Same as you do when anything else is out of warranty.
That's fine when the part that's failed is 100 quid or so, but when it's a 750 pounds worth of motor and they're typically only lasting 1000 miles and you have to buy an entire unit rather than just fix the part in the motor that failed then it's a bit rich .
The most expensive single component on my current bike are probably the forks, that could cost around 800 quid to buy a new set, but if they fail, it mostly likely to be fixed by a rebuild for 100 quid, or if the stanchions are worn, it'll be 250 quid.
I understand that things wear out, especially on a mountain bike, but 1000 miles between failures is well into consumables territory, my cassette will last longer than that and doesn't cost 750 quid.
Hopefully some specialists will pop up that can repair a motor or battery for a reasonable fee rather than just having to buy an entire unit.
Wonder if you guys that have had multiple problems are the exception or the rule?
Torn on my next bike I’ve rode a levo and the new sl and it’s bigger bike than I normally use but a great bike! I also really like the rail it’s closer to my current bikes....no idea which I will get.
Anyway, back on topic, anyone got or ridden a mondraker crafty?
Trek Powerfly for 2 years, 2500 miles and 4 motors...
Replaced with a Trek Rail after I found two hairline cracks in the lower shock mount. Trek warranty was awesome; took bike to shop on Saturday, shop called Trek on Monday, Trek confirmed warranty on Tuesday.
The Rail is a freaking awesome bike and somewhat amusingly recently won Best Budget Trail Bike in a test by eBike-MTB.com
https://ebike-mtb.com/en/best-budget-emtb-you-can-buy/
It also won Most Versatile in a trail bike test run by The Loam Wolf;
https://theloamwolf.com/2020/03/01/2020-emtb-roundup-16-ebikes-battle-it-out/
For Bosch, the motor warranty is direct and is a rolling 2 years so resets every time you get a new motor.
The Brose in the Levo is dealt with by Specialized and is 2 years from date of purchase so if you get a motor under warranty at 23 months it has 1 month remaining. If you buy a new motor it comes with 2 years warranty. Given the apparent lack of reliability of the Brose this is currently a major bone of contention on the EMTB forum and the Specialized Rider Care rep is getting repeatedly questioned.
That puts an interesting slant on things...
D'oh! I forgot the pictures...
This one may explain the cracked frame...
The new toy, no action shots yet though.
I have a Levo Carbon Comp, it’s a brilliant bike in my opinion, feels very agile and poppy for an e-mtb, and comfortable on everything from flowing singletrack to steep techy downhill trails. The only changes I’ve made have been the contact points and tyres, otherwise the Spec has been spot-on. The Fox 34 Rhythm forks have surprised me, much better than expected so far. It’s a 2019 bike with the 504Wh battery, given the opportunity I’d swap for the 700Wh battery to give a little more range.
Not sure how to post photos on this new forum format, sorry.
...glad to see this thread hasn’t descended into the usual spiral negativity yet 😊
Not sure how to post photos on this new forum format,
Same as the old one
I’ve got a Trek Powerfly 9FS LT.
Love it. Used it all last summer in Leogang instead of my DH bike, does everything.
It’s coming up to 2 years old so I’m getting a bit twitchy about the motor reading some of the posts above.
Oooh I found a photo of mine that isn't on Google photos (is it still a pain to link from there?):
It’s difficult to say....the sl gave me that little push the nudge rather than the full eMtb experience, it felt just like my stumpy with a caffeine rush. While the turbo when not in eco mode you knew it was an eMtb it felt heavier but more capable on the longer climbs and relying on my legs as much....
If I was to continue to train / car commute to places to bike I would get the sl, if I could figure out a route from home to Cannock then I would get the turbo.
Saying that I really like the Rail, it’s just the control panel I don’t like it gets in the way...but I have a very good trek dealer locally so I’m probably going to go that way.
The warranty side of things is a massive consideration for me when I get round to buying one.
Some of the better bikes (YT Decoy 29, Meta Power 29, etc) I cant consider for the reasons stated above, I’m not boxing a whole bike up to send back when it breaks.
They are kind of like dropper posts 10 years ago, a great invention, just a bit shady on the reliability side of things.
It’s going to be why I end up on a Trek, I can get them bloody cheap anyway, and the Rail 9.9 looks pretty good overall, but I want the support for when it breaks. It’s not the best bike out there for me, but it’s always a balance of support on them.
I have a 2019 Vitus E-Sommet and to be honest I can't fault it - been using it for a year now and no issues yet.
It's perfect for me where I can ride from the doorstep but its a bloody big and muddy hill. Means I can get a quick one hour lap in after work, whereas it would take longer on a 'normal' bike. Still enjoy riding my other non-ebikes though and as summer approaches I will start using these more. They all have their place.
Replaced a early 2018 Vitus E-Somment with a 2019 Levo late last year, as I wanted to move up to an XL frame and the bigger 700wh battery. Both bike have been great fun, but the e-bike specific 'battery range anxiety' pissed me off no end, so I'm a lot happier now with a bigger battery.
For me it has re-invigorated my riding, as I was thoroughly pissed off with yet another wet winter & the slogging around, pedalling downhill... & for the 1st time, I have properly been able to concentrate on my riding technic/position, something I've never been able to do well in 10 years+ of riding manual bikes.
cant do links, maybe this will work? EDIT crikey they did!
Shocking story for those considering a mailorder bike, yt in this example.
Wow to that YT story, that is abysmal
that is abysmal
yeah,just scratched a decoy off my shortlist
6ft, got a small Vitus E-Escarpe and use it for messing about urban flatland and lap some Enduro trails with it.
Hopefully some specialists will pop up that can repair a motor or battery for a reasonable fee rather than just having to buy an entire unit.
one here https://www.performancelinebearings.com/
I've had my voodoo zobop about 4 weeks now. I'll be honest, it was the price and the ease of return if it goes wrong that sold it for me. Using various discounts and buying ex-display I got it for £1850, down from an original price of £3k which I think is a bargain for a full-sus with dropper, sram/rockshox and bosch motor.
The main reasons for buying is to help with the 32 mile round trip commute and just to open up more riding options. So many of my routes I often can't be bothered with due to fatigue caused by my commute, or winter slop, or tedious head winds.
I love it, not only is it fun in itself, it makes my non-E riding more fun as I now have more energy. It opens up so many more interesting routes on the commute home and I'll happily ride to work knowing the 20mph head wind on the way home is now irrelevant.
Downsides are the weight and the speed cut-off is a little too slow for commuting, should be 20mph, although for trail riding 15.5 is fine.
That Decoy story has put me off direct sales a little. I wonder if I'd have the same issue with a Commencal.
I do live 5 minutes away from a Specialized dealer and buying a Kenevo from them is by far the safest bet. They just don't look as cool as a Meta Power 27 and the spec isn't all that.
I narrowed it down to either the Orbea Wild FS or a Spesh Levo, both available from good nearby bike shops and similar styles and costs. The Orbea was better value for money and felt nicer to ride round the car park, it also gets great reviews.
Unfortunately for me, selling it is proving a lot harder than buying it was and the current nervousness around CV will likely scupper the sale 😞
I am in the same camp as a lot of people I was looking at the frame warranties (as I have burst a couple). I have decided to go Trek rail 5 as for the money there are better specced bikes but with the all round warranty I would rather deal with Trek or one of the old established brands as one of the newer manufacturers.
Liv Embolden e+
Rides like it has its own orbit.
First in with a short travel ebike, I had a HT & swapped it out for this
I enjoy it but don't get out enough.
My old Trek Powerfly, would love a Rail 9.9
I borrowed a Trek Rail 7.7 for a couple of days riding in Wales this week. With 2 young kids my fitness us not what it was and combined with my mate being super fit and impatient I was looking forward to my first ebike experience.
Negatives - seriously heavy which was a pain when getting it into the car.
You can only downshift one gear at a time (apparently this normal for ebikes), it caught me out a few times and the motor got bogged down but I think you'd learn to ride with it.
Positives - acceleration, not talked about as much as climbing ability but it's seriously addictive, although it can get you in trouble if your do a quarter turn to set yourself up for a corner only to find yourself entering it even faster.
You can't feel the weight when riding at all, I think I got more air that with my xc bike that's half the weight.
Still at least 1/5 of the battery left after the Beast at CYB.
Tour setting us quit natural feeling like having a tailwind.
I didn't feel over biked at all. I guess because the motor keeps it from feeling sluggish.
Other that I feel that carbon us pointless on such a heavy bike. Sale the money and get the Alu version.
Once the kids are older and I can justify it i want an ebike, probably one of the newer lower range ones with less assistance.
Seriously looking at a gravel ebike for a 70mike round trip commute, although the limiter may be an issue on the road.
“Seriously looking at a gravel ebike for a 70mike round trip commute, although the limiter may be an issue on the road.”
It is. I take the hilliest route to and from work otherwise I’m just pedalling a big MTB which is quicker off the lights and into headwinds. As the crow flies over the hill between home and work and it’s a lot faster than a normal MTB, and a lot safer downhill (especially in bad weather/light with potholed roads) than a road bike.
Saw one of THESE today
Not sure how many niches this fills - fat bike, eBike, carbon bike, expensive bike, stupid bike, you can’t unsee it bike
Just ordered mine, been decision making for a while but went for the Trek Rail 7, got it with £800 off and free delivery from an lbs not mine but one that’s a bit further away but happy to deliver!
Hopefully delivery tomorrow!!
Get the Invisiframe kit on order, it'll give you something to do while under lockdown.
Not an MTB, but Mrs M has a Whyte Highgate hybrid which she loves. She's taken it on much longer rides than she would otherwise do, & since Sept 2018 has put on about 3500km.
Fat 650b tyres, no suspension, Shimano motor.
Nobody loving cube emtb's? I got a 2020 model stereo 140 tm in October last year and apart from eating at chain in 150 miles it's excellent! Great vfm, carbon front triangle, gen4 motor and mt7 brakes for £4600 although I did get a discount and bought a fast charger 👍frustrating now we're in lockdown as it was gonna get some hammer in this drier weather! Mods made to mine are a bigger fox volume spacer in the rear shock as it was bottoming out seeing as I'm a big lad 😉 and some dmr deathgrips. Check out the emtb review for £5000 bikes on the previous link for a review of this bike
Tried the Levo and the Levo SL, went with the SL in the end as it just feels normal. Went out for 55k ride the other day did the First 7 miles with it switched off! you wouldn't want to do that on one of the full fat e-bikes. Have done more riding in the three weeks I've had it than I did most of last year on my acoustic bikes!!
I bought a Vitus e-Sommet last year after looking at a lot of different models. I did have some concerns about the mail order but Wiggle have been good with the couple of minor issues. The key decider was the geometry as at the time most e-bikes seemed to have short front ends and long chainstays where as the Vitus had a longer front. This year most 2020 bikes seem to have a similar geometry. I also like the easily removable battery as I keep the battery separate to the bike to ad one mor level of annoyance to potential bike thieves.
Mine arrived today! Only ordered yesterday and hand delivered social distanced of course to my front door. Amazing service! I didn’t order from my lbs regrettably but it is someone’s lbs.
So it’s a Trek Rail 7 in the red/black now I hired one before and didn’t realise the weight lol trying to get it up 2 flights of stairs was a challenge, really need to find it a downstairs home.
Didn’t come charged which I’m guessing is a good thing as potentially will just sit there until this curfew lifts. Fit wise it’s perfect very happy with the purchase.
Haibike sduro hard seven 5 here, all I need for the light trail riding the boss and I do. She's resisting the whole ebike thing until she feels she's not enjoying her old Giant any more.
We all know as soon as she has a shot she'll be smitten so it's only a matter of time.
Love the look of those treks, hate that knock block idea.
Dumb question; are EMTB cranks the same as mtb, can I use Shimano hollowtech? They’ve not gone back to that bastard ISIS splines have they?
Nope to both, custom to the motor crank.
Love the look of those treks, hate that knock block idea
Work colleague has a Trek ebike with the knock block - i’ve CAD’d the dimensions of the stem locking recess, our local machine shop have milled the recess into a Hope stem so its compatible.
Riding an Obrea wild fs bought off @iainc
Comes with the full shop warranty and registered with Obrea for lifetime frame warranty too
Total game changer being able to climb things I would only dream of
It rides like a DH bike and still pedals easily downhill with battery switched off
2019 Kenevo. Could do with a spare battery, but, but other then that it's awesome
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@biglee1 yeah, i also have a cube.
2015 stereo, love it. Was a present from the wife.
I have an E-escarpe. Size small. Im 5ft11 and it feels bigger than my 2016 reign in L. So fun and poppy for an ebike sizing down.