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anyone on here got an e mountain bike?

dan4x4

Member
Joined
11 Nov 2013
Messages
433
As mentioned in the title has anyone got one?

Theres a cube dealer in round mine and Ill be checking it out in a few weeks, I've been trying to find one with a really slack head angle but had no joy.



:)
 
No unfortunately i do not, me and a friend of mine are watching this already for a few years now and see the motor slowly develop.
The problems isn't in the motor anymore this has improved over the years and there are very good motors to find even for DIY conversion kits there are very nice options available which keep developing. I think the whole E-bike concept will have a great future for especialy city trafic.

The greatest problem at the time still is the battery :( and it's lifecycle versus cost.. Using an e-bike on daily basis, need to recharge this battery on a daily basis. Those batteries have charge lifecycle, some have e.g. a life cycle of 250 recharges before they wear out. Also they do not wear out like over night, the performance slowly decreases. so after 150 load cycles it maybe still be on 50% capacity so the older it gets it shortens your radius of bikefun.

So ddepending on how you like to use the bike like once a week for fun, you'll might have a while a lot of fun. Us it on more regular basis you'll need say a new battery each year. And there is where the fun is spoiled, new batteries are still realy the almost the most expensive part in the E-bike up to €700 for a battery is still the average price.

So that would make e-biking with the initial purchase of the bike and the €700 + expenses yearly a rather expensive hobby..
Don't forget to add bike maintenance, i did mountain biking for many years and used rather a lot of brakes and chains and bearings and in those days even rims yearly, especialy on sandy routes by wet weather. Sand, greas and water, is polishing paste grinding through and destroying everything. If you do not take your bike completely apart 3 to 4 times a year to clean it from this sandy polishing paste inside everything. The expenses go up drasticaly.

Look at Kriedler e-bikes :) they run with a bosch motor.. those bosch motors are very good.. :)
For bike conversion motor look at the Bafang products, best cost effective way to convert an existing bike..

But truly it's the batteries that spoil the fun.. :( still..
 
I would be using it like 5 days a week in the summer probably. This news about the battery is a downer.

I have also been biking for a long time, so maintenance isn't a problem, although I wouldn't have a clue when it comes to the motor.

Im going to have a look at them anyways but going to have this more thought, but thank you for the feedback you may of saved me a fortune!

definitely advancements are being made in battery development, i was reading that they are investigating lead graphite technology in batterys but i think it'll be a while before we see this in the shops, but then again maybe not, the way the mobile phone drives this technology will surely work in our favour! who knows!

Also I had a look at the kits but I think id prefer a different bike, I have a 2008 cannondale f6 currently, although I do go on some decent rides, it has a really race like position which i don't like. I also want to try full suspension
 
It's all depending on it's use, if you like to climb like the guys in the video you realy need heavy dutty motor and battery. One thing you don't want is to peddle a 25 kilo ebike with an empty battery throug the terain. A lot of manufacturers do not even give a battery life cycle other than a year warrenty. But with a 1000 watt motor (if legal in your country) which you need at least for decent mountain biking needs a rather heavy dutty battery. 500 watt is penauts for mountainbiking wwith a rather short radius. If you want to keep the bike in full range you need to replace the cells regularly at least once a year. There are already retailers which offer refurbishing old batteries.. Those batteries excist like any other battery out of smaller single cells connected in serie till power is matched. So if your handy enough for that and know where to get the single cells (china) DIY is not impossible.

But all and all together, did read a lot of reviews, talked to some people using an ebike on regular bases i decided not to do it because of the battery quality is not got enough yet. Taking all in account it aint cheaper than driving a small car if the bike cost is €4000 for an 250 watt MTB with an extra €60 a month because the battery might only survive a year if you want to keep full range radius. Which would be max 30 to 40km. Which is actualy nothing much if you want to use it in sportive way, you need to be home again before your legs are warm.

I'm seriously considering a conversion set from bafang for the city bike to do some shoping.. :) But wait a bit longer, till batteries get better. Today still even with a cheaper battery say €500 and a lighter motor it still is about €40 a month expenses to drive a bit faster and easier around on a bicycle. (without adding the additional €1300 to convert the bike)
 
picture! lets see some made in england bike porn!

Have you seen them mondrakers? they look awesome.
Its fossilized in the garage somewhere!

I see 29ers have caught on since I last went bike shopping
 
haha yeah i remember gary fisher big sur being like the only 29er now i get back into it and everything is 29. personally i think they look silly haha. id choose 26 or 27.5 all day long!
 
I got my orange evo8 new in a sale with £400 discount, being British, its slightly less value than most of the competition and only the top priced bikes are made in England.

I kind of wish I had bought a full sus stumpjumper, I'm too old for hardtails.
Saying that, it transfers power really efficiently through the crank and is a fast bike- that was a big surprise to me. How well a good bike responds compared to cheaper bikes with lesser quality components.
 
I lost my pictures, on an old computer, they must still be somewhere on a drive laying around. But funny is my last mountain bike, i bought a cheap Kinesis No Name Frame in 1996, the first rear S bend model. Still got it, made a city bike out of it with a front rack for shoping. That frame was indistructable, still see this frame is made and sold today (only now with disk brake pads) and back then Kenesis wasn't a brand it was a Tawain frame factory. Today it's KinesisUK i see. But i researched back then Kinesis also was contracted to build frames for Canondale etc. That's why i was confident it couldn't be bad.
mtb2004-1.jpg


Just kept upgrading this frame over the years.. Mounted it with Magura hydrolic rim brakes, Mavic Cross Max Ceramic UST wheels, shitmano XT 9 speed and a stiff front fork. Did put on a brooks sadle with springs, and huchinson python tubeless fat tire for a bit suspension. These wheels where super light and since it was a complete stiffy, it took off like a rocket. Everybody with a branded bike laughed, but my theory worked out, all other guys where riding full suspensions but all where 5 kilo's heavier. They went faster down hill but the next up hill i took 'm all back and left 'm further behind than what they gained down hill. Then i laughed at them and said, it's in your legs not in your bike brand.:angelic:. I called them Easyriders and advices to watch the rocky movies.. :lol: Never had a stronger bike, hence it crashed a 100 times, looks a bit beaten up but i'm still riding it today.
 
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Its definitely worth buying a good frame, it'll last and can be uograded for years.

I've still got my 94' RALEIGH M-TRAX .
 
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