Hey
@thbo, this might seem like a data dump but I went through the same thing your going through about 9 months ago and maybe some of this can help. I'm 5'7 150lbs....
My twin brother and my dad both have the Levo Comp. I just bought an Altitude PP C90 and have a Bulls AM3 which has the same motor as the Levo Comp (Brose Mag S). My Bulls needed solid shop work and they let me borrow two different Haibikes for about a month with the Bosch Gen 3. I have some buddies with bikes, Cube Gen4 so i feel like I have a solid grasp of those motors and what they offer.
I'll start with the problems.
Every bike except the Rocky Mountains have integrated BB's into the motor. For example, my buddy has a haibike and a simple bearing that would take place in a standard bottom bracket collapsed and his bike has been in the shop pushing 3 months now (he's basically losing his mind). I would say Bosch has been very very slow to fix. It likes a high cadence to power band ratio and lacks power on uphills. And yes, def has a loud whirring sound, me personally I don't really mind sound but some people seem to.
Brose Mag S -> My bulls, and my brother and dad all have this motor. Motor is awesome, powerful, quiet and gives power at every cadence. Its prob the best motor for all types of riders and/or people that want free rides. What I mean by this is you can have a 20rpm cadence and be blasting 20mph with no effort. It tends to give power for half a second sometimes after peddaling, both my brothers and my bulls have this function. Lots of times coming tight into a berm or corner you gotta hover the brake or ride slightly different to watch for this.
The big negative is that dang belt. I have had to replace mine twice. i.e. my bulls is currently in the shop getting its second belt. My dads went 3 weeks in to buying a brand new levo comp and my brothers went about 3 months in. I'm 150lbs so I feel like these things really should last longer, Its almost like they make em out of silly putty. Now we all are just waiting for these things to go at any moment. I will have to say the service work for all of us is decent compared to the bosch. Most in under 2 weeks. Although if you've seen online at all, my buddy found a how-to link on replacing the belt and it takes about 5 mins.
Dyname 3.0 on the Rocky Mountain. I've had my Rocky Mountain Altitude C90 for 2/3 months and love love the thing. I've kinda learned over the past year at least for me the motor really should be a second class citizen next to the actual bike it geometry / componentry and where/how you ride. With that said. Three things really stick out. The power is amazing when you need it. I've made it up sections that I was not able to on my Brose, I raced my brother on his levo and beat him up a hill by about 5 feet so it def pulls with the 108nM when it needs to. However if your looking for that "free ride" its not the setup for you, meaning if you want to barely pedal at a low cadence it gives you what you put in. For me I really only use the motor for shuttling and cruising until i wanna go for it. And when you go it absolutely bombs. I've beat every one of my KOM's out from under the Bulls. How they separated the bottom bracket from the motor is really cool, so all normal parts really can be serviced with the motor as a single unit. The motor basically has a cog that spins and an arm that moves slightly when the chain is tightened which tells it to deliver the power is spot on. I can hold wheelies with it no problem where on the bulls it blasted power and was hard to control.
The instinct looks like a great all around bike and am buying my wife one now, a bit better on the uphills then the altitude. I get the whole older non-modern geometry thing but thats exactly why I ended up purchasing the altitude, it has the shortest chainstay on the ebike market and is solely why it whips off jumps, down hills and around switchbacks like a normal bike. Jesse Meladed and Remi have both collectively won EWS on their Instincts and Altitudes so at some point fighting over a half degree head angle vs another bikes you prob wouldn't ever notice the difference, and if you could then you no doubt wouldn't be posting to this site asking
.
As for weight. I feel like a lot of people get caught up on weight also. Most people carry over 5lbs of water on their backs and don't thing twice about it. What i've noticed really matters is the geometry and suspension setup. Shorter bikes and proper suspension will make your bike pop all around, the added weight actually helps keep the bike stable in the air on actual jumps. Another example is my bulls. It was very unbalanced. Really heavy in the front and make the bike glued to the ground, it is also a longer bike. My Altitude couldn't be different, its only 3 pounds lighter which is a drop in the bucket but is really short and perfectly balanced and flies off everything, holds corners extremely well and still plows over rock gardens with no problem. Lastly I think everything has a balance to it, the Levo small is 49.5 lbs but comes with smaller stansions, <-- I think 34's, wherein a heavier bike like my Altitude comes with traditional Fox 36's but are much more rigid and gives you better control from flex when bombing downhill. So would you take 3 lbs lighter or stiffer forks? Everything has pro's and cons.
I will have to say get better suspension, if its between the carbon or alu and you get a full suspension step up go with that. Its the arms and legs of your bike and i've seen what you get with the Levo base model and just how bad the RockShox Deluxe really is.
Anyways, I know this is a lot of gibberish but been living and breathing this stuff lately so thought i'd pass some along.
I don't think there is a better designed bike both mechanically and aesthetically then the rocky mountains. Remember, its the actual geometry of the non motored instinct and altitudes, so all that knowledge went straight into the Powerplays.
Cheers,
Neil
Neil Harris is an athlete using Strava. Join Strava to track your activities, analyze your performance, and follow friends. Strava members can plan routes, participate in motivating challenges, and join clubs. Get started by signing up for free.
www.strava.com
Iv'e attached a pic from my first ride on the Altitude
