As a bit of a curve ball, my local bike shop had a 2024 Orbea Wild on offer that was just over £5k but down from £8k. It did look like an awful lot of bike, and would probably absolutely scooch past my mates on their rises. Full power and 700wh battery for a fairly decent weight.
Headset cables though, and a knok blok type system seems to be the bogeyman spec on these.
The Whyte is currently leading in my head, but it seems that when it came out it was amazing, but now it’s superseded with the “works” model, it seems most media are criticising the high cadence needed to get the power out.
Still no decision and haven’t been able to arrange a test ride on anything yet. Leisure Lakes have a test day in Cannock but no rsx Whyte or Exe. I don’t really see the point in testing another Whyte with the cx motor, as I wouldn’t be buying that and it’s a different beast I read.
This is available, seems an incredible discount…then you start to ask why…..
I have spent a fair bit of time looking at Specialized Turbo Levo's in the past week as they seem to be going for £3800-4400 for the alloy versions. So far I have remained strong though, but id really do fancy one.
It's a relatively old bike, was originally released in 2022.
There are better motor systems and bikes around now that didn't exist when it was released, namely bosch sx, which make this bike less desirable, so they have to cut the price to sell them.
There's nothing fundamentally wrong with it, it's still the same bike it was when released.
I've got one of those fuel exes, it's good, no plan to change it. but I think in ways that matter to most people there are other better bikes available now.
Speaking as a ??? Mediumish??? Fit for age 66 xc bimbler I’d get a decent test on the exe (or other sl 50nm bikes) in your target type of terrain , I also have a levo, if you just want a bit of assistance the trek will probably do BUT the levo just does more. When I’m fresh /feeling good and not in continuous steep hill land or having to do lots of lifting I want the exe but if I’m getting tired, or in continuous steep hilll land or continuous deep slog mud I MUCH prefer the levo (*until I hit a tall narrow gate ………….)
Probably seen elsewhere, but I've just (in the past few weeks) picked up an S-Works Levo with a 5k discount.
The new model is imminent, so expect any remaining spec levels to carry on being discounted.
Now I've got it set up how I want it, it's bloody amazing.
I have a monster truck of a Kenevo that weighs 28kg in its current form. The weight only ever bothers me on steep stuff tbh and I'm just about strong enough to lift it over most things. It's a 180mm f&r with a mullet set up and I love it. It's a magic carpet ride and plows through stuff with ease. I digress....
The Levo is coming in around 23kg with cushcore all round and pedals. It rides so much more naturally (like a normal all mountain), is much easier to haul over gates and is really playful whilst still capable enough to tackle the rough stuff.
I have occasionally been curious about an SL to compliment the Kenevo, but the way the Levo rides I'm not sure I'd want to make the compromise to save a few more pounds.
Every video you watch from the moment the Gen 3 came out lauds it with praise and I watched one last night asking is it still relevant as a current choice - it's a 3 year old design? The answer was yes, albeit other bikes have managed to play catch up, it's that good they can't see how much it can be improved.
TLDR - I'm a Spesh fanboi and have been for years. Oh and you should seriously consider a Levo
With Raymon 160s and Lapierres, both with decent kit and big batteries on sale at £2-£2.5k at Paul's why not just get one of those and spend the money on trips out?
(I've said this before, hopefully on another thread! 🤣)
I suspect those bikes are extremely heavy. I tried to lift up a similary specced Cube at a dealer and it felt bolted to the floor. Likewise with a full fat Whyte. Maybe I should give them a go, but I’m not in the market for a mountain bike I can barely lift. Far too many obstacles on my typical rides.
I suspect those bikes are extremely heavy. I tried to lift up a similary specced Cube at a dealer and it felt bolted to the floor. Likewise with a full fat Whyte. Maybe I should give them a go, but I’m not in the market for a mountain bike I can barely lift. Far too many obstacles on my typical rides.
That's a fair suspicion. Mrs a11y inherited her dad's Cube Stereo Hybrid 140 HPC Race 625, 2021 model with gen4 Bosch CX. Even with carbon front triangle it's a lump of a bike: just over 26kg and she struggles with it, but it was inherited/free and wouldn't be our choice if buying new.
It was enough to push me towards a lightweight/mid-power ebike as I too want to be able to lift it over fences easily etc. Ended up with a Fazua Ride60 powered Heckler SL that's just over 20kg in XXL. 'Only' <3kg heavier than my Geometron. Feels like a normal bike to ride whereas the Cube is very noticeably heavier-feeling when riding.
No-one is ever going to agree re. full power VS SL. Personally I've ridden both and prefer lighter bikes. I also like to get my bike in and out of my car with both wheels installed without risking breaking my back. Other people might not have that concern.
I've done 2000 meters of climbing / 50km into the alpine above Squamish on a Kenevo SL with a range extender. Sure you have to watch the battery life rather than go full boost everywhere. Other people don't want to watch their battery life.
My gen 2 Levo SL weighs well under 43lb with EXT coil shock, Formula coil fork, Onyx / EX511 wheels, Tannus in the back, Chromag Dagga pedals blah blah blah so nothing light. Rides like a normal bike. The riding around here is pretty rough so I'm normally done after 2.5hrs anyway which is fine for the 'outdated' battery. I'll just connect the extender for bigger rides. I've never wanted moar power. Other people will want a completely different experience and are happy riding a 65lb Norco Range VLT A1.
Zero bikes have some banger deals on Rocky Mountain A70 Altitudes. If I didn't already have 2 E-bikes I would snap one up. Not only is the bike a cracker, but the service I have had from the team at Zero since buying into Ebikes has been second to none.
There are some bargains out there, sometimes in unlikely places. I just went for the budget spec Lapierre Overvolt AM 6.7 at Paul’s; stuck on Fox 38 Performance Elite forks (499 in the sale) a Fox X2 shock (249) and popped on some better Shimano Levers. Once I have sold the Domains and the shock, it will come in around the £3k mark. With the Bosche CX Performance Gen 4 and 750 battery, it’s not light but it is pretty spectacular. The geometry is spot on, it’s awesome fun going up very steep technical stuff, it’s very very poppy on decent gap jumps (bizarrely so, I overshot a gap by about 8 feet the first time I jumped it), smooth on big drops and great when pointed down. Superb fun and a brilliant bike. I may change other bits in future but nothing needed soon…
Steamtb, can't argue with that. A whole load a bike for that money.
I've bought one of those discounted Levo Comp Alloys from a nearby shop.
Good warranty, fixable once out of warranty, great and adjustable geometry and a mullet for my short legs. The shop are swapping out the 150mm dropper to a longer one too.
I accept that it is already out of date but if you don't ride other peoples bikes you will never notice the difference.
My only Eeb experience before this was a day on a hired Kenevo SL which made me think I wanted one of those. Then the other weekend I rode my mates 5 year old Whyte E160 and realised how light a full fat rides... I'll just have to lift more weights now for gates and stiles!
The way I see it, this will also be a good test of my willpower as I want to carry on riding my other bikes too, wish me luck. I've just got to the point/age where after driving an hour to Win Hill for example, I want to get more laps in. The climbs back up are a pig though. Same with the Golfie, two main fireroads over and over again.
@mugboo that sounds like a very good choice! I don’t think bikes from the last few years + really go out of date, they have reached a pretty sweet spot in terms of geometry and spec, lots and lots of fun!
Try and get into your head that you are going to do one or two higher intensity “training” sessions on normal bikes each week, that will balance things out nicely 🙂 My legs are thankful, I was doing far too much high intensity stuff, at least they get some recovery now!
I picked up a levo sl for 4k towards the end of last year. Just had my first decent couple of days riding it, 35 miles and 5700ft on day one and 21 miles 4000ft on day 2. Battery ran out 2 miles from home on day 1, 80 percent used day 2. This was riding golfie and glentress (mix of off piste and tc.)
I mostly rode in eco, with occasional use of trail (for example I did blast up tower climb a couple of times in trail if you know it.) For now I'm more than happy with this way of riding, eco just offers that little bit of assistance which is enough to speed up the climbs and mean that I can squeeze in an extra run here or there where normally i'd sack it off. Day 2 was only cut short due to lack of time, if I didn't have to drive home that day I would've kept going a bit longer.
Not got the range extender yet, but I'm confident that would give me more range than i'd ever need for my current riding. That day 1 at Golfie was pretty much as long as i'd ever ride for really, and most of my regular rides are way shorter than that.
Notes on the bike... It's the carbon comp model. Weighs about 20kg (19 officially I think.) It feels ok, I was on a cotic jeht before which was about 15+ anyway, doesn't feel much heavier than that. I can hump it over a gate if I need to. I couldn't go heavier, I'm not strong enough.
The brakes are terrible, I don't like how they feel at all (SRAM codes.) will probably change them at some point. Not got the shock properly sorted yet, it was wallowing way too much in big compressions, hopefully a few more psi will sort it. Would probably feel a bit more confident if I had the same MM/big Betty combo I had on the cotic and there's something weird about the bars, not sure if they are too wide maybe, bit of experimenting needed.
Aparty from that, it's mint. Really good couple of days riding, maximum fun! Then the guy in the van next to me on the site told me how he was on his third battery in his!! 😵💫
TBH I was surprised the Cube is only 5kg more than the Heckler as it rides very differently. I really feel the weight on that compared to the Heckler which feels like a chunky enduro bike to me. Not entirely fair on the Cube as the fork and shock are more basic so it's a bit apples and oranges. A higher-spec full-fat e-bike of similar weight might ride better, but I simply couldn't live with that weight for my riding. Will differ for other uses and I'm sure I might miss the power/range of a full-fat e-bike on occasion. Edit: forgot to say the price difference between them was only £1.2k. Cube £3.2k about 3-4 years ago, Heckler SL £4.4k in December during the crazy period of 40-50% Santa Cruz.
There's an Amflow in my riding group which I've not ridden and not sure I should: mega-full-fat but similar weight to my Heckler SL...
I was sitting tight for the right e-bike to come along as I didn't want a tank of a bike, but since all of my riding group are now all on full fat Eebs I have been missing out on a few weekends away.
I was at an ebike demo day at the FOD a few weekends ago. It had a lot of different brands available and you were able to go up to any one you wanted and try it out for 45 minutes. I tried the following bikes all in one day, all on the same little route I planned out (mix of dh runs and enduro natural descents) and made a few notes on how I thought the bikes were. It was REALLY useful to try out different bikes back to back, you really get a feel for the differences between them and how they feel. I don't have an ebike at the moment so this is from the perspective of a fully non-ebike rider.
Pivot Shuttle SL - Insanely fun downhill, so quick and responsive. Fazua motor bad.
Whyte E-Lyte - Best all rounder, people are right!
Amflow - Best motor, mentally powerful, pretty good on the downs
Orange - Hard work, felt old fashioned
Santa Cruz Vala - Suspension felt smooth and good, bike felt very big though
Pivot Shuttle AM - Similar to the Vala, pretty good but too big and weighty
I definitely had a preference for the lighter bikes. The Whyte E-Lyte was definitely the best of the day, it feels really balanced and confident. Plus the Bosch motor is excellent. The Fazua motor is really bad, it doesn't feel nice to pedal and it cut out a few times, definitely the least ebike feeling motor for sure. The Amflow was decent but a bit twitchy for my riding, the chainstays were quite short but it was definitely one of the better ones. The heavier, more full fat ebikes felt very different going downhill, they were a lot more hard work, harder to manoeuvre and point where you want quickly, and the extra inertia definitely affects your braking points.
Just be aware that a lot of reports are coming back that the geometry is a bit too 'trailsy'. Of course that may be exactly what you are after as opposed to the more enduro biased stance that the majority of ebikes take
What motor is it, check with performance bearings on rebuildability/bits availability and cost and then you can factor it in (*other repairers are available)
Depending on size we had a message of a S3 Turbo Levo Expert for sale. We have had 2 from her in the past. It's had very little use and a transferable Specialized warranty
As far as I know nobody is repairing the tq hpr 50 yet, I did email ebike motor repair and they said they don't repair them (yet). but trek have a transferable warranty, so if it's less than 2 years old you're still covered.
If its over 2 years old then a new tq motor is about 850 quid rrp.
I just had mot tq motor replaced outside warranty but free of charge anyway, which was good of trek/tq.
Tried a Orbea Rose today, the original 65Nm version with 360wh battery. It was, compared to exactly the same route done two weeks ago on my regular bike, quite a fast pace. 38km and 735m of climbing at 15.1 km/hour average. So 2:30 of moving time. The very basic inline battery light went from green to red at the foot of the last climb home, which I understand means 5% left.
Not sure how that helps the decision making really, but I’m erring now on more battery as I can see how range anxiety could be a thing. Defiantly also need a bike or system with more insight into battery percentage.
Off to swing a leg over a Whyte rsx and exe this afternoon. The cannondale spec remains tempting.
The shimano motor in the rise will transmit the exact battery percentage to a garmin (and other) device over ant+. So if you have a garmin fenix, epix etc, they can all display the exact battery percentage of the bike.
I think you can also buy the shimano display separately to display the batt percentage on the bike.
The shimano motor in the rise will transmit the exact battery percentage to a garmin (and other) device over ant+. So if you have a garmin fenix, epix etc, they can all display the exact battery percentage of the bike.
Not sure if they all do this now. My Garmin devices connect to my Spesh. Display percentage, range and things like cadence and power
