I've 2 - a 24kg full fat MTB, and a light 20kg city.
Do i notice a great difference to the weight - No. Even lifting it i suppose you could argue theres a fair bit of difference, but not so huge its an issue. Both are heavy,life DH's bitd were heavy, and steel townie bikes are not far off 40lbs anyway.
But Im not intending to be lifting it over a five bar gate, and I dont think that should be any criteria for your choice really. Its all just down to torque and battery size.
Im on EMTB forum, and while there are posts and threads on lightweight, there are quite a lot of replies about adding a range booster as they are finding their lightweight low range to be too low. So I think if you opt for lower battery size, you might find yourself purchasing an extender before too long
Eco Whats that ? Never used it and tbh its a bit pointless. If you want to pedal about in eco, especially on hills, then whats the point on buying an ebike ?
Increases range you say. Well yes, but again as above if range the important factor, why buy a 1/2 fat
I just got a lightweight e-bike and even in eco there is a huge boost to climbing speed. Full assist on the 55nm, 600W Bosch results in spinning out on the steepest, damp trails so realistically for me its really about the range rather than the peak power output.
In this case, the weight difference is all in the battery. 4hrs and 4.5k ft climbing on a 400wh battery is enough for 99% of my riding. As energy density increases, I'd take more wh for the same weight though (20kg with a low spec, burly build).
What bike are you on @Kamakazie...?
I've been debating moving over to a bike with a Bosch SX motor, specifically the Mondraker Sly... I have a high cadence pedalling style, my typical rides are 3-4hrs with 1000-1200m of climbing, and think I should get away with the 400Wh internal battery for 95% of my riding... I am currently on a bike with a Bosch CX and 750Wh battery, and typically end rides with 40% battery capacity left or more!
It's a Mondraker Dune..I had 40‰ battery remaining on my last ride after 3.3k ft of elevation. Most of that was in eco but I did up it towards the end. The biggest drawback is the lack of seatpost insertion but I can manage.
Buying now then if take a look at the Whyte eLyte as an alternative, though the Dune rights brilliantly.
Completely agree with the last comment.
Why buy an ebike and the only ride around in eco all the time?
It’s like punishing yourself physically, financially and fun wise.
E-bikes are moving on now so you don’t have to believe the marketing BS of lower weight = underpowered battery and motor
Get as much range and power as you can for around the 20kg mark and enjoy the power!
Not sure how your managing to spin out on 55nm , it’s either wrong tyre , technique, or the motor doesn’t deliver the power very well.
I at CyB the other day a bloke on a Trek Fuele had a go on my Rise riding up a boring fire road section. Almost immediately he said he was going to look at a more powerful motor.
I just got a lightweight e-bike and even in eco there is a huge boost to climbing speed. Full assist on the 55nm, 600W Bosch results in spinning out on the steepest, damp trails so realistically for me its really about the range rather than the peak power output.
In this case, the weight difference is all in the battery. 4hrs and 4.5k ft climbing on a 400wh battery is enough for 99% of my riding. As energy density increases, I'd take more wh for the same weight though (20kg with a low spec, burly build).
What bike are you on @Kamakazie...?
I've been debating moving over to a bike with a Bosch SX motor, specifically the Mondraker Sly... I have a high cadence pedalling style, my typical rides are 3-4hrs with 1000-1200m of climbing, and think I should get away with the 400Wh internal battery for 95% of my riding... I am currently on a bike with a Bosch CX and 750Wh battery, and typically end rides with 40% battery capacity left or more!
It's a Mondraker Dune. At 170/165mm travel it's more than I'd usually go with but it's surprisingly poppy.
If I was buying again I'd probably look at the Whyte eLyte as well
If you ride at a high cadence the Bosch will suit you really well
Why buy an ebike and the only ride around in eco all the time?
75% of my riding is in eco @ 12-15% assist, I've no desire to blast around everywhere in Turbo. But, I do use Trail and Turbo when I feel I want/need it
Get as much range and power as you can for around the 20kg mark and enjoy the power!
But what does your Rise actually weigh, with pedals, bottle cage, mudguards, decent tyres etc?
Not sure how your managing to spin out on 55nm , it’s either wrong tyre , technique, or the motor doesn’t deliver the power very well.
I at CyB the other day a bloke on a Trek Fuele had a go on my Rise riding up a boring fire road section. Almost immediately he said he was going to look at a more powerful motor.
It sounds like you've never used a Bosch SX equipped bike. It might be 55nm but it outputs 600W at peak. It is significantly more powerful that the Fuel eXe and having used both, the power differential is significant and it feels much closer to the CX than the TQ does to the SX.
I recently picked up a Cube One55, end of season deal. 2 rides in and it’s awesome 750w battery Bosch motor. Good build kit for the money, or excellent depending on the deal you can find.
Admittedly I was very lucky because they are already discounted to around 4, this one had 60 shop miles on it so was classed as “nearly new”, so down to 3.5, then there was an extra 15% off that so it cost just over 3. Still it’s a hoot and I’d say good for 4 comparing it to more popular Treks & Spesh’s.
I've just ordered a '24 S-Works Levo, £7.5k reduced from £12.5k
22.5kg full power, will definitely be more nimble than the 25kg+ 2019 Kenevo I have at the moment
I'll do a NBD post and let you know how it rides in a week or so.
Lots of choice of there, I would have gone for an Orbea Wild, but headset cable routing and the Bosch Smart system with rim sensor is a bugger to de-restrict
22.5kg full power, will definitely be more nimble than the 25kg+ 2019 Kenevo I have at the moment
Once it arrives weigh them both and let us know the actual weights please.
Lots of choice of there, I would have gone for an Orbea Wild, but headset cable routing and the Bosch Smart system with rim sensor is a bugger to de-restrict
I'm curious - not judging - but why do you need to de-restrict it? I understand why people do it for road use, but for a mountain bike it makes less obvious sense to me, though I get it depends on how and where you use the bike.
I'm curious - not judging - but why do you need to de-restrict it? I understand why people do it for road use, but for a mountain bike it makes less obvious sense to me, though I get it depends on how and where you use the bike
A few reasons to be honest
The first time I swung a leg over one testing it at JE James, I was surprised how quickly the cut off came and instantly decided I'd want to deristrict
16mph is too slow. If it were 20mph I think people may be slightly less inclined to deristrict
Reaching the cut off and hovering around it is annoying I'd find. Not having a cut off makes for a much more pleasing fluid ride experience
We do a lot of mixed rides. On any road sections and even fire roads the restricted bikes can't keep up with the analogues
Anyone that's seen me write about my ebike usage will know that I'm not one for blasting everywhere in turbo, I prefer mild assist most of the time, so the deristriction isn't about flying round everywhere at 35mph. It's just makes the whole experience of riding an ebike, just better
Have you ridden any ebikes? Yeah, most people like them, but I've ridden a whole bunch and came away from every test-ride saying "e-bikes are not for me". I'm definitely not some super-fit guy who has the legs not to need one either! Definitely demo one before committing to spending all that money!
Once it arrives weigh them both and let us know the actual weights please.
As much as I could tell, holding it (Levo) up by my arms on the scale, it was looking around 23.5kg with pedals (430g), Cushcore and the few grammes that Ridewrap weighs
The Kenevo with (1kg - I think) range extender and a fair bit of mud was looking like 28kg
I realise this is way over the OP's budget but something to consider. I got my first eeb recently and went for the top spec Whyte ELyte Stag Evo with the new full fat CX motor, based on a load of good reviews. I absolutely love it and other than when you hit the 16mph wall on the flat it is just like riding a non-eeb from a handling perspective. It is not massively horrendous to ride with the motor switched off either.
I hired my son a Whyte full fat alu eeb when we were visiting FoD recently and swapped bikes with him for a while. We both agreed that there is a significant difference between how the 2 bikes from the same brand feel to ride. Immediately the weight was felt on the alu version, and I mean immediately, from the moment we started moving. Going downhill on the alu bike and the braking requirements changed, had to change my riding style a bit which I didn't do with the Stag Evo, and the motor was noisier, not awful but noticable versus the gen 5 CX.
It is easy to get hung up on lack of range and power when looking at the lighter versions, but for me by far the most impactful difference was handling. Even with the fugly range extender added you don't notice the weight. I am by no means suggesting you need to sell body parts to get the Stag as it is an obscene price for a bike, but try and do some side by side comparisons if you can and figure out what is most important to you. I see the Whyte Elyte is coming down in price but these are the ones with the SX motor rather than CX, worth a look though.
The RSX whyte ELyte is on my potentials list. But I went out for a ride today around my very hilly local area and I was struggling to get a spinny cadence going which you seemingly need to get to release the 600w output of the SX. Gearing on my non e bike in lowest is 30 front and 46 rear.
Interestingly, over 30km and 630 metres of elevation, two of my mates orbea Rises ran out of battery, luckily at the highest point of the ride. It was all off road, fairly gloopy going and the two lads are probably 20kg heavier than me.
I also attempted to pick up a £5500 cube stereo at my local dealer. I honestly thought they had bolted it to the floor, incredibly heavy.
So after todays ride, specially just to give me a hand to keep up with my riding mates, the fuel EXE or the Whyte looks perfect. I had thought about the Cannondale Moterra SL, the 2 model can be had for £4,500, it I don’t know if I’d actually need all that grunt.
I also attempted to pick up a £5500 cube stereo at my local dealer. I honestly thought they had bolted it to the floor, incredibly heavy.
Another good reason for going LT. I can lift my full bike in and out of the car boot with little effort at 20kg but with the likes of the Stereo I would be paying for physio after every ride 🙂
Interestingly, over 30km and 630 metres of elevation, two of my mates orbea Rises ran out of battery,
That is interesting because I keep reading that people are still getting miles out of the new ranges of SL's that eclipse what we were getting out of old tech full fats.
My 6yr old Gen 1 27/28kg big fat lump of a Kenevo with 504wh battery (at 90% health, so 450wh) and a powerful 90nm motor beats that.
Were they blasting round in turbo all ride?
Interestingly, over 30km and 630 metres of elevation, two of my mates orbea Rises ran out of battery, luckily at the highest point of the ride.
Sounds like me. What hoses the battery for me is full turbo trying to keep up with my full-fat friends. That and I still haven't ridden my Rise in temps above 6C.
If I sit in Trail mode all ride I am OK. I have bought myself the Range Extender too, which adds 50% to the range. I am also hoping that warmed temps will increase the range.
I think they may enjoy higher battery assistance, truth be told.
I took my Rise to BPW yesterday, i did bottom to top, then 3 top to midway, then top to bottom before lunch, that left me with 3 bars, so something over/around 30%. I don't know how much elevation that comes out at as i don't Strava, but i was happy. BPW give the facility now to charge Ebikes for free, so I plugged it in over lunch and did another run up to the top using turbo afterwards. To be honest, i'd had enough riding to satisfy me by then, although i'd have got another if needed.
It still impresses me how capable it is at doing everything.
Interestingly, over 30km and 630 metres of elevation, two of my mates orbea Rises ran out of battery, luckily at the highest point of the ride
Thats pretty poor range for a rise - especially if its the 500wh battery variants and not the 360wh battery. A friend with a rise with the 360wh battery regularly gets 900-1000m altitude gain out of his- I suspect they were in max power mode with all the sliders turned up to the max.
I’ll admit I was surprised they were getting through the battery. Like I mentioned, it was all pretty hard going with soft muddy ground and these lads are big lads, and using the motor a lot.
360wh batteries I believe, as in the carbon frame models.
