Travalanche specs

[smorgasbord]

I mosied over to the Watt Wagons site to look at the Travalanche today. I recently bought a high power full suspension carbon fiber bike, and having some issues with it, I was curious to see what this alternative might have been for me if it had been available (or I had known about it) when I bought my bike.

First, the (obvious) good:

• Full-suspension carbon fiber frame with low stand-off height
• Really good suspension choices (Rock Shox rear, Manitou Dorado Pro front fork (and with a hefty 20mm instead of the Boost-standard 15mm through axle).
• Well-reviewed Magura MT7 brakes with 203mm rotors front and rear.
• The beasty Bafang Ultra with an optional 3K watt controller!
• Quality DT Swiss wheels
• Solid SRAM GX drivetrain

But, honestly, there are some areas that for this money I'd personally like to see be improved:

• A 728 Wh battery may seem big, but with a 3K watt controller and the resulting high speeds/high current draw, it would be interesting to have a larger battery option or a dual battery setup. This isn't a commuting bike, of course, but I could see some people doing long day rides on combination on/off pavement.
• DT Swiss makes nice hubs and rims, but spec'ing a 30mm inside rim width on a bike that can support 3.5" tires maybe isn't ideal. Should be OK for the 3" wide tires that come stock, though. I don't have enough off-road experience to know if the 36 tooth (10 degrees of slack) is a problem or not, but I do think the ratchet versus pawl system that DT Swiss uses is robust.
• The SRAM GX is the sweet spot for price/performance in the SRAM drivetrain line, but the Travalanche has only the 11-speed version, not the latest 12-speed. The website doesn't say, but I'm assuming that the cassette is the XG-1150 model, which has a 10-42 tooth cog range. That misses the big 50 tooth baby gear on the 12-speed, which would be a real advantage in steep off-roading (or San Francisco!). It's great to have the Rohloff option, but that's a much pricier way to get that super-low gear.
• Given the power of the motor, having the lower 50 tooth cog would enable a larger front chainring for higher top speed when on-road. I know of one Rohloff owner who upgraded his bike from a 42 tooth chainring to something larger (I forget how much larger he went).

Anyway, feel free to take this as worthless ramblings from someone who isn't interested in buying this bike right now, but do know that I really appreciate Pushkar's attitude about building the best bikes he can and offering good value for high quality. Feel free to disagree with my comments - I'm not an expert.

 

[Leon S. Kennedy]

Battery is too small and no option/space to have a larger battery

 

[TomW]

Leon S. Kennedy
I do not have this bike but I have something similar that does the same job with a similar capacity battery and the same controller upgrade.
With the Archon upgrade that battery size actually provides a decent amount of range, 20% minimun increase over a standard ultra. Some people are reporting a lot more than that.
I m planning a 60 mile ride with mine this weekend and I am pretty sure it will make it pretty easily.
And tbh if I needed more range I would put a 2nd battery in a back pack. that way I will be carrying less weight when I do not want to do 60 plus miles.

smorgasbord
It is a off road bike so a 50 tooth chainring would be overkill, you will be able to hit 40mph with the provided gearing setup anyway.
I ride a 44 tooth with a 11 speed 11 to 42 cassette, and I find that to be a good balance tbh. It gives me the range for techy offroad and commuting fast. This motor provides so much torque it will climb anything without needing a ratio less than 1 to 1.
And the more gears you add the thinner the chain etc gets, I would rather have a bit thicker with the torque used.
10 degree engagement is pretty good and dt swiss wheels can be upgraded further to have less.

 

[TomD]

I think the Travalanche is appealing for someone looking for the power of the ultra (not necessarily 2300W version, but more than e.g. M600 power) with refined torque sensing in the lightest config for eMTB use. Larger battery would be great but kind of defeats the purpose of shaving weight with carbon frame, rims, etc. As TomW notes the controller upgrade is a game changer. If anything it highlights how bad range on the stock ultra is. I believe you have a Luna Apollo with ludi and just so you know, one user that upgraded from ludi is reporting significantly more efficiency than the rest of us. Kind of makes sense as ludi just doubled the current, so would just magnify all that is wrong with the stock controller (inefficient, unrefined, etc.) x2! I suspect Puskar can upgrade any component spec you want, not that you are looking at this, but for someone who might be.

FWIW, get the new controller. You won't regret it. It has been a life altering experience. I never looked forward to riding every day. Now I do. Hopefully it will address some of the issues you are having.

 

[Leon S. Kennedy]

My regular weekend rides are about 40 miles with 4000 ft elevation gain. I have a 750 watt standard BBSO2 648 watt-hour battery that I attached to an old 26" hardtail mountain bike. I have to ride the first 10/11 flat miles on asphalt with no power at all and then use lower power levels on the climbs (rocky/off-road) once I get to my mountain destination. Some climbs are very steep and I have to use higher power levels. I am pretty tired after reaching the summit, so I coast most of the way downhill and put it on maximum power for the 10/11 flat miles back home riding at about 23-25 mph (still pedaling hard). I never use the throttle. The battery is nearly dead before I'm home.

I was hoping to upgrade to a full suspension bike with a higher top speed and a significantly larger battery so I can get to the mountain quicker, do the climb, and come home quickly with some battery to spare. Also, I like to do longer treks once in a while. I don't think I can do this with the Travalanche. I don't want to carry a heavy battery in a backpack due to back problems. I suppose, I could put a rack on the bike and carry a battery that way, but not optimal. It would be nice to just have an option to put an 1100 watt-hour battery on the bike, but such a battery will not fit on the Travalanche.

 

[pushkar]

My regular weekend rides are about 40 miles with 4000 ft elevation gain. I have a 750 watt standard BBSO2 648 watt-hour battery that I attached to an old 26" hardtail mountain bike. I have to ride the first 10/11 flat miles on asphalt with no power at all and then use lower power levels on the climbs (rocky/off-road) once I get to my mountain destination. Some climbs are very steep and I have to use higher power levels. I am pretty tired after reaching the summit, so I coast most of the way downhill and put it on maximum power for the 10/11 flat miles back home riding at about 23-25 mph (still pedaling hard). I never use the throttle. The battery is nearly dead before I'm home.

I was hoping to upgrade to a full suspension bike with a higher top speed and a significantly larger battery so I can get to the mountain quicker, do the climb, and come home quickly with some battery to spare. Also, I like to do longer treks once in a while. I don't think I can do this with the Travalanche. I don't want to carry a heavy battery in a backpack due to back problems. I suppose, I could put a rack on the bike and carry a battery that way, but not optimal. It would be nice to just have an option to put an 1100 watt-hour battery on the bike, but such a battery will not fit on the Travalanche.

Hypothetically.. if we had something that checked these boxes - would you mind waiting for a little bit for delivery ?

 

[Leon S. Kennedy]

Sure I can wait. My BBSO2 motor is still doing fine at about 3000 miles. The hard tail is rough on the rocky trails, but it's tolerable most of the time.

 

[Ebiker33]

Sure I can wait. My BBSO2 motor is still doing fine at about 3000 miles. The hard tail is rough on the rocky trails, but it's tolerable most of the time.

Put a Kinekt suspension seat post on it, and wait for Watt Wagons 2021 super duper all suspension Ebike

 

[Leon S. Kennedy]

Yes, I put on that exact seat post about a month ago. I will wait patiently for the super duper.