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Did you try full fat versions first and what swayed you to what you have.
Just a FF rider here, but I honestly don't notice the bulk of my 50lb Kenevo 99% of the time. I generally don't use all the power, but sometimes I do. Being a 2019 it only has a 504wh battery. Seems like some of these lightweight ones have more range than me, but don't know about a true side by side comparison.
For everyone that says they are happy with the low fat versions, there seems to be someone saying they'd gone full fat, so dunno
Did you try full fat versions first and what swayed you to what you have.
Yes, rode my GF's top-end Merida e160 10K and the Rise (alloy) does have a lighter feel to maneuver around trails. It would have been nice to have a removable battery (for when travelling and charging in hotels) but that's not that often (mostly travel with muscle bike) and there are solutions.
I rarely do more than 4 hour rides from my back door. I wanted light, as normal as possible, good value. The Rise does that- i’m not sure what I’d get from full fat that i’m missing.
Obviously you dont have the same range, and you never will 😆
Weight is a saving yes, but personally i think theres no a huge difference. 19kg compared to 23kg, especially as you're mostly going downhill.
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" good value " 😆 😆 😆
One thing ebikes are not and thats good value.
But each to their own, if you are happy then thats great for you.
I’ve got a FF Rail and a Kenevo SL. The only time I miss the Rail is towards the end of a ride when my knees are giving me grief. The KSL will go just as far as the Rail with me on board, but slightly slower uphill. It’s much nicer to ride everywhere else. I haven’t ridden the Rail off-road since I bought the KSL.
I bought turbo levo in 2020. It's been a game changer for me. I've been suffering from chronic fatigue for the last 6 years and this has enabled me to ride with my mates again
Before the ebike i hadn't been out with mates mtb for years.
Previous me wouldn't have been seen dead on an ebike. I was fit, used to race cross and the odd mtb race. I used to love technical climbing and rinsing everyone on the climbs. I suppose I can still do the latter but it's not as enjoyable being powered.
Had zero problems with the levo so far.
Why would an ebike be “in the bin” after 2 years?
Ok it may not be in the bin, but an Orbea Rise has a 2 yr motor warranty, which to be quite honest on something that costs £5+ is a joke.
I dont have £5k cash lying around so it would need to be finance. A new motor at £1000 ish makes finance a huge risk. I am still riding a 2013 bike. We can not say for certain but the probability is that ebike will not last 5 yrs let alone 10 yrs. And if you do get it to last, parts are not backwards compatible, so you are looking at having to change bikes fairly regularly which is ridiculous given their cost.
Context I bout an electric car. The battery had an 8 yr warranty. If it had a 2 year warranty I would not have bought the car as the risks are too high.
I did ride the £8.5k Orbea Rise at the weekend and it was a lovely bike. I would love to say yes to one, even a 'cheap' £5.5k one but the head and wallet say it doesnt make sense.
It would be great to see some real data on motor failure from the manufacturers. ie If Shimano sell 1,000 ep8's and 5 fail within 2 yrs I am ok about that. Of course online all you read is about failures.
I genuinely don't know a single EBike user who hasn't had a motor failure & replacement.
@funkydunc You are right its a ridiculous amount of money and thats the reason that I spent to long umming and arring about it. Against that I work hard, earn decent money, have no mortgage, am not interested in cars or vinyl. I can afford it. I'm pretty tight/careful in many areas.
My worry was once I'd got over all of the hurdles in "wtf thats ludicrous money" that I'd buy it and it would be a bit shit. £4800/3000* (*with cycle2w) of stupid bad decision.
Its not. Far from it. Its ace. I recognise totally the OP's purchase hesistance and the risk.
Had a full fat eeeb, it broke, got a refund, now have a Kenevo SL.
IMO, lightweight eebs are much more engaging and feel closer to a n/a bike, full fat eeb felt numb and just crashed through stuff, not engaging or fun for me.
I have 2, a Creo SL and a Levo SL. No regrets and they are both 2 yrs old this summer. I also have other road, gravel and MTBs and ride them all.
“I genuinely don’t know a single EBike user who hasn’t had a motor failure & replacement.”
I agree that the failure rate seems high - but when people talk about a “motor replacement” it’s not because the whole thing has worn out or imploded. It’s bearings or clutches or belts or electronics. These aren’t serviceable by a normal bike shop but that doesn’t mean you need a whole new motor. The kinds of electric motors in ebikes are very long life components, it’s just surrounding parts having issues.
It’s bearings or clutches or belts or electronics. These aren’t serviceable by a normal bike shop but that doesn’t mean you need a whole new motor. The kinds of electric motors in ebikes are very long life components, it’s just surrounding parts having issues.
Unfortunately the motors and surrounding clutches, bearings and sensors are all bundled together into an unseperable "drive unit", at least in Shimnano ones. So you absolutely do need a new motor / drive unit.
Shimanos e8000 came out 8 years ago (?) and there is still nowhere that can fix them.
Mrs Pondo has never cycle commuted in her life - picked up an e-hybrid last weekend and rode it every day for a week straight, commuting four times (needed the car Friday).
Now has covid (unrelated - hopefully!) and gutted to be missing the fine weather.
I know 4 people with full fat ebikes (all Focus, including me). Not one single issue which is related to the motive power. As for 'crashing through stuff' - that depends on your attitude to riding, I guess. If you're looking to feel at one with the trail (!) maybe they aren't for you. Mind you, there are plenty of trail and so-called 'enduro' bikes which have 2.6 tyres like my Focus and the size of the tyres plays a big part in ride feel. In my experience (and I came from a very light Intense trail bike) it just adds to the fun. Climbing can be as much fun as descending, too. Yes, stiles and gates are a serious issue, as can be pushing.
I genuinely don’t know a single EBike user who hasn’t had a motor failure & replacement.
Puts hand up
Not sure how many miles I have on it (it's had periods of not being used), but my Kenevo is 3 years old and still running fine on it's original motor
As for ‘crashing through stuff’ – that depends on your attitude to riding, I guess. If you’re looking to feel at one with the trail (!) maybe they aren’t for you.
I can do one ride on my 180mm travel eeb, then the next on my HT and feel equally at home on both. People overthink stuff too much sometimes
Now has covid (unrelated – hopefully!)
Not being an arse, genuinely interested how you think it even could be related to riding a bike
In the same boat as FunkyDunc. My riding mate is too.
I have a Rise sat reserved for me whilst I await my application for C2W ... it might not get approved (small company, cashflow) so, if not, do I buy full retail?
So torn!
Follow up for those interested.
I studied, read, watched, took advice, looked at, sat on and analysed a lot of options and have ended up with a 2022 Giant Trance X E+ Pro 1.
Bit of a mouthful to pronounce and bit of a handful to pick up but those are soon forgotten.
Chose this based on a few criteria.
First and foremost it needed to cope with my current 120Kg.
Wanted geometry similar to existing main bike (Ripmo)
Also needed to have a good range as I want to go out for long rides.
Wanted half decent spec as I have been spoilt by my other bikes (not too important overall but, a concern)
Has to look half decent.
When all the above is taken into account, the Trance ticks all the boxes.
First full ride on it locally today.
I am initially riding it in eco (1 out of 5) as I want the feel of me less 50kg.
In eco is does exactly that, no real surge of power, no silly speeds and just a good maintainable pace with a fair bit of effort required.
There is an argument that says why have an electric bike and not blast round - because you can. I did this a little and maybe it is something I'll get used to but, right now just to go for longer as I am effectively not carrying my excess lardiness is great.
I did use position 3 of 5 a couple of times to go up hills I couldn't get up on a normal bike. Simply amazing how much grip and power the emtb generates. That could get infectious for sure.
First ride was 20 miles long with a mere 1500 ft climbing over a sedate 2 hours. Battery was at 65% when I got back - from full.
Very impressive and happy to answer questions if anybody has one 🙂
Good stuff, i have the 2020 e-reign, it is a heavy beast to lift over stuff, and has some poor design features, but works overall, the good thing about the 2022 range is they fixed a lot of the issues the 2020s had with the design, such as motor placement, the controller, etc, so you should be on to a good one, the yamaha motor is a good one as well, and they have a decent network around the UK, not sure about turnaround, but you can also get them serviced from several places as well.
Cheers Argee. One of the reasons I went with a 2022 instead of a discounted 2021 version was pretty much all of the above.
Reviews say that (old and new) they are great uphill and a bit uninspiring down. I am not too fussed by this as I'm mainly wheels on the ground anyway and not one for all out speed hucks and carves as per the latest youtuber.
You're right with the controller and layout. One thing that put me off emtbs previously was the need for a huge screen and controller. This has no screen and a very intuitive bar button. I do use a Garmin and it talks to it as standard so all the info I need is in a screen I'd already be using.
I also asked about service and support and was told that Giant now have a UK based motor repair / refurb facility to handle warranties efficiently. This could be seen as both good and bad but having a facility has to be better than not in my book.
So far so good - another ride tomorrow 🙂
Yeah, they’re pretty serviceable so even past warranty it’s probably 300 quid for a full service, I’ll probably get that in another year or two so not too horrific.
Enjoy it for now, sounds like you’re still in the normal bike stage, for the first few weeks you sit in eco as much as possible and not really go much faster, then you find eco+ and trail and fly round faster 😁
I don't think I've ever used eco. I pretty much started in tour, which i think is 160% of your input. That lasted a while but I pretty much ride everywhere now in turbo(340%)
To conserve battery Im intending when I put the bike in to have a rear brake fitted if they can up tour to about 200%
I'll give you a warning that the highest setting is quite addictive.
Well dont on your choice. Pretty much a full XT set up,
I tested an e Reign and was left somewhat underwhelmed. Too low at the front, too heavy, bb far too low - handled like a bit of an oil tanker sadly.
The 2022 Trance was an entirely different beast. Handles brilliantly, lighter, much smaller motor so no more casing strikes, bigger battery, sorted handling. I reckon you have chosen wisely. I particularly like the approach taken by Giant that focuses on parts being repairable rather than simply being thrown away and replaced. Given the opportunity, I would happily ride one.
Cheers
Sanny
Had a go on a mates Rise carbon M20. Bought one. So did another mate. And his brother is just doing a deal on either another M20 or possibly and M10. Our localist bike shop is an Orbea dealer too which helps.
Stonking machines. Sorry, there's probably not much stock left about after out little spree.
The only upgrade you really need is a 203 rotor up front and to set up tubeless (valves come with the bike).
Still, a lot of money.
I and another bought through C2W, neither of us would have bought in without this tax saving tbh.
I originally bought my ebike to get miles in and encourage me to get out more after having our son, but kept my Stumpjumper for trail riding.
As time went on though, I realised that riding the ebike was a lot more fun. I have crap knees though - riding acoustic bikes normally means I have to take a week to recover whilst the swelling in my knees goes down, and I have to be careful about what routes I pick, whereas an ebike gives me a lot more freedom and I can ride more often without ending up in agony. I've gone from doing one 12-18 mile ride a week, to riding 25 - 30 miles several times a week - with no pain. It's lovely.
If I had fully functional knees though, I'd probably be fine with a regular bike (unless I was doing a bike park and didn't want the uplift...).
Mrs Toast similar to yourself even previous normal bike but barely averaged 10 miles per month, last month done 117 Miles and enjoyed every minute well maybe not the pedal strike.
One more thing AXS is made for Ebikes best upgrade ever.
Picking up my cube stereo hybrid 160 today.
I have mixed feelings as I told myself I didn't need an ebike but after having knee issues on the climbs which means I haven't been out with my mates for almost 10 weeks, decided to get one to aid in my recovery.
Bought local as well which is good. Not many reviews about for the 2022 cube but previous year reviews have been pretty good.
I see Trek are entering the lighter weight / lower power game too. Interesting!
I believe my end game for an emtb may well be a lighter assistance and overall weight option.
For now it is full fat due to me being erm full fat and too heavy for the lighter ones.
Having fallen off the thing 10 days ago (riding uphill!) I’ve not been riding but, will be doing so soon as the bug has most definitely bitten.
Ok it may not be in the bin, but an Orbea Rise has a 2 yr motor warranty, which to be quite honest on something that costs £5+ is a joke.
I dont have £5k cash lying around so it would need to be finance. A new motor at £1000 ish makes finance a huge risk
Whats the warranty on the rest of the bits of the bike? From memory rockshox suspension and shimano components are 2 year warranty. Top end forks (as you might find on a 5k+ analogue bike) are also pushing/exceeding 1k if you were to wreck one of those at the 2.1 year mark.
Many frame warranties are also a bit more limited than they appear at first glance.
Not saying its right (or a cheap game to be in) but a 2 plus year old mountain bike that gets used a lot, should be treated like a second hand sports car. It might run flawlessly for years, but expect a big bill at any time.
are also pushing/exceeding 1k if you were to wreck one of those at the 2.1 year mark.
My motor and battery both failed out of warranty, RRP £700 each, however in return for getting the knackered kit back, Specialized gave me a 50% discount on replacements, which came with a 2 year warranty.
#flyingpotatoes.. You could be me.
I picked up my Cube 160tm a few weeks ago and I'm using it more than I thought I would due to my dodgy knees. I was also a bit reluctant but they definitely have their place. If I feel fit I take my Enduro out but if I'm knackered or in pain due to my knees I take the Cube out. The weight takes a bit of getting used to but the battery life is great so I just leave it in tour+ and let it do its thing.
@choppersquad.
Just got back from my first ride at Rivington on the cube.
Really impressed and certainly puts a smile on your face.
The battery seemed to drop off quick (was 62% charged setting off) but I guess that will change the more I get used to it and stop playing about with the different modes.