Advice on Which Bike and motor for racing

[Oldskooldher]

Hi, I’m new to the forum so thanks for the add And psyched to be here!

Quick backstory before my question. I’m an old washed up DHer.....raced for about 25 years. I’m now about a year into my 1st Ebike, lovin it and want to start doing some racing.

Currently riding a 2020 NORCO SIGHT VLT C2 with a few upgrades and have absolutely loved it! I recently entered my first Ebike “XC” race and plan to dive full steam into the Ebike racing scene (enduros, xc, and the Ebike class at some of the Moto “hairscramble” events). Most of the XC and hairscramble events are an hour long all out efforts in full turbo(boost) mode.

At the first race I did, although super hard, I had a blast and did really well. Just wanted to get some advice or thoughts on my current bike, it’s performance (motor) and if anyone would have suggestions on a proper “race bike” or even thoughts on my motor (Shimano StepsE8000) vs the bosch or bros.

I feel as though my fitness and skill level was at least equal to those that I was racing against at minimum However on the very first extended gravel road climb during the race I was passed by bikes with the bros and Bosch motors.

My cadence, effort , body weight and bike set up seemed pretty similar to the other racers but I was a bit disheartened by how seemingly easy I got passed on the nontechnical climbs.

The bikes that passed me (levo’s and trek) I know have motors with more torque and useable power so I’m just wondering if there is a motor/bike our there that would be a bit more suited for this style of racing.

I know shimano has the EP8 coming out but the reviews I’ve watched and read all still say the bosch is the “punchiest“ motor. More training aside, I love my bike it rides fantastically but is it a bit underpowered for what I wanna use it for? Any advice or suggestions would be great and thanks so much!

 

[Gary]

I feel as though my fitness and skill level was at least equal to those that I was racing against at minimum However on the very first extended gravel road climb during the race I was passed by bikes with the bros and Bosch motors. My cadence, effort , body weight and bike set up seemed pretty similar to the other racers but I was a bit disheartened by how seemingly easy I got passed on the nontechnical climbs. the bikes that passed me (levo’s and trek) I know have motors with more torque and useable power

The uneveness between Emtb motors you've seen is exactly why Ebike racing being taken seriously is fairly ridiculous.

so I’m just wondering if there is a motor/bike our there that would be a bit more suited for this style of racing. I know shimano has the EP8 coming out but the reviews I’ve watched and read all still say the bosch is the “punchiest“ motor. More training aside, I love my bike it rides fantastically but is it a bit underpowered for what I wanna use it for? Any advice or suggestions would be great and thanks so much!

Yes. There definitely is
But would you really feel deserving of your improved finishing position in a cycle race knowing fine well your choice of motor had given you a huge advantage over many of your competitors?

Unless it's a pure DH event if your goal is to finish well IMO you'd be crazy to even bother entering a race on a bike with a Shimano motor

 

[Shinn]

Nice rig, I never woulda thought they'd have emtb XC races though. One would think you'd be split into categories based on the bikes power? Would make much more sense.

 

[Slowroller]

Wait, I thought all motors were limited to the same 250w of powah??

 

[Mteam]

Wait, I thought all motors were limited to the same 250w of powah??

They are, but it's a nominal power measured over something like 30 minutes, so their max power can be way higher than this, around 600w is common.


Oops, missed the winky