So looking to get an Ebike as slowly but surely all my mates are going down that road. Anyhoo unsurprisingly they are like hens teeth . I rode a Cannondale and a Focus Jam in Madeira recently and really liked the Jam . The new models have the upgraded battery but have swapped from Bosch to Shimano .
I called my local focus dealer and was told they have a Jam 2 7.8 due in shortly. I actually would have prepared the next model up 7.9. Given how scarce they are , im convinving my self I could stick the Yari from my slash onto replace the Rochshox 35 and in time swap the cheaper 4 pots for either XT or zee when funds allow. The models are £900 between the two and using c2w I would obviously make a saving.
The big thing for me is the battery and Im fairly sure the bike I rode in Madeira had the 35 which felt adequate over rocky stuff. Whats your thoughts and If any Jam owners want to give me any advice It would be appreciated.
I bought the absolute cheapest focus jam2. The extra weight actually made the recon forks feel quite nice. You can also do the shim mod on the moco to help the compression work properly. The crap shock actually works ok with extra tokens and a bit extra pressure.
Mine is Shimano. Like all ebikes you roll the dice with motors but mine has been fine.
I ride mainly jumpy tech stuff down south so moderate use. It's not Surry grinding paste or Wels gnar and I don't wash it anymore as that's bad (water and electricity)
I wouldn't get hung up on drivetrain specs or stuff as you will probably destroy it quickly anyway as you will ride more. I've just put Microshift 10sp on mine which is a massive upgrade from the SRAM nx gx and Shimano slx 12sp drivetrains I had before.
Brakes are a personal thing. Mine came with maguras and they have been awesome.
VanHalen I think that may have been the model I rode on holiday . I was shocked how well It rode , thats interesting about the drivetrain though but as you say they will wear pretty quickly . Dont really want to cannibalise my Trek Slash as Im fully expecting to have motor problems and would keep my normal bike for the inevitable bike away getting fixed times and riding with mates from work . Thanks for your help.
I bought the cheapest Levo but had some bits changed when I got it and over time other stuff has been changed as it’s worn out. It’s still got the original super basic Deluxe RT which seems to work brilliantly (probably thanks to the much better sprung/unsprung mass ratio). I wouldn’t pay extra to save weight.
My only niggle has been turbo mode commuting use destroying cassettes - I wrecked a Microshift 11 speed (chain jumping teeth although the chain wasn’t measureably worn) in about 200 miles and even SLX 11 speed only manages about 1000 miles before the shifting becomes intolerable. But it’s the most fun way to get to and from work so it’s worth it! I’ll be trying Linkglide when it’s available in the hope of some durability…
I bought a Focus Jarifa 6.9 and I’m pleased with the upgraded parts over the lower spec models. I love the Bosch motor and I think it’s the pick of the bunch tbh, my LBS said he has not had one Gen 4 in for warranty repair no idea of the sample size but it is a dedicated ebike store. Mine has been spot on, jetwashing kills any of the makes. I ride mine in the rain and have submerged the motor once in a really deep puddle. I have the 625 battery and I pretty much use 1% per mile in Eco no matter how hilly. I’ve upgraded to the Nyon display which is feature packed if you like that sort of thing.
As with all these things you'll probably find the 35 will be ok for a bit once it's bedded in. I've changed to a yari after a year and a bit (as I was worried about the recon on jumps and the yari was on offer) but even that was harsh untill it was bedded in. A few riders locally have the 35 on non eebs and seem to do fine with them. As you said availability is key for bikes. I'm very much in the 'get the right frame and upgrade everything else when it breaks' camp. I've been quite surprised how decent some lower end kit has been. Apart from 12speed which is absolutely hateful. Budget for new tyres too Unless you are just using it for boggo trail rides. You'll need a heavier casing on the rear if you ride even slightly hard. Oh and don't bother with posh wheels. I'm on my 3rd rear rim in 18months. My replacement wheel wasn't up to the job so I've rebuilt the original as its an offset rim that's a bit stronger build. I think maybe 36spoke wheels will make a comeback for eebs for riders that like to push a bit.
Rimpact inserts are a great cheap way to make flexy casings and soft rims actually work ok on an ebike.
My wife has the cheapest (at the time) cube reaction, we’ve upgraded the forks, and drivetrain (from 9 to 10speed)
Did it make any real difference?
The forks, yeah.
Gears, not really.
It’s the battery/motor that really define an ebike.
Thanks folks , some good advice so far.
Rimpact inserts are a great cheap way to make flexy casings and soft rims actually work ok on an ebike
No need for inserts down south as there is nothing to hit! Haha
It's not necessarily the rims that fail but the all the spokes come loose regularly. At least on my first 2 wheels. I need to check the latest one soon. I think it's the extra weight of the eeb and wheel flex when jumping and pumping corners hard. It's not just me either my riding buddy is always retensioning his too. I've got stupid plus rims so they are plenty stiff laterally as they are huge.
If you have the parts aim for the lowest spec to try to save some funds. My mid range came with lower end MT410 shimano hubs and MT520 shimano 4 pots, which i'm changing to pro4 hoops and E3(or4)V4. Of the build those are the kind of let down bits so i was always going to change them.
Unless youre spending horrible amounts of money, theres always parts that seem too low spec for the thousands the damn thing costs,
Its the motor you need to worry about. Everything else can be sorted. I have a Merida 900, full spec xt and fox factory. Its a great bike, I love it. But,..... I have already had a new motor under warranty at just under 2000 miles. The next one I will have to pay for myself. You not find anyone who will look at a shimano motor because they will not supply parts. Any problems and its a new motor.
“No need for inserts down south as there is nothing to hit! Haha”
I thought so too! But then dented my rear rim in Wild Park the first winter I had my Levo - adding Rimpacts stopped that happening again for the next three years.
Thanks for the advice folks , the lower spec focus at £5100 seems fairly poor compared to the mondraker lvel R at £5800. Sadly it's back on hold as my wifes C2W is over 1 year and mine will be over 2 . I can afford a £140 a month over 2 years but not £270 over 1 year. Back to the drawing board. I could afford the bike If I sold my current bike and used the mojney as a deposit , but then when the motor dies im bikeless. 😀
Avoid shimano for the motor. Currently they're not serviceable or repairable, and maybe not as reliable as any other.
Specialized motors are also coming back with a bad rap, so maybe disclude those too.
Bosch seems to be at least in the top 2 for motors, but Bosch far as im aware have tech built in means you must buy a Bosch replacement battery and you just cant repack it.
Although Bosh and Yamaha have the best reputations, it still seem to be a bit hit or miss as to whether or not it will last. Some have put thousands of miles on them without so much as a burp, others had them die in a matter of weeks.
I'd recommend whatever you get you have this guy do the repairs. He seems to be the best from the reviews ive seen and does a professional job.
https://www.ebikemotorcentre.com/
He wont do shimano.
Drivetrain wears much quicker so I wouldn't worry about the cheaper groupset as it'll be replaced soon enough.
Rear tyres also get eaten fast due to the constant 250W power supplied to them. Marathon plus last us around a year at work. Chi-chi rubber like we espouse here is likely to be shorter lived.
We got around the drivetrain wear by assiduous chain changing using the stretch-o-meter. 0.75% stretch and in the bin (8 speed KMC chains).
fatbikedog
He wont do shimano
None of them will, as above, they're not serviceable or repairable
I've got two sets of wheels and I have yet to replace a cassette on either of them. The bike has done 4000 miles split about half and half wheel wise. I replaced a couple of chains early on after about 500 miles each when I was using SLX spec chains but I switched to XTR spec ones about 2000 miles ago after reading that they were much better value for money as they didn't wear out so quickly. I rotate 2 chains - keeping one waxed and ready to go on. Both chains are still between 0.25 and 0.5 wear. Not sure how that compares to a non-ebike but it certainly looks like the M9100 chains are outlasting the SLX ones by quite a bit.
honorablegeorge, thats my point.