Looking for suggestions on a 27.5 plus ebike

[WalkinTarget]

I joined the forum about a month ago after digesting just about every fatbike video Court ever posted as well as poring over the forums to get an idea of what ebike I wanted when it was time to buy. I immediately was drawn to the Juiced Rip Current S, as for the price it seemed ideally what I wanted for the riding that I do - 90% flat trails with no hills in sight, and maybe *stress maybe here* 10% hills somewhere around me. To me, that screams rear hub .. REAR HUB !! Again, the RCS with a 750w rear hub was looking good. But, as everyone knows, if you have your heart set on ordering from Juiced, be prepared to be heartbroken.

So in the last 2 months, I have had an opportunity to properly step back and determine if a fatty rear hub was indeed a good fit for my needs. I visited 2 local dealers (first one was a joke, second one was a very knowledgeable fellow who sold ebikes first, bikes second) and after over an hour of me picking his brain and him calling me out for not focusing on what would be a better ebike for my riding, I finally settled on looking for a fatbike frame with 27.5 plus tires and as large a battery as I could manage for under $2500.

That led me to contact a few vendors, and so far the Biktrix Juggernaut Classic has pretty much what I am after - a fatty frame and the option to swap out the 26x4s for 27.5 plus tires. It is a mid drive though .... sooooo ..... do I care ?? I know Roshan loves the Bafang drives, and I am clearly seeing a LOT less of the rear hubs in my online shopping and a LOT of requests for the mid drives (not necessarily Bafang, but Bosch, Yamaha, Brose, you name it .. mid drive is selling and selling well. Are there any other vendors out there who advertise swapping to the plus sized tires on a fatty frame ? Many thanks for any help you guys can send my way !

Edit: for clarification, when I mention a 'fatty' frame above, I mean to say a frame offering a rear rack and fenders already added to the bike.

 

[Nova Haibike]

Well, if you really intend on swapping between 26" and 27.5+ wheels, yes you should care, because mid-drive would be your only option. But I a confused by your last statement. So you do or do not care about fat tires, or are you just wanting a mountain bike with a rack and fenders? Are you going to ride on dirt trails, or mostly pavement? If dirt, hard-packed, or loose? I guess what I am asking is why you think you need or want 27.5+.

 

[Barry S]

As @Nova Haibike mentioned, knowing more about the trail conditions will help narrow things down. I understand by your edit that you're not necessarily looking for a fat tire bike. With that said, look at the Magnum Peak. It doesn't come with fenders or a rear rack, but they offer a rear rack for an additional $50. Magnum can probably steer you towards aftermarket fenders that will work unless they have something that's not yet listed on their website. Magnum bikes can be purchased online or through dealers. They're quick to respond to questions via their website.

What makes the Peak stand out is that it has a 500W (nominal) geared rear hub motor AND 24-speeds. Most rear hub motor bikes only offer a single chainring leaving you with only the gears on the cassette to work with.

 

[WalkinTarget]

No need to swap between sizes. I think the extra rolling resistance of the 4" is no benefit to my riding when 90% of it will be on a hard pack rail trail that doesn't offer an advantage of the cushiness of the larger tires. I think the 3" is a good 'middle ground' in that it offers better stability over a 2.1" but less rolling resistance than the 4".

 

[WalkinTarget]

Doc, I looked at the Magnum Peak on Saturday in the middle of a downpour. I couldn't even test ride it since the dealer is about an hours drive from me. To be honest, I dismissed it due to its smaller 500w rear hub, as I wanted a 750w minimum. Also, the dealer did not have the 27.5 3" tire model available to ride, so had he had i in stock, I might have given it a closer look.

 

[Barry S]

The Juggernaut Classic is back in stock, and having a mid-drive will allow you to swap out the wheels if you choose to do so at any time. If you go with the larger 17Ah battery, you're at $2299 before any applicable taxes and shipping. However, you'll need to factor in the cost of different wheels and tires if you don't want the stock setup. You should be able to find tires < 4" that will fit the Juggernaut's stock rims and help decrease rolling resistance. Check with @roshan at Biktrix or check the forums for others who have swapped out their fat tires for something with less rolling resistance.

 

[WalkinTarget]

Doc, I thought it was indicating on the Juggernaut ordering page that I could select at the time of purchase what tire size I got. Reading it yet again, I guess I interpreted it wrong

Swap the 26x4" wheels with a 27.5x3" or 29x3" wheels to make it a great commuter or trail bike.

I've already bugged Roshan twice with emailed questions, and I would hate to continue to bug him until I have a proper list of things. lt looks to be out of stock again .. says 'limited bikes available'. It WAS in stock on Saturday when I first contacted him.

 

[Barry S]

I've already bugged Roshan twice with emailed questions, and I would hate to continue to bug him until I have a proper list of things.

When you're selling online only, you have to expect the questions. I gave him a long grocery list of questions via direct conversation on EBR and he answered every one of them. Super helpful.

 

[WalkinTarget]

Just got done riding with JR - he gave me a ride on his Easy Motion Evo 29 - wow, that thing is smooth as butter !! I had never been on even a 27.5, so the 29 just looks comically huge compared to everything on the trail. It's like a bro-dozer lifted truck on the trail !!

I am all over the place on the ideas that flood into my mind. I found a killer deal on a demo Evo 27.5 Pro that is so cheap that I could ALSO buy a Voltbike Yukon 750 Limited and STILL be under the price on most of what I am pricing out at $2800. I am positive the wife would kill me if TWO new bikes showed up, so if JR can find a hiding spot in his garage, then I am game on pulling the trigger and buying both. That way I get a nice single track and a fatbike as well !! Don't tempt me ... I might just do it if JR doesn't buy the bike first.

Now .. back to reality ... I am really liking the M2S All Terrain Kush or the R750. Both tick enough of my wants and needs boxes so I fired off an email to them to get more specs. I just can't justify a mid drive for the flat hard pack rail trail riding that I do.

 

[J.R.]

I'm going to try to do the moonlight ride on Sat. There should be at least 2, 27.5 Haibikes there along with my 29er. One hardtail and one FS. Keep in mind a 26" fat tire has an outside measurement of 29 inches. My size bike on steroids Fat bikes are pretty big. The Felt fat bike I rode, rode great, solid, but took some power to move. Very cool looking though. A real head turner.

You're a really strong rider without the E, you'll do fine with any of the bikes you like.

 

[J.R.]

I am positive the wife would kill me if TWO new bikes showed up

BTW my current status on my member page reads:

My biggest fear is that when I die my wife will sell my bicycles for what I told her they cost.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

I joined the forum about a month ago after digesting just about every fatbike video Court ever posted as well as poring over the forums to get an idea of what ebike I wanted when it was time to buy. I immediately was drawn to the Juiced Rip Current S, as for the price it seemed ideally what I wanted for the riding that I do - 90% flat trails with no hills in sight, and maybe *stress maybe here* 10% hills somewhere around me. To me, that screams rear hub .. REAR HUB !! Again, the RCS with a 750w rear hub was looking good. But, as everyone knows, if you have your heart set on ordering from Juiced, be prepared to be heartbroken.

So in the last 2 months, I have had an opportunity to properly step back and determine if a fatty rear hub was indeed a good fit for my needs. I visited 2 local dealers (first one was a joke, second one was a very knowledgeable fellow who sold ebikes first, bikes second) and after over an hour of me picking his brain and him calling me out for not focusing on what would be a better ebike for my riding, I finally settled on looking for a fatbike frame with 27.5 plus tires and as large a battery as I could manage for under $2500.

That led me to contact a few vendors, and so far the Biktrix Juggernaut Classic has pretty much what I am after - a fatty frame and the option to swap out the 26x4s for 27.5 plus tires. It is a mid drive though .... sooooo ..... do I care ?? I know Roshan loves the Bafang drives, and I am clearly seeing a LOT less of the rear hubs in my online shopping and a LOT of requests for the mid drives (not necessarily Bafang, but Bosch, Yamaha, Brose, you name it .. mid drive is selling and selling well. Are there any other vendors out there who advertise swapping to the plus sized tires on a fatty frame ? Many thanks for any help you guys can send my way !

Edit: for clarification, when I mention a 'fatty' frame above, I mean to say a frame offering a rear rack and fenders already added to the bike.

if I were you, i would go for 56cm Sduro hardseven 6.0.
It has plus tires, wonderful componentry + smooth Yamaha drive system.

It's on sale for $1999.

 

[WalkinTarget]

Ravi ... killin' me here, man !!! Ive been avoiding even looking at the Haibikes, knowing how pricey they always are, and then you drop this on me ?!? Just when I was ready to put the mid drives behind me and move on ... back to researching another mid drive ! IMHO, nobody makes a better looking bike than Haibike - What a gorgeous piece of machinery.

 

[Rakku]

There are just 2 things that dont sit well with me with the haibikes (even though my next bike will be a sduro fullseven 10 LT or the xduro allmtn 9.0), I dont like how the casette at the cranks protrudes as the lowest part without any visible protection.

Meaning if you hit something with your bike below, its going to hit the theeth directly and there is a high chance you damage them.

Another thing is the long arm of the shifter, its hanging very low as well without any protection.

If they would fix those 2 problems, these bikes would be pretty much perfect.

But I´ll still get my next bike from them, those little issues can be overlooked.

 

[WalkinTarget]

Well, that took a lot longer to find in stock than I anticipated. I think I spent about 45 minutes on the phone with a big name e-merchant only to find out they sold the last HardSeven last week. We then looked for a similar ebike in that price range, but a low end Bulls and an Izip did not float my boat like the Haibike. So I then spent an hour scouring the web for any remaining stock in the US, and got lucky to find them still (apparently) in stock - the email says 'Thanks for your order!' so I assume I am good. Price was $200 more than the big merchant store, but I was OK with that.

If anyone is in the market for one, they can be found at an etailer with a portion of the name of the NFL team that Tom Brady plays for*

*Trying to avoid advertising an etailer, as I find that can sometimes be frowned upon and I want to refrain from feeling like a shill.

 

[WalkinTarget]

HAH !!! And to think my ordeal was over after 'ordering' my HardSeven 6 yesterday !?! HAH !! I received a call from the e-tailer (apologizing profusely) that unfortunately they had sold the last one the day before I ordered. Not too keen on my card being charged after they verified inventory, but it happens. I had been warned that this could happen. So I proceeded to call to San Diego, Oregon, Washington, at least 5 other vendors that claimed to have it in stock. No dice.

So at this point I am seriously stressing out - every single shop gave me the same story "Amazing deal on a very solid bike. Too bad you didn't call last month". So what does any guy obsessed with an ebike do when that model isn't available ?? Buy the next model up !!! I got a good deal on a FullNine 6, which means I sacrificed the plus tires, but gained a rear shock and went with narrower 29's. Up until Tuesday, I had never even ridden a 29er (thank you JR !), so it should be a good fit for the rail trails I ride.

All I can say is .. I never knew buying a bike could be such a stressful situation. Things MAY get worse when it arrives at the door and I have to finally tell my wife what I bought.

 

[Nova Haibike]

San Diego Fly Rides does not have the HardSeven 6.0 in stock?

Oh...I see you bought a different bike.

 

[J.R.]

HAH !!! And to think my ordeal was over after 'ordering' my HardSeven 6 yesterday !?! HAH !! I received a call from the e-tailer (apologizing profusely) that unfortunately they had sold the last one the day before I ordered. Not too keen on my card being charged after they verified inventory, but it happens. I had been warned that this could happen. So I proceeded to call to San Diego, Oregon, Washington, at least 5 other vendors that claimed to have it in stock. No dice.

So at this point I am seriously stressing out - every single shop gave me the same story "Amazing deal on a very solid bike. Too bad you didn't call last month". So what does any guy obsessed with an ebike do when that model isn't available ?? Buy the next model up !!! I got a good deal on a FullNine 6, which means I sacrificed the plus tires, but gained a rear shock and went with narrower 29's. Up until Tuesday, I had never even ridden a 29er (thank you JR !), so it should be a good fit for the rail trails I ride.

All I can say is .. I never knew buying a bike could be such a stressful situation. Things MAY get worse when it arrives at the door and I have to finally tell my wife what I bought.

Congratulations!! So with the 29'er, you'll sitting tall in the saddle, looking down at the little people Once you get those 29'er tires rolling they're great, lots of roots and curb clearence too! @Ravi Kempaiah is the one who suggested a 29er to me a few years ago, he knew the kind of riding I did and it was the best advice, as I was looking at another 26er. 29'er ebikes were hard to get in 2015 and 27.5 were just starting to show up in dealers. Now every big brand has them.I don't think I'll ever go back now. Maybe a 27.5.

Will you have the new wheels before Tuesday night ride?

Not ebike related, but checkout some of the 29'er MTB competitions on YouTube... crazy cool what they can do. Downhill is amazing!

 

[WalkinTarget]

San Diego Fly Rides does not have the HardSeven 6.0 in stock? What about Crazy Lenny's?

Nobody has them in stock. I challenge you to find a vendor stocking a 52 or 55cm for under $2998. I found TWO that had them, at $2999 and $3499. Trust me, I called six of them today. Now what you will find is a few listing them on their website, but when you call they are sold out. I found out its a small industry, and many of the vendors know their competition and they even know what stock they received. Rich in Oregon told me that SD Fly Rides had sold out ... I had just gotten off the phone with SD Fly so Rich knew what he was talking about. Lenny's sold their last one in a 55 last week. I'm fine spending more - perceived value isn't as good as the hardtail for my rail trail riding, but having more suspension never caused any rider to lose any sleep at the end of the day.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

Nobody has them in stock. I challenge you to find a vendor stocking a 52 or 55cm for under $2998. I found TWO that had them, at $2999 and $3499. Trust me, I called six of them today. Now what you will find is a few listing them on their website, but when you call they are sold out. I found out its a small industry, and many of the vendors know their competition and they even know what stock they received. Rich in Oregon told me that SD Fly Rides had sold out ... I had just gotten off the phone with SD Fly so Rich knew what he was talking about. Lenny's sold their last one in a 55 last week. I'm fine spending more - perceived value isn't as good as the hardtail for my rail trail riding, but having more suspension never caused any rider to lose any sleep at the end of the day.

Congrats man!
If this is the bike you bought, you can install tires that go upto 2.4". It's a beautiful and quite capable bike.

Also, if you are not already aware of it, this may come in handy.

How to setup your e-MTB suspension in 10 mins.

https://ebike-mtb.com/en/setting-sag-on-e-mtb-suspension/

And a relevant video: