I've got a full fat Cannondale Moterra, vile thing that it is, but I've been talking with my partner about her getting a comparable bike so we can go for nice rides togevva come the decent weather. She's not a mountain biker, but does have a Giant that she rides on the flat around the sea front etc.
So, first thing is she is 5'2" - so does she need a female specific ebike? Or are "unisex" small frames small enough?
Does it limit her to 27.5 wheels?
I watched Steve Jones' full fat v mid powered Youtube vid and because the female he was riding with was small and light, she could keep up with him (overtook him!) on a "light" EMTB... but the female was an XC rider, so not quite the same... but would a non-full fat emtb be better for someone small and light? Obviously, I'm not going to go woop! up every hill and leave her behind, but equally I wouldn't want her to be knackered out riding with me without me realising...
The other issue is she's not used to spending £1000s on bikes, unlike my good self, so I reckon I could persuade her to about £4K but not a lot more.
Any thoughts, or actual eeb recommendations? Cheers!
My other half has a Rise... has never yet got the little battery down to 50% on a ride. Lighter riders can definitely get away with smaller batteries... and will find a lighter bike handles better. No problem riding with others on full fat ebikes BUT there is always at least one rider on a normal bike out... I think that makes a difference to expectations about average ride speed and breaks.
Cheers, yeah the Rise definitely looks like a good buy if it has the power for her. Would probably just be the 2 of us, rather than group rides.
Oh, didn't mention it would definitely be full-sus too. I had a hard-tail emtb and I wouldn't want her to suffer in that way 😆
My other half has a Whyte E160, mixed wheels in Medium, she is 5ft 5 we moved up to the medium E160 from a small T140 as the longer reach made the bike more confidence inspiring, we still have it and she retried it and stated it felt small, so it is to be sold.
We have been looking at the W-Lyte, as they are super light to use, but she doesn't want to change she is happy with hers.
The Whyte cost more than her ninja650 so once we got over that bit, she loves riding it, and we have been so many more places riding than we would if she was on her analogue bike.
One thing I would say is think about your intended use, for us it allows us both to go out riding together regardless of fitness/hill size and ride the same tracks. Now she gets to the top of the hills, enjoying it and not dying, she looks forward to the downhill side and then from here the improvements and the grin factor are only getting better.
@nwgiles - yep, your last paragraph is exactly what we're looking to do with the ebike. Don't suppose you're South downs way for us to inspect the small Whyte 🙂
Hiring may be a good plan too. Thanks, didn't think of that.. maybe a trip to Swinley. Last I was there, they had some Treks.
@desperatebicycle - north wales for us sorry. if you are ever this way, please shout up
we did the hiring thing for a couple of times, twice at brenin and various places around the lakes.
Either get another Moterra so you can pinch her battery when she's not riding or get a light or mid ebike. There should be some cracking deals on Levo SLs now the SL2 is out if you are looking at second hand and for her proposed usage an SL is going to be a huge improvement over a non-ebike.
Rise is a good bike but uses the dreaded/dreadful Shimano motor so I'd only consider new in that case. It's a 29er but can be mulletted fairly easily (done properly requires a new shock and linkage I think).
if you are ever this way, please shout up
👍
Not sure of another Moterra due to the size issue... but I guess we just need to try it out.
I just bought one of these for my wife*:
https://winstanleysbikes.co.uk/mondraker-chaser-29-2023-electric-bike
it actually came with mavic e-deemax wheels, DB8 brakes and the newer Bosch smart system and Kiox 300.
An absolute steal!
*we all know what this really means.
My partner rides a full-fat (Merida e160 carbon) and wishes she had a semi-fat now due to the weight of moving the thing around on technical trail. She also rides a normal bike regularly so the weight hits her every time (weekly) she switches between the two.
She keeps eyeing up my Rise (alloy) but it doesn't fit (XL).
Very interesting. Thanks for all the replies 🙂
uses the dreaded/dreadful Shimano motor
That does kind of need justification.
For a small female rider you definitely need to be looking for as light a bike as possible IMO. Full fat bikes are heavy - they really take it out of your upper body riding and she'd feel it just pushing it around/getting on. rentals/test rides recommended.
Ignore the noise about Shimano motors. Lots do go wrong... you can't fix them. Later versions are better than earlier versions Same for all ebikes. Buy your ebike from someone who'll look after you well if you need to use the warranty... whether it's got a Bosch, Brose, Shimano... whatever motor.
Calling @mattoutandabout
IIRC he got a small light ebike for his wife. Might be worth searching for the thread
I’m female, 5’6” and ride a mk1 medium levo SL. The specialised website asks for leg and arm length when advising on frame size, so may help there?
Definitely get her to test ride as many bikes as you can to see how they feel. For me the weight of a full powered bike ( ~25kg) makes it too unwieldy. The range extender (1kg) gives it the same battery capacity as any e-bike, but the motor is smaller. I’ve never felt this to be an issue, there’s only so much power you need when it gets technical.
I’ve had it nearly 3 years now, it’s made me fall in love with mountain biking 🙂
Female 5 ft 6. Just got my 1st ebike a levo sl2 in medium and like kayjay I'm falling in love with riding again after losing the love the last year or so. Even though it's a carbon one I am noticing the weight in terms of moving it about such as sections I'm not comfortable riding and definitely feeling I'm getting an upper body workout on the descents but hoping I'll build more strength over time.
I can't imagine ever wanting a full fat ebike and I've barely touched the battery life on the rides I've done so far. I'm riding with my partner who has the same bike and he's bigger and stronger and I have my settings tuned to give me just a touch more assistance for each of the 3 settings. We are ending our rides with very similar battery levels left despite me having a bit more assistance so that must be the weight difference.
So although it sounds like you will have different bikes maybe you can tune yours so that you can ride fairly together?
We have a system of hand signals for letting each other know what level we're riding in if we can't hear each other when zooming along. It's been brilliant so far and I've not used turbo at all.
Mrs SSS has 2 Ebikes
Specialized Turbo Vado SL - non step through - frame M
Cube Reaction Hybrid Performance - step through - frame S (27.5 wheels)
Mrs SSS is 5' 5"
In dont ride an ebike, so for me the Cube is faster being 'full fat'. But she prefers the Specialized (trading in a step through to get a non step through)
The step through ones are more problematic for bottle cage mounting points etc with the lower top bar.
On hills i can go my normal speed when shes on the Cube. The Spesh for her is a better ride. The Spesh also has an extender battery so longer ride capability.
Horses for courses....
Great stuff, thanks for the replies again.
As said it'll definitely be a full suss. Any love for Liv bikes(Yamaha motor)? Looks like some good deals on the Embolden (awful name!), browsing the Winstanley site linked above.
The giant and Liv motors have some proprietary software over the top, and there was a few years where they were terrible for failing, supposedly they are better now.
I'll go against the grain, both my wife and daughter (both 5'5") prefer full power Ebikes.
My wife rides bridle tracks and fire roads, she had a Islabikes Jimi, changed to a Cannondale hardtail with. 250w motor and now rides much further and hillier trails, so we get more family rides in.
My daughter likes gravity riding, push ups/uplifts and dislikes peddling flat sections, let alone hills. I had a KSL, but with worsening health issues moved to a Kenevo. She tried my KSL and surprisingly disliked it as it did not give her enough power for steep climbs, she tried a Levo and loved it and has no issues with its weight. I'm chuffed as she now is happy on longer xc type rides and we get more laps in at trail centres/parks.
The only caveat is that it falls to me to load/unload them...
The only caveat is that it falls to me to load/unload them…
Oh yes this bit is the only issue with full fat ebikes
Another one here with a Turbo Levo as well as an Enduro . Bought our first one in 2017 for a family of four to share, but in reality it was never going to happen so we all ended up with one. Have ridden mine all over the UK and Europe
Have now upgraded 3 of them to the latest ones S3 size. All bought second hand at bargain prices and no problems with warranty transfers
Sold 3 of our old ones on and they are still going strong.
I have the use of a Levo SL but much prefer the Turbo Levo
Update - we're going to check out Treks at a lbs. Fuel EXe looks a great option.
That moment she looked over my shoulder when browsing bikes and she said £5K is ok for a bike... 💖❤💘
Those are nice and there were some good deals available on them from Trek a couple of weeks back.
That moment she looked over my shoulder when browsing bikes and she said £5K is ok for a bike… 💖❤💘
Strike while the iron is hot, do not let your future slip away because you are not committed enough.
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What have the LBS got in your size? 😉
It's all good Matt 😀
Also said she's quite excited about going for rides in the countryside, stopping off for a nice ahem, picnic. Bring on summer!
Trek Rail 9.7 is the choice. We tried a Fuel eXE and though it felt like a bike I'd love to own myself, for the purposes of us riding together it wouldn't work. Helpful and knowledgeable young fella at "All Ride Now" bikes gave us a demo on the Fuel and the Rail, she loved the Rail. I think she will soon own a better ebike than me! Longer travel and better spec 😳
Shame it'll be a small size or we could swap 😀 Not sure who's most excited about the purchase, me or her!