Oddly it’s not mentioned often when people talk about ebikes, so I guess most riders simply don’t care.

Lots of riders care but until recently the only quiet option is the Brose so availability dictates Specialized in the majority of cases. For people who don’t want a Spesh the realistic options are Bosch or Shimano. neither of which are quiet.

The new TQ motor is very quiet but hasn’t found it’s way into the cheaper (relative term) brands yet.

My main riding buddy has got/had a few ebikes. Until a few months ago, he used to ride a few miles to the meeting point and I drove with my Giant Trance on the car. He’d turn down his motor to eco and we rode together until he headed for home. Then a few things happened: his B-I-L would come with us on his full fat bike (so it was frustrating for all) and then I moved closer to Cannock Chase so it seemed daft to put the bike in the car. I ended up being knackered – they’re a lot younger than me.
He lent me his Levo SL (when he got an S-works Levo) and I still ended up knackered and just didn’t enjoy any aspect of the ride.
Then I bought a Scott Genius e-ride. Blimey, it’s a beast. Heavy but massively powerful and I love it. I guess it’s a bit like coffee: I like no sugar, I like 2 teaspoons, but I really don’t like 1 teaspoon. So it turns out I don’t like half-fat ebikes.

But I’m losing fitness. So I built up my old Mk1 Cotic Soul as singlespeed and am trying to do a third of my rides on that. My mate also does the same on his old-geometry singlespeed and we’re getting used to the feeling of short and steep bikes again, which is great because we can save the climbing and descending type rides for when we’re on the ebikes and ration the climbs and (now perilous – how did we ever get down this in one piece) descents when we’re on the singlespeeds.

Lots of riders care but until recently the only quiet option is the Brose so availability dictates Specialized in the majority of cases. For people who don’t want a Spesh the realistic options are Bosch or Shimano. neither of which are quiet

I guess that’s what made come to the conclusion that a lot don’t care, but anyway, it’s a shame that quietness seems a low priority when it comes to a lot of e-bike design.

More generally, in all honesty, as someone with custodianship of a long covid rehab loan Levo, which I barely use these days, I can see that it would be easy to fall into a pattern where you mostly rode the assisted bike off road, at which point riding a non-assisted bike becomes progressively tougher.

One of the things I learned from long covid, is that mountain biking is really, really hard compared to riding on the road, I think because in any sort of technical, hilly terrain, you tend to go repeatedly anaerobic and then have to recover. And repeat. When you ride regularly, you forget just how hard it is to do that. I found at a point in my recovery – six momths or so in after 18 months off the bike – where I could happily ride up big Peak District hills on the road and my FTP was already back at around 260 watts, I still found mountain biking exponentially harder.

I suspect if I rode the emtb regularly, I’d simply lose that anaerobic punch and with it the ability to ride a leg-powered mountain bike off road with any sort of commitment and/or speed.

However what it lacks in climbing grunt I found it made up for on the downhills,

I know where you’re coming from but there is a certain irony to the fact that the better bit is where you don’t need the motor….

The motor that the ksl and levo sl use is a noisy bugger and one reason I went for the trek fuel exe instead

Do they not use Brose (known for being quiet)?

I was out on my 2019 full fat Kenevo at the weekend with a mate on his Trek whatever it was. His was making a right racket and mine was silent

However what it lacks in climbing grunt I found it made up for on the downhills,

My FF Kenevo has the grunt AND the downhill credentials. I’m quicker downhill (and up obviously) than I was on my YT Capra that it replaced

The only time I notice it’s weight to be honest it’s the obvious over gates etc and when I’m with mates on normal bikes and there’s a tricky section where you might have to jump off for example. When actually riding, you barely notice the weight

Do they not use Brose (known for being quiet)?

I was out on my 2019 full fat Kenevo at the weekend with a mate on his Trek whatever it was. His was making a right racket and mine was silent

Its a Mahle in the KSL/LSL.

The KSL/LSL are a gear drive, as is the Bosch and shimano, they will be more noisy. The Levo/Kenevo is a belt drive, so will always be quieter.

The Levo/Kenevo is a belt drive, so will always be quieter.

Until the belt fails…