Electric Bike Thread

[Andeh]

Just some words of personal experience, if your ebike comes with an NX chain, chuck that fucker straight into the trash. Mine lasted <600 miles (~120k ft vert) and managed to kamikaze the GX cassette on its way down. At least 1/3 of the cassette's ramp teeth are rubbed off from all the slop in the chain.

[Lvovsky]

Where you all store the batteries? On the bike or off? Hot garage in the summer (like 100F outside) or inside? Stories about them catching fire make me think

[grinch]

I keep mine inside the bike and home. Room temp with between 30-80% charge if i can. Its possible to get 3x battery life. Its like that all winter. Now im just cgarging it full at night. I never leave it drained

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[XXX-er]

Where you all store the batteries? On the bike or off? Hot garage in the summer (like 100F outside) or inside? Stories about them catching fire make me think

as opposed to wanking about with a bad battery/ bike connection I try to charge the battery on the bike but you will hear both sides of that idea

during riding season its in the shed on the charger, and unused during the cold winter it lives in the dining room

i think the batteries that catch fire are the shitty ones on the shitty bikes?

I tend to knock off 2 or 4 bars and fully recharge after every ride

[jm2e]

In the basement, attached to the bike.
Ours are plugged in and left plugged in until the next ride. I tried to do the 40-70% thing, but it resulted in rides with an accidentally uncharged bike. After 2-3 of those, I decided it wasn’t worth it. 4 years old, about 4,000km and batteries still seem solid. Maybe some reduced capacity, but not affecting the rides I do. We don’t have an off season here. The bikes seldom go 3 weeks between rides.


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[summit]

I'm in the market now.... looking at Kenevo SL or Levo SL or Kenevo. Can anything really compete with the motors on the Specialized or the light weight of the SL series?

[Shredhead]

What about a Trek EXe?


I more into winter riding and Norco’s seem to be the current leader.


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[XXX-er]

I'm in the market now.... looking at Kenevo SL or Levo SL or Kenevo. Can anything really compete with the motors on the Specialized or the light weight of the SL series?

check out the mtr on the Rocky mtn if you really want more power, also they make pretty good bikes

so are you buying a bike with a motor or a motor with a bike ? I wanted the SC and bullits were cool so cha ching and it happened to come with an EP8 if that makes sense

motor and battery are gona weigh some lbs but you got 85 nm of power so why worry about the weight

[jm2e]

I'm in the market now.... looking at Kenevo SL or Levo SL or Kenevo. Can anything really compete with the motors on the Specialized or the light weight of the SL series?

The Specialized motor is a lot quieter than anything else I’ve ridden.
The specialized motor has a smoother power delivery than anything else I’ve ridden. Less herky jerky.
If you can get to the demo center in Boulder, it’s kind of a no brainier.
ETA, I know a couple people who bought SL (lightweight) and wish they’d gotten the beefier one. I don’t know anyone who wish they had the SL version of it means less power and range.

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[toast2266]

I'm in the market now.... looking at Kenevo SL or Levo SL or Kenevo. Can anything really compete with the motors on the Specialized or the light weight of the SL series?

Everyone I know that bought an SL regrets it. Not because the bikes aren't nice, but they prefer having a full power ebike. Partly because of what the full power ebikes are capable of, and partly because when half the group is on full power bikes, the guys on SL's get left in the dust.

If you're trying to 100% replace your mountain bike with an ebike, maybe an SL makes sense. But at least for me (and everyone I know), I'd much rather have a full power ebike with a longer range than a lighter bike.

To put it another way, if I was riding the exact same trails on an ebike that I ride on my mountain bike, maybe I'd be more into the idea of an SL. But I'm not. I use the ebike for big alpine adventures with climbs that are absolute suffer fests on a regular bike (and are mostly hike-a-bike). On the ebike, I can cruise right up those climbs with minimal effort and get to some great alpine riding. The SL's don't do that sort of thing nearly as well, and they're way slower. My buddy's SL into turbo mode still struggles to keep up with a regular ebike in a mid-power mode, and he's blowing through his relatively small battery. I also use the ebike for banging out a quick couple laps on DH shuttle trails, in which case I'm just turbo-ing up a road (where I'm just looking for max power). Ditto for trailwork - I'm just using the ebike as an access tool, and I'm trying to expend as little energy as possible getting to my dig location.

I'll let people that are more motor savvy debate the pros and cons of the Specialized / brose motors.

[summit]

Here is my thinking:

Reasons I want SL:
-More of a normal bike weight/feel
-Can pedal better with no power if I am using the motor for a fire road climb but then am going motor off for a short no-motor-allow climb to a descent
-Easier to travel with potentially
-Can still put on roof rack easier than non-SL

Reasons for non-SL
-SAR
-Fast park laps outside of park hours, shuttles, etc
-Keep up with athletic monsters on SL bikes

Reasons I'm not planning on ditching my normal bike, a Transition Spire:
-I'm going to be riding with non-ebike people
-I'm still going to be riding no-ebike trails, and some trails that are restricted part of the year
-Probably a better park bike (I don't see any ebikes in the park when lifts are running)
-I don't think I'll be able to fly with an e-bike (at the very least requires removing the internal battery and only traveling with the range extender battery.

In fact I may also pick up an XC/Trail bike 120 or 130mm so that the lady friend has one and for me to fly around on


**For some reason I had it in my head that the non-SL was a 29er. It isn't. Ew. I won't go back to 27.5 (at least not all the way)

[Benneke10]

I have the full power Levo and I'd take more power and battery if I could. The only good reason to get an SL is that it is easier to carry.

On another note, my '23 Levo Comp Alloy weighs 54.5 lbs in S4. My buddy's '20 Levo Comp Alloy in S3 weighs 49.5 lbs, and my other friend's '23 Levo Expert Carbon S4 weighs 50lbs. I get that the older Levo had skimpier suspension, but I don't really get why the weight difference is so significant. The Expert has a lighter frame than mine but also has much beefier suspension.

[XXX-er]

Everyone I know that bought an SL regrets it. Not because the bikes aren't nice, but they prefer having a full power ebike. Partly because of what the full power ebikes are capable of, and partly because when half the group is on full power bikes, the guys on SL's get left in the dust.

If you're trying to 100% replace your mountain bike with an ebike, maybe an SL makes sense. But at least for me (and everyone I know), I'd much rather have a full power ebike with a longer range than a lighter bike.

To put it another way, if I was riding the exact same trails on an ebike that I ride on my mountain bike, maybe I'd be more into the idea of an SL. But I'm not. I use the ebike for big alpine adventures with climbs that are absolute suffer fests on a regular bike (and are mostly hike-a-bike). On the ebike, I can cruise right up those climbs with minimal effort and get to some great alpine riding. The SL's don't do that sort of thing nearly as well, and they're way slower. My buddy's SL into turbo mode still struggles to keep up with a regular ebike in a mid-power mode, and he's blowing through his relatively small battery. I also use the ebike for banging out a quick couple laps on DH shuttle trails, in which case I'm just turbo-ing up a road (where I'm just looking for max power). Ditto for trailwork - I'm just using the ebike as an access tool, and I'm trying to expend as little energy as possible getting to my dig location.

I'll let people that are more motor savvy debate the pros and cons of the Specialized / brose motors.

yeah more or less this ^^ , I ride in full on boost mode 99% of the time, EP8 and standard 630 watts is enough to ride around for 4 hrs at my local area

The extra 20lbs of motor & battery takes a little getting used to but I don't get why some people want e-bike lite or want to ride around in in lower power modes, but what do I know ?

edit: SC claims the Bullit is 49 and change but it was 52 lbs + on my scale so i think those claimed dweights might be bogus

[Dantheman]

-Can pedal better with no power if I am using the motor for a fire road climb but then am going motor off for a short no-motor-allow climb to a descent

Is this really a thing? You're either poaching or you're not. I'm not aware of any ebike restriction policies that allow you to ride an ebike with the motor off.

[summit]

Eh... poorly written letter vs ethical spirit? What is the problem with a powered down human powered ebike? How is it different to be car shuttled up a dirt road with a DH bike vs ebike shuttle up the dirt road then riding the descent powered down?

[toast2266]

Eh... poorly written letter vs ethical spirit? What is the problem with a powered down human powered ebike? How is it different to be car shuttled up a dirt road with a DH bike vs ebike shuttle up the dirt road then riding the descent powered down?

If a dirt bike drove up an (open to cars) road, turned the motor off, and dropped into a non-motorized trail, do you think everyone would be cool with that?

I'm not saying that there'd be an actual, physical problem. But you're trying to create a gray area where it doesn't exist.

[Dantheman]

Eh... poorly written letter vs ethical spirit? What is the problem with a powered down human powered ebike? How is it different to be car shuttled up a dirt road with a DH bike vs ebike shuttle up the dirt road then riding the descent powered down?

You're not wrong, but until the "No Ebikes" signs are replaced with "Ebikes Must be Turned Off" it seems like a silly criteria to include in your bike selection matrix. If you get to the bottom of a non-E trail and there's a ranger there (for the sake of argument, since there's almost no chance of that actually happening) I don't think they'll care much if you try to argue that you only used the motor for the road climb to the top.

[XXX-er]

just select boost , ride further/ faster and get to the craft brew for a beer sooner

[jm2e]

I used a couple 800+ Watt battery bikes in Italy last summer. Never noticed a weight difference, but holy fuck that opened the door to adventure.


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[Andeh]

One of the justifications for saying "no ebikes" on certain trails is purported increased trail damage due to added weight and increased number of laps by ebikes. So descending with motor off doesn't really counter that. I think the only way you could really, morally make the justification for riding an ebike in an area prohibiting them would be to ride one with no battery.

The only people I know that have or had an SL bike and prefer it are those who use it as their only bike. No one I know who has both a full power and a regular trail bike wish they'd gotten the SL version.

One added perk to banging out a bunch of laps on a 50+ lb ebike: it works your arms & upper body a lot more than a normal bike. So hopping back on a regular bike that weighs 15-20 lbs less makes it a lot easier to throw around, and you're a bit less likely to injure yourself due to being stronger.

[summit]

One of the justifications for saying "no ebikes" on certain trails is purported increased trail damage due to added weight

That is hilarious. Ebikes are less than 10% different for rider+bike weight, and probably have lower PSI on the contact patch because they typically have bigger tires. It is the motorized input to the drive wheel that could make the difference lap for lap on trail wear vs a pedal bike.

and increased number of laps by ebikes.

That seems a valid argument.

[XXX-er]

both the paid builders, the paid club VP and anyone who can afford one are on e-bikes at the area, they don't seem to worry about trail wear but maybe thats our trails system not having a wear problem

edit : we do have great drainage and riding on wet trails is discouraged , i i think wet trails are really bad for trail wear

you do wana watch where you stop o you arent off balance falling down off the edge of a sidecut trail

[toast2266]

An ebike is still an ebike, even if it's turned off.

You can certainly disagree with an ebike closure, and you can disregard that closure and poach the trail if you're into that kind of thing. But turning the power off doesn't make you compliant with the closure.

[XXX-er]

I would agree ^^

[Benneke10]

There are a lot of trails here in Utah where the regulation is ambiguous, or ebikes are banned but the regulations are constantly ignored, so I understand the desire to try to obey the spirit of the law. However, I can't imagine having the discipline to ride my ebike with the motor turned off if no one is watching...