eMTB Options For 2024

[PDoz]

The more I shop the better the YT Decoy looks. For $4500 you just get a lot of high-end components. And with them not too far of a drive to get to, if it blew up the motor I could easily take it to them on a warranty claim.

PDoz makes some good points in favor of an alloy frame though. I also am a big fan of the yamaha mid-drive.
For about $200 more I can get the 2020 Trance E+1, with Fox suspension. Other than the carbon frame I think they're pretty similar component-wise. No matter what, still a LOT of $$. Twice as much as Lenny's sale bikes.

They're all great bikes, but if it was me the decision would come down to dealer and the price difference is just travel $ ( I'm self employed so taking a morning off work to travel to a shop pretty much pays for a more expensive bike)

To be fair, if I wanted a down hill bike I'd walk straight past the decoy and buy a levo sl - kg matter down hill.

For a compromise tough work horse it'd be the trance, highest spec I could jystify.

For a sexy trail machine, I'b buy a norco - as a company they seem to sink emotion into design. Irrational, but that's what my limbic lobe tells me. And I'd go alloy 27.5 sight.

 

[Browneye]

@PDoz - your input is invaluable. Experience makes all the difference.

From my own research I found the same general consensus on wheel size - the bigger wheels roll a little easier over obstacles, tend to be a little faster. The 27.5 turn a little quicker, are a bit stronger. But geometry is everything, regardless of wheel size. Tire size even further blurs the difference between them. I don't think I'm a candidate for a 26'r.

Bike choice boils down a lot to rider skill and terrain - the guys flying through the air need a better bike than me.

My Giant dealer called their DC and 2019 Trance SX Pro in large is available, $5800 out the door, tax and everything. That makes it the same price as a 2019 Specialized Turbo Levo Comp.
The Giant Trance E+1 Pro - $5300 all in.
E+3 - $4200 all in.

Seems my local mountain bike shop is a Norco dealer. IIRC they had one on the floor, but it was carbon and about $8500. Seems like it had a Canadian maple leaf emblem on it too.
The other local Norco dealer is the shop we bought wife's Specialized Roll from - pedal bike. I forgot about them, need to go see what they have.

What do you know about Shimano Steps E7000 vs E8000?
I think I read the E8000 is the newer model, a little more punchy, but many liked the E7000 better.

Norco Sight VLT C3, 27.5 Alloy - $5399 msrp
(EDIT: Oops...this is a carbon frame. I could not find a 27.5 alloy frame version, only 29-r, the SIGHT VLT A2 29 - $5199
There is also a E7000 powered model, the A1 29 for $4399)

EDIT2: New 29'r review from Loam Wolf: https://theloamwolf.com/2020/02/18/first-ride-norco-bicycles-sight-vlt-29/
Evidently the 27.5 has been replaced by the 29 for 2020
They love them.

 

[Browneye]

How does one get a NORCO discount code???

 

[BillH]

How does one get a NORCO discount code???

Lightly used on EBay maybe?

 

[PDoz]

Sorry, I had thought norco were bringing out alloy 27.5's but it looks like they only bother with the 29. Not sure I'd go the 29 , but I like nimble . I think they are running both 27.5 and 29 in parallel.

If you're going giant , that sx is worth considering. It's going to cost you $100 to extend the lower spec trance forks and they'd still be a lower standard than the sx. I'm basing this on you commenting that the decoy felt too low for you, so the 160 mm sx forks beat the 150 mm . You'll probably still beed higher bars, but they're a relatively cheap upgrade and very personal.

I've only ridden e8's so can't comment on the e7. Stepping from my pwx giant the e 8 felt slow to respond but perfectly adequate. I could like with shimano if it meant better geometry, but being perfectly honest I'm not good enough to justify changing ( and I love the yamaha instant engagement )

Check out warranth details if considering second hand - eg giant do not transfer warranty, specialuzed do, I have no idea about norco.

The only reason I'd consider soecialized is the New lighter levo sl. I don't think I'd enjoy the worry of living with a brose motor and being too scared to ride throughcreeks. Sure, they look sexy and spend lots of $ buttering up journalists....but life us too shirt to worry about reluability

 

[Browneye]

I swear, you could be my brother. LOL
When do we ride down there??? Australia is like the wild wild west in the US. Have always wanted to see it.

Every two-wheeled contraption I buy needs a bar riser - dozens of bikes. Motorcycles, anyway - they all got a bar riser. Remember, I'm about as limber as a 2x4. Some eight back and neck injuries, I can't bend over to tie my shoes, but I can put a foot up on a chair. I only wear redwing boots - got five pairs of them. LOL It's a wonder I can ride at all.

There are so many good shops around here, but I have my favorites. I'm going to hit a few more and see what eclectic things there are out there, and pick a dealer. The Norco bikes are intriguing - I've run across them before. Another old riding buddy that had a husky mentioned them for a pedalic when we bought new bikes three years ago, and Santa Cruz - another local custom bike builder - brand new ebike out. I just found out about a couple more - Pivot and Intrigue, I think. More research. I might even find a 27.5 Norco out there as a leftover. People don't know what this stuff is.

The people I bought my Giant from bought that store thirty years ago, but the original store has been there since the fifties. It's like a classic good place. I've met the owner now too, these are red blooded American family salt of the earth people that just want to make sure you're happy.

The old timers in the biz have a cult-like following. I mentioned that with YT too, the groupies and fanboys hang around cuz they just love the place. It's like walking into a ethnic restaurant and all the patrons are of the same ethnicity - you know it will be good.

 

[FlatSix911]

Browneye, before you make a final decision you may want to take a look at Competitive Cyclist.

They have recently added some solid high-end EBikes from Pivot, Santa Cruz and Devinci (30% off)

eMountain | Competitive Cyclist

Find a wide range of eMountain bikes at Competitivecyclist.com.

www.competitivecyclist.com

 

[BillH]

Whyte has some new eMTB's with the new 2020 Bosch CX motor.

E-180 RS $7499

E-150S $5999

 

[Browneye]

Well, I just had a rude awakening today...
I don't know what made me check, I guess looking at where I might be able to ride a eMTB, so I was scoping out online the local undeveloped areas, parks, and the mountains surrounding the basin here.
I thought all those old single tracks in the mountains they had closed to motorcycles over the past couple of decades were now being ridden by mountain bikes, and I was sure I would be able to as well. NOT. Not only does this state hate electric bikes, the people that ride regular mountain bikes hate them worse. OMG. Only the people that ride them like them, everybody else wants them off the trails - hikers, horse people, mountain bikers, and land managers. The vitriol is astounding.

The entire Sierra range is closed to eMTB's except for a small riding area right in Mammoth Lakes area, and on what's left of motorized routes for regular dirtbikes. All of national parks are still closed, even with a federal law change to permit them, all forest service land under department of agriculture is also consider off limits to 'motorized vehicles'. And all CA state parks are closed to electrics.

Basically you can only ride on dirt roads open to all motor vehicles. What. The. Hell.

Well, we have a few areas, but basically the entire state is shut down to ebikes except for roads and paved bike paths. I need to go talk to the mountain bike shop, find out what people are doing.
Not what I expected at all.

 

[FlatSix911]

Sad, but true in too many locations... welcome to Kalifornia!

 

[Browneye]

I found some local guys with new bikes on mtbr.com, will contact them about where they've found to ride.
One of them has a new TranceE1 from my regular dealer!

It's slowly changing, and I see BLM changed their policy last October to allow ebikes wherever regular bikes are allowed, so that's a big step in the right direction.

It turns out that so many access points are tenuous at best with the mtb crowd, and adding the additional load of bikes with a motor risks access for everyone. Some of them have been riding 'not formally authorized' trails for years, up to 20 years, and those are are risk as well. The other side of the coin is that if a few emtb's make or break it then it likely isn't the ebikers fault anyway. There are some really nasty people online - evidently they're not so evil in person, everyone is having fun out on the trail.

 

[LimboJim]

80+% of eMTB naysayers I've encountered have never experienced a pedal assist bike on trails. If the discussion takes place on trails, I offer them to try mine but 90% of them refuse. Nothing will convince them that it's really just a bicycle with a bit of electric support.

If enough of us eMTB yea-sayers join the MTB Assns, however, and their existing members continue to enter into AARP eligibility and need help to keep riding into their 80s, we can, must and absolutely will get beyond the vitriol. Peaceful, respectful SHARING the TRAILS is the American Way, dammit!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Many traditional cyclists believe it is a virtue to suffer on the ride The more you suffer the greater you are.
(Sorry, I slept until 2 a.m. and am sleepless now).

 

[PDoz]

This really is a us specific thing- and perhaps an opportunity to reflect on cost of the whole high power / high speed thing. I'd estimate that 2/3 people a week ride my emtb at local trail centres - especially the hilly one where parents are driving kids up and down. Once a bored dad has towed his kid up a hill then blasted back down, the smile is priceless . As a result, emtb are increasing in popularity and the dealer always smiles as I walk in the store.

Perhaps worth considering - if emtb is scorned upon go as stealth as possible - something live a levo sl - no visible battery and a tiny under powered motor that even the most masochistic wheezer is going to accept as a bike???

 

[Browneye]

Many traditional cyclists believe it is a virtue to suffer on the ride The more you suffer the greater you are.
(Sorry, I slept until 2 a.m. and am sleepless now).

This I find mind-boggling. These narcissist are really serious about themselves. It's like masochism. And they're SERIOUS about it - you HAVE to burn or you're worthless. Really? At my age I'm DONE with that. LOL

 

[BillH]

Been awhile since I spent any time at the mtbr forum and see nothing has changed regarding the anti eMTB attitude. Reminds me of the anti Snowboarding crusade back in the mid 80's in the USA. Took some years, but just like with Snowboarding, acceptance is inevitable here due to the burgeoning popularity. Even Santa Cruz bikes, one of the last bastions of acoustic mtb's, has given in to the fact that eMTB's are here to stay and have already predicted that half their sales in the not to distant future will be eMTB's.

Haters will be haters.....that will never change sadly.

 

[Browneye]

As technology progresses it becomes highly likely that all bikes will have assist, and it will be innocuous. Then 'acoustic', or regular pedal bikes, will be the minority.
Some riders have come to the conclusion that ALL of the haters will have to eat their words if they wish to continue riding their mountain bikes into retirement age. Many have already 'flipped', while others are simply just hold-outs.

Where did the 'acoustic' thing come from? Bicycles are not musical instruments, nor are they related to sound. [shrug] Perhaps it's in relation to an 'acoustic guitar' verses an electric one.

a·cous·tic
/əˈko͞ostik/
adjective: acoustic
1. relating to sound or the sense of hearing.
"dogs have a much greater acoustic range than humans"
(of building materials) used for soundproofing or modifying sound.
"acoustic tiles"
(of an explosive mine or other weapon) able to be set off by sound waves.
2. (of popular music or musical instruments) not having electrical amplification.
"a sad, gentle acoustic ballad"
noun: acoustic; plural noun: acoustics; noun: acoustics
1. the properties or qualities of a room or building that determine how sound is transmitted in it.
"Symphony Hall has perfect acoustics"
2. the branch of physics concerned with the properties of sound.

 

[LimboJim]

As technology progresses it becomes highly likely that all bikes will have assist, and it will be innocuous. Then 'acoustic', or regular pedal bikes, will be the minority.
Some riders have come to the conclusion that ALL of the haters will have to eat their words if they wish to continue riding their mountain bikes into retirement age. Many have already 'flipped', while others are simply just hold-outs.

Where did the 'acoustic' thing come from? Bicycles are not musical instruments, nor are they related to sound. [shrug] Perhaps it's in relation to an 'acoustic guitar' verses an electric one.

a·cous·tic
/əˈko͞ostik/
adjective: acoustic
1. relating to sound or the sense of hearing.
"dogs have a much greater acoustic range than humans"
(of building materials) used for soundproofing or modifying sound.
"acoustic tiles"
(of an explosive mine or other weapon) able to be set off by sound waves.
2. (of popular music or musical instruments) not having electrical amplification.
"a sad, gentle acoustic ballad"
noun: acoustic; plural noun: acoustics; noun: acoustics
1. the properties or qualities of a room or building that determine how sound is transmitted in it.
"Symphony Hall has perfect acoustics"
2. the branch of physics concerned with the properties of sound.

Remember when Bob Dylan busted out an electric guitar at Newport Folk Fest in the 60s?

Oh, the outrage!!!!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Perhaps it's in relation to an 'acoustic guitar' verses an electric one.

This.
I'm friends with Michael Lonstar, a C&W singer/songwriter. When he learned about my electric bikes, he jokingly stated he preferred acoustic bikes. He was making the (obvious) analogy with the electric vs acoustic guitar (and he rides no bike). If a person so remote to cycling makes up such an analogy, no wonder the term "acoustic bike" became so contagious

Remember when Bob Dylan busted out an electric guitar at Newport Folk Fest in the 60s?

Oh, the outrage!!!!

I've heard about that. He played Fender Telecaster.

 

[Browneye]

Fender is right here in so-cal. Lol