eMTB Options For 2024

PDoz said:
Have you tried her on your trance ? Between the dropper post and lower frame she might be comfortable?
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Oh, I didn't think about that. Duh. LOL
What about a wheelset? Any recommendations for something that would work for road tires?

Looks like these are my wheels: https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/tr-1-27dot5-alum-trail-front-wheel-2019
But straight-pull spokes. Nearly $700.

Is there an aftermarket option? Even for a thinner wheel - I can shoe-horn a 2.3 tire on a 19-23mm wide rim.

Could something like this work? https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ryde-Trace-Rims-27-5-650b-Mountain-Bike-MTB-Wheelset-6B-Hubs-Boost-32h-Tubeless/253742061293?_trkparms=aid=1110006&algo=HOMESPLICE.SIM&ao=1&asc=225074&meid=d332bf2a81df47be876974c19b879b42&pid=100005&rk=1&rkt=12&mehot=lo&sd=332715188627&itm=253742061293&pmt=1&noa=0&pg=2047675&algv=SimplAMLv5PairwiseWebWithImageAndTitleNsfwFilters&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

Or adapted to work?

What about these? Can the axles be changed out? https://www.ebay.com/itm/Oval-Concepts-400-27-5-650B-MTB-Bike-Wheelset-Disc-QR-Thru-8-11s-Shimano-NEW/312723969382?_trkparms=aid=555021&algo=PL.SIMRVI&ao=1&asc=225074&meid=549c3e60bb70455f85d34df03a94f223&pid=100752&rk=6&rkt=15&mehot=pf&sd=253742061293&itm=312723969382&pmt=1&noa=0&pg=2047675&algv=SimplRVIAMLv5WebWithPLRVIOnTopCombiner&_trksid=p2047675.c100752.m1982

Here is a configurator - 27.5 thru-axle, front and rear, cassette compatible, $163/pr
(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)
 
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Do the wheels from the explore fit the trance? Swap them over, see if it's really worth the hassle?

I struggle to keep up with maintenance on 1 set of wheels so having 2 would just confuse me. (plus if I head out on a road ride there's always a good chance I'll detour through any tracks that look interesting....)

If you desperately want a second set for the trance , then I'd strongly consider buying something with a decent rear hub and using the stock rear hub for road use. Whilst I've never had any hub issues with my full e it's always niggling away at the back of my mind given how many 2019 trances ate the rear hub - 3 pawls really aren't enough for emtb imho.
 
PDoz said:
Do the wheels from the explore fit the trance? Swap them over, see if it's really worth the hassle?

I struggle to keep up with maintenance on 1 set of wheels so having 2 would just confuse me. (plus if I head out on a road ride there's always a good chance I'll detour through any tracks that look interesting....)

If you desperately want a second set for the trance , then I'd strongly consider buying something with a decent rear hub and using the stock rear hub for road use. Whilst I've never had any hub issues with my full e it's always niggling away at the back of my mind given how many 2019 trances ate the rear hub - 3 pawls really aren't enough for emtb imho.
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Makes sense. Seems like those DT SWiss would be the shiznit for $350. All around more heavy duty. Use the stock ones for road.
The Explore doesn't have thru-axles like the Trance, and it's not a wide axle spacing either.

Swapping wheels is super easy for me. Just turn the bike upside down on the bars and seat and they swap out in minutes. Voile - road bike! LOL

The dual sport guys used to do this for a quick conversion to super-moto with a 17 front for road. Swap out the rear sprocket in the process and remove a set length of extra chain clipped in.

As it turns out the frame on the Trance is too big for her anyway. She thinks she has long legs, but hmmm...right in the crotch. LOL Step-thru for mrs. browneye. Funny, we wear the same size jeans but her legs are longer and her butt is bigger. LOL

Anyway, I found a local guy that can replace hall sensors in the bafang hub so we should have hers back on the road by the weekend. Whoot!

The Explore is really nice for the bike path and riding on the road - fast and easy to ride, comfortable. I have it setup with BT Sirius XM radio and the smartphone app for the bike. The trance does hit the speed limiter pretty darn easy on the road though, and with some real road tires it would cruise along pretty easily. We'll see how things shake out.

Turns out there's a new Trance owner on the other mtb forum that rides the same loop I tried last Sunday. Going to try and meet up and get a guided tour. LOL


So now who's our next victim for a eMTB? What other bikes can we explore?
 
Browneye said:
Makes sense. Seems like those DT SWiss would be the shiznit for $350. All around more heavy duty. Use the stock ones for road.
The Explore doesn't have thru-axles like the Trance, and it's not a wide axle spacing either.

Swapping wheels is super easy for me. Just turn the bike upside down on the bars and seat and they swap out in minutes. Voile - road bike! LOL

The dual sport guys used to do this for a quick conversion to super-moto with a 17 front for road. Swap out the rear sprocket in the process and remove a set length of extra chain clipped in.

As it turns out the frame on the Trance is too big for her anyway. She thinks she has long legs, but hmmm...right in the crotch. LOL Step-thru for mrs. browneye. Funny, we wear the same size jeans but her legs are longer and her butt is bigger. LOL

Anyway, I found a local guy that can replace hall sensors in the bafang hub so we should have hers back on the road by the weekend. Whoot!

The Explore is really nice for the bike path and riding on the road - fast and easy to ride, comfortable. I have it setup with BT Sirius XM radio and the smartphone app for the bike. The trance does hit the speed limiter pretty darn easy on the road though, and with some real road tires it would cruise along pretty easily. We'll see how things shake out.

Turns out there's a new Trance owner on the other mtb forum that rides the same loop I tried last Sunday. Going to try and meet up and get a guided tour. LOL


So now who's our next victim for a eMTB? What other bikes can we explore?
Click to expand...

I actually run 2 sets of wheels on my swm motorbike ( like your old husky) - the standard wheels have knobbies but I bought some suoerdual wheels to run road trail rubber. About 15 mins , but I leave the gearing the same. Yet I still find myself on a road rude looking at a dirt detour....

But doesn't swapping over rear wheels on a mtb mean swapping cassettes? Adjusting the alignment each time? Brake pads not quite matching the wear patterns between discs? Me worrying too much?

It's weird, I think nothing of swapping front wheels between our collection of bikes, and theoretically I should be able to slot the 27.5's from my full e into my daughters genius 940 , flip a chip in the rear shock and let her try the bike as a 27.5 all mountain instead of a 29 trail ....I probably should .....nah, I'd rather be out riding.
 
What do you think about the DTSwiss wheel set, just from an upgrade/performance point? They are their new Ebike line of wheels and hubs.
How common is it to bend a wheel?
 
Did you bend / break many motorbike wheels? Reflecting back, I think I've shattered 3 motorbike hubs, cracked 3/4 rims, flattened a few more rims, busted two sets of mags and snapped a fair few spokes over the years.

On the pushbike, I go through wheel bearings annually and might have to tweak spokes occasionally but have only had 2 rims flattened and ( touch wood ) no hubs.

I guess it depends on what you're doing - there's a group if 30 yo guys I know who shatter stock mtb rims within a week, crack frames regularly , routinely upgrade everything....they think nothing of launching from 10 foot high rocks as routine parts of their down hill track. These are the guys talking about the relative merit of hope vs dt swiss hubs. I'd rather spend those $ on decent coffee
 
PDoz said:
They're pretty cheap - around $5 oz for a spoke magnet ( I keep forgetting to order one...really should carry a spare)
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Might want to spend a few extra bucks on an ebike specific magnet, I bought some Cateye magnets that weren't nearly strong enough to be read by the sensor.
 
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PDoz said:
I actually run 2 sets of wheels on my swm motorbike ( like your old husky) - the standard wheels have knobbies but I bought some suoerdual wheels to run road trail rubber. About 15 mins , but I leave the gearing the same. Yet I still find myself on a road rude looking at a dirt detour....

But doesn't swapping over rear wheels on a mtb mean swapping cassettes? Adjusting the alignment each time? Brake pads not quite matching the wear patterns between discs? Me worrying too much?

It's weird, I think nothing of swapping front wheels between our collection of bikes, and theoretically I should be able to slot the 27.5's from my full e into my daughters genius 940 , flip a chip in the rear shock and let her try the bike as a 27.5 all mountain instead of a 29 trail ....I probably should .....nah, I'd rather be out riding.
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I recently acquired extra wheelsets for two of my eMTBs, and installed the same cassettes as on the OEMs. The only tweaks I've needed to make were small barrel adjustments on the shifters and alignments of calipers. Maybe I'm just lucky... takes a couple minutes 🚵
 
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Good call on these - big 👍
Comfy and stay up, molded to fit around your knee - just outstanding!

These are mediums for my skinny knees. 🤓

Did about 10 hot-laps around the block tonight after work, on the Explore too. More similar than different. The Explore is much faster. The Trance is getting much quieter with a few miles on it. Pretty comfy bike. Jury is out on the saddle. 😕

 
Browneye said:
Good call on these - big 👍
Comfy and stay up, molded to fit around your knee - just outstanding!

These are mediums for my skinny knees. 🤓

Did about 10 hot-laps around the block tonight after work, on the Explore too. More similar than different. The Explore is much faster. The Trance is getting much quieter with a few miles on it. Pretty comfy bike. Jury is out on the saddle. 😕

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Looking good... don't cut the tags, go full Minnie Pearl. ;)
 
try swapping sides - the buckle on the outside- less likely to catch / scratch etc. It really helps to have a set side because over time the foam moulds to suit even the most deformed knees (and they get even more comfortable). Also , be super careful when putting them on that you don't pull the silicone gripper section off!

ps my tannus inserts arrived today - I'd been procrastinating about getting a set for ages, but after seeing all you guys jump straight onto the idea I felt a bit stupid / indecisive / pathetic ...especially when I walked out to the shed and sprog 3's rear was flat, and the same day sprogette 1 had to hand her spare tube to one of the boys at a school mtb event (her bike is tubeless but she was the only person there carrying a spare tube!!!) So if you guys in the states hear a scream coming from the general direction of Australia....that's me struggling to fit the tannus
 
PDoz said:
try swapping sides - the buckle on the outside- less likely to catch / scratch etc. It really helps to have a set side because over time the foam moulds to suit even the most deformed knees (and they get even more comfortable). Also , be super careful when putting them on that you don't pull the silicone gripper section off!

ps my tannus inserts arrived today - I'd been procrastinating about getting a set for ages, but after seeing all you guys jump straight onto the idea I felt a bit stupid / indecisive / pathetic ...especially when I walked out to the shed and sprog 3's rear was flat, and the same day sprogette 1 had to hand her spare tube to one of the boys at a school mtb event (her bike is tubeless but she was the only person there carrying a spare tube!!!) So if you guys in the states hear a scream coming from the general direction of Australia....that's me struggling to fit the tannus
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Did you see they offer a special plier-tool to squeeze the tire when installing?
They had that on the Tannus site but not the reseller.

I put some stuff in my cart at tannus and then they started bugging me about leaving my order. General practice - if you're gonna do that offer an incentive. Otherwise pound sand - I'll get them from your reseller. LOL
It's $100 so I'm hedging. Just did my taxes and looks like we owe another three grand. OUCH. Gee, guess that trance cost double. 😩
 
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Well, no screams and absolutely no need to have any fancy pliers for the tannus on 2.6 tyres! Bare hands, no worries - just a bit of common sense to make sure everything is lined up etc. The usual talc etc applies.

They claim it's possible to ride with a flat - you'd want to ride slow!

Slightly different feel - dull to compression and ever so slightly slow for rebound - about the same as a half click on the suspension. ( I tend to run low pressure)

It was more difficult getting the old tubeless valve off the rim than fitting the tannus.
 
Browneye said:
Did you see they offer a special plier-tool to squeeze the tire when installing?
They had that on the Tannus site but not the reseller.
Click to expand...

Those Pliers are only for their Airless Tires.

My Tannus order was supposed to arrive today but due to Winter storm that's made it's way in it's been postponed for a day. I watched the installation videos a couple times, happy that @PDoz confirms it's as easy as the videos make it out to be. The reviews I read say setup on wider rims for mtb's and such lots easier than narrow rims.

The set-up gives me piece of mind knowing my tires have puncture and pinch flat protection and the rims have some compression protection especially if running at lower tire psi. I know fixing a flat on a trail ride is inevitable but if this mitigates the problem then happy trail riding to me. Tannus also touts that the insert offers vibration dampening, you feeling that @PDoz ?

Is this photo of Tannus insert in action peace of mind or what:

1582808950354.png
 
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