eMTB Options For 2024

Means : could be happened with each low-entry-bike. Dosn‘t matter if Haibike or M1 …
I only meant some people think spending nine thousand Euro and getting a monster motor makes them a King of Mountain. It does not.
 
Brought the Intrigue home today.
Just did a short ride - mainly on pathways.

I stopped to take a picture on the way home from the LBS.
Bike is clean - car is not!
The orange bungee is to deal with the sloping top tube and the way my Swagman rack clamp works.
20220209_131147.jpg


I've not changed the grips or saddle yet, but I did replace the stock 125mm Dropper with a 150mm OneUp which is perfect.
Slammed down with the flip chip in the low position, my feet are flat on the ground, and when fully up, my leg has a tiny bend.
I will likely go with a 35mm riser bar but for now the cockpit feels fine.
The stock saddle is not too bad - I wasn't missing my WTB Koda but it was only a 11.5km ride to my brother's and back.

Intrigue_Posture.jpg


I've some RRP fenders coming (ProGuard Bolt-On Mini for the front and Mini Rear , well, for the rear).

The 29" wheels are going to take some time to get used to, and I'll have to play around with the Flip Chip to see which I prefer, but I'll probably not put the Ice Spikers I have on it this year,
If it's icy, I'll ride the Fathom. Last year, I put my Johnny Watts on on March 13th, so I can forego the new ride on wintery days for a little while.

BTW - pictures don't really capture the paint job as well as it really is - it's pretty stunning. LIV paint is pretty spiffy!
 
Brought the Intrigue home today.
Just did a short ride - mainly on pathways.

I stopped to take a picture on the way home from the LBS.
Bike is clean - car is not!
The orange bungee is to deal with the sloping top tube and the way my Swagman rack clamp works.
View attachment 113888

I've not changed the grips or saddle yet, but I did replace the stock 125mm Dropper with a 150mm OneUp which is perfect.
Slammed down with the flip chip in the low position, my feet are flat on the ground, and when fully up, my leg has a tiny bend.
I will likely go with a 35mm riser bar but for now the cockpit feels fine.
The stock saddle is not too bad - I wasn't missing my WTB Koda but it was only a 11.5km ride to my brother's and back.

View attachment 113887

I've some RRP fenders coming (ProGuard Bolt-On Mini for the front and Mini Rear , well, for the rear).

The 29" wheels are going to take some time to get used to, and I'll have to play around with the Flip Chip to see which I prefer, but I'll probably not put the Ice Spikers I have on it this year,
If it's icy, I'll ride the Fathom. Last year, I put my Johnny Watts on on March 13th, so I can forego the new ride on wintery days for a little while.

BTW - pictures don't really capture the paint job as well as it really is - it's pretty stunning. LIV paint is pretty spiffy!
That will be a great ride! Congrats mate!
 
Brought the Intrigue home today.
Just did a short ride - mainly on pathways.

I stopped to take a picture on the way home from the LBS.
Bike is clean - car is not!
The orange bungee is to deal with the sloping top tube and the way my Swagman rack clamp works.
View attachment 113888

I've not changed the grips or saddle yet, but I did replace the stock 125mm Dropper with a 150mm OneUp which is perfect.
Slammed down with the flip chip in the low position, my feet are flat on the ground, and when fully up, my leg has a tiny bend.
I will likely go with a 35mm riser bar but for now the cockpit feels fine.
The stock saddle is not too bad - I wasn't missing my WTB Koda but it was only a 11.5km ride to my brother's and back.

View attachment 113887

I've some RRP fenders coming (ProGuard Bolt-On Mini for the front and Mini Rear , well, for the rear).

The 29" wheels are going to take some time to get used to, and I'll have to play around with the Flip Chip to see which I prefer, but I'll probably not put the Ice Spikers I have on it this year,
If it's icy, I'll ride the Fathom. Last year, I put my Johnny Watts on on March 13th, so I can forego the new ride on wintery days for a little while.

BTW - pictures don't really capture the paint job as well as it really is - it's pretty stunning. LIV paint is pretty spiffy!
You already know how I feel about your new ride! :cool: Nuff said. 👍
 
Brought the Intrigue home today.
Just did a short ride - mainly on pathways.

I stopped to take a picture on the way home from the LBS.
Bike is clean - car is not!
The orange bungee is to deal with the sloping top tube and the way my Swagman rack clamp works.
View attachment 113888

I've not changed the grips or saddle yet, but I did replace the stock 125mm Dropper with a 150mm OneUp which is perfect.
Slammed down with the flip chip in the low position, my feet are flat on the ground, and when fully up, my leg has a tiny bend.
I will likely go with a 35mm riser bar but for now the cockpit feels fine.
The stock saddle is not too bad - I wasn't missing my WTB Koda but it was only a 11.5km ride to my brother's and back.

View attachment 113887

I've some RRP fenders coming (ProGuard Bolt-On Mini for the front and Mini Rear , well, for the rear).

The 29" wheels are going to take some time to get used to, and I'll have to play around with the Flip Chip to see which I prefer, but I'll probably not put the Ice Spikers I have on it this year,
If it's icy, I'll ride the Fathom. Last year, I put my Johnny Watts on on March 13th, so I can forego the new ride on wintery days for a little while.

BTW - pictures don't really capture the paint job as well as it really is - it's pretty stunning. LIV paint is pretty spiffy!
while I understand the sizes run smaller what are other difference with the liv and did you notice them?
 
while I understand the sizes run smaller what are other difference with the liv and did you notice them?
The geometry is virtually the same as posted here but the only real differences to the Trance (Small) I see are the saddle and handlebars.

The biggest difference is the Liv has 5mm longer cranks, but that was what I had on my Fathom anyways.
I think the biggest dimension difference is 7mm (Top Tube, Wheelbase and Reach)- well within the adjustability of stems and seat rails.

As for the saddle and handlebars, the saddle is no biggie, as I'll eventually just transfer my WTB Koda off of my Fathom.
It's in fact a saddle that was originally slated for women, but a lot of men have taken to it, including the salesman at the LBS I bought the bike from.

The bars are also nothing that I am going to worry about. My Fathom has 760mm bars and I tend to grip inboard a bit, so the 750mm bars are just about right anyways.
I will likely change the bars out to get a touch more rise, but I need to get a few hundred Kms before I decide.
I need to see how my neck feels (congenital fusions in C3-5)

Next up is put some new Ergon GA3 (large) grips on and a little paint protection in a few key areas. Add my trail bell, and a few accessories and get out there and get it dirty.
My fenders are due early next week and once those are on, I'm pretty well sorted for anything for the rest of winter. If it's wintery - ride the Fathom with studs. If it's warm and not icy, I ride the Intrigue.

Now I have to decide if I keep the Fathom and turn it into a pathway cruiser for riding with my non-MTB friends or sell it in the spring.
I guess the CFO may have some say in the matter, but from what I am hearing, I can sell pretty reasonably high because pretty well anything coming in for the next 9 months around here has already been sold.
 
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The geometry is virtually the same as posted here but the only real differences to the Trance (Small) I see are the saddle and handlebars.

The biggest difference is the Liv has 5mm longer cranks, but that was what I had on my Fathom anyways.
I think the biggest dimension difference is 7mm (Top Tube, Wheelbase and Reach)- well within the adjustability of stems and seat rails.

As for the saddle and handlebars, the saddle is no biggie, as I'll eventually just transfer my WTB Koda off of my Fathom.
It's in fact a saddle that was originally slated for women, but a lot of men have taken to it, including the salesman at the LBS I bought the bike from.

The bars are also nothing that I am going to worry about. My Fathom has 760mm bars and I tend to grip inboard a bit, so the 750mm bars are just about right anyways.
I will likely change the bars out to get a touch more rise, but I need to get a few hundred Kms before I decide.
I need to see how my neck feels (congenital fusions in C3-5)

Next up is put some new Ergon GA3 (large) grips on and a little paint protection in a few key areas. Add my trail bell, and a few accessories and get out there and get it dirty.
My fenders are due early next week and once those are on, I'm pretty well sorted for anything for the rest of winter. If it's wintery - ride the Fathom with studs. If it's warm and not icy, I ride the Intrigue.

Now I have to decide if I keep the Fathom and turn it into a pathway cruiser for riding with my non-MTB friends or sell it in the spring.
I guess the CFO may have some say in the matter, but from what I am hearing, I can sell pretty reasonably high because pretty well anything coming in for the next 9 months around here has already been sold.
so slight differences but actually could be used to give more options to dial in fit
 
Wow...Husqvarna now in the ebike biz...

I might have to have one of these.



My 2010 Husky TE630. I put about 9K offroad miles on this one.

Husky have been building emtb for ages, I think they were selling them back when they made husky motorbikes instead of just changing stickers on ktm's. Unfortunately the real husky ( swm) don't make mountain bikes so I have to own a mixed fleet
 

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I did a mixed social ride on Sunday - interesting experience and it definitely convinced me all this agonizing over which bike really doesn't matter!

We had all 5 of my fleet shared amongst a mixed group of intermediate riders, a mate on his cannondale monterra ebike and a mate on his giant trancex regular bike. So 3x emtb, 4x regular bikes We swapped bikes amongst the group at different stages and it was surprising how little difference it made.

Terry and Stuart were almost always at the front competing with each other - it didn't matter who was on what bike, although they both looked stuffed by the top of every hill. A few times I got a break from being tail end charlie (support person) and I was quite happy sitting behind them - fast enough on the levo sl that I was having fun , but I could still annoy them with chatter ( they were too stuffed to speak , having spent all day at that pace)

Peter was always trying to keep up with Terry - admittedly he had more chance on my old giant full e pro than anything else. That thing is so forgiving - enough grunt to make up for poor technique and enough suspension to keep him alive, the quick steering meant he could correct all the last minute mistakes....hilarious to watch. He wasn't much slower when riding my daughters scott genius regular bike, but the other 4 doctors in the group were looking nervous at the top of each hill.....super fit airforce guy meets modern technology?

The surprise was the cannondale - shimano motor, pretty basic suspension, not even a dropper post - it was WAY behind the rest of us both up and down hill. The compromised seat position from no dropper post meant he was inefficient uphill, and restricted down. He was even behind the faster non powered bikes uphill ( scott genius, norco optic, but not the old giant trance - which also lacked a dropper) . I suspect a dropper post is the best value improvement in mtb tech. Arguably more improvement than a motor?

The other surprise came after that cannondale copped a flat - we simply couldn't get enough air pressure to keep it fully inflated. It looked like the sidewalls had been damaged during the short ride he did whilst flat? We went as high as 60 psi - 3x normal pressure, and it still ballooned out and wobbled around ! This really got me wondering - do sidewalls degrade during their lifespan? I've been noticing the need to run higher pressures in my rear tyre recently, but I had thought this was because I'm hitting things more aggressively now I have a decent shock ( and I'm a lot more likely to kick the back out in the air now I trust the rear shock.)
 
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