Lookiing at a Demo 2018 Xduro 7.0

[Rapid Dog]

Been doing alot of research before I found this forum in the past week.
Hit the local Haibike shop and looking at demos to save. I have about a $3K budget.

I'm a veteran motorcycle rider, both street and dirt.
My MTB biking ended a good 20 years or so ago, thought I'd never do it again so gave my bike away.
But I do love riding on two wheels for fitness. My joints just are not what they use to be...

So I rode a friends 8.0 and my eyes are wide open again.
The local shop has a 2018 XL Xduro 7.0 with 2K miles, with a fresh driveline and a Magura rear brake upgrade, firm on $3200.
Also another demo with 1500 miles as is for $3K OTD.
Both have the Yamaha motor and a full 2 year warranty.
There's also a 2017 Xduro Allmtn 7.0 demo, low miles, L-XL frame at $2850 OTD with the Bosch motor for reference.

So, a couple questions.

Brakes
I don't know much about the brakes (Tektro ) but I do know that Magura makes good motorcycle brakes.
Any opinions on these.

Frame size
I know is important, but sitting on the XL over the L I liked the longer frame.
On motos I am real particular about ergos, especially dirt bikes.
Though I'm only 5'10-ish with a 32" inseam, I have long monkey arms and don't like a cramped feeling.
I feel more in control if I'm not shove over the bars when standing.
I imagine this is subjective...

Suspenders
One other thing, as far as the suspension, the 7.0 has the SR Suntour Durolux R2C fork and the RockShox Super Deluxe RC3 shock.
I'm sure this will be fine. The bike feels plush, which for my old bones is a plus.
If the 7.0 feels better than my old Rockhopper hardtail, I should be good, especially at 180mm fork travel.

All that said, I was set to by a flat bar road bike for fitness, figuring I'd do alot of spinning at high speeds on flat lands.
Did not expect to get another mountain bike.
But after I rode my buddy's Haibike, I am now convinced this is the way to go.
I live where there are lots of hills and not much flat at all.
I expect he and I will be doing some mild offroad and trails as well as the to and from streets.

Even solo, there will be more access to dirt roads than paved streets where I live.
But I'm up for opinions anyway.

Thanks in advance.
Rapid

 

[Joe Remi]

I feel the same way about frame size. I'm 5'-7" and just picked up a used L 2015 Xduro RX29 hardtail with the Bosch motor. It's probably too big as a hardcore mountain bike cuz limited standover clearance, but man I love the stretch to the bars..it feels like I could ride it all day. I did switch to 165mm crankarms, 175s are too long and the leverage isn't necessary on an ebike anyway.

 

[LimboJim]

1500-2000 miles is a LOT of "demo" miles! Sounds more like rentals and/or employee personal use bikes...

 

[Brooks]

RapidDog, you must be in Altadena.
David will let you test ride those bikes until you find the one you like.
I rode 6 of them over a period of 2 days. Then decided on the one he handed me from the start.

 

[MikeDD]

1500-2000 miles is a LOT of "demo" miles! Sounds more like rentals and/or employee personal use bikes...

The 2018 Specialized Turbo Levo I bought last September as a rental had 264 miles. I got a discount of $900 and a new warranty. They also included a dropper seatpost and had converted the tires to tubeless.

 

[Rapid Dog]

RapidDog, you must be in Altadena.
David will let you test ride those bikes until you find the one you like.
I rode 6 of them over a period of 2 days. Then decided on the one he handed me from the start.

I'm in Acton. I did the same. Actually at the Santa Clarita shop. Sam showed me the shop bike and it just seemed to be the one after riding 2 others.
So it's a done deal.

LimboJim - Yes 2K miles but full warranty. They do MTB tours and rentals so they do have miles on them. This particular one has a Magura rear brake upgrade, and the tires I wanted (Rapid Rob)
and included a complete new drive train/chain. So, yeah, I think Sam did me a fair deal including some shop discounts.

The deal breaker could be the actual battery life I reckon. So there's that. Maybe in two years batteries will come down in price.

Baby steps for this old dude. First ride 5 miles. Second ride 10 miles.
Progress...

 

[Brooks]

Good! The Yamaha motors are work horses.

 

[rich c]

That's not a demo, that's a used bike. I can't imagine Haibike will believe it's a demo. Isn't that expecting Haibike to warranty at double life? 2,000 before the warranty starts, with possibly 300-400 charging cycles, then starting over with the real owner? Hope they put their warranty in writing!

 

[Rapid Dog]

That's not a demo, that's a used bike. I can't imagine Haibike will believe it's a demo. Isn't that expecting Haibike to warranty at double life? 2,000 before the warranty starts, with possibly 300-400 charging cycles, then starting over with the real owner? Hope they put their warranty in writing!

O.K., so it's actually the shop bike they use to take others on trail tours. What's your point?
I have faith that Sam's word on a 'full 2 year warranty' is what it is.

Meantime, I'll be tweaking the ergos, and trying to figure away to hold a water bottle. Yeah, I have a Camelback but hate having it on my back.
Anyone have a good suggestion?

 

[Joe Remi]

He's saying they sold you a well-used bike as a demo, which is a little shysty. But you know its history and they say they'll back it up, so you made an informed decision.

Twofish makes this doohickey. I don't know where you would mount it, but there must be a spot somewhere on that bike where it'll fit.

https://www.rivbike.com/products/twofish-strap-on-bottle-cage

 

[Rapid Dog]

Thanks for the link.
I shouldn't have used the description as 'Demo". My bad.

 

[Joe Remi]

Thanks for the link.
I shouldn't have used the description as 'Demo". My bad.

Riv is out of stock (as usual), but you should be able to find one somewhere.

 

[Rapid Dog]

Found several on Amazon.
Main thing is I use my remote seat post alot. Not sue that's going to be a good choice for placement.
As we know the squarish frame tube is iffy for mounting but that's probably where I'll need to mount one.
Thought I saw an SKS velcro water bottle mount on YouTube that looked flat but can't seem to find it.

 

[LimboJim]

O.K., so it's actually the shop bike they use to take others on trail tours. What's your point?
I have faith that Sam's word on a 'full 2 year warranty' is what it is.

Meantime, I'll be tweaking the ergos, and trying to figure away to hold a water bottle. Yeah, I have a Camelback but hate having it on my back.
Anyone have a good suggestion?

I'm partial to SKS's "Anywhere" bottle cage holders.

 

[batmick1]

I'm partial to SKS's "Anywhere" bottle cage holders.

I second the SKS option. Have been using it on my XDuro Trekking RX for over a year now.

 

[Mike TowpathTraveler]

Welcome to Haibike-Yamaha drive ownership! I'm working on 6700 miles on my Haibike Full FatSix, Yamaha PW drive and 400wh battery. Not one glitch on the drive system, nor the bike for that matter, so I suspect you'll be fine with whatever miles you have on your odometer. Get out, ride it, have fun.

Looking at your bike, I'm thinking the most logical location for a water bottle system would be in using your handlebars for a mounting point, using handlebar specific bottle mounts.

Link: https://bikepacking.com/index/add-cage-mounts-bike/

Here is a vendor who has a good listing of what's available out there for the handlebar mounting:
Link: https://www.universalcycles.com/search.php?q=water+bottle+mounts

 

[Rapid Dog]

Thanks Mike. I ended up with the adjustable SKS version that clamps onto (on mine) the bottom of the seat post. We'll see how that holds up next ride.