Electric Bike Thread

**gravitylover** · 08-29-2018, 05:19 PM

I rode a 6" travel big boy bike with the new Shimano Steps 8000 motor and hi-tech Li-Ion battery yesterday and had way too much fun for my own good. I was crushing hills I'd usually just crawl up and rolling out of uphill corners smoother than I have in 20 years. It's confirmed, I need one

Especially one that's as competent and lightweight as this one is, heck it's only about 10 pounds heavier than my current steel hardtail.

**rod9301** · 08-29-2018, 05:23 PM

Originally Posted by gravitylover

I rode a 6" travel big boy bike with the new Shimano Steps 8000 motor and hi-tech Li-Ion battery yesterday and had way too much fun for my own good. I was crushing hills I'd usually just crawl up and rolling out of uphill corners smoother than I have in 20 years. It's confirmed, I need one

Especially one that's as competent and lightweight as this one is, heck it's only about 10 pounds heavier than my current steel hardtail.

What bike was that?

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**grinch** · 08-29-2018, 05:30 PM

Ya curious on the bike as well. Batteries are projected to be half the size/weight in the next couple years. I’d imagine they’d retro fit

**TahoeJ** · 08-29-2018, 06:08 PM

Originally Posted by grinch

Batteries are projected to be half the size/weight in the next couple years.

Be very skeptical of that. Maybe 7-8 years. Maybe.

**reckless toboggan** · 08-29-2018, 06:14 PM

Originally Posted by grinch

Ya curious on the bike as well. Batteries are projected to be half the size/weight in the next couple years. I’d imagine they’d retro fit

Yeah. If there's one consistent thing about the bike industry over the last 7 years or so, it's that everything has been retrofit-able.

[emoji849]

**grinch** · 08-29-2018, 06:59 PM

Haha no money will be bet on either prediction. One Emtb forum was told by companies 2-3 years for charge to be doubled. New battery tech being developed. I thought battery tech had pretty much maxed out. Half size could shed 4-6 lbs depending on model

**jackstraw** · 08-29-2018, 07:03 PM

Originally Posted by grinch

Haha no money will be bet on either prediction. One Emtb forum was told by companies 2-3 years for charge to be doubled. New battery tech being developed. I thought battery tech had pretty much maxed out. Half size could shed 4-6 lbs depending on model

Yeah, I'd be shocked if it shrinks that much. Samsung is the leader so keep an eye on them. What pisses me off is the lack of recycling with the lithium right now. It needs to be more cost effective to do and these large corporations should make it happen with their billions.

**TahoeJ** · 08-29-2018, 07:25 PM

Originally Posted by reckless toboggan

Yeah. If there's one consistent thing about the bike industry over the last 7 years or so, it's that everything has been retrofit-able.

[emoji849]

Lol... POTD! E-boost-bikes!

**grinch** · 08-29-2018, 08:19 PM

Toboggan reeeeally wants a longer charge for his quiver of ebikes

Correction, it’s in here. He saw it on Netflix not from a bike co(over 10 years it will be 2-3 times longer charge)
I like the bike in the vid too.dialed numbers in the travel I’m after. Toss up between this and the commencal. Both have the numbers I’m after and best price. Win win

**sethschmautz** · 08-29-2018, 08:22 PM

Originally Posted by mtngirl79

I hope kid ebikes do not become a thing. You ride up the hill so you can ride down the hill. Thats a big life lesson.

I think you're thinking about this all wrong. Think of the day when everybody has an ebikes and parents buy non motorized bikes to slow themselves down so their kids can keep up. :-)

In all seriousness, though, do you have kids? A lot of people have really strong ideas about how people should parent that make a lot of sense when they don't have any kids of their own. The fact of the matter is that every kid is different and different things will get them excited about riding. Are you fundamentally against a kid riding an ebike but okay with a kid riding a chairlift and riding their bike down?

Nearby in Whitefish, my wife and I rode a trail and ran across a bunch of families going the other direction. They weren't on ebikes, but they DID just ride the bus up to the local ski resort with their bikes and were riding down the trail on some really great singletrack all the way to town. Those kids, because of their time spent riding down, had better singletrack skills than my 6yo who doesn't enjoy climbing very much.

If a bus, a chairlift or an ebike helps a kid get excited about mountain biking because of the thrill of going down, then I am not fundamentally against it. I feel the same way about chairlifts and touring. My hope is that my kids love downhill skiing, develop solid downhill skills and then let me take them into the backcountry.

To each his own.

Seth

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**gravitylover** · 08-29-2018, 08:52 PM

Originally Posted by grinch

Ya curious on the bike as well. Batteries are projected to be half the size/weight in the next couple years. I’d imagine they’d retro fit

I gave you a heads up a few pages back.

I don't know about half the size and weight but I'm pretty sure that by the end of '19 there will be a couple of bikes out there that will be able to do a long mileage, overnight, backcountry ride with no range anxiety in a sub 45# (20kg) package. The one I was on yesterday will pretty easily get a rider nearly 50 miles of mildly assisted riding or ~40 miles with more assist but nothing crazy or ~3 hours of unnecessary but silly fun boosted riding. That next gen package won't retro fit to the current package so do you wait or...

**grinch** · 08-29-2018, 09:10 PM

Originally Posted by gravitylover

I gave you a heads up a few pages back.

I don't know about half the size and weight but I'm pretty sure that by the end of '19 there will be a couple of bikes out there that will be able to do a long mileage, overnight, backcountry ride with no range anxiety in a sub 45# (20kg) package. The one I was on yesterday will pretty easily get a rider nearly 50 miles of mildly assisted riding or ~40 miles with more assist but nothing crazy or ~3 hours of unnecessary but silly fun boosted riding. That next gen package won't retro fit to the current package so do you wait or...

Oh ok, I thought you had just tried it. Wasn’t aware you had one in rotation. The only thing on their site is “e urban”
Won’t be long now before we see the big release of ‘19 models. Eurobike vids didn’t seem to show all the offerings. The big S has a big unveiling soon. Focus and lapierre have a shit ton of models and they’re all in on the e thing. Still not seeing as many models as I’d hoped with the fazau motor system

**theetruscan** · 08-29-2018, 11:43 PM

Originally Posted by TahoeJ

Be very skeptical of that. Maybe 7-8 years. Maybe.

Or so. Every year or two there's a new battery "breakthrough" in a lab. The rate of change outside of research labs is sloooooooooooooow.

**jm2e** · 08-29-2018, 11:48 PM

Was just saying today that the Pivot Shuttle would be pretty nice for our local trails in the winter. The dirt road grind up is moderately tolerable when warm and dry. Gets way harder to motivate when it’s rolling slowly or icy and extra layers on the way up turn into cold sweat on the way down.
27.5+ and a motor with 150mm of travel might be just the ticket if money ever becomes plentiful again.

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**Vt-Freeheel** · 08-30-2018, 05:28 AM

Feeling spendy and sendy last night and ordered an E-bike. Shipping today so I should have it next week. Got an extra battery as well that I can stash along my 30-50 mile routes I have planned. Futures so Bright!

2018-haibike-xduro schwing!

**TahoeJ** · 08-30-2018, 09:37 AM

Originally Posted by Vt-Freeheel

Feeling spendy and sendy last night and ordered an E-bike. Shipping today so I should have it next week. Got an extra battery as well that I can stash along my 30-50 mile routes I have planned. Futures so Bright!

2018-haibike-xduro schwing!

Holy shit. I think I'd rather go heli skiing for a week... twice. But hey, if you can afford to spend that on an e-bike, good for you. 38.5 pounds is impressively light.

**Dantheman** · 08-30-2018, 09:50 AM

Originally Posted by Vt-Freeheel

Feeling spendy and sendy last night and ordered an E-bike. Shipping today so I should have it next week. Got an extra battery as well that I can stash along my 30-50 mile routes I have planned. Futures so Bright!

2018-haibike-xduro schwing!

I'm genuinely curious why anyone would buy that over a Shuttle or S-Works Turbo Levo. It's significantly fuglier, suspension seems undergunned, and doesn't even include a dropper yet costs an extra $7k. Baffling.

**Name Redacted** · 08-30-2018, 09:56 AM

Bought the wife and I a couple Specialized Turbo Kenovos. Took them on a 100 mile singletrack ride around the high country this weekend to break em in. Crazy to ride that much trail in a day and not even be that tired.

They should be perfect for our road trip to the PNW next week. Planning on hitting up Galbraith before heading up to BC.

**LeeLau** · 08-30-2018, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by Dantheman

I'm genuinely curious why anyone would buy that over a Shuttle or S-Works Turbo Levo. It's significantly fuglier, suspension seems undergunned, and doesn't even include a dropper yet costs an extra $7k. Baffling.

Fox 34. Magura MT8s. And the Haibikes are notorious for batteries failing ( who supplies and QA them?l)

The Levo would be better

**jackstraw** · 08-30-2018, 10:50 AM

Originally Posted by Dantheman

I'm genuinely curious why anyone would buy that over a Shuttle or S-Works Turbo Levo. It's significantly fuglier, suspension seems undergunned, and doesn't even include a dropper yet costs an extra $7k. Baffling.

Who makes the Levo battery? I'm skeptical of that one via a quick search.

Bosch is most likely a Samsung. Their power tools have been Samsung for a while.

**buttahflake** · 08-30-2018, 11:10 AM

I believe that was sarcasm. Kinda pricy, right?

**TahoeJ** · 08-30-2018, 11:20 AM

Originally Posted by buttahflake

I believe that was sarcasm. Kinda pricy, right?

Agreed. My response was playing along but assuming he didn't actually buy it.

**gravitylover** · 08-30-2018, 11:33 AM

Originally Posted by grinch

Oh ok, I thought you had just tried it. Wasn’t aware you had one in rotation. The only thing on their site is “e urban”
Won’t be long now before we see the big release of ‘19 models. Eurobike vids didn’t seem to show all the offerings. The big S has a big unveiling soon. Focus and lapierre have a shit ton of models and they’re all in on the e thing. Still not seeing as many models as I’d hoped with the fazau motor system

I did about 10 miles on it, it's in the corporate demo rotation now. Keep your eyes open for the press release over the next few weeks. The urban ones are just meh but I'm not into the draggy Bosch system.