So, I have always insisted on having 2 mountain bikes. I don’t tend to fix my own bikes. And having a FS and a hardtail has meant that, while one bike is in the shop getting serviced, I still have something to ride.
But now, I have an e-bike. Which I love. I’ve been riding it for a year and a half now. But my e-bike is now in the shop for repair, so im currently e-bike-less.
Do other STW-ers have more than one e-bike? Mine is a lightweight one. If people do have more than one e-bike, are they similar, or dramatically different? Full fat vs light? Long travel vs short? I don’t want to buy a very expensive second e-bike if one of them stays in the garage unridden.
We have spares, Turbo Levos
due to all family riding. Handy to take one when we are touring in Europe.
So it's not really bought as a spare but now Abigale is in NZ hers is only occasionally used
Yeah, just get a cheap second hand normal bike for the odd occasion you're without your main one? Loads of bargains about atm.
If defo sticking with a second e-bike I'd probably get a full fat if your other is light so you have options.
Exe and levo
exe is mainly summer, levo mostly winter, ideally I want the power of the levo and the lifting over obstacle weight of the exe but at the same time …………
Yeah. Had the Kenevo (blue one) for 6-7 years before I bought the Levo. It's worth more to me than I could sell it for, so decided to keep it for that reason.
I'll use it when I know the conditions are going to give it a real beating. It's had a lot of upgrades since new including mulleting by sticking a 29 up front from the stock 27.5. Also had the (still original) motor given some tlc including upgraded sealing.
Kenevo is 180/180, Levo is 160/160 (was 150 rear before cascade link) so the Kenevo will go on big rocky days sometimes too - took it to Dyfi rather than the Levo (albeit it didn't warrant it for the riding we did). Kenevo is circa 28kgs in current guise with big tyres/tubes/range extender, Levo is around 23kg
Have five normal bikes too
Mrs SSS has 2 ebikes
Specialized Turbo Vado SL and a Cube Reaction Hybrid Performance. Ones a hardtail MTB, the other a gravel type. So horses for courses and can take one or other conditions dependant.
Also the Cube is 'full fat' (and 23kg) and the Specialized is the Light version (power and weight @15kg) so depends on how fit shes feeling that day....
Going on a road/gravel ride with not too much ascent? Specialized. Going on a day of hills with some more challenging terrain? Cube
Blah, blah, blah... Rich people problems. 😉
It just reads like your struggling to find ways of spunking your ill-gotten disposable away OP, if the indignity of unassisted pedalling for a week or two each year is just too much for you, then go for it.
It's only your money you'll be hurling at the bike shop, assuming you can afford it, I don't quite see the problem...
“you’re”.
You could pick up a very decent secondhand XC/trail hardtail for £300-400.
Would that make more sense?
Maybe say a bit more about you're riding?
My eeb is in the menders just now on a lifetime warranty crack. Has been for nearly a month.
I ride my hardtail or my fatbike, as I often do even when the eeb is fine. Although I don't go out and smash a similar amount of climbing obvs.
Nobody should have to struggle through life without a hardtail, preferably steel.
If you're only into eebs now and can afford it then why not. Must be loads of used ones about too.
Yep, we both have full fat, uplift machines. Also have a mid power lightweight which has replaced my soon to be sold trail bike. We actually also have a 4th which is a Trek Rail, coming up to 5 years old & it’s done something like 18000km now (still on all the original motor/battery) which is the nursery bike, permanently with a shotgun seat & the Thule trailer attachment.
That poor thing is clinging on for dear life - once we’re out of winter it might be time to retire it once & for all.
Both of mine get roughly equal use, depending on my feelings on the day.
WouldI own more than one e-bike? Course I would, given the funds.
The more important question is - would I only own ebikes, whether 1, 2 or 9?
Absolutely not.
A big burly long travel ebike and nice light simple hardtail is a great combo.
I have a full fat Orbea and just built up a used Vitus Sommet analogue, mainly for my boy but also for myself if the ebike is OOS. Not ridden it properly yet though as weather has been minging since I got it finished and ebikes are hilarious in the slop!
Mate has a 2018 Vitus E-Sommet which he has mulleted, it is very agile (for an ebike) and he loves it. I had one too and they are a bit of a design classic, albeit not looks-wise. He bought a Privateer ebike earlier this year which is an utter tank in comparison which he has been hating and was going to sell. However, it has been great in the filthy conditions of late so he's now an a two ebike strategy. The Vitus would be worth bugger all to sell and he'd lose a load of the money on the Privateer anyway so why not?
I got a E160 to keep up with my son and love it as a bike for the big stuff but I was feeling overbiked a lot of the time so bought a trail ebike, a Giant E Trance. Each will cope with whatever ride I do if one is out of action but also between them they span the riding I do.
I do feel very privileged
Hi. OP here. I’d like to clarify that I have a beautiful titanium hardtail - a second hand Kingdom Vendetta. But having been seduced to the dark side, the thought of going back to riding such shorter laps, and burning so much more energy to do so hurts. I totally accept this is a very, very first world problem.
But this thread has been useful to see that there are riders who do have 2 e-bikes. And also, that many have a full fat and a lighter version. Or one shorter travel, and one longer.
I really don’t want to blow the extra money on a bike which will simply sit in the garage once my beloved lightweight e-bike eventually comes back fixed.
Recently decided to get a 2nd eBike, for various reasons, and haven't regretted it...
A lot of my riding is winch and plummet style with a group of guys all on full fat eBikes that don't hang about, the climbs merely something to be done to get to the next descent ideally as quickly as possible, and a full fat eBike with a big battery is absolutely the best fool for the job here of course...
A significant portion of my riding is on more flowy trails and/or with people who aren't rushing quite so much (whether on full fat eBikes or not), and a lighter eBike with a lower torque motor and smaller battery (I daren't use SL, mid-power or lightweight to describe the bike, as it is none of those things) and a bit less travel, really suits me here... Especially as it's noticeably less draggy in eco or with the motor switched off than the full fat bike. In fact, I did a few miles with my GF on Sunday on it, and turned the motor off (she was on her lightweight hardtail) and we kept pace just fine...
Occasionally I ride on my own, where objectively it doesn't matter what I ride because I'm not trying to ride at the same pace as anyone else (and occasionally, I'll still take out my 5yr old XC bike in that case too), but
I've had a eBikes over the last few years, when I've had a full fat eBike only, I've wished I had a lighter one for much of my riding too, and vice versa when I've only had a lighter one, I've wished I had a full fat too for some of the rides...
Since adding the second bike, I've ridden both equally... Which goes some way to justifying my decision...
I should also add that both bikes owe me significantly less than many of my riding mates have spent on their only eBike, which again goes some way to justifying my decision too...
The bikes... A 2025 Mondraker Crafty R with Bosch CX motor, 800Wh battery and 150/160mm travel at 24kg and a 2025 Canyon Neuron OnFly with Bosch SX motor, 400Wh battery and 140mm travel at 20kg.
I did have an issue the other week where I found a mechanical problem with the one bike the night before a ride too, so grabbed the other bike instead thus not stopping the ride... A problem that has DEFINITELY got worse amongst my riding mates since the prevalence of eBikes amongst the groups... In fact, most weeks I ride there will be a mechanical either on the ride, or someone hasn't turned up because of an issue with their bike (this is a couple of quite big groups combined). Inevitably some of it is poor maintenance by people who should know better, but not always. And it does highlight the problem of relying on just one bike, which again, goes some way to justifying my decision too...
Could I get what I wanted out of both bikes from a single bike...? Probably, but it would mean a single MASSVIE expense, changes of wheels (and probably battery) etc... Something like an Unno Mith with the Avinox motor, with Eco mode maybe mapped to make it behave like a Bosch SX and a 20kg all up weight, might do the trick...
In terms of buying a second eBike, do what you want.
Is just say it's probably not worth buying something the same as you already have, yes when one is in the shop you'll use the second one but otherwise you'll always opt to ride the better one with the second just sat there. If you buy a different style of bike then you're more likely to use it as there won't be so much of a crossover in what each bike is ideal for.
Yes, I have two eebs - a Levo SL and a Gen 3 Levo, & possibly some other non-eebs 😉 My justification (if any is needed) is that I’m in my 60’s and living with the effects of old biking injuries and arthritis.
It has been good having an alternative eeb for the times when one is in for repairs. Similar to a previous respondent, I tend to use the full fat eeb in the winter months, as it gives the option to get out of the hills quicker if the weather changes etc.
Having said this, I’m about to replace both with a more comfortable mid weight full power eeb, but that’s only because I recently started a casual job at the LBS that has a large fleet of hire eebs - so if mine is out of action, I can borrow a hire one. If I wasn’t working there, I’d just hang on to the two I’ve got.
But, if you’ve got the money and space for another eeb, I’d go for it.
Could I get what I wanted out of both bikes from a single bike...? Probably, but it would mean a single MASSVIE expense, changes of wheels (and probably battery) etc... Something like an Unno Mith with the Avinox motor, with Eco mode maybe mapped to make it behave like a Bosch SX and a 20kg all up weight, might do the trick...
I would counter say probably not in reality. All you actually end up with a big, long travel bike with lighter parts, that’s not very good at anything. As an aside, that might be a reflection on my feelings of the Mith, having ridden one fairly extensively now 😆
My full fat 180/165 travel bike with a G5 CX & 800w battery comes in at ‘just’ under 22kg. With a 600w battery, and some lighter tyres, I could get that well under 21kg, possibly closer to 20, but at the end of the day, it’s still a big, long travel high pivot bike & will predominantly ride like that still.
Something mid power/mid travel & lighter does offer a different experience - not that long ago I acquired TQ HPR60 powered bike with the 580 battery (mid travel) which is close to 18kg & it feels very different to the big bike - mostly because I wasn’t interested interested in pedalling a normal bike anything bigger than an XC bike these days. The slightly lower weight makes a small difference but the bigger change of feeling comes from shorter travel.
My concern with bikes is not so much their cost, but how much I ride them. If I ride something a lot and have a lot of fun on it, then even if it's cost me a bit of money I'm not that bothered because over a lot of rides the cost per ride reduces massively.
I've found that the problem when I've got two bikes that do similar things I naturally tend to favour one over the other. I've currently got a full sus and a hardtail, and I've found that since having both the full sus gets far less use than the hardtail.
With e bikes, because they're so much more expensive, having two would worry me that one would be a massive waste of money that could be better spent elsewhere because it doesn't get used so much.
I really don’t want to blow the extra money on a bike which will simply sit in the garage once my beloved lightweight e-bike eventually comes back fixed.
But isnt this exactly what would happen? Or you get a new eeb that you prefer over the lightweight and then the lightweight becomes the bike that sits unused.