[Closed] Gulp - What ebike?

Despite the Merida E160 and E140 being the same price for any given spec level, I bought a 2020 E140 8000 in November last year. Its a mullet so you get the best of both worlds (imho)

Done nearly 1800 miles / 3000km of hard winter riding in the north east of Scotland and its been flawless. Frame bearings still tight as a drum.

You could pick up a 2019 E160, with the external battery on some really good deals online just now. I also know that my LBS has access to heavily discounted 2019 stock from Merida UK.

Hope this helps.

going to be hard pushed to get decent suspension on an ebike for 4k unless you go for a less 'esteemed' brand like vitus/merida etc etc. Although I guess it depends on your definition of decent. I cant really find anything that I'd class as decent for much less than £5k - apart from the YT decoy.

This is what I've narrowed my shortlist down to :-

- trek rail 9 or maybe 9.8 - no good for you as it has 650b
- orbea wild fs M20 or maybe M10 - no good for you as it has 650b
- yt decoy - probably your best shot at the price
- specialized kenevo - motors seem a bit fragile
- whyte e180 rs

My opinion on the motors (from reading reviews and between the lines ):-

- specialized brose - best motor, but reliability seems questionable
- bosch gen 4 - good motor -looks to be slighly better than shimano, and poss best overall taking reliability into account, difficult to remove the limiter though.
- shimano steps 8000 - good motor, seems reliable, looks easy to remove the limiter, rumours of a new one coming out soon though. plus shimano have only just brought out the bigger battery to compete with brose and bosch,so its not on many bikes yet.

4k can get you a decent one, but when you want 27.5" it limits it, as they tend to be on enduro styles only, so 160mm travel, trail ebikes tend to be 29" in general.

If you wanted an enduro, then there's the likes of the Cube Stereo Hybrid SL, it has a set of lyriks up front and a RS deluxe select+ at the back, mix of SX/NX 12 speed gearing and so on, you can also get the likes of a Focus Jam2 6.7plus, it's got decent kit, but is 27.5+.

Both the above come with the Gen4 bosch and 625wh battery, which is a good thing, so there are bikes around for 4k, but you might need to work out what you're after to down select.

p.s, if you're buying now it could be difficult, as there is barely any stock anywhere!

No specific recommendations as I ride the Wild FS and it´s 29" so doesn´t match your requirements. I guess it´s more expensive too in the UK. Just to add that the later motors have improved so much. The Wild has the Bosch and it was a big improvement in my opinion. The 625 battery is essential but still you need to think about how long your rides are and if the battery is going to last. The Orbea has the option of 2 batteries which is great for full days out. There is nothing worse than battery watching so get a decent one if you want longer rides!

The weight changes the ride a lot. Ebikes are generally more point and shoot than pump and float. Until you get really fast and then they feel pretty normal! Decent forks are essential, I wouldn´t want one without at least a 36 on it, I tried the 34 and with the weight it feels flexy. I would love to get the new 38´s on mine. Same for brakes etc, you need decent stoppers!

Skids you can do, there is a lot of grip though. Wheelies... Really hard I think! I can´t get the hang of the pedal delay etc to get the balance point right.

Thanks for the input folks, appreciated.

I'm pretty firm on the idea of 27.5 as I just have more fun on the smaller wheels as daft as it sounds. I've rented a couple of ebikes - one 275 and one 29 and I much prefer the feel of the smaller wheels. I realise this limits me a bit in choice.

On the current stock situation, I don't mind waiting for the right bike - I'd considered the Vitus having read a few reviews but it seems to go out of stock as soon as it's in. Is the Decoy a mullet? I'd not considered it but I think the base comes in at my price range.

SOunds like I should be looking at Bosch motors and I think the YT is a Shimano unit so maybe it's ruled out on that front anyway.

Oh - had also not considered the Merida and the Cube so will have a look at those too

I've settled on a Bosch gen 4/625 battery based bike. New update due this month that bumps them to 85Nm plus adds a few features.

Have you looked at the Whytes? Very limited stock like everything, but v2 on the way this Autumn I've heard. Got a demo of a v1 next week.

Focus seem to be the best bang for buck when I decided, add to that the fact you can take it to a UK dealer for warranty etc - seen too many horror stories about yt etc and the time things take to get sorted.

Found Cube being the best bang for buck, bought the 160 TM, unfortunately a couple of mechanical issues, but apart from that seems good, did have a Cube 6.8plus (got nicked!), it was a great bike as well, don't think you'll struggle with either.

The stories of YT Decoy being a great value bike is very last year to be honest, loads of more VFM bikes in the market these days, Cube, Focus, Radon, Vitus, etc. The one surprise for VFM for me is Giant Reign, but they start at 4.5k with a good spec on that one.

Again, narrow down what you want, if you want more range, geometry, finishing kit, etc. You want 27.5, so that narrows the field significantly, but are you happy with 150-160mm travel that most of these come with, i would say i have a 160mm 27.5, and the reality is that the geometry is still very conservative, so reality is it's a 160mm travel bike that feels more like a 140mm in geometry and feel, you just get more travel that isn't a negative due to the motor!

At £4K I’d be looking at Cubes, you get a lot of bike for the money. I rode a 160 the other day and it was great; a bit more nimble than my Rail on the downs but not as good on the ups. My Rail isn’t exactly a slouch though. I rode the top spec (can’t remember the exact model name) and my mate paid about £4.4k I think, although discounts might be harder to get at the moment assuming you can actually find any in stock.

It was this one; https://www.cube.eu/en/2020/e-bikes/mountainbike/fullsuspension/stereo-hybrid/cube-stereo-hybrid-160-hpc-actionteam-275-625-actionteam-2020/

although discounts might be harder to get at the moment assuming you can actually find any in stock.

I'm finding this. Anybody with stock knows they can get near RRP as it's all a bit crazy in the shops at the mo. Any stock gets snapped up.

This one is £4K and still has Lyriks...

https://www.cube.eu/en/2020/e-bikes/mountainbike/fullsuspension/stereo-hybrid/cube-stereo-hybrid-160-hpc-sl-625-275-carbonngrey-2020/

Interesting - my mate has a Rail 9.8 and I had a spin on it round Tunstall forest, it's a mega bit of kit although not cheap at £5.5K! I've read up on the Cubes and the reviews say its a bit...stately when it comes to more aggressive riding? @Argee @Doomanic did you find this with yours?

I don't mind a bigger travel bike as I've still got a 29er trail bike for normal riding, just want something I can hammer around on.

I have the 160 TM, so the 4.6k one with Fox and so on, it's a great spec, i can get 40 odd miles out of it and 4000ft of climbing in that on one charge, so basically a full day riding.

On the ups it works well, i rarely use anything above 'Tour', but if i have to use eMTB or Turbo then it honestly just floats uphill, with the new software changes coming it'll be even faster uphill!

Downhill it works well, my local is FoD and the stuff at Wotton/Dursley, it goes down almost as good as my Transition Patrol on most of the tracks, the only weakness i feel is that on runs that have tight switchbacks and so on it struggles due to the weight, the geometry is also more conservative, but i would expect that on almost all ebikes as they're not really just built for push up paths and DH runs. As stated before, the enduro ebikes i see are more like longer travel trail bikes, which unless you're hitting serious DH stuff and bikepark obstacles won't cause much issue.

There wasn’t much in it to be honest. The Rail is LLSer which probably makes up a bit for the bigger wheels. Plus I’m used to it. I’d need a proper day on it to make any firm decision.

The Whyte, even if it's not the most aesthetically pleasing bike, are meant to ride superbly.

I've got a Whyte arriving tomorrow (should have been today but looks like Parcelforce are busy) - managed to get 20% off list so not too bad

Tried one a few weeks ago and liked the way it handled - downsides are i'm expecting some pedal strikes to start with, cable routing around motor is poor but reckon i can fix that, and Bosch motor supposed to be noisy when freewheeling downhill on rocky stuff

Will be interested to see if the Bosch firmware update makes much difference

Rumours are that v2 of the Whyte will be a 29er

I also tried some bikes with the Shimano motor - was pretty good and can be customised via an app unlike Bosch - more drag at the speed limit with Shimano though - quite a whiney noise too but not unbearable

I actually preferred the Shimano 7000 to the 8000

Apparently a new Shimano motor out soon

Rumours are that v2 of the Whyte will be a 29er

I thought this was a bit odd, given that one of the selling points of the v1 is its agility. Maybe they're adding a 29er?

Could be - just something I heard on the grapevine - could be a load of carp

You want a whyte e150rs.
650b. Decent suspension. Handles sublime compared to the other e's
I ride an e180

The OP is going to be riding a flatish trail centre / smoother trails...

Cant help but wonder whether a long travel bike on a big motor is designed around that kind of thing? I'd be wondering what happens when you hit the limiter and there isn't much gravity?

I'm in a not-dissimilar situation in looking at emtbs and that's my biggest concern - hit the limiter and it'll be like throwing out an anchor unless you have some decently steep topography? Happy to be wrong.

Flange - there's probably a Whyte dealer closer to you but if not Ace Bikes in Merrow (Guildford) is a dealer and not a million miles away if thetford is your stomping ground. Toby who runs the place is a good guy, knows his stuff and he has a demo if you want a spin, although he's got an Ext Storia on it at the moment which could be an expensive demo mistake!

Could be – just something I heard on the grapevine – could be a load of carp

Who knows. All I've heard so far is the v2 S is orange, and the RS is green 🙂 Oh, and the RS is going up in price a little bit. No info on specs yet.

I have a Commencal Meta power 27 2018 its a really fun poppy (for an e bike) capable bike.

But as Owen P said above the E8000 motor does drag a bit when you hit the limit and it can be difficult on flat ground to get it up about 20. You can find yourself about to hit a jump thinking i'm not going fast enough.So if your not going to de-restrict it or live somewhere flat thats something to consider.

I thoroughly recommend the bike though ive hit bigger stuff on it than i ever did on my non assisted bikes. I would also recommend not get into the need to size up and get the longest wheelbase reach etc. Ebikes are heavy and that brings stabilty and if you want to have fun on and not be a passenger that is also something to think about.

I've just bought a FOCUS Jarifa 6.9 29er with the Bosch Smartphone Hub. I am no expert and its not a full MTB but it is awesome. The motor is so refined. Just a bit of help when you need it in eco mode which gives confidence for exploring, right through to 340% assistance all the time in Turbo mode. It has so much torque that the front wheel lifts off the ground when you pull off in Turbo mode!!! It has two other modes in between with the dynamic E-MTB mode giving more assistance depending on how much torque you apply on the pedals.

It also rides perfectly well without the motor on and if you go over 16MPH you sort of notice the drop off but its not a cliff edge.

I'm no expert though like I said, but it's the best £3.5k I've ever spent!

Check out the new Liteville 310CE Pro ebike - top German design and quality with 10 year warranty. Shimano motor and XT groupset with top quality Syntace wheels and bars etc. 650Wh battery - so good long range. 29' f / 27.5' R mullet. Carbon Frame. Now available with dedicated dealer in UK Southern Liteville Centre. Check out the independant review from Guy Kestevan on Youtube - he loved it ! it is awesome 🙂

If you plan to own long term I’d do some research on motor rebuildability (or lack thereof).....

Check out the independant review from Guy Kestevan on Youtube – he loved it !

I'd love a bike I was paid to review, too...

That said, I guess he's more independant than you are.

Has he ever given a bad review?

That Liteville is only twice the OP's budget

That Liteville is only twice the OP’s budget

I assume the poster will give the OP 50% off.

Apologies if been posted, im so lazy not reading it all 🙂

I was looking at a Decathlon the other day. It was reviewed in one of the Ebike forums.
Currently sold out, and getting one seems a bit hit or miss and you have to order in advance for future bikes being made. A bit like early days Alpkit.
The model is the Stilus, and spec wise its considerably better than the vast majority, are quite an unbelievable price.- £2699
BOSCH PERFORMANCE LINE CX 2020 motor, 75Nm torque, power of up to 600W.(inc 500W)
ROCKSHOX 35 150mm fork and ROCKSHOX Deluxe 150 mm shock.
SX Eagle
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/stilus-full-suspension-electric-mountain-bike-sram-sx-id_8581581.html

Says it runs small, which is putting me off a bit I hit the max XL size, but the frame's being touted as a generic affair, so 2021 could be throwing out a better set of bits. No suntour to be seen 😆

In the time honoured tradition of recommending what you’ve got, have a look at the Vitus e-Sommet. I got the 2019 model with top end rockshox kit for under the OP’s budget including a new vaude tent and a set of Hope Brakes purchased to get the Wiggle discount levels. It’s an E8000 motor with external battery, which was a plus for me as I personally prefer the look of the frame (but many don’t), I feel it helps put the weight lower down for better handling, and most importantly I can easily remove the battery for storage away from the bike.
What originally steered me toward the e-Sommet was the geometry, which is pretty standard on 2020/21 frames but was ahead of the game 2 years ago. I’ve had no issues with the Shimano motor system. The big issue is availability.