eMTB Options For 2024

[ruffruff]

Stefan, sorry didn't go through the entire post, but do you own the Trance?

 

[FlatSix911]

To 99 km/h It is just a limit, not a promise.
I don't want more than 32 km/h because more takes a devastating effect on the battery.
P.S. The chainring is too small for reaching higher speeds.

I hear your concern on the battery range... once you get comfortable with 32 km/h (20 mph) you will probably want more.

My natural road cadence is around 35-37 km/h (22-24 mph) and I don't want to hit the speed limit... so I installed a larger front ring. (Shimano 38T to 44T)

 

[Browneye]

Ya I can't imagine having a lower speed limit than the US 32km - that's about 19.5 statute miles per hour. That's a reasonable speed on a bike. A couple of more would be nice, but you do run out of gears.


@PDoz - there are a few Specialized Stumpjumper 29's around here - carbon and alloy - do you know anything about them?
I would have to drive into LA. There are Trance bikes the other way, east and south of here, Temecula.

I'll bet if I call on any of them they're not really for sale - already sold. A couple of shops did list size large in a few of these models as "in stock".

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I hear your concern on the battery range... once you get comfortable with 32 km/h (20 mph) you will probably want more.

My natural road cadence is around 35-37 km/h (22-24 mph) and I don't want to hit the speed limit... so I installed a larger front ring. (Shimano 38T to 44T)

If I need speed, I ride my Vado 5.0 My Lovelec e-bike is unrestricted, and it easily gets onto 30-31 km/h on-road and maintains that speed. The 30-31 km/h is the typical speed on our long "brotherly e-bike rides" on-road.

The whole point of buying e-Trance was touring off-road. There, you rarely get onto 25 km/h unless it is a downhill ride. While riding in the forest or uphill, I easily outrun any of my brothers or friends when they ride mechanical bikes. Yet there are stretches of better roads on such trips, tarmac or gravel. There, any fit mechanical cyclist outruns the 25 km/h e-bike, hence the derestriction to 32 km/h.

Riding that fast on an e-MTB feels a little bit unnatural to me. Knobby tyres whizz on the tarmac, I need to use higher assistance level than usual, and the battery charge disappears fairly quickly. Yet having the bike with (optional) higher speed limit increases the ride-safety on-road and shortens the boring easy road segments on off-road trips.

When I earn more money, I intend to get me the 625 Wh EnergyPak, and possibly the Tetrarack (as Steve Mercier has done) to carry the spare battery in a pannier. I'm not the technical-ride type as PDoz is

"I didn't pay for this bike to be forced to ride downhill!" (my famous words when seeing a dramatic, sandy, single track steep decline)

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I may understand why the external de-restrictor is an easier thing to do

Giant SyncDrive Pro 2020 "tuning"

Many options exist to de-restrict Yamaha or SyncDrive motors. The problem is not only the SyncDrive Pro (Yamaha PW-X2) is customised for Giant but also the 2020 Giant e-bikes use the speed-sensor magnet on the rear brake rotor (it was on a spoke before), and the speed sensor is now on the inside...

electricbikereview.com

 

[PDoz]

Ya I can't imagine having a lower speed limit than the US 32km - that's about 19.5 statute miles per hour. That's a reasonable speed on a bike. A couple of more would be nice, but you do run out of gears.


@PDoz - there are a few Specialized Stumpjumper 29's around here - carbon and alloy - do you know anything about them?
I would have to drive into LA. There are Trance bikes the other way, east and south of here, Temecula.

I'll bet if I call on any of them they're not really for sale - already sold. A couple of shops did list size large in a few of these models as "in stock".

Sorry, I haven't ridden one. Our local specialized dealer became Enlightened 3 years ago so most of his customers have as well.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Browneye, as far as I know, the Stumpjumper is the Levo without the battery and motor The King of All-Mountain MTB.

 

[Browneye]

Sorry, I haven't ridden one. Our local specialized dealer became Enlightened 3 years ago so most of his customers have as well.

"Enlightened"? You mean 'fan-boys'??

 

[ruffruff]

Rode the non E Trance at the LBS today. I'm savings my pennies for the E version!

 

[Browneye]

Ebike is the shiznit.
So I've figured out that anything that good or fun has to be illegal. SOMEwhere. LOL

 

[PDoz]

"Enlightened"? You mean 'fan-boys'??

3 years ago the lbs owner bought himself a focus jam and his wife a levo, sorry, he bought the shop 2 demo ebikes....It was just as emtb's were taking off in Australia and those demo bikes gave LOTS of customers an insight into their potential . They've moved through several different demo bikes since and have been waiting for a levo sl for what feels like months. Lets just say the investment paid off and most of the specialized + focus bikes I see locally are emtb.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Stefan, sorry didn't go through the entire post, but do you own the Trance?

Sorry @ruffruff, I missed your post. Yes, I own the Trance E+ 2 Pro. Browneye owns the same model, only different model year. I had some funny adventures on my yesterday's off-road/on-road ride.

The day was very warm and sunny but I could ride out only after work. It turned out I was not only riding against a 20 mph headwind (I didn't know it was that strong since it just was a pleasant coolant) but also into a thunderstorm. I needed to find a shelter very soon; a digital map listed a tourist shelter a mile or so downwind so I began escaping the storm. I was in "weakened PAS 2" but mashed and spinned the pedals vigorously. To my surprise, I hit the 32 km/h limiter instantly

Much later, when the weather cleared up and I had already made most of the route, I emerged from a dirt road onto the tarmac, riding with the wind. Without changing the assistance level, I just gave the bike a lot of input. That time, I hit the limiter at 41.2 km/h (the limiter was already set to 40 km/h or 25 mph). I wished I had set the limiter even higher... The SyncDrive Pro motor is unbelievably powerful under the condition you are really pedalling

On a forest ride segment in rough terrain, I could hear strange noise from the motor (or I believed so). I got really scared: "Oh no! I shouldn't have derestricted the Trance! The motor's broken! Now my brother will have to dismantle the bike again to remove the dongle so I could ask the LBS for a warranty service!" After I rode out onto a dirt road, no noise could be heard anymore. It definitely wasn't the motor! Then... Suddenly I heard the motor screaming! Aaaaargh! "Broken, broken!" -- I panicked. Damn! It was a young guy riding his motocross motorcycle at a distance...

Observations:

• A de-restricted e-bike will ride at the same speed as you're normally getting. The derestrictor doesn't add more speed; it just removes the speed restriction
• If you need to conserve the battery energy, you need to increase your own input to ride faster
• Since e-MTBs are inherently slow bikes, de-restricting a mountain bike allows riding fast but only in short bursts, when you really need it, for example in any kind of emergency
• Riding the de-restricted e-MTB normally, that is, getting at high speed occasionally will not significantly shorten the battery range.

My objective was met. Now, I can ride my e-Trance faster just when I need it (overtaking slow cyclists on-road, escaping dangerous situations, etc). Surely, de-restricting faster types of e-bikes is just another story but my other e-bikes are either Speed or factory-derestricted ones.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Trouble!

When I fell twice with my Trance E+, there was some damage to the dropper seat-post. There are two little plastic wedges at the sides of the seat-post tube to prevent the post rotation. During my fall, my body twisted the seat-post and one of the wedges got slightly damaged in the process. My brother replaced the wedge front-back, so the undamaged side is securing the post against rotation now. However, a slight rotation still occurs. Not 90 degrees as before, it is very slight but the post is not very firm.

Should I buy a replacement seat-post? These are expensive. Or, perhaps, the wedges are named replaceable parts?

Help!

 

[PDoz]

giant contact seat post service kit - about $11 , includes those parts plus a few other wear parts

Giant Contact Switch Seatpost Service Kit (Non SL)

This is a service kit for the Giant Contact Switch Seatpost. Contains top cap, dust seal, and slider set. Contains: Top Cap Dust Seal Slider Set Fits:... 150000083

www.amaincycling.com

Or you can use this as a good excuse to upgrade.... The 180 mm version will replace your puny 125 mm guant post nicely....

OneUp Components V2 Dropper Post with 90-240mm of Travel - 30.9/31.6/34.9

A longer dropper post is one of the best upgrades you can make to your bike. Simply put, the award-winning OneUp Dropper Post is the longest travel dropper you can fit in your bike.

eu.oneupcomponents.com

 

[Stefan Mikes]

giant contact seat post service kit - about $11 , includes those parts plus a few other wear parts

Giant Contact Switch Seatpost Service Kit (Non SL)

This is a service kit for the Giant Contact Switch Seatpost. Contains top cap, dust seal, and slider set. Contains: Top Cap Dust Seal Slider Set Fits:... 150000083

www.amaincycling.com

Or you can use this as a good excuse to upgrade.... The 180 mm version will replace your puny 125 mm guant post nicely....

OneUp Components V2 Dropper Post with 90-240mm of Travel - 30.9/31.6/34.9

A longer dropper post is one of the best upgrades you can make to your bike. Simply put, the award-winning OneUp Dropper Post is the longest travel dropper you can fit in your bike.

eu.oneupcomponents.com

Thank you PDoz! The dropper post you have just shown looks very nice! The price, yes I assume I need the 30.9 mm one, right? Do I need to change the lever or the cable, too?
EDIT: We have made measurements. The 180 mm one will not fit, unluckily. Ordered the 150 mm one.

 

[PDoz]

Thank you PDoz! The dropper post you have just shown looks very nice! The price, yes I assume I need the 30.9 mm one, right? Do I need to change the lever or the cable, too?
EDIT: We have made measurements. The 180 mm one will not fit, unluckily. Ordered the 150 mm one.

It's an awesome dropper - MUCH nicer than the stock Giant. I replaced my giant with the 150 mm one up , with the retrospectoscope I could have run to 180 mm but shimmed back to 170 mm travel ( medium frame) . The be fair, 150 mm is more than enough.

I love the ability to adjust air pressure in the cartridge .

Yes, you can run the stock giant lever - although there are better levers out there ( I just need to work out how to break the giant one so I feel justified replacing it)

Only downside is the post comes up a bit if you lift the bike by the seat. That feature saved my bike when my vertical bike rack tilted back and the bike was dragged along the road by the seat!!!!

 

[ruffruff]

So from what I'm gathering about the Trance neither Stefan or Browneye or PDoz have any regrets with the trance?

I'm seriously thinking about getting rid of of my Rebel for a Trance.

 

[Browneye]

No regrets whatsoever. It's been fantastic.

That's a BH Easy-Motion, right? With Yamaha drive?
Are you having trouble with it? Looking for better components?

I'm relatively sure everything is sold out for the 2020 model year.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

@ruffruff, the Trance E+ is just a fantastic e-bike. Especially if you are not for the speed but rather for the climbing capability and off-road handling. However, I'm replacing the dropper seat-post with the 150 mm one from OneUp.

Today, I had to collect my station wagon from the repair garage. I rode up there with my Trance (the garage owner was very interested with the e-bike). In two minutes, my Trance was inside the car and I drove to the pharmacy. However, there was no parking space available there. So I just drove home, took the Trance off the car, replaced the front wheel and rode to the pharmacy. To save time, I went in the PAS 3. My "unlocked" Trance turned out to be very very fast... ❤

 

[PDoz]

So from what I'm gathering about the Trance neither Stefan or Browneye or PDoz have any regrets with the trance?

I'm seriously thinking about getting rid of of my Rebel for a Trance.

Giant make great bikes for the price, but they aren't perfect.

The dropper post is very much a budget choice - factor in a replacement within 12 months ( one up components was my choice)

Rear hub design isn't perfect, if your mechanic isn't familiar with set up then pm me and I'll dig out my explanation - get it right and it's reliable, get it wrong and they chew out hubs alarmingly

Wheel bearings will need replacing if you ride in wet conditions regularly. I got 300 km out of the rear and about 2000 km out of the front - aftermarket bearings have been faultless( a cheap and easy fix )

The software is a disgrace. Don't even think about updating each giant cr app until someone else has had a chance to run the latest version for long enough to find out what is wrong. The giant cr app department are a really goodargument for corporal punishment.

If mine was stolen, the hardest choice would be what color to replace it with. Unless I had the $ for something sexier ( levo sl or merida e160 10 k .....both are about twice the price of a trance)