I was out at ArdRock and chatted to the guys at Privateer about their new E161, and they gave me a voucher for £1000 off now this week the RRP has been cut by £600 and the discount code still works 😀 so guess who is getting a shiny raw E161 at the end of this month! The code is ARDROCK161 for anyone looking to grab a deal bringing the cost down to £4400, which for the spec is really good even in today’s world of heavily discounted ebikes.

I suppose I should have included a link… https://www.privateerbikes.com/collections/e161

Hi,

Thanks for post, the code/discount does indeed work 🙂

I was all set on buying a Whyte E160 because of the Bosch motor and repair kits/servicing availability.

Now I don’t know what to do, its a great price (relatively for an ebike) and spec so wouldn’t change anything, but you hear so many people moan about the Shimano motor not being repairable.

The Bosch motor is ‘serviceable’ by which they mean you can replace the bearings, but only the bearings, so it depends on how long you intend to keep and use it and if you think having the motor replaced in about 5 years is worth that cost.

The Bosch does come with the bigger battery, and if you’re using it climbing etc, thats going to be the better choice.

PLUS. the great glen run in Scotland that has charging points are to my knowledge only charging bosch kit, and nobody else.

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Very nice and good kit for the money mostly, even going by the £5400 website price(reduced from £6000). For £4400 its a steal(as long as the kit is the same)

Seems to be a lot of Ebikes adopting the mullet. Theres 3 in this months STW mag, plus the Privateer.

I’m going to wait and keep pedalling my meat powered bike very slowly up hills.

I keep thinking how good e-bikes will be by the time I want one. I think there’s far too many downsides at present. They’ll get better and better but presently they all seem a bit crap.

That’s a really good and well thought out spec especially for the discounted price. Unlike many eMTBs or bikes in general really. Replace the saddle, grips, shifter unless it’s XT and it’s bang on.

Yeah, I was a little worried about the Shimano motor myself but apparently, the EP801 has some major updates to make it quieter and also more reliable. I also spoke to Privateer after confirming my order about spec of the E161 and they confirmed that the bike ships with DH casing tyres and a Performance Elite Fox 38 too, so the spec is even better 😀 I’m really excited, first ebike and Privateer seem to get great reviews!

Yeah, I was a little worried about the Shimano motor myself but apparently, the EP801 has some major updates to make it quieter and also more reliable

They literally say this about every new iteration of everything. I’m not bitter but having served my time in the bike trade it’s all BS until proven otherwise.

They literally say this about every new iteration of everything.

To be honest though, “worse than the last one” wouldn’t be much of a strap line for a new product would it?

That it’s a nice looking bike and a very reasonable price even before the discount.
I do not need an ebike.
I do not need an ebike.
I do not need an ebike more than I want a happy wife.

I’m going to wait and keep pedalling my meat powered bike very slowly up hills.

I keep thinking how good e-bikes will be by the time I want one. I think there’s far too many downsides at present. They’ll get better and better but presently they all seem a bit crap.

I’m sat here waiting for the ‘Privateer launches E-131 Frame only trail e-bike option’ that I know will never happen.

That is what will get me into an Ebike.

The only real issues I’ve seen on the EP8 (online forums facebook etc) were on those RS models on the Orbea Rise bikes.  My understanding was those motors were restricted, perhaps they were also a slightly different build? I have riding mates on a mix of Shimano and Bosch (which is why I am now buying one) and they’ve had no issues so far. Anyway I’ll post some pics when mine arrives this month 😀

Hi everyone! The info in this thread is correct! We accidentally left our ARDROCK161 code live after dropping the price of the Privateer E161 by £600 for pre-orders, so stacking the 2 offers does give you a £1600 saving. It was a mistake, but we’ve made the decision to keep the code live until the end of August. So anyone who is looking for properly sorted EMTB has a couple of weeks to get an amazing saving. We’re expecting E161s to arrive around the 21st of August so not long to wait!

Also, just to confirm the spec in the photos from the launch is NOT the production-spec. Production spec bikes will receive an updated Fox 38 Performance Elite fork and DH casing Maxxis tyres (because we want you to ride the E161 really hard 😀 ).

We will be monitoring the forums so if you have any questions feel free to ask.

Privateer E161

If i was in the position to buy another bike right now, it’d be this!

Wow, that’s a cracking deal – kudos to @privateerbikes for extending the discount too!

Not in a position to buy one, but that looks massive VFM.

I’m finding myself torn now, this evening was already looking like it would need steak and a nice bottle of wine.

Anyone got any experience of travelling with an ebike?

The thing that keeps me from an ebike is:
I don’t see much point in a short travel one, a long travel one (like this) makes sense *but* if/when I travel with my bike I’m much more likely to want to take my big bike than the little one and an ebike looks less than easy to do so with. This is probably a thread in of its self isn’t it?

What do you mean by ‘travel’ and how would the longer/shorter travel bike affect it ? I can see there’s something in your head on this, but for the life of me i can’t get it ?

 keep thinking how good e-bikes will be by the time I want one. I think there’s far too many downsides at present. They’ll get better and better but presently they all seem a bit crap.

+6500ft & 30 miles of Tweed Valley trails on Wednesday for 4 of us, yeah all eBikes are crap.

What do you mean by ‘travel’ and how would the longer/shorter travel bike affect it ? I can see there’s something in your head on this, but for the life of me i can’t get it ?

Eg given the choice between them I wouldn’t want to take my 130mm travel bike to e.g. finale , I’d take the 160mm one.
To get to there I’m going to end up with the bike as hold luggage on a plane, obviously there’s a weight issue to that but there’s also (and more significantly?) the battery.

Yeah, you’re not bringing an Ebike on a plane full stop, and they’re not much use without the battery.

You still need an acoustic bike for travelling. Or a van and a ferry ticket 🙂

+6500ft & 30 miles of Tweed Valley trails on Wednesday for 4 of us, yeah all eBikes are crap

All current e-bikes have quite obvious shortcomings and the technology is developing quickly so that much better versions are always just around the corner. Is what I could have said.

You still need an acoustic bike for travelling

I don’t think I could manage to justify a “holiday bike” to me, even with a lot of effort. Selling that idea to Mrs brain would be a non starter.

Or a van, a ferry ticket and six extra days holiday

FTFY 😉

Just shows you what the margins are on ebikes……

Just jumping in here for the OP thinking of getting an EP8 powered bike. There is a company oop North who will indeed service and repair the EP8. I myself have a Marin Alpine Trail E2 (great bit of kit) that has now done 1,750 miles, totally issue free.

The company is ….https://www.facebook.com/groups/237186484641482/user/100063674556862/

The company is

Can’t see who you’re trying to link to as you’ve linked through a user group

+6500ft & 30 miles of Tweed Valley trails on Wednesday for 4 of us, yeah all eBikes are crap

What would you do without the ebike though? Those numbers on their own don’t mean much when people do 6,000ft days there in a normal bike

@motozulu
Just jumping in here for the OP thinking of getting an EP8 powered bike. There is a company oop North who will indeed service and repair the EP8. I myself have a Marin Alpine Trail E2 (great bit of kit) that has now done 1,750 miles, totally issue free.

The company is ….https://www.facebook.com/groups/237186484641482/user/100063674556862/

Is it these guys:

https://www.e-motorrepairs.co.uk/services/

Wish I hadn’t bought my Trek Rail 9!

Anyone got any experience of travelling with an ebike?

Happen to wonder the same for biking holiday, two options that could work 1) light weight ebike should be light enough without the battery, 2) a separate holiday bike frame and share the big components (fork/frame/wheel).

That really is quite a deal. The spec doesn’t want for much does it. Way more bike than I need………black or raw?

“Yeah, you’re not bringing an Ebike on a plane full stop, and they’re not much use without the battery.”

They work fine without the battery, it’s just like pedalling a slightly higher total system weight (ie you and the bike) around. They feel a lot heavier to pedal but if you persevere you notice that it doesn’t make anywhere near as much difference as those first pedal strokes make you think.

And obviously if you’re doing uplift stuff then it makes no difference at all, you’re just getting a bit more stability and suspension that works a bit better vs the same bike without the motor weight.

They work fine without the battery,

Do they tend to have some sort of blank plate or leave a huge gert hole downtube storage where the battery belongs

Some ebikes are better for travel than others; Spesh’s SLs can be used with just the range extender battery (which is 160Wh so you can take two in your carry on luggage) and there’s no hole in the frame to fill. Getting the main battery out does mean dropping the motor though.

There’s also a few places that hire out batteries. I’ve only seen Levo/Kenevo batteries, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t others available.

Is £1,600 enough to be able to buy a new Shimano motor when it inevitably dies and you can’t get it repaired or serviced?

Wish I hadn’t bought my Trek Rail 9!

Why? Do you want to downgrade to the Privateer?

I’ve always wondered if you buy an e-bike from a direct sales company, where do you take it for warranty issues? Do you have to start shipping parts back and forth? That could cost a small fortune for motors and batteries, assuming you can disassemble it yourself without voiding the warranty.

Will your LBS deal with it and if so who compensates them for the faff since they made nothing from the sale?

I ha just bought a nukeproof megawatt XXL when CRC had discounted it to 4000 from 6000 the did an extra 10% off so paid £3600 in the end elite spec which is basically the same spec as this but with ep8 rather than 801. I understand the have also updated any new ep8 motors with the better seals too 801 adds di2 linkglide compatibility whick I’m unlikely to use is it £800 better than the megawatt?

I’ve always wondered if you buy an e-bike from a direct sales company, where do you take it for warranty issues? Do you have to start shipping parts back and forth? That could cost a small fortune for motors and batteries, assuming you can disassemble it yourself without voiding the warranty.

Will your LBS deal with it and if so who compensates them for the faff since they made nothing from the sale?

Maybe @privateerbikes can tell us how they’ll be organising warranty claims on these. They have a sterling reputation for supporting their normal bikes and wheels so I’m sure they’ll look after customers.

It’d also be interesting to hear if there’ll be any support for kaput Shimano motors once out of warranty. Sounds like that’s the main blocker for a lot of peeps.

Sounds like that’s the main blocker for a lot of peeps.

It is for me. I might come across as a hater from this thread but I’m eagerly awaiting e-bikes to be as good as they promise. Then I’ll have one. This one looks great but I wouldn’t buy one this early. I’ll give it a year or so and see what the user experience is like.

The Fox X2 shock is another timebomb from my personal experience. I’m not spending another penny on rebuilds for one of those bloody things. I’ll wait for the Ohlins version to match my 141.

Why would you be sending a motor back? Orange have been saying they’ve never had a return. . .