Hey!

My knowledge of eBikes is very limited. My mate is having knee surgery soon, and will be selling her normal bike and going to an eBike.

She rides in the Tweed Valley, so steep and technical generally. Most of the time good geometry trumps travel and stiffness here.

She wants to spend £5k or less, and doesn’t really know where to start.

Canyon’s Decoy and YT’s Spectral are the obvious, but what else is around at decent value?

Cheers!

Ricks

https://www.marinbikes.com/gb/bikes/2022-alpine-trail-e1 would be my pick for under £5k.

I got a decoy shred a couple of months ago, very much enjoying it, and is available unlike any other bikes I looked at, which may cut down options currently.

The Nukeproof Megawatt seems to be going down well with reviewers.

https://nukeproof.com/products/megawatt-297

I demo’d a Trek Rail 7 a couple of weeks ago & was mightily impressed. 5.5K though. I liked the look of the Whyte E160 at slightly cheaper but they didn’t have a demo bike.

To me a local shops support trumps mail order savings, having had a mail order warranty issue go on for 8wks, but with motor manufacturers service centres appearing, this might not be the issue it has been in the past
A lighter bike like the Orbea rise m20 @ around 18kg might be a nicer choice than a 25kg full fat trek/spesh/etc, for the lighter rider, though is already above the budget. As mentioned above, stock availability might be a limiting factor.
Though theres a lot of 2nd hand e-bikes appearing on FB, so one with a transferable warranty, might be a way to get a better bike for the budget

I wouldn’t want to spend that kind of money without local dealer support. I used to work at a Specialized dealer and we were forever doing warranty work on e-bikes.

I have recently got an ebike. Whyte e180s, a bit over the budget you mentioned but really happy with how it rides. From the research I did the Whyte ebikes ride better than most others due to the positioning of the motor and battery giving it a low c.o.g.
The other reason I went for a Whyte over say a better spec/cheaper direct sales brand like canyon is for local lbs support.
Now, this wasn’t as smooth as planned as due to stock availability problems I ended up buying online from a shop over 100 miles away, but I can use a local Whyte dealer for backup/warranty. And, you will need this because ebikes will go wrong.
Mine has had an error code due to a misaligned wheel magnet and also a snapped damper.

So, in summary, I’d probably avoid direct sales unless your friend is prepared to have to deal with faults themselves or wait for support online.

Yeah defo buy from a local dealer. You’re very likely to need the support at some point.

The Whyte has a really clunky battery change if that’s an issue.
Most eebists I ride with do a battery before lunch then one after, so being able to switch a battery easily is good.

My Orbea Wild fs H25 is very easy to change, and also comes in under your budget and it’s a great bike for what you describe.

My rail came from a shop about 300 miles away, but any issues it goes to my local trek dealer, 3 miles along the road.

Bloody amazing for exploring off the beaten track, get one.

Take the mirrors and mudguards off THIS some new tyres and she will be away

Nobody local to me will touch my bike without charging me for it, warranty or not. I bought from a shop an hour away which is about as far as I’d want to go on a regular basis.

We hired a pair of Whyte E-150S were very impressed with them. But they’re out of stock everywhere.

I would be very wary of buying second hand as so many people have had problems with motors (all brands) failing. Also batteries deteriorate with use and you don’t want to have to fork out for a new one soon.

The Marin is supposed to be good, as is the Nukeproof.
Your main problem is going to be finding something that’s actually in stock at the moment.

I have a Trek Rail 7, very good bike but just a bit out of price range new.

Not sure where all these scare stories about ebike reliability come from, I have now done over 1000 miles on mine with it getting hammered in some of the worst weather conditions and roughest ground conditions the UK can provide. It looks as rough as sxxt but I’ve never had a single issue despite my somewhat lax attitude to maintenance ie none apart from hosing worst of mud off and lubing chain when I remember.

Echo chamber forums / FB pages maybe?

I’ll ask, why an e-bike after knee surgery ?

Keep riding within your limitations, use a turbo, and just ride. You don’t need a e-bike.

Been there from shoulder injuries, to a badly broken spine 6 years ago. Didn’t go ‘leccy’

My Powerfly went through 4 motors in 22 months and 2500 miles. My Rail is making an unpleasant noise after 2600 miles. I regularly ride with half a dozen people with Levos and Kenevos, none of them have still got their original motors and several have had batteries replaced as well.

I’ll ask, why an e-bike after knee surgery ?

Keep riding within your limitations, use a turbo, and just ride. You don’t need a e-bike.

I’ve used an eBike for recovery from injury, so has my wife and I know a few other folk too. It means you can ride as normal and keep up with your mates who are fully fit. Mental recovery is part of the recovery process and can be greatly helped with social riding.

Recently bought the 2021 Scott Genius 920 e-ride.
Its a good level of spec and has a bosch performance cx/625w battery.
Maybe the mostly deore spec brakes/drivetrain could be improved on,but comes with a 36 fox and float dps in the sus bits, which i reckon is fair enough.
Comes as 29, but you can change it to 27.5 or mullet.
I mostly use it in tour(160% of input) but on turbo(340% of input) it goes up over rooty inclines in the most enjoyable way 😀

Only advice – buy it from a local shop, not the interweb.

You don’t need a e-bike.

Course he does, everybody needs an ebike 😀
You’ll be telling us next we don’t need discs and a well set up pair of canti’s is just as good 😉 😆

Local dealer support every time. I’ve had a warranty battery on my trek rail

I’d buy from a local shop too. I’d feel like a right @#$% taking a bike to a shop for warranty work just because they deal with a brand I bought from t’interweb. Shops don’t get any money at all for warranty work, unless they have to do a complete strip and rebuild on a TT bike or, in rare cases, an e-bike. Even then they don’t get what they would charge a customer for the same job so still losing a wad of cash. Buy local so the shop that made money from the sale has the responsibility for the warranty and are happy to deal with it.

I’d buy from a local shop too. I’d feel like a right @#$% taking a bike to a shop for warranty work just because they deal with a brand I bought from t’interweb. Shops don’t get any money at all for warranty work, unless they have to do a complete strip and rebuild on a TT bike or, in rare cases, an e-bike. Even then they don’t get what they would charge a customer for the same job so still losing a wad of cash. Buy local so the shop that made money from the sale has the responsibility for the warranty and are happy to deal with it.

I tried to buy through my lbs, they told me the first model of rail 9 they could get was 2023. They had no other ebikes available.

They are part of a dealer network, they get benefits of that, but it means they also have to do the dirty warranty stuff, c’est la vie.

but it means they also have to do the dirty warranty stuff

Do they? As I said, all the shops near me that deal with Trek and Specialized (two brands I have specifically enquired about) want to charge for warranty work on bikes not bought from them. If there’s some documentation you can share showing they are obliged to do warranty work for free that would be great.

Yeah, what nobeerinthefridge said. I bought my ebike from a shop in germany, the motor failed after 500 miles, and ended up with the local bosch dealer sorting out the new motor under warranty.

A mate has recently bought a canyon spectral on, it seems really decent for the money, but the sizing on it is bit odd, but if its works for you then it would be a decent option.

The YT decoy also looks good , a bit more travel and maybe aimed at a bit more aggro riding than the spectral though.

Orbea wild is popular and have bikes at all price points, although I’d maybe avoid the one with the rockshox 35 gold fork.

Commencal meta power looks decent, as does the whyte e150/160/180.

They are part of a dealer network, they get benefits of that, but it means they also have to do the dirty warranty stuff, c’est la vie.

I’m sure I read on here a while ago, from someone in the industry, that this is not the case with bikes. We expect this service with likes of cars, but ‘apparently’ the same rules don’t apply in the bike trade, such that a dealer can charge for any time and shipping costs etc associated with warranty work on a bike bought from another dealer, even if its a brand they sell.

I think some (maybe most) manufacturers exclude any labour charges involved in dealing with a warranty issue, but the parts should be covered. Eg if the motor fails, then the cost of a new motor is covered, but not necessarily the costs of taking the old motor out and putting the new one in. But really those costs should be minimal – eg 1 hour labour to swap a motor over.

But its difficult to generalise, as each manufacturer has different t&C’s.

FWIW I have no issue paying a local shop to strip parts or whatever, doesn’t bother me at all.

Edit, anyway, we’ve drifted away from the OP’s question, as ever. Most local ebikers have Focus in one form or another, Jam, drifter etc, seem really good bikes and warranty is good too. I think they can be had within budget.

I was quoted 3 hours at £45/hr plus postage by one shop. I could remove and refit the motor from my Powerfly in about 20 minutes so that seemed excessive.

I was quoted 3 hours at £45/hr plus postage by one shop. I could remove and refit the motor from my Powerfly in about 20 minutes so that seemed excessive.

yep, thats taking the P.

My new motor under warranty cost £30 in labour.

Still very much delighted with my 2021 Vitus E-Sommet, very similar to the Megawatt, shares a lot of the same tubing/geometry as they’re built in the same factory for the same company.

I used to have a Meta with the old Shimano E8000 before and I’m much preferring the EP8. It doesn’t offer loads more torque, but there’s considerably less resistance through the pedals when riding over 15.5mph. The Shimano setups just seem so simple, very easy to replace anything. It also faired very well in a crazy wet week in Scotland, which has put my wife’s Giant E bike in for repair for water ingress.

If I’d not got this I think it would have been a Decoy or Megawatt (which wasn’t out at time of purchase).

Just dealing with a warranty repair on a Commencal after 8 months (Shimano E8000 motor making grinding noises). Commencal just said remove it myself and send straight to Madison. No shops involved.

EMTBs still don’t seem to be reliable enough though, nor are many spares available after warranty runs out.

Quite a few E8000s brand new for sale on ebay, mainly shipping from Germany. Also very easy to personalise/replace screens, controls, wiring. I swapped the old shifter style E8000 to up/down buttons on mine, replacement just bought from a UK online shop and plugged straight in.

The reliability still gets me down though, imagine the fuss if there was a line of cars/motorbikes that often broke at 500 miles with the engine totally written off.

If it helps, Bosch do a rebuild kit for motors which is a job that can be done by a home mechanic. Costs about £100 (or did a couple of years ago), is almost as good as a whole new motor and has a 2 year warranty. So a Bosch unit is where my money would go.

As for the warranty…. I worked for Trek in their warranty dept. Yes they have a dealer network, but there are no benefits to the shop dealing with a warranty for something they didn’t sell. No credit, no money, just a thanks and the hope the customer will use that shop again. The only exception is, as I said before, if they have to do a full strip and rebuild (frame swap) on a TT bike or a Madone which is a good 4-6 hours labour

I would look at a second hand levo sl – quite a few for sale when people realise they cannot keep up with mates on full fat eebs and warranty is transferrable upto 2 years and in the world of ebikes they seem to have a few less problems. I got mine for £4.1k with 23 months warranty left – rides much more like a ‘proper ‘ mtb but enough help to assist- caveat though is to get the best out of it depends on a high cadence which may not play nicely with knee issues

Marin Alpine trail E1?

Secondhand 2020 levo (*cos it will have the longest motor warranty, 4 yrs from original purchase date when new, motor only, applies 2019/20 levo only) and you’re able to get parts and there are third parties doing full motor rebuilds and spares.