eMTB off road photo thread.

Poison Spider

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Crossing the Appalachian Trail

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The ride was in the Appalachian Mountains of Pennsylvania. It's very remote, the trail I rode intersects the Appalachian Trail, for 3/4 mile the bike trail combines with the hiking trail. That's where I saw the most people all day, ~7 hours, ~10 people. I saw more bear scat and wild turkeys, than people. Leave your cell phone home, there isn't any coverage.

Further down the trail a lake - no people or boats... just cold water!

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Great place!
 
Good to see people contributing to the thread. :)
I've been doing more traveling, getting to enjoy more off the beaten path MTB rides. I forgot about this thread until I saw @bfly post. I'll try to update more in future.
 
My time out on the eMTB has been pretty limited of late, but here are some recent photos which bring things up to date.


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And this is the reason that the eMTB riding time has been limited. I have been busy trying to build up my fitness level in preparation for my next trip to the Swiss Alps in July.

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Today’s little ride of 52 miles with 6,441ft of elevation gain was kind of a try out for the Swiss trip. I wanted to see how the new handlebar and stem set up would work under a proper test, and also how carrying 5kg of weight in the Camelbak would pan out, in respect of my neck and back. 5Kg being the weight of the spare battery, 3litres of water, and tools and equipment.
Purion has also now been fitted for 1,000 miles, and in that time not a single miss change of power settings has been made, with everything falling easily to hand. It is easily the best set up for Bosch powered eMTB's, and visibility I use is perfect. My one slight moan about the system, is that I would prefer that the switches worked from the outside edge, rather than inner.

The new handlebar and stem set up also seemed perfect, and the ride included a couple of intentionally steep climbs to test just how light that the front end might become. As for the neck pain, It was all pretty good. I suffered slightly whilst having some grub afterwards, but even then, putting into practice a few yoga stretches, quickly had that sorted as well.

The weather was pretty mixed, with sunshine to begin with, quickly followed by thunder, lightning and heavy rain, then back to sunshine and cloud, with some very strong wind. All in all a pretty good morning ride.
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More photos here. https://www.facebook.com/edwardpeterjefferies/

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@EddieJ that is the most gummed up bike I think I've seen in a while! (Except for others of yours :D) Do you ever have issues with that junk seeping past the motor casing?
 
Hi Ann, the fully enclosed cover as on the black FS bike, are actually surprisingly good at keeping the mess out. If maintenance was neglected, you could gradually get a build of mud inside, but the electrics have never once had mud or water on them.

The motor on the white hardtail is far more exposed, but the electrics are still very protected.

An area that does get a build up of mud, is inside of the battery housing block. The connectors frequently get wet, but this has never presented any issue for me. The build up inside of the block is surprisingly fast.

If using an Intuvia display, the up/down remote switch can get mud behind the outer facia/bezel. You wouldn't be aware of this until it becomes tricky to switch between modes. No water gets into the electrics.

Water can get between the console and mount on the Intuvia display, but again it has never presented an issue or problem.

The down fall of the Bosch motor (or any ebike motor) when used in regular off road European conditions such as above, is the outer bearing on the chainset side. Just as with a normal/analogue mtb, this is a vulnerable area. Here in the UK, any mtb is going to require bottom bracket bearings at least once a year, and this seems to be something that many people forget, or don't understand. The Bosch outer bearing seal mod, is to my mind a bodge, it does help, but won't prevent bearing failure. The key to preserving the outer bearing is to never get any form of detergent or oil any where near it when cleaning or detailing the bike, and never ever use water to via hose or pressure washing to wash the motor down. The best way of cleaning is to unhook the chain from the front sprocket, and clean the area by hand with a cloth, and nothing more. I also remove the outer bearing seal at least once a month, remove the grease and any unwanted particles, regrease, and reinstall, applying a little extra grease over and above. It might sound like a pain, but in reality it takes very little time to complete, and is the best safe guard that yo can have.
 
4 weeks old, 326 miles of single track, 4.3 miles black top
2 sets tires 5 flats, sore hands and big smiles.
I was on fence for ebike for almost two years before pulling trigger on buying one. I have to say it’s 5 Times better then I expected.
Would have never expected record calorie burns and higher average heart rates would be the byproduct of assisted pedaling.
 
Eddie, thanks for the advice on the seal re-grease. I ride on muddy bridleways in Yorkshire and have just had a motor replaced under warranty after only 4 months and 672 miles. In this time I have ruined the chain and cassette. The problem seems to be build up of mud on the sidewalls of my 27.5/2.8 tires through which the chain runs almost constantly. I notice in another post you contributed to that you have removed the chain ring guard. I will do this once the tool arrives! I am going to try some 27.5/2.1 tires as well to improve the clearance for the chain. Any other tips would be most appreciated
 
Hi Phill, really sorry to hear that you have already required a new motor. Lets hope that you have better success with the next one. Removing the chain guard is a very sensible idea, and I also had thought about going to narrow section tyres for winter use, but in my case, the Nobby Nic rear tyre, doesn't seem to be picking much mud up. It would pay you to ask what the narrowest tyre size is that you could go on your rim. If you go too narrow, it might not seat very well, and could form the wrong profile. I would advise asking on here for possible advice in respect of that. https://www.emtbforums.com/
 
Two ebikes, bulls evo RS3 27.5 + and a evo E45 27.5. E45 has 160mm fork upgrade, KS dropper and new set bars. RS3, has 35mm head stay, 38mm riser bars, revalved forks with 160mm travel, offset rear shock bushing, debon air rc3 rear shock- revolved, 1X11 chain system ditching the 2x front chain rings. Snake skin magic Mary front, maxxis HR II EXO REAR, Carbon hoops, KS100mm dropper, Love the RS3 don’t care for the E45- should been a 29R with 51mm offset forks. Not willing to spend the money to upgrade it to 29r so to chopping block she goes.
 

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TNT-I like your Bulls Evo 45 which is a speed pedelec, correct? Does your bike reach 28mph with little effort, and does the Brose' motor continue the same output until you reach that speed. Curious to find out how well the motor performs on that bike. Nice upgrades too...
 
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