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Just managed to sell my old Giant Trance for a much better price than I would have anticipated a few months ago. This means that I can stretch the budget out a little bit more for an ebike. Also makes a bit of room in the spare bedroom 😂.
So, let’s go shopping!
I seem to be drawn to the Orbea Wild H15, It seems like a really good spec for the money.
The Radon Render looks quite similar for similar money and comes with a carbon front triangle. Although, my mate did just buy a Focus from Bike Discount and had a nightmare getting it.
Stock seems to be a problem and chances of a demo seem to be out the window which is a shame.
What else should I be looking at?
Cheers
YT Decoy
Canton Spectral:ON
TBH the Wild enduro seems a good choice.
In the tradition of recommending the bike you own, Trek Rail.
However, the Vitus e-Sommet is probably one of the most gravity focused eBikes and is well spec'd for the money.
Whyte e150 s or if you can stretch to it, the rs
Commencal meta power sx
Love my E-sommet & it’s the cheaper shimano 7000 motor, bought through wiggle with discount, have changed a few bits cockpit, brakes & wheels, not need more than 10speed & with Saint shifter the shifting is way better than Xt11 speed even better than XX1 on analog bike! The bike has great geometry, isn’t a bad weight, the shimano app is crap now use STunlocker but it’s not been chipped but can adjust amount of assistance so much better than E-TUBE, & see battery health etc. Although it’s an external battery the weight is well distributed to make a good handling bike, I had an analog Vitus sommet in the past so knew I liked the bike
Having had a similar process recently, i think the Orbea Wild H15 is a great bike for the money and for me the best bet for a 29" AM/Enduro ebike. I'd say the Radon is next up after that in the price range. The dark horse for me in this category is the giant e reign, didn't get to test one though, but they looked great and had good reviews and sounded very good.
Mullet wise, the YT Decoy is excellent, it runs the shimano E8000 motor, but has a bespoke YT battery that's 100wh less than the Bosch on the wild, for me it was also a risk buying an ebike that is return to sender for any warranty, but apart from that, excellent value for money and no complaints from folk i know who has one / tried one.
I was after a 27.5" ebike and went for the Cube Stereo Hybrid TM, good spec and bosch gen 4 with the 625wh battery, so the others were pretty much ruled out due to not being 27.5, but found them all to be well price (for an ebike).
Edit-missed the all important 'e' bit.
Has to be a yt Decoy, well thought of and great value.
I’d second the Trek Rail, for the same reasons of above as it’s what I’ve got! It’s a more capable bike than it looks on paper and is a blast downhill. I’m as fast in the techy stuff as my V3 Bronson and that’s good enough for me. New Bosch motor, 625wh battery and some good deals on them at the moment as the new 2021 range is about to come in (I got about £800 off a rail 9)
I don’t have a great deal of experience with e-bikes, but have ridden the rail back to back with the decoy as my mates got the £6k mullet version. Decoy feels a little more lively and the rail a bit more tank like for ploughing through stuff. Rail climbs better. I also went trek over YT for warranty reasons, UK network of trek dealers with great warranty support which I felt was important with the increased complexity of e-bikes vs normal bikes
Transition patrol, awesome bike.
Transition patrol, awesome bike.
Crap eBike though...
Ah missed the ebike part, oops
For 4.5K an older KTM 250EXCF or 300EXC 🙂
That's not very helpful is it 🙂
If they had the same access rights as eBikes I'd be all over one of those.
If I was in the market for an e-bike right now I would but an Orbea Wild probably the H15
It looks good has good reviews and reasonably priced for the spec. Possibly next year I might invest in one.
Bump it up a little to 5k and a kenevo comp from a decent dealer I would suggest.
If they had the same access rights as eBikes I’d be all over one of those.
Yep it is an issue, a fair few lanes where I am, but even so its limiting. Strangely though its made me more enthusiastic about getting out on the mountain bike too. Good transferable fitness and good for scouting out lanes.
Levo comp or Levo SL?
Levo SL for £4.5K???
Levo and esp. Levo SL are more trail oriented then all mountain or enduro.
I'll do the usual and recommended what a sort of have...
I've got a Whyte e180, it honestly is the best bike I've owned and riden. I test ride them.all up at the JE JAMES day and nothing came close to the whyte feel. Weight distribution is so much better than the others.
They do a 150mm or 180mm version.
Jeff makes some good points about different bikes for the 2 intended uses of ebikes - self shuttle and riding flat/terrible trails. Something to think about when choosing an ebike.
I'm edging to the Orbea still but my only issue is the reach is 10mm shorter than my capra
I’m edging to the Orbea still but my only issue is the reach is 10mm shorter than my capra
Can you go for the next size up on the orbea?
I've been window shopping myself and also own a size large capra 27.5 , I came to the conclusion that if I was going for the orbea I would probably end up with size XL.
Can you go for the next size up on the orbea?
I’ve been window shopping myself and also own a size large capra 27.5 , I came to the conclusion that if I was going for the orbea I would probably end up with size XL.
How tall are you @julians?
You'll not notice 10mm reach, and if you do you can turn the handlebars over a bit to get a couple of mm, move the seat back a couple of mm and you're back in A1 position, you'll adjust no problem to 10mm in my opinion.
Sounds a bit like my set up as well, i have an enduro (patrol) that is also 10mm longer than my ebike (Cube 160 TM), i honestly don't notice it, i have the same saddle, stem size, etc, but reality is i ride them differently, and they're don't need to be the same geometry (the enduro is slacker and so on as well).
argee
Subscriber
You’ll not notice 10mm reach, and if you do you can turn the handlebars over a bit to get a couple of mm, move the seat back a couple of mm and you’re back in A1 position,
Saddle position has nothing to do with reach
I know saddle position has nothing to do with reach, but reach is just a horizontal measurement from BB to stem that you cannot change, so to have the same 'feel' for size, you can increase or decrease the actual cockpit distance to make up for this number.
Reach is just a number used more and more these days, 20 years ago it was effective top tube length and so on, reality is it's how you fit the bike and what adjustments you can do that makes it matter, you don't want a massive stem to make up the stretched distance you are used too, as it will affect steering potentially, same with moving the saddle back too far, it will affect your pedaling and so on.
I should add that it only matters when seated for these changes though, stood up it's you that's moving your CofG to manage the bike and 10mm of reach is nothing in relation to that.
My Capra had a 42.5mm stem and the orbea has a 50 so that coupled with some wider bars it might not be miles apart.
Found a Orbea in Large that I can swing a leg over an hour and a half away, might even be a chance I can get a demo as well.
The Orbea is 10mm shorter reach but has a 50mm stem compared to the 42mm on my Capra so I’m hoping it might feel right. The capra never felt too big but at the same time never felt cramped so I’m hoping this could be about right.
I went to the demo day with full intentions of buying the orbea m team, I went just to ride it and confirm I wanted it.
I bought the Whyte.
The orbea didn't inspire me with what I expected it to After reading the mag reviews about it. If you can, I really recommend riding the whyte e150
Jim - could you elaborate on what it was about the orbea you didn't like versus the whyte?
Note that the Whyte is 27.5", against the 29" on the obrea, so will more than likely feel different, definitely worth trying both sizes to rule out one type.
I read all the reviews of the orbea and thought it sounded awesome, to be honest the trials that I demo'd it on at The lady Plantation place near Sheffield wear really Tame, but I just didn't find the bike exciting to ride. I'd driven 3 hours to ride that one bike and was left feeling unispired when I got off it. I felt just the same as the other ebikes I tried just a different colour. Whereas the whyte, within 100m of riding down a trail I was grinning forum ear to ear, it felt so well balanced weight wise that it didn't feel like a 24kg ebike, but so flick able and nimble compared all else I rode that day.
It really surprised me as I discounted it at the start of the day due to its looks and only rode it to pass the time as all other bikes were out on test.
I've always preferred 27.5 over 29ers so that probably has something to do with it.
If you have the option I'd highly advise atleast trying it out.
Drove 1.5 hrs away to Halifax to sit on one after having been told there was a demo bike, got there and the lad I'd emailed hadn't told anyone and the demo bike wasn't there. 🙁
Had a sit on a large and it just felt a little cramped compared to my Capra. The reach on an XL would have been a jump but felt ok but there was zero chance of me fitting anything over a 100m dropper in with it.
Back to the drawing bored.