Tim from Holland, Michigan - New Trek Allant+8S

[Holland-Tim-Allant+8S]

picked up my new Trek Allant+8S yesterday from Breakaway Bicycles in Grand Haven, Michigan. Elijah assembled it and delivered it to me.

 

[Holland-Tim-Allant+8S]

Thank you to all of the contributors here on the electricbikereview forum. I learned a lot!!!

I have been studying and reading and visiting bikes shops pretty steady for about four months.

now i'm official.

background, i purchased my "gateway" bikes in august 2019 and my wife julie and i put almost 1,000 miles on them in the first 14 monts. LUNA Mosso Folders. 20" wheels, bafang something 750 watt middrive, throttle, 9 assist levels. very, very, very fun. my wife got addicted right away and figured out how to "air pedal" looking like you are working but getting full power out of the battery motor. i think it's a LUNA Eric trick. pretty cool.

anyway, the folding handlebar folded on me at about 12-14 mph and i slammed into the concrete last november. hence the start of my search. so ... folders are great ... until they aren't. not sure i'll ever ride it again. plus, very unstable at ebike speeds over 20 mph.

fell in love with the specialized vado's ... but no 5.0 to be found, and i just couldn't bring myself to swallow the smaller 500 wH battery. looked at Giant, Gazelle, Cannondale, etc. but kept coming back to the Allant+8S for the 625 wH battery and overall build quality.

froze my fingers and toes on my first decent ride last evening. but i sure felt alive.

this thing is a mercedes S Class compared to my LUNA yugo if you guys remember the $3,999 new car from the 1980's. car and driver said, "if that's all the money you have for a car, get a used Chevette."

that's how i feel about the Allant so far. extraordinary design, engineering, attention to details, quality of everything. solid as a 56 pound tank should feel.

God willing, i'm going to be living on this thing.

sincerely, i thank you for all your help and kindness in this forum. some great dudes and dudettes here. TIM (in ebike little heaven)

 

[Bigal1463]

Nice looking bike. Good lupick and ride safe.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Hi Tim,
Congrats on your new e-bike! Many happy miles!

Choosing Allant+ 8S in the lack of Vado 5.0 has been a perfect choice indeed. Both e-bikes share exactly the same segment; and your 8S is gorgeous indeed. I absolutely agree with you the 625 Wh battery is a must if you plan longer rides or want to ride fast.

As an owner of a pretty similar e-bike (2017 Vado 5.0 28 mph/45 km/h) that is equipped with rigid fork, I need to tell you the rigid fork combined with 2.4" tyres can be as comfy (or more) as an e-bike equipped with a spring suspension fork and skinnier tyres. One thing you might consider for the future is replacing the seat-post with a suspended one such as Kinect 2.1 or a Thudbuster.

Join our most popular thread please and share your rides!
Our Rides in Words, Photos....

Ride On!

 

[Holland-Tim-Allant+8S]

Stefan, Great to dialogue with you after reading ... hundreds (or more?) of your posts. This ebike thing is a something, eh? You have such knowledge and generosity to share and help. Thank you!

I got to ride about 12 miles last evening in 30F. Battery powered heated gloves and warmer boots made a big difference but after an hour, i was cold. That says something about how fun these are to ride.

I have some mods on my mind. But ... want to spend a decent chunk of time with it 100% stock before i start the farkling. I kept raising the seat on my ride yesterday until my bad left knee said, "I'm happy." Then my hands said, "Too much pressure." So maybe raising the bars 1-1/2 to 2" is coming. Kinect 2.1 would be great. Panniers orders for the goofy "fender splits the rear rack." Apparently Trek thinks this bike is too fast for a top trunk/bag. Maybe they know something.

Surprised by the lack of gear whine. Lots of "whining" about that with the Bosch Gen. 4 motors. Mine is just the slightest whir that doesn't seem to get louder when I select Tour-Sport-Turbo. Essentially as quiet as the Brose belt motors on the Specialized. Maybe Bosch has tweaked something?

I think someone could get 90 miles range out of this on Eco at 12 mph relatively flat. Maybe even more. Remarkable. tim

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Let me tell you Tim the more we ride e-bikes, the more things we believed had been important turns unimportant in a while. Like that motor noise Yes I put many mods in my e-bikes to find out the winter clothing was the most important investment of them all...

I think I could have bought the 8S if not the very special offer on my 5.0 that was a real deal Since I need to have at least one street-legal S-Pedelec in my stable.

One thing I would strongly recommend to you is the rear-view mirror (Mirrycle!) Saves life.

Ride On!

 

[Dallant]

FYI Tim...if you are looking for an adjustable stem, the Bontrager stem (part #5264268) we put on my wife’s Allant+7 Lowstep is a very good one but is only available/order-able by your Trek dealer. There are two sizes/lengths but cable length is a limitation, so we got the shorter of the two. I added bar ends to mine to give me two different seating positions. I use them about 30%-40% of the time. I also added a Bontrager suspension seat stem and Serfas E-Gel seat. I also suggest the Mirrycle mirrors. Have a blast!

 

[Holland-Tim-Allant+8S]

so helpful on the mirror recommendation (yes, i already can tell i need that) and the adjustable riser. i will try to order that today. Thank you, Stefan and Dallant! tim

 

[Akrotiri]

picked up my new Trek Allant+8S yesterday from Breakaway Bicycles in Grand Haven, Michigan. Elijah assembled it and delivered it to me.

View attachment 80581View attachment 80582View attachment 80583

Congratulations it’s a great e-bike!
Wish you many miles of smiles.

You got it just in time for spring too.

 

[Holland-Tim-Allant+8S]

i ordered the adjustable stem. the lbs had one at it's sister store and ordered a few more from trek for stock and my wife's bike which is on it's way (red medium frame allant+8S.)

they have the mirror stefan recommended in stock. the seat post got scratched up from a burr inside the seat tube so when that comes in as a warranty replacement, i will have them install the adjustable stem and mirror. plus, we ordered a pair of the recommended panniers. oh, and one of those ring locks from abus.

so much for laying off the farkles.

two quick observations:
1. ECO Mode will get me 100 miles range at 12 mph and flat, easy pace. (i'm 182 pounds)
2. If Mercedes made and ebike, this would be their take on the S Class

loving the Allant. tim

 

[Dallant]

Curious how you like the Stagger? Is it low enough?

 

[Holland-Tim-Allant+8S]

mucho prefer stagger. i'm 5'-10" and have the Large frame. i can straddle the top tube flat footed very comfortably. in fact, at a stop on a ride yesterday, i told my wife that i think the engineers designing the bike selected the final top tube angle just so that a man can straddle it like i was trying to demonstrate to her without any discomfort. (trying to be polite here ...)

i think it would have been a big mistake to have gotten the diamond frame. it's so easy to stop and stand up straight over the top tube without leaning to one side and doing the dog at the fire hydrant pose.

 

[Holland-Tim-Allant+8S]

Off road trail ride - Yesterday i took my Allant off road for about four or five miles of mostly smooth trails. (Riley Trails in Holland, Michigan) Tire pressure was 30 psi front and rear which is the lowest number on the sidewall of the tires. Well, well, well .. 2.4" wide "street" tires did remarkably ... well! It was a lot of fun. i have a 35 year old mountain bike i usually use for these trails and the Allant was a much better and fun ride. Who would have thought? Great brakes were one of the big differences, being able to scrub speed for the turns with a super easy to modulate rear disc brake is a game changer for the ancient brakes i was used to. Deore click click done done no fuss shifting. pushbutton from ECO to TOUR for hills. even rode well ... when i was able to avoid the tree roots. those are no fun.

 

[Akrotiri]

Off road trail ride - Yesterday i took my Allant off road for about four or five miles of mostly smooth trails. (Riley Trails in Holland, Michigan) Tire pressure was 30 psi front and rear which is the lowest number on the sidewall of the tires. Well, well, well .. 2.4" wide "street" tires did remarkably ... well! It was a lot of fun. i have a 35 year old mountain bike i usually use for these trails and the Allant was a much better and fun ride. Who would have thought? Great brakes were one of the big differences, being able to scrub speed for the turns with a super easy to modulate rear disc brake is a game changer for the ancient brakes i was used to. Deore click click done done no fuss shifting. pushbutton from ECO to TOUR for hills. even rode well ... when i was able to avoid the tree roots. those are no fun.

Very nice review and glad you’re enjoying the allant, it’s a wonderfully capable e-bike.

If you come around to it, swap the tires for the Schwalbe Hurricane tires. Their extremely fast on pavement and ride great on off-road trails and gravel. You can air them down even more to their recommended low of 23 psi which will turn the tree root sections of the trails you ride on from no fun to a mild annoyance.

Their also quite the bargain at only $40 per tire. I highly recommend them.

 

[Holland-Tim-Allant+8S]

thank you for the recommendation! the only hitch might be that i wanted to go tubeless. the hurricanes are listed as tube-only. love those knobs on the sides! i could use some more grip. the standard tires are about as bad as you could design for off road!

Bontrager E6 Hard-Case Lite E-Bike Tire​

 

[Holland-Tim-Allant+8S]

if someone from trek is reading this they would probably think, "here goes another idiot ebiker. he bought the WRONG BIKE!!!"

haha. guilty as charge.

i have a secret, though. Powerfly Equipped IS ON ORDER!!! (so trek, can you please hurry along with that? thanks!) tim

 

[Holland-Tim-Allant+8S]

great weekend of riding in and around Traverse City a total of about 110 miles with my wife. wow do i love this bike. we did some moderately serious off road trails. sport mode just rips up long grades. mud, snow, wet it went right through. i guess i haven't lost all my mountain bike riding skills. came home and ordered some 50-50 tires. bontrager LT4 expert. not sure if these are tubeless or not. i asked but not sure if the shop checked that. tim

 

[Holland-Tim-Allant+8S]

new Bontrager "high" handlebar stem up close and with me sitting on the bike. massive improvement in my comfort. oh, the bontrager panniers are superb. love carrying my stuff (... code for "food") tim

 

[Akrotiri]

Very nice setu

View attachment 83430View attachment 83431

new Bontrager "high" handlebar stem up close and with me sitting on the bike. massive improvement in my comfort. oh, the bontrager panniers are superb. love carrying my stuff (... code for "food") tim

Very nice, those handlebars definitely increase the comfort.

I’ve always heard good things about the Bontrager panniers. Just as good as ortliebs.

 

[Oberst]

if someone from trek is reading this they would probably think, "here goes another idiot ebiker. he bought the WRONG BIKE!!!"

haha. guilty as charge.

i have a secret, though. Powerfly Equipped IS ON ORDER!!! (so trek, can you please hurry along with that? thanks!) tim

We just picked up my wife’s Powerfly Equipped this week. Have not been able to get out yet but will this weekend. For her, it is the perfect do-everything bike