It was the X01 version.

Very crisp, once dialled in properly.

Just bought a new sram 11 speed grip shifter, had about two or three rides on it now.

Haven’t used them for years, since I last had a Rohloff hub.

Like it, seems very easy to use, I appreciate keeping my hand wrapped around the grip when descending, just feels more secure.

Took a while to get used to it, did search for the thumb shift occasionally, also took a little time to dial the rear mech in to make the changes a little more snappy.

Misty wet warm

Gears went wonky

Rode around Whites

Having ridden ebikes off road for quite a bit, tjagain is spot on.

They don’t descend as well as a normal bike, in my experience.

Weight, weight distribution and what I think is down to the wider bottom bracket width. Haven’t measured the bb width, but the Q factor feels wider.

All adds up to a less nimble bike in my experience, not terrible but not as good.

Also needs a fair bit of stopping once up at speed. Yep, I know there are downhill bikes that weight about the same, but they do feel different.

Yep, I got some interesting descent times, but on reflection they were better at handling the flatter pedals bits faster ( in my experience).

The actual fast downhill bits were a little more considered.

Also managed to “beach” the bottom bracket / motor on some rocks, not as much clearance as I would have liked.

As I said further up the thread, I’m a fan, but I believe that they need more development to refine them.
Weight, reliability and handling . The Specialized Bike looks good, might get a demo ride , but again it uses properity battery which locks you in Specialized.

29er full suss looks to be the way to go with the ebike.

Had one , the fat bike version, Carbonara.

Wanted to love it, but just couldn’t get on with it.

For younger, fitter and stronger riders it might be ideal, but the lack of any compression damping is my main concern.

Fitted to the fat bike, the pogo stick action from successive hits was the biggest flaw.

Fire road riding, simple design, light , even liked the looks.
Just needs some form of controlling the rebound and it would be a lot better and more popular.

I have ridden both an e fat bike hardtail, and a full suss ebike quite a bit.

Have to say that the descending isn’t as much fun as a well sorted hardtail or full suss in my opinion.
You can feel the extra weight and they don’t handle as well in my experience.

It’s not that they are terrible, just not as good, it’s a bit more considered, and jumping off stuff with a 21 kgs bike isn’t for me.

For me the better fun was to be had on the climbs, the climb became more enjoyable as it was ridden like a good bit of “flat” Singletrack

Basically to ride more often and further.

Less of a grovel and slog on some of the climbs, just a more enjoyable experience.

It’s a different type of approach to riding, can actually assist in training as a recovery ride , ride more often, burn more calories, get fitter by actually riding more.

I wore a heart rate monitor whilst riding.

Normal bike, average hr at about 145, ebike ride about 135.

Not that great a difference really.

Lester

Maybe said a little tongue in check, and I’m a fan of the ebike.

The motor is an integral part of the bottom bracket , so simply removing the battery and motor won’t work as a bike.
Still be able to pedal it without the battery, but the heavy motor will still be there.

See my earlier thread, I have been burnt by the new ebike technology, going to take a lot of convincing that it is robust enough on trails for me.

All this is based on the Bosch system, even with the warranty it’s just too much hassle to keep resorting to ringing up the dealer with issues.

This is a general grumble about a lot of mountain bike stuff , droppers going wrong, forks not doing what they should, bottom brackets falling to bits etc.
Hope the Specialized is a better thought out design, I will wait a while before spending bit cash again though.

You are going to have to be very fit to keep up with an ebike uphill.

Although the assist cuts out at 15mph, the ease of climbing is simply relentless.

I ride at Afan, usual ride was around 33 miles with 3,000 feet of climbing.

500w battery easily coped with that, usually had 2 out of the 5 bars left on the display.

85% of the time in the lowest assist , eco.
Very rare use of turbo.

Nothing to do with the original post, but bought a Niner RIP Carbon frame with the returned money, currently being built up.

As I said, can’t speak outside of my experience of the more popular Bosch system.

It’s one thing to have a warranty, but the number of times I had to push the bike home gave me no confidence in the ebike.

Had loads of time taking the bike to dealer, loads of time on the phone and email etc.
Three fixes, never resolved the initial issue.

I wouldn’t recommend buying one , and selling one used is probably a no go. No warranty, the Bosch motor is around £500 alone, there have also been reports of the Bosch battery not working ( I know one chap who has had 3 batteries).

Bottom bracket is not a service item on the Bosch motor, has to go back to Germany…….

Two different ebikes within 8 months, both failed, lots of frustration, good job I kept a normal pedal bike.

No thanks, not for me anymore, would only consider a demo ride or a hire ebike if the circumstances dictated.

They ain’t cheap either.

Just a word of caution.

I was an early adopter and had a Bosch powered ebike new in June last year.

I had constant issues with the motor cutting out, had three official fixes through a reputable Bosch dealer.
The last fix did work for about the last two months and then failed again, leaving me with no power. They are very heavy at around 20 kgs, and you won’t be pedalling the ebike on any incline without the pedal assist.

Lost my patience with it in the end, dealer was excellent and offered me a full warranty replacement.

Had another brand new ebike, again Bosch powered, total loss of power after 50 miles.
Needless to say, I’m not convinced of their reliably and robustness for proper trail riding.
Had my money returned in full, dealer was fantastic in their support etc.

Another issue on the Bosch system is the lack of weather prevention on the drive side bottom bracket bearing. Mine was shot after 1600 miles, this isn’t a simple job to replace either.

Can’t comment on the other systems, Yamaha, Specialized, but I won’t be buying another ebike anytime soon.

Whatever you do, make sure you have a very good relationship with the dealer that sells you the bike, ideally very local to you.

By the way, I did enjoy riding them , when they worked…..

E: Smoked Haddock, broccoli, carrots

D : Rev James

L: Have to be the rugby tonight

Cheers all

Thanks, but been re using all manufacturers links for ages without any issues.

Currently wet , cold and windy.

No snow at the moment, local weather doesn’t forecast any either.

The section past the wind turbine farm has been improved, isn’t the mud fest of slurry that it once was.
The contractors who were working on the wind farm have largely gone, and as such, the churning up of the fire road doesn’t happen now.

It will be fine whatever the weather throws at it, bring some wet weather gear with you though.

Just had a look on one of the annuity calculators….

£100,000 fund, take out £25,000 tax free, leaves £75,000 fund

Something like £1,800 per annum !

Does include a 75% allowance for my wife if I die before her though.

You would have to live a very long time for this to be worthwhile, and £75,000 of your money is gone.

Drawdown has to be the better option for most people, surely?

I was in a similar situation , I had a total pension fund and had to decide between buying an annuity or transferring into one single drawdown fund.

I know the cost of an IFAlooks a lot, and it is, but I don’t for one minute regret paying my IFA his initial fee and the ongoing single fund fees.

I opted to transfer into one drawdown fund, with the risk to the pension fund spread across about seven investments.

Annuities are very low and poor value for money at the moment, plus we don’t need to access the money right now.

A drawdown fund is yielding very good return with middle ground risk at the moment.

A good IFA is very well worth the charges.

Thanks everyone, just the job.

Good that you are back on a bike and enjoying riding.

I also have an ebike to enable me to get out more and ride. Just bought a new Felt Redemption ebike, had its first ride yesterday, also still ride a normal fat bike and hardtail.

Ignore the cheating jibe, most haven’t ridden an ebike, you don’t have to justify riding and having some fun.

Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be……….

Some things were better, but in the main it’s mainly better now.

The worst thing about now, compared to say the 70’s , when I started work, is the rampant consumerism that exists now.

I hardly use a mobile these days,which seems to have released me from the need to pay some company loadsa money each month.
Seems we are paying a very high price for the instant must have now society.

I retired at 60, two years ago now.

Wasn’t able to do it earlier, like most people financial commitments were my main reason for working.

Much better than working for a living, but does take some time to adjust. Worked all my life from 16 to 60 without any period of unemployment.
You must have a plan though, always paid into company pensions and paid extra contributions as well.

Everyone will have different financial commitments and expectations of whether they can afford to finally stop working.
Choices have to be made, far better off these days, I don’t mean cash each month though, just us being better off with less stress and hassle of working life.

+1 for tyagain

In the case of discrimination, unfair dismissal, harassment etc, the company will have their own professional in terms of the Human Resource Mnager / department.

Without your professional representative (Union rep), you will have to go in and fight your own case without understanding employment rules and regulations.

Admittedly, the unions did come in for some criticism and nobody is perfect, even the unions.

I have used them in the past, very light, a little fiddly to fit, but worked well.

The only issue for me was when I went to change tyres the rim strip came away with the tyre and I wasn’t able to re use the strip.

If you don’t change tyres often then it’s a good idea.

Just bear in mind, on his website he does show using some light adhesive to secure the strip to the bead of the tyre for re use.

Again,I tried this, but didn’t seem to work very well for me.

I emailed Richard directly, he was very helpful in pointing me in the right direction.

Just include the details of what you want in the email.

Just by way of some proper feedback on the coil conversion.

Installation is fairly straightforward, so I won’t dwell on that, relatively easy to do, just take your time and make sure everything is very clean etc.

Today was my first real ride in anger.
Rebound was a tad slower than I have had in the past, just felt a little better like that for me.

Sag is at about 25%, my Pikes have been altered to 140mm.
Played around with the low speed compression damping , couple of clicks out, about 5 from fully closed.

Impressed, much firmer feel without being harsh, doesn’t go through the travel as easy, although I almost achieved full travel at 135mm.

The biggest thing for me is how much more in control and firmer the fork now feels.

Anyone sitting on the fence should really consider this mod.

I have another bike with a dual travel Pike on it. Will be doing this mod for the Pike, don’t use the travel reduction thing anyway.

Angus sausages

Shepherd Neame 1698

Unfortunately listening to more “news” on C4 ( more Trump nonsense……)

More 1698. Will numb my senses I’m sure

I ride both an ebike and a normal bike quite a lot.

The ebike doesn’t descend as well in my opinion.

It’s not terrible when descending, but it isn’t as playful or easy to manoeuvre, the weight can definitely be felt.

On the ebike , its a different approach when descending, not so fast, more of a considered line must be taken , for me.

I’m not the most technically skilled rider, just for balance, I’m sure someone with better bike handling skills would be very close to a lighter weight , normal(ish) trail shredder though.

@ton

When the sun shines , my solar panels are used to rechatge the battery on my electric Nissan Leaf.

More homes with solar panels makes sense for the environment, but again not for everyone.

Need a south facing roof ideally without too much shade from other buildings and trees etc.
Storage batteries are becoming affordable as well, ability to store the energy produced off the solar panels and then used when the sun disappears.

No perfect answer, but it is changing, more green methods will mean less air pollution which has to be a good thing.

I think it will still take say 10 years to see an appreciable change in our environmental approach and driving habits though.

Ta

Thanks rubber buccaneer.

Food for thought there.

Will experiment next time out.

After yesterday’s ride I perhaps began over thinking this, but here goes.

The small bump sensitivity is much better, no question, the static sag is spot on.

Next ride out, thinking about slowing the rebound down a tad. This is mainly due to how the coil seems to be much more controlled and I’m not getting that close to the full travel.

Any thoughts?

Just been out today for the first ride on the bike with the coil fitted.

Sag measurement is about 25% which is just about where I would set up the air spring.

Small bump performance is noticeable better, didn’t feel that great today though, so I’ll have to reserve my final judgement for the future. Almost certain that it will be favourable, the support in the mid stroke, as others have mentioned, is much firmer and doesn’t blow through the travel as easily.

I recently sold our Skoda Fabia diesel.

Simply not driving enough miles, if you are driving say 15,000 per year, then not too bad a choice (ignoring the impact on the environment).

Nearly bought a petrol engined car with a proper cam chain, to stop all the issues around dpf, DMF etc.

Electric car fits the bill for us, but won’t suit everyone if their driving habits require frequent charging etc.

Wouldn’t entertain a diesel engined car again, mainly on environmental issues.

Measure the internal width on the frame at the bottom shock mount.

Measure the width across the shock bush.

This will confirm the lateral discrepancy.

Do you have the old shock bush? Measure the width of this, and compare to what you currently have.

If the bush is too short, then the shock had been supplied with the wrong bush.

We have had a Miele washing machine for the last 8 years.

Family of five adults, me with my mountain of mtb cycling gear.

Hasn’t faltered once.

Best washing machine we have ever had.

Will buy another when this one dies without a second thought.

Should have mentioned, I run tubeless, but carry a spare tube.

If I get a puncture , then one or two co2 cartridges should inflate the inner tube enough.

Tube is not a proper fat bike tube, something like a Schwalbe 26 x 3 if I recall.

Just need something to get me home really.

Luckily, haven’t had to use in anger yet.

I haven’t had cause to use mine yet, but I run with a similar system, but 2 x CO2 cartridges, just in case one doesn’t do the job.

I’m 5 10 tall, and ride two fervent 650b bikes.

Happiest on a 18 inch centre to top seat tube frame, don’t want a frame that feels like a gate for me. Usually means a 400mm seat post which is a reasonable length out of the frame, but nowhere near the maximum extension.

On my fat bike , again an 18″ seat tube.