eMTB Options For 2024

Talk to me about chain rings again...
The new Stance has a 38T alloy front, my Trance is 36T steel. The overall gearing is a lot better on the stance, and I've considered a 40T for the Trance, but I think just a couple of teeth would give me the improvement I want.

Why would they put a steel ring on the Trance? Evidently they're more durable, but how much and at what weight cost? Maybe it doesn't make that much difference. [shrug]
The Praxis steel ring they come with isn't available in 38T. Wolf has one but they're out of stock 'till the end of the month - I have a notification registered. There are lots of alloy ones of all sizes and colors.

Will I need more links or a new chain to go 38 or 40T?
Will this work on my bike? https://www.jensonusa.com/Race-Face-104-BCD-Narrow-Wide-Chainring
Do I need new bolts?


iu
 
Browneye said:
Talk to me about chain rings again...
The new Stance has a 38T alloy front, my Trance is 36T steel. The overall gearing is a lot better on the stance, and I've considered a 40T for the Trance, but I think just a couple of teeth would give me the improvement I want.

Why would they put a steel ring on the Trance? Evidently they're more durable, but how much and at what weight cost? Maybe it doesn't make that much difference. [shrug]
The Praxis steel ring they come with isn't available in 38T. Wolf has one but they're out of stock 'till the end of the month - I have a notification registered. There are lots of alloy ones of all sizes and colors.

Will I need more links or a new chain to go 38 or 40T?
Will this work on my bike? https://www.jensonusa.com/Race-Face-104-BCD-Narrow-Wide-Chainring
Do I need new bolts?


iu
Click to expand...

Good alloy chainrings last reasonably - I've been running that race face for 3 years , which is a lot better than the 3 km I got from the steel piece of junk giant supplied !!!

Some alloy rings wear alarmingly - we only got 1 chain out of the sram alloy ring my daughters genius came with - and that's a mebike!

If your derailleur looks tight on the granny gear with the larger chainring , you will likely need a chain with an extra link - or just adjust it to not use granny gear until the next chain is due? I'm not a fan of adding a new link to a worn chain - the tight spot seems to wear out cassettes quicker.

Are you sure it's the chainring and not the wider cadence support / 29 inch wheels / she's just faster than you? ( my ego hurts today - sprogette 1 has started browsing on her phone whilst she waits for me)
 
PDoz said:
Good alloy chainrings last reasonably - I've been running that race face for 3 years , which is a lot better than the 3 km I got from the steel piece of junk giant supplied !!!

Some alloy rings wear alarmingly - we only got 1 chain out of the sram alloy ring my daughters genius came with - and that's a mebike!

If your derailleur looks tight on the granny gear with the larger chainring , you will likely need a chain with an extra link - or just adjust it to not use granny gear until the next chain is due? I'm not a fan of adding a new link to a worn chain - the tight spot seems to wear out cassettes quicker.

Are you sure it's the chainring and not the wider cadence support / 29 inch wheels / she's just faster than you? ( my ego hurts today - sprogette 1 has started browsing on her phone whilst she waits for me)
Click to expand...

Ya, that cassette really has some rings, don't it??
No, she's not faster, this is for my riding. I was surprised to see that 38T primary on the Stance - it's what I've been thinking the Trance should have since I got it. First is simply unusable. The bike should really be able to go 40kmh on tarmac. But I digress...

We drew a 20' circle on the street in front of the house - she has to be able to ride circles both directions inside that ring. And there's a straight line, and slalom X's - she has to learn basic bike handling. She ends up having to stop when we're out on a ride cuz she can't manage the obstacles. It's an unsafe skill level. But she's up for it. 👍
 
Friends, I need an advice.

A friend in Poland considers either a Trek Powerfly 5 or Giant Trance E+ X 29 Pro 2 or 3 -- both 2021. He does mountain biking but none of the Enduro stuff. (His wife rides Liv Vall-E). When I compared the Powerfly 5 to Trance E+ Pro 3, I could see similar specifications. I was only not happy with the Bosch motor on Trek because of the Purion display, 500 Wh battery, and 2 A charger. Giant offers 625 Wh battery, RideControl Charge remote, and a 6 A charger.

Both Trek 5 and Giant 3 are equipped with the same Rock Shox 35 Gold RL fork. Any good? I suggested to my friend to look at the Giant 2 with Fox 36 fork; and to ask the LBS on possible discount. Am I misleading my friend?
 
Stefan Mikes said:
Friends, I need an advice.

A friend in Poland considers either a Trek Powerfly 5 or Giant Trance E+ X 29 Pro 2 or 3 -- both 2021. He does mountain biking but none of the Enduro stuff. (His wife rides Liv Vall-E). When I compared the Powerfly 5 to Trance E+ Pro 3, I could see similar specifications. I was only not happy with the Bosch motor on Trek because of the Purion display, 500 Wh battery, and 2 A charger. Giant offers 625 Wh battery, RideControl Charge remote, and a 6 A charger.

Both Trek 5 and Giant 3 are equipped with the same Rock Shox 35 Gold RL fork. Any good? I suggested to my friend to look at the Giant 2 with Fox 36 fork; and to ask the LBS on possible discount. Am I misleading my friend?
Click to expand...
@Prairie Dog has the MY21 Trance E+ X29 2 and up until his recent mystery power issue, seemed to like it a lot.
Heck, if there was one around, I might splurge on the same - but thankfully, there's none to be found anywhere near here in my size.
 
Stefan Mikes said:
Friends, I need an advice.

A friend in Poland considers either a Trek Powerfly 5 or Giant Trance E+ X 29 Pro 2 or 3 -- both 2021. He does mountain biking but none of the Enduro stuff. (His wife rides Liv Vall-E). When I compared the Powerfly 5 to Trance E+ Pro 3, I could see similar specifications. I was only not happy with the Bosch motor on Trek because of the Purion display, 500 Wh battery, and 2 A charger. Giant offers 625 Wh battery, RideControl Charge remote, and a 6 A charger.

Both Trek 5 and Giant 3 are equipped with the same Rock Shox 35 Gold RL fork. Any good? I suggested to my friend to look at the Giant 2 with Fox 36 fork; and to ask the LBS on possible discount. Am I misleading my friend?
Click to expand...

Both bikes are perfectly capable , but if you had similar lbs support and similar price, I'd go for trek over giant.

Trek build solid bikes, things like suspension bushes last longer than giant . The local trek riders seem to get less electrical gremlins than I've had with my giant - and they've clocked up over 10,000 km of extreme yet trouble free riding on each bike (4 )

The rock shock 35 gold is halfway between a suntour and the fox 36. It's ok , but not outstanding.
 
Browneye said:
We drew a 20' circle on the street in front of the house - she has to be able to ride circles both directions inside that ring. And there's a straight line, and slalom X's - she has to learn basic bike handling. She ends up having to stop when we're out on a ride cuz she can't manage the obstacles. It's an unsafe skill level. But she's up for it. 👍
Click to expand...

For a moment there, I thought you were making her manual then pivot in a 20 inch circle - I'm not sure I could do that in both directions!
 
PDoz said:
Both bikes are perfectly capable , but if you had similar lbs support and similar price, I'd go for trek over giant.
Click to expand...
Thank you very much PDoz! I have passed your info to Daniel. He will have the chance to demo ride the mentioned e-bikes. He's glad you said a good word for Trek as the Trek LBS is the best in his city. It matters a lot!
 
PDoz said:
For a moment there, I thought you were making her manual then pivot in a 20 inch circle - I'm not sure I could do that in both directions!
Click to expand...

She doesn't "manual"...at all. LOL
No, just ride a smooth even circle in both directions - still learning basic balance and control.
Will probly try to get her riding lessons/training/class. Especially for any off-road skills.
The dropper seat is an entirely new concept for her. She likes it, but there's nothing automatic about it yet.
There are some good YT vids on basic control and balance, techniques and drills, that helped a lot.
And she's grappling with 12 gears, one at a time with the SRAM Eagle. The bike fits good and is easy to ride, so she will gain skills with seat time and practice.

I take it all for granted - 55 years of riding bikes, unicycles, and motorcycles. Skill becomes second nature - muscle memory, you don't even think about it.
 
Browneye said:
I take it all for granted - 55 years of riding bikes, unicycles, and motorcycles. Skill becomes second nature - muscle memory, you don't even think about it.
Click to expand...

Unicycle? :oops:

It'll be interesting to hear how / if your personal skills / techniques evolve as she learns. I've found myself rethinking many of my old techniques . The kids have outgrown my skills and started researching - so I'm noticing the advantages of their more modern styles. As an example, I tend to ride balanced through the pegs but the kids are tending to ride weight forward / through their shoulders.
 
Yeah, my first back injury was falling off a 6' unicycle. Yes, the seat was 2 meters off the ground, chain drive.
I used to deliver newspapers on a unicycle, could ride frontward or backward equally well, even sideways by 'manual' as you call it. LOL

I ride peg balanced (pedals) from my motorcycle days, but lean front or back for terrain, sideways for off camber and cornering.
One thing I did notice while paying attention, is that I one-finger the brakes at all times, and a bit of rear will make you fall into a corner - use it as a balancing aid. That must come from the observed trials days.

At least she's enthusiastic, if not too athletic! LOL
 
@PDoz: Latest news!

Daniel has actually bought an e-MTB. He went to Giant LBS: No discount, cold approach. He went to Specialized - same. He went to Cube, KTM. No deal. The Trek dealer has won; he offered a nice discount and credit for part of the payment, zero interest rate. Now guess what e-bike...

-- Trek Rail 5 625 Wh
:)

Daniel and his wife go to the LBS as of tomorrow to finalize the purchase. Now, a married couple of friends of mine has become an eMTBer family!

We have talked with Daniel by phone. He of course could demo ride any e-bike he wanted (despite of the hard market situation, e-MTBs were there). Not only the financial terms and the reputation of the Trek dealer were the best but Daniel also liked the "massive" feel of the Rail 5; he's a large person and felt he looked good on this e-bike:

1618622300298.png


P.S Częstochowa; what an interesting city. Only 220,000 inhabitants but so many major e-bike brands are represented there... The area is Jurassic with a lot of hills and trails: everything between Częstochowa and Cracow; and Daniel has means to transport his Rail 5, his wife's Vall-E, and their son MTB.
P.S.2. Daniel liked a Cube the most but it was too expensive, especially the credit terms with high interest rate.
 
Last edited:
Stefan Mikes said:
@PDoz: Latest news!

Daniel has actually bought an e-MTB. He went to Giant LBS: No discount, cold approach. He went to Specialized - same. He went to Cube, KTM. No deal. The Trek dealer has won; he offered a nice discount and credit for part of the payment, zero interest rate. Now guess what e-bike...

-- Trek Rail 5 625 Wh
:)

Daniel and his wife go to the LBS as of tomorrow to finalize the purchase. Now, a married couple of friends of mine has become an eMTBer family!

We have talked with Daniel by phone. He of course could demo ride any e-bike he wanted (despite of the hard market situation, e-MTBs were there). Not only the financial terms and the reputation of the Trek dealer were the best but Daniel also liked the "massive" feel of the Rail 5; he's a large person and felt he looked good on this e-bike:

View attachment 84964

P.S Częstochowa; what an interesting city. Only 220,000 inhabitants but so many major e-bike brands are represented there... The area is Jurassic with a lot of hills and trails: everything between Częstochowa and Cracow; and Daniel has means to transport his Rail 5, his wife's Vall-E, and their son MTB.
P.S.2. Daniel liked a Cube the most but it was too expensive, especially the credit terms with high interest rate.
Click to expand...
Gorgeous looking bike and congrats to Daniel on his new ride! 👍The Rail 5 was one that was near the top of my list besides the Levo and Trance. I love the shorter chainstays on the Trek. I still am quite enamoured with the Giant despite the latest set back. The electrical issue seems to have been resolved and hopefully it will be smooth sailing from here on in. The bike goes back to the shop tomorrow for a new wiring harness.
 
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