 1,000 miles and rumbled badly.

My scott e-genius developed rumbly bb bearings within 600 miles but the entire motor was swapped out and 2300miles later it’s been faultless (so far).

To change the bearings means splitting the motor as far as know.

Must be ok then, still very exposed to the elements though, not a good design, mine was shot after around 1,000 miles and rumbled badly.

To be honest this is bad but not a deal-breaker for me, I’m a bit of a fair weather MTBer (although I do get the miles in when the sun is out!!) & still on the original BB30 on my Cannondale after 3 years 🙂 (only actually cleaned it twice though, maybe that’s the key 😆 )