Electric Bike Thread

[gravitylover]

I know. It pains me to have to do it. Brakes will have to change and specialized wheels will die countless ways in no time and stand over is poor. Thing is I want at least 160 rear and reasonable length stays. The other option at that point is the yt decoy and , depending on thekenevo blowout price, could be $1500-2000 or more extra. Tech is developing so fast , I just have to get in as cheap as possible. There’s a lot of 150 rear bikes that I wish I could long stroke the shock to get them to 160-165 but the stroke is maxed for their eye to eye (norco, commencal, Rocky, bmc, felt, etc). DaVinci is 450mm cs uggh
There’s nowrumours that the ski hill might be offering an add on price on top of ski pass for summer biking. I was worried they were going to try to get people to pay each time up the Gondi. 5620 ft mixed(machine built and natural) trail is built but it’s 1500ft climb from top of Gondi to the trail at the top of the hill. Going to need E and travel

You're making yourself crazy over a centimeter of travel? Blah. Dude, just go out and dig it on any of them. I bet once you're out on one you really won't care and all the nitpicking will seem silly. You also seem to have resigned yourself to it being a fairly short term purchase so just jump in and get something fun because as you said everything is changing so fast so you'll be replacing it soon enough.

[grinch]

You're making yourself crazy over a centimeter of travel? Blah. Dude, just go out and dig it on any of them. I bet once you're out on one you really won't care and all the nitpicking will seem silly. You also seem to have resigned yourself to it being a fairly short term purchase so just jump in and get something fun because as you said everything is changing so fast so you'll be replacing it soon enough.

Ya it may come open to availability with the way they're selling. Should have picked up the old stock commencal meta power 27 old stock when it was $4000 on black Friday sale. Most of their old stock and this hears bikes are already sold out(mostly xl's left). 440 cs is already a stretch for me. No way I'm going 450. Some testers go on and on about how well the long cs climbs and sure it keeps the front end down but long cs bikes just feel dead to me. I can bend my elbows on the up and then when it turns down have fun. It's all a compromise. Rocky would fit me best but then the stand over is sky high. Norco would be a great compromise and still in the running (decent so, short cs for an emtb, spec, battery, good weight). Yt decoy(could be all that of the norco with longer travel but than cs is longer). They're my top 2 . But then if the kenevo is 2000 cheaper I'd get more travel , same cs as decoy but heavier, only 500w battery and poor so. Parts would be changed on all so that's a wash. Probably a couple weeks from deciding. If I had 34" inseam there be a lot more options

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[grinch]

4 teh haterz

I could make that work. Thok "anniversary" has been sold out all winter but looks the same. I'm thinking the R can be made 150 rear. Price works out to 4800usd but looks like no North American sales option. It reminds me a bit like the fantik bikes. Surprised how well the full carbon norco vlt is stacking up alongside everything. It's not quick to remove the battery on the vlt but it has the higher watt battery option

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[muted]

Probably a couple weeks from deciding

FINALLY

[Vt-Freeheel]

I'll believe it when he posts a selfie with it on the trail.

[grinch]

Haaa, next credit card period starts after the 10th. The pick gas changed again. Limited supply remaining so I'll keep it under the hat

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[Danno]

don't want to start a new thread, so this one seems appropriate. Good buddy had an e-bike stolen, and All State won't cover it as a bike/personal property because they say it is "motorized". Has anyone had any experience with this, specifically with All State? I know people with other insurance companies have had no issues.

[jm2e]

FWIW, we tested the Levo & Kenevo back to back on pretty chunky trail. Kenevo was awesome at hauling ass through chunk. Like a DH bike. The Levo was almost as good at hauling ass through chunk, but way better at everything else. Much more refined bike. Basically handles like a really nice 6” Enduro bike.


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[grinch]

FWIW, we tested the Levo & Kenevo back to back on pretty chunky trail. Kenevo was awesome at hauling ass through chunk. Like a DH bike. The Levo was almost as good at hauling ass through chunk, but way better at everything else. Much more refined bike. Basically handles like a really nice 6” Enduro bike.


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I can see that being the case. I've seen some nice mods on levos as well(coil long stroked to 160 etc). The barrier being the price for me. Levo is crazy expensive and usage around here will be overwhelmingly dh oriented. Also more of a personal fit thing but a 450 cs isn't where I want to be(kenevo is 443). I'm going to check on the blowout price on kenevos and I've emailed chainreaction cycles to see if they're going to be shipping ebikes to north America soon, namely the virus sommet vr(my top choice). If those 2 dont work out I've found a 150/160 bike for under 5g cad that has good numbers fit wise for me(long shaft the fork to 180, brakes, tires, inserts and eventually coil rear possibly long stroked, extra 5-700cad). Kenevo would just be tires and inserts added. Sommet would be the best deal and a perfect fit and just a works component headset, tires, inserts

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[grinch]

This looks sweet. 165rear/170front, September release though, online shop, probably not shipping to NA(guessing)

https://singletrackworld.com/charged...rated-battery/

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[grinch]

Well shit!!! I was locked in on a large '18 meta power on sale. Great price. Numbers line up, then I see seat tube length goes from 440/medium to 490!!!/large . 490!?!? Wtf?? Close but I dont think I could use a 125mm dropper post with a seat tube that long. What's the consensus on shaving the seat tube down 1 1/4" , then I could use a 150 dropper ? Would that make it too lose to the weld?
https://www.commencalcanada.com/Mobi...18-c2x24782146

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[jm2e]

I’d suspect the problem with cutting/shaving the seat tube is that tube thickness seems to taper on must Bikes I’ve had. So the clamp might not fit, and it might be too thick to flex enough to clamp down? Complete speculation though.
I think it’s BikeYoke who just came out with an ultra low profile seatpost clamp that could save you some mm. Maybe combine that with a OneUp dropper, which has a very low stack and the ability to custom adjust dropper travel.


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[grinch]

I’d suspect the problem with cutting/shaving the seat tube is that tube thickness seems to taper on must Bikes I’ve had. So the clamp might not fit, and it might be too thick to flex enough to clamp down? Complete speculation though.
I think it’s BikeYoke who just came out with an ultra low profile seatpost clamp that could save you some mm. Maybe combine that with a OneUp dropper, which has a very low stack and the ability to custom adjust dropper travel.


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Hmmm, might be worth it to research some differences in stack height that the OneUp would give. I was measuring with my Lev . Thanks

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[gravitylover]

Ya it may come open to availability with the way they're selling. Should have picked up the old stock commencal meta power 27 old stock when it was $4000 on black Friday sale. Most of their old stock and this hears bikes are already sold out(mostly xl's left). 440 cs is already a stretch for me. No way I'm going 450. Some testers go on and on about how well the long cs climbs and sure it keeps the front end down but long cs bikes just feel dead to me. I can bend my elbows on the up and then when it turns down have fun. It's all a compromise. Rocky would fit me best but then the stand over is sky high. Norco would be a great compromise and still in the running (decent so, short cs for an emtb, spec, battery, good weight). Yt decoy(could be all that of the norco with longer travel but than cs is longer). They're my top 2 . But then if the kenevo is 2000 cheaper I'd get more travel , same cs as decoy but heavier, only 500w battery and poor so. Parts would be changed on all so that's a wash. Probably a couple weeks from deciding. If I had 34" inseam there be a lot more options

One of the things that stuck out for me in a conversation I had with the VLT frame design team was that they had to lengthen the cs due to the torque. There was too much wheel hop or spin out when climbing under medium or high assist if they were too short. You need to change part of your perspective on how a bike fits and feels when adding the assist.

...Surprised how well the full carbon norco vlt is stacking up alongside everything. It's not quick to remove the battery on the vlt but it has the higher watt battery option

Yeah pulling the motor to remove the battery is a hassle but apparently that's fairly common with the Shimano system. Based on your short term ownership plan it's probably not something you'll have to be concerned with but you never know.

My Fluid VLT finally shipped so it should be here any day now

[grinch]

One of the things that stuck out for me in a conversation I had with the VLT frame design team was that they had to lengthen the cs due to the torque. There was too much wheel hop or spin out when climbing under medium or high assist if they were too short. You need to change part of your perspective on how a bike fits and feels when adding the assist.



Yeah pulling the motor to remove the battery is a hassle but apparently that's fairly common with the Shimano system. Based on your short term ownership plan it's probably not something you'll have to be concerned with but you never know.

My Fluid VLT finally shipped so it should be here any day now

I bet some of that designer speak is that they didn't design a shorter stay into the mix. Sure the tourgue is going to add additional flex but the tourgue is only marginally more than a wc xc pro would put out. Definitely a bit more torque than them but they're also riding 21lb bikes. I can see that short stays with power assist can accentuate the possibility of looping out but that's also size specific. For instance and the extreme end of the scale, a 6"6' rider on a normal mtb that has 420 chain stays is going to have the problem of feeling there is nothing behind him when he pulls the front wheel up or climbs a steep incline. His long legs puts his weight way behind the rear wheel axle. Hence looping out. The motor would only accentuate that. The opposite of that would be someone with a 29' inseam(me). I'm in no danger of looping out with a 420 CS, even with power assist. Then the adverse effects are from overly long chainstay when you start moving the bike around(namely dh or tech). The rear end becomes a foreign object. No feel when the axle is so far from the fulcrum point. Fulcrum points are very sensitive to small differences. Case in point, if I add 2mm length to my optimum fulcrum point it takes X amount of additional movement force to move the bike. If I move the fulcrum 4mm from optimum fulcrum point it isn't X times 2. It's more like X times 2.5. Optimum leverage point makes a big difference in feel of the bike. I get a kick out of tall people saying a 460 cs isn't that bad and the emtb climbs better with a long cs. Its size specific and their review has no bearing on other riders measurements. Norco is a big advocate of adapting different length rear centers through their sizes of bikes. I think it's probably more imperative to incorporate that on emtb's. I guess I'm at the extreme end of the scale and I've consciously explored rear centers. Both SO and even more importantly short CS add a lot of feel for me. Rocky Mountains powerplay has been getting great reviews for both bike and their motor. 426 cs and a motor with a bit extra torque. They shit the bed with a 800mm SO in a medium. That's crazy high and unacceptable for a medium especially for a bike that was the initial(maybe it was Paul Brodie)or one of the initial designers to promote slipping toptubes. It seems a lot of new designs in biking push some companies back to square one and thir new thing has them forgetting critical advancements. CS's , and to a degree SO,have taken a backseat to motors in emtb for the time being. Sorry for the novel I'm I'm the narrowing about to drop more money than I should phase.
To your other point , I think I'd be alright with the battery change procedure if I could have the bigger battery. I think I'll need more than 500w for what i want to do if I want to make it to the top. Maybe eventually manufactures will be designing to allow external small secondary batteries to be added on in a pinch(I think focus have that and I've seen aftermarket batteries for other models). Ya , your short term ownership sunk in last time when you mentioned it. I'm weary of motors and mounting standards changing but I'd still like to keep it useable for a few years. Narrowing it down to 3 different bikes now with 2 that are in the lead because of future proof and less to change initially.
Congrats on the bike ship notice. I can only imagine the anticipation

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[Benny Profane]

Ha, the fat, powder skis of biking.

[Sirshredalot]

Ha, the fat, powder skis of biking.

Nah. It's the snowlerblade of motorcycling.

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[grinch]

Ha, the fat, powder skis of biking.

Kind of. Fat ski down that climbs like a skimo ski

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[gravitylover]

Grr this new 'can't ship Li Ion batteries by air thing' is really frustrating. My bike left Vancouver over a week ago and won't get to me until Wednesday. If I had my Durango running right I could go pick it up after 3pm Monday but the FedEx office it will be at won't let me unpack it and leave them the HUGE box so it needs to be delivered. I want my bike already

[grinch]

Grr this new 'can't ship Li Ion batteries by air thing' is really frustrating. My bike left Vancouver over a week ago and won't get to me until Wednesday. If I had my Durango running right I could go pick it up after 3pm Monday but the FedEx office it will be at won't let me unpack it and leave them the HUGE box so it needs to be delivered. I want my bike already

Haaa, could be a sleepless weekend. Hopefully you get it Monday. Battery rental infrastructure needs to happen and/or expand. Once again “bicycle standards” making life difficult. Standardized mounting and batteries and connectors seems like a pipe dreamat this point. Someone should work on establishing a “safe storage” containers for air flight. A 2 pack suitcase would be preferable

[grinch]

Boom!! A lot of options around town now

https://revelstokemountaineer.com/b-...rails-for-now/

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[cycology1]

great...welding pedal cranks to this thing...cant wait to see the trails in 2 years! think its class 1.75ish? but who's watching?

https://youtu.be/-ymVpT0nEIg

[grinch]

Back to reality bud. That makes no sense. Weld pedals on it and no one would notice? You're making shit up and there's a million holes in that arguement. I live in the middle of nowhere and moto and sleds have restrictions. They go where they shouldn't and they get confiscated. Not to mention they'd prefer dirt bike trails. We've gone over this, countless times. You might want to do some research before you spew nonsense

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[sb]

These commencal bikes look like good bang for the bucks.

Still thinking about a cruiser Ebike for those short trips to store or the watering hole.

[gravitylover]

Haaa, could be a sleepless weekend. Hopefully you get it Monday. Battery rental infrastructure needs to happen and/or expand. Once again “bicycle standards” making life difficult. Standardized mounting and batteries and connectors seems like a pipe dream at this point. Someone should work on establishing a “safe storage” containers for air flight. A 2 pack suitcase would be preferable

Would that standard be like bottom bracket standards? Safe storage containers isn't a terrible idea but for many of the bikes where the motor has to come out to replace/install the battery that's quite a hassle. I bet that in 5 years these problems will be worked out, at least I hope so.