FS E-mtb + Mountainous, rocky single track = HIGH MAINTENANCE

[VirgilCaine]

My atom lynx 6 has been a blast to ride, but the long descents, baby heads and rock gardens are taking a toll along with the stress of a mid-drive motor.
After 365 miles, I had to replace the chain, rear cassette and rear brake pads as well as re-truing the rotors. So after replacing the stock tires and pedals, I have put another 500.00 in my bike, but it's running like a top. I'll be interested to see what the cost of ownership works out to be.

 

[elyhim]

Hmm my cassettes last about 1k miles of singletrack. I've started switching chains every couple hundren miles, makes the cassettes last. Brake pads? Why do you brake? lol JK, change them often enough every few months I guess. I replace spokes more than anything from riding nuts down trails and kicking sticks into the wheels. My first chain I fixed like three times (ebike chain) but I just buy shimano cheap chains now with np. Rotors haven't touched but I really don't do much braking.

 

[LimboJim]

Interesting, I've been riding eMTBs for 2.5 years now (FS for 1.5 years), and have amassed a few thousand fairly rugged trail miles on them in the vast, 3000+ acre trail network right off my backyard in Western MA. My rides are usually 12-20 miles loops with 2.5k elevation gain, an average hill grade of 7% (peaking at 27%). I also got spiked tires and ride on everything but really deep mud and/or unpacked snow.

As a rule, I change my 11-speed chains at 0.5% stretch and 10-speeds or less at 0.75% (most checker tools I've seen only check .75% & 1%). I've also been using condition-appropriate, quality MucOff lubes before each ride, and keeping the drivetrain (and bike) pretty freakin' clean. I hope to get well over 1000 miles from all bikes' my cassettes (one of them goes for over $300 ).

With 11-speed drivetrains on my 90Nm Brose T (same as the Lynx 6) and 70Nm Shimano e8000 assisted bikes, I'm changing chains every 150-250 miles at 0.5% stretch. My 80Nm Yamaha PW powered 10-speed Allmtn+ Haibike, however went nearly 400 miles before it hit 0.5%! I recently sold that bike, though, and replaced it with an 8-speed (SRAM EX1 w/75Nm Bosch CX) Haibike Allmtn. 300 miles so far on the first chain and still under 0.5%. The CX motor in "EMTB Mode" feels to me like the most powerful, despite its lower claimed torque than the Brose.

Because of the hills here, all my bikes rip through brake pads every few months (metallic lasts a bit longer for me), but I've yet to need to tune or replace any rotors. I suppose I oughtta bleed the brakes every so often, but I've yet to experience any problems with them. With Schwalbe tires, I found their old "Pace Star" to be far more durable than the softer "Trail Star" versions. My Maxxis tires have held up better than any of my Schwalbes.

After selling the Allmtn+ for 2/3 of what I paid, and factoring parts & service (I do 90% of my own maintenance and at least 2/3 of my own repairs), I estimated that I paid about $1.25-1.50 per mile on that bike. It's not a cheap hobby, but way less expensive than sailing, skiing, motorsports and many other recreational activities that don't offer half the cardio benefits, IMO. I've been decimated by Lyme Disease a couple times in the past decade, and for me, eMTBs are life-affirming, life-saving "toys" that are well worth the expense!