RandallS
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- Canada
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- Calgary
The MET Helmet has really caught my eye. There is a local retailer that sells their equipment and I hope they bring that one. the Parachute MCR, in this year. Especially in the Black/Matte Red!
eMTB Options For 2024
- Thread starter Browneye
- Start date
FezUSA
Active Member
Bike will be delivered on Monday, so won't know for sure on clearance until then. I'll also probably stick with the SMX's and see how they wear and ride, at least until the JW's are more readily available and have some feedback on here. As for rim size, according the mfg site, they're 35mm.
Stefan Mikes
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- Mazovia, Poland
If there's clearance, 2.6" tyres will be appropriate.
linklemming
Well-Known Member
Nobody of us has ridden JW yet??? Sorry to disappoint you but I have been riding JWs for a month or so now.
I am running a 27.5x2.6 SmartSam in the front and 27.5x2.6 JW in the rear on a DIY GMAC build on a surly troll. I also tried a JW on the front but preferred the offroad traction of the SmartSam. JW is better on the front for pavement/harder dirt.
The JW replaced a smartsam in the rear because the smartsam was just wearing out too fast in the rear.
SmartSam can have some weird tendencies. In certain situations they will tramline (follow lines in the road). I have had a few scary encounters crossing wooden bridges with small gaps parallel to the direction of the center knobs where the tire decides to follow the gap for a second or so. Its a very scary feeling. The smartsam also seem really picky about tire pressure, more so than any other tire I have tried. Its a weird sensation as the second set of knobbies engage (fine otherwise). Basically as you start leaning the bike over, it feels like the tire is going to wash out for a second until you get past the second set of knobs, then all is fine. Most other tires just feel bad all the time when the psi gets too low.
Both SmartSams and JW are great mixed terrain tires. I also run Marathon Plus MTB tires for mixed terrain and like them alot
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FezUSA
Active Member
Pretty sure that front clearance won't be an issue, Rockshox Pike Select+ 29" Boost 110. The rear, I'll have to look at the stays and space under the rack and see. I know Schwalbe put out some overall measurements for some of their tires, what's the total width needed for the 2.6?
linklemming
Well-Known Member
https://www.schwalbe.com/files/schw...n_2020/Reifen_Felgenkombinationen_2020_EN.pdf
Note that there can be quite alot of allowed variance and many people including myself have exceeded these recommendations for years without any issues. That being said, best to follow the reccomendation.
As far as chainstay clearance, easy to check with an allen wrench. Some people get really close (< 5mm clearance) and that will work as long as your tire/rim stays true (my schwalbe tires seem to have alot of runout) and you dont encounter mud. My minimum is 5mm
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Stefan Mikes
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- Mazovia, Poland
The tyre thickness is close to 2.6" (65 mm), so the the tightest distance between the stays should be greater than that. I made some measurements on my Trance E+. The tightest tolerance is between the back of the bottom bracket joint and the front of the rear tyre and it is some 0.6". Some 3/4" between the top of the front tyre and the bottom of the fork crown. My Trance E+ has the WT (35 mm) rims, too, and it came with 27.5 x 2.6" tyres.
Stefan Mikes
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- Mazovia, Poland
I haven't seen your report on EBR Forums yet. Perhaps overlooked it.
FlatSix911
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
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- Silicon Valley
Yes, go with the Johnny Watts tires... here's the review from EMTB magazine.
https://ebike-mtb.com/en/
Specially developed for e-bikes, the folding tire has been designed to be particularly fast rolling on hard surfaces while being very durable and offering good puncture protection.
The tread pattern provides a big contact surface that minimizes vibrations and keeps the tire ultra-quiet on bike paths.
Santa Claus and eMTBers alike could move through the neighborhood unnoticed, not disturbing anyone or attracting attention with noisy tires.
The pronounced knobs allow the tire to behave predictably on various surfaces. The new Johnny Watts tire is available for 27.5″ and 29″ wheels in widths ranging from 2.35″ to 2.8″.
from € 39.90
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linklemming
Well-Known Member
I was putting off the review until I reached 1k miles on my DIY GMAC build which I will likely do this weekend.
I bought a few sets JWs of 27.5x2.6 as soon as they were available on schwalbe site.
As I stated above, I like both the Smart Sam(SS) and JW. I tend to favor the SS on the front as when I really care about traction, Im on a surface (fine loose gravel) that favors the SS. In these conditions, the SS is simply amazing(only rivaled by my 2.8nobby nics and 2.4DHF). The SS seems to let me down when all the small knobs get overloaded in more hardpacked and paved surfaces where it even scares me sometimes. I dont like the SS wear in the rear.
The 2.6 JW feels alot like my marathon plus MTB(M+MTB) only better because of width (marathon maxes out at 2.35). Nothing wrong with that as I have run the M+MTB for two seasons on two bikes and loved them.
I could live with any of the tires. If any of these (M+MTB,SS,JW) came in a 27.5x2.6 with puncture protection of the M+MTB, I would likely run that on all my 'gravel bikes'. No SS in the Plus version seemed available in the states but I just got a set from the netherlands thru amazon with free shipping (took 10 weeks).
I also run stans sealant in my tubes but have had a scary scenario where about 20 goatheads slowly deflated my tire which wasnt noticed until I transitioned from gravel to concrete (small step up) in a corner coming up on a bike bridge/overpass at 20+mph. Still not sure how I survived that. I prefer as much flat protection as possible.
linklemming
Well-Known Member
The chain wear gauge is actually 5.25" overall, measuring 5" of chain
Why dont you outline the exact method you use to measure chain wear with your digital calibers so I can replicate and I can start tracking measurements and compare it to my shimano go/nogo tool and publish the results. Do you clean your chain before measurement (hopefully off the bike and ultrasonically)? How do you correct/negate the effects of parallax? At the level of precision your proposing, all this matters!
Amazon has larger size calibers available in the states. Perhaps they are not available in Poland? Maybe polish men dont need to measure anything greater than 6inches
One would have to be a fool to discount the wealth of information SB brought to cycling which is still very relevant to ebiking as well. They are definately more factual than many of the adhoc answers I see posted by the top posters on these forums
What insight do you think SB would have gotten from riding an ebike? Perhaps you can provide us with a better source of information? I love to learn new bike stuff.
Perhaps this will wet your desire for thru axle(which Im a huge fan of) knowledge:
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Stefan Mikes
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- Mazovia, Poland
The procedure for measuring chain wear with a calliper is the following: Stretch the chain. Measure distance between centres of pins 10 links apart. 127 mm = brand new chain. 128 mm = need to replace. 129 mm = your cassette cogs are probably already worn. I was taught that technique by a respected EBR Forum member after a Shimano chain wear tool fooled me so much I had to replace the drivetrain in one of my e-bikes.
In 1831, a German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer published a treatise known in English as "The Art of Being Right: 38 Ways to Win an Argument" a.k.a. "Eristic Dialectic: The Art of Winning an Argument". There, Schopenhauer described all known dishonest ways to win over an opponent disregarding the material truth. The last stratagem, #38 was "Become Personal, Insulting, Rude" or argumentum ad personam. Meaning, the person using that argumentum has lost. Nothing has changed since Schopenhauer times.Perhaps they are not available in Poland? Maybe polish men dont need to measure anything greater than 6inches
Stefan Mikes
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- Mazovia, Poland
Hi All,
I haven't ridden my Trance E+ very much this Winter except of a short snow/ice interval. Quite recently, I've joined a riding group. I was offered a ride for a cold and very windy Sunday with two experienced traditional cyclists. The "gravel guy" plotted a route consisting of 80% of more difficult terrain. I was smart enough to take my Trance for the ride. (I completely forgot my tubeless Ice Spiker Pro had been inflated to very low pressure for snow). Some impressions:
The pack leader rode a gravel bike, and the other buddy had a hardtail MTB (his "winter bike"; he is a competing roadie in the warm season). It was just delightful to ride my Trance on: sand, bumpy packed gravel, fresh loose gravel, soft/muddy dirt, and even on "roads" "improved" with loose lumps of rubble. Whenever my buddies had to slow down almost to standstill to be able to negotiate hard ride segments, I could actually accelerate there and ride at speed, say, 21 km/h. So I could wait for my friends at the end of such segments. (It was not only the full suspension of the bike but also low-pressure tyres that made it possible). Well. On road, I was paying penalty for low pressure wheels and had to use more assistance to follow my friends, especially downwind.
We here had some talk about adjusting the air shock pressure before. As you might have remembered that, I went down to as little as 65 psi for the sus fork of my Trance. Surprise! After 75 km ride, it turned out only 50-60% of the shock travel was used. If you don't jump, 150 mm of fork travel is a lot...
On the trail.
P.S. This morning it turned out the rear damper of my Trance was underinflated beyond any reason! I immediately re-inflated it.
I haven't ridden my Trance E+ very much this Winter except of a short snow/ice interval. Quite recently, I've joined a riding group. I was offered a ride for a cold and very windy Sunday with two experienced traditional cyclists. The "gravel guy" plotted a route consisting of 80% of more difficult terrain. I was smart enough to take my Trance for the ride. (I completely forgot my tubeless Ice Spiker Pro had been inflated to very low pressure for snow). Some impressions:
The pack leader rode a gravel bike, and the other buddy had a hardtail MTB (his "winter bike"; he is a competing roadie in the warm season). It was just delightful to ride my Trance on: sand, bumpy packed gravel, fresh loose gravel, soft/muddy dirt, and even on "roads" "improved" with loose lumps of rubble. Whenever my buddies had to slow down almost to standstill to be able to negotiate hard ride segments, I could actually accelerate there and ride at speed, say, 21 km/h. So I could wait for my friends at the end of such segments. (It was not only the full suspension of the bike but also low-pressure tyres that made it possible). Well. On road, I was paying penalty for low pressure wheels and had to use more assistance to follow my friends, especially downwind.
We here had some talk about adjusting the air shock pressure before. As you might have remembered that, I went down to as little as 65 psi for the sus fork of my Trance. Surprise! After 75 km ride, it turned out only 50-60% of the shock travel was used. If you don't jump, 150 mm of fork travel is a lot...
On the trail.
P.S. This morning it turned out the rear damper of my Trance was underinflated beyond any reason! I immediately re-inflated it.
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bob armani
Well-Known Member
I get your points referring to fork travel. For some reason, I had to over-inflate my 150mm fork over the recommended specs based on my weight. I started at the spec, and worked from there. Once I got it to a comfortable inflation, my travel was quite comfortable. Same for the rear. I have not had to change it ever since doing the initial inflating of both front and rear. Looks like a nice riding group suited up in 'easy to spot' gear.
Stefan Mikes
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- Mazovia, Poland
Funny that I had to inflate the rear damper to the maximum of 300 psi to ensure a proper initial sag...
bob armani
Well-Known Member
Yeah, sometimes I think the specs are a bit off based on your weight. I just go by how it feels when pressing down on the bars (in a forward position) and tweak it from there.
Stefan Mikes
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Well, both the fork and the damper of mine are equipped with o-rings for quick visual inspection and measurement. In case your fork doesn't, you can attach a piece of rubber-band for the same.
DaveMatthews
Well-Known Member
Same thing on my Stance
Stefan Mikes
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Could it be the low winter temperature to make the pressure go down so much?
DaveMatthews
Well-Known Member
Sure, let's go with that. It couldn't be my beer belly, right?
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