I have been contemplating on acquiring an e-bike, but I fear that I will end up ditching the other three high-end 29ers sitting in the garage. Can anybody shed some light on their experience based on acquiring an e-bike and how that changed their riding habits? :thumbsup:
Ditching traditional bikes after e-bike?
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Today i used my 21 pounds HT 29er and it is just a nice change.
Last 3.5 months i enjoy my first Ebike 27.5 +, it is now in the shop.
So without a car i need 3 bikes, a regular fat for snow fun, an Ebike to pedal to the trails, play there than pedal back. A plan B, backup bike. Obviously at the price of an Ebike you will likely sell 1 or 2 bikes but if you have room there is no need to limit yourself to 1.
It is just nice if they are not copies.
My fat has 90 mm rims
my 27+ is on 40 mm rims
my 29 er has tiny rims.
Last 3.5 months i enjoy my first Ebike 27.5 +, it is now in the shop.
So without a car i need 3 bikes, a regular fat for snow fun, an Ebike to pedal to the trails, play there than pedal back. A plan B, backup bike. Obviously at the price of an Ebike you will likely sell 1 or 2 bikes but if you have room there is no need to limit yourself to 1.
It is just nice if they are not copies.
My fat has 90 mm rims
my 27+ is on 40 mm rims
my 29 er has tiny rims.
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Most ebikes are like cruiser bikes, even if they have 150+mm travel forks. Their chainstays are long and they're heavy, not easy to manhandle esp if they have a long wheelbase.
You're going to likely want to keep a short wheelbase bike w/short chainstay around for fun.
There's a short list of ebikes that ride like a legit dialed mountain bike: like a Rocky Mtn Altitude Powerplay, Pivot Shuttle, Lapierre eZesty, Canyon Spectral:On, Fezzari Wire Peak, Vitus E-Sommet, YT Decoy... these *might* allow you to ditch your bicycles, but variety is the spice of life.
P.S. if you're between M and L, upsize to L. You may be tempted to downsize to make it more "agile", but any manual/wheelie that you pop will come straight back down, since the front-heavy weight bias is too great. It's counter-intuitive, but I recommend getting the larger size, esp for the Wire Peak, E-Sommet, and Decoy. Heck, go XL on these 3 if you can. You will be able to hit drops without even doing much to keep it level, due to the longer front end and the speed and stability it allows. Also, consider a -2d angleset, longer fork, and 29er front...
You're going to likely want to keep a short wheelbase bike w/short chainstay around for fun.
There's a short list of ebikes that ride like a legit dialed mountain bike: like a Rocky Mtn Altitude Powerplay, Pivot Shuttle, Lapierre eZesty, Canyon Spectral:On, Fezzari Wire Peak, Vitus E-Sommet, YT Decoy... these *might* allow you to ditch your bicycles, but variety is the spice of life.
P.S. if you're between M and L, upsize to L. You may be tempted to downsize to make it more "agile", but any manual/wheelie that you pop will come straight back down, since the front-heavy weight bias is too great. It's counter-intuitive, but I recommend getting the larger size, esp for the Wire Peak, E-Sommet, and Decoy. Heck, go XL on these 3 if you can. You will be able to hit drops without even doing much to keep it level, due to the longer front end and the speed and stability it allows. Also, consider a -2d angleset, longer fork, and 29er front...
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Why 'fear' not using your existing bikes, enjoy the choices you've given yourself.
If you want to see where ebike design is going, especially now that the new Bosch motor is allowing designers to shorten chainstay length, have a look at the recent EMBN videos on YT.
If you want to see where ebike design is going, especially now that the new Bosch motor is allowing designers to shorten chainstay length, have a look at the recent EMBN videos on YT.
I ride my Ebike one day and my Stumpy the following day since there's a difference in the work out even though I keep the same cadence, it just doesn't workout the same legs muscles. Also, am able to keep my endurance/stamina at a good level by switching between them.
Ya muscles are specific. I ride a bike daily last 20 years. I get home feeling good than going up 3 levels using the stairs and it feels difficult but 2 min ago pedaling was easy.
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Let's just assume you get an e-bike and never want to ride your 3 fancy mountain bikes again. For any given person who is a mountain biker participation in that sport will end one way or another. In the past it was injury, family commitments, risk aversion or death [I am aware this is not a complete list] that factored into the change. So now we can add e-bike to the list of reasons why you might not mountain bike again.
Assuming you are enjoying the e-bike than you can probably let go of your mountain bikes to fund that e-bike or the next one without any bad feelings. Everything has to end at some point.
The only four main downsides to getting rid of your mountain bikes I can think of are:
1. you can't ride certain trail networks because they don't allow e-bikes
2. you can't ride with certain friends/riding groups if they are not e-bike friendly or typically ride e-bike prohibited trails
3. you travel a bunch by air and flying with an e-bike is an hassle
4. you are concerned you'll get less exercise with an e-bike vs. a mountain bike
If these ^^ seem like issues to you perhaps you can keep one of your mountain bikes to deal with issues #1, #2 & #3? For #4 perhaps you can ride more on the e-bike, push harder and/or ride without assist some of the time to get whatever you feel is sufficient exercise?
I ordered a YT Decoy late May, got it a few days ago, I love it. I ordered a YT Jeffsy during their 4th of July sale (15% off) to replace my 2011 26" XC bike. At first I thought I would only need the Decoy, but after ordering it I learned how restricted ebikes are on many trails in the US (as opposed to Europe, where they seem to be embraced). That made me realize I would still need an acoustic bike, and after doing a head plant on my 2011 bike (on the 4th of July) I decided to go for modern geo and a more stable downhill capability. I love the Jeffsy, even though it is considerably slower climbing than my old XC bike, it's a lot more stable descending. Until ebikes have more or less full access to single track trails in the US, I don't see how you get by with only an ebike.
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If you can get rid of a car because you got an e-bike that's great. I don't think that's all that likely for the dirt oriented models we are talking about on MTBR. Personally I can ride my mountain bikes to the trails 1hr away, do a 3hr ride and than ride back 1hr. I still have a car because there are trails networks further away I want to ride and for road trips.
If I was only riding at my closest trail networks and around town I could get rid of my car now and that's without owning an e-bike.
I got my canyon spectral three monthes ago and have logged 600 km on it. There are two 26 and two 29 ers in the garage that have all been ridden last week and I plan to keep then all for a long time, each one has a place in my heart. Now I plan to downgrade the tires of the ebike to a similar 2,25/2,4 I use on the other bikes so the skills transition more seamless when i change bikes, because traction of the 2,8 27,5 on the rear is other worlds stuff.
I actually own a YT Jeffsy 29er. Great bike. If I do decide to get an ebike, I will definitely consider going with YT Industries. Based on all the inputs here, I think it wouldn't hurt to add an ebike to my staples. Just another type of riding I guess. There is a 4,000 ft climb that I sometimes am hesitant to go on but an ebike will takt that hesistancy away. Happy riding guys...
I've been in 2 wheel sports riding for 40 years, with the price of good top tier non motorized Bicycles, I'm thinking that if I had to choose one ,E-bike all the way, why limit yourself, you can cover as much ground pushing pass your limit and make it home even if you out did yourself physically, IMOP. yes the draconian e-bike Ban is most distracting, one thing Europe got right, we're very selfish in USA, maybe rightly so.?
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A normal bike is way more fun. It just can't climb as fast or go on relatively flat surfaces as fast. But it's a lot more fun, and safe, downhill than a heavier bike that's not really balanced. Even a mid-drive is going to have some front weight bias if the battery is on the downtube. How are you going to balance that out of the frame? Add weight to the back? Center of gravity is not just vertical, it's front/back too.
Fire roads and easy singletrack, e-bike is fine. Real downhill trails = non-ebike for sure.
Funny thing is that I measured both my ebike and 2016 Stumpy and they're the same chainstay measurement which is 17.5 " .
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Everyone's experience is going to be different.
I've had a Kenevo for 2 years and ride it less than 20% of the time. I've bought two normal bikes since acquiring the Kenevo.
The e-bike is great when I'm just not "feeling it". Perhaps after a long day or week of work and I'm mentally drained. Times when if I were to hop on a regular bike, I'd just be slogging it up the climbs due to lack of motivation. Then, rewarded with some awesome downhills, I'm mentally reinvigorated and can do a proper ride the next day.
Also great when it's late in the day and I really don't have time to do a full on ride. An e-bike may limit how much power it can deliver, but it doesn't limit how much power YOU can deliver. I can get in a proper workout, and ride for an hour at 90% FTP and get in three laps whereas on a regular bike I'd only be able to get in one.
Finally, e-bikes are great for recovery days. The previous day you rode 4-5 hours and you just want to spin out the legs.
So why don't I just ride the e-bike all the time? It's just different. Super fun for sure, but there's something about a real bike you just don't get from an e-bike. Again, YMMV. Some people will ditch the regular bikes and never go back to them. I'm just not in that camp. I don't race XC, but I do care about fitness and power numbers.
I've had a Kenevo for 2 years and ride it less than 20% of the time. I've bought two normal bikes since acquiring the Kenevo.
The e-bike is great when I'm just not "feeling it". Perhaps after a long day or week of work and I'm mentally drained. Times when if I were to hop on a regular bike, I'd just be slogging it up the climbs due to lack of motivation. Then, rewarded with some awesome downhills, I'm mentally reinvigorated and can do a proper ride the next day.
Also great when it's late in the day and I really don't have time to do a full on ride. An e-bike may limit how much power it can deliver, but it doesn't limit how much power YOU can deliver. I can get in a proper workout, and ride for an hour at 90% FTP and get in three laps whereas on a regular bike I'd only be able to get in one.
Finally, e-bikes are great for recovery days. The previous day you rode 4-5 hours and you just want to spin out the legs.
So why don't I just ride the e-bike all the time? It's just different. Super fun for sure, but there's something about a real bike you just don't get from an e-bike. Again, YMMV. Some people will ditch the regular bikes and never go back to them. I'm just not in that camp. I don't race XC, but I do care about fitness and power numbers.
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Stumpy is somewhat of a cruiser bike too. Less so than an ebike due to not being so front heavy. Cruiser bikes are just bikes made to be ridden 99% in the saddle, for fitness and leisurely adventure (mileage and elevation). They tend to be kind of dangerous compared to the more capable trail and enduro bikes that recently are coming out, featuring longer front centers that balance out the fore-aft balance to not be so front-heavy.
Anyone who wants to get the more complete MTB experience, will likely go with something like the Stumpy EVO or new enduro, but may sacrifice climbing ease due to the heavier/grippier tires they call for. I figure a motor could offset the weight weenie attitude that lingers, that has people still compromising on grip and robustness on tires, and choosing to spend over 50% more on carbon version of parts.
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