Which would you rather own?

Given the two choices below what would you choose?

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DToX

DToX

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Given the two choices below what would you choose? I'm asking because I can get 1 or the other and I'm torn. Personally I'm a fan of Fox suspension styling and the better fast charger is tempting.

Name(USD)SizeMullet(Wh)ETANotesWeight
Amflow PL Carbon Pro$ 10,199.00XLNo
​
800​
​
31-Jul-25​
Comes with fast 508W charger20.4kg or 45lbs
Forbidden Druid Core 1$ 11,899.00S3Yes
​
800​
​
31-Aug-25​
Comes with slower 168W charger22.6kg or 49.8lbs

amflow_pl_carbon_pro.jpg

DruidCorE_1_Teal_Drive_Side_On.jpg
 
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DToX said:
Given the two choices below what would you choose? I'm asking because I can get 1 or the other and I'm torn. Personally I'm a fan of Fox suspension styling and the better fast charger is tempting.

Name(USD)SizeMullet(Wh)ETANotesWeight
Amflow PL Carbon Pro$ 10,199.00XLNo
​
800​
​
31-Jul-25​
Comes with fast 508W charger20.4kg or 45lbs
Forbidden Druid Core 1$ 11,899.00S3Yes
​
800​
​
31-Aug-25​
Comes will slower 168W charger22.6kg or 49.8lbs

View attachment 163948
View attachment 163949
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Just had a friend here in the UK, purchase the , Amflow, instead of the Specialized Levo Carbon 2025..!!
 
Bogdan_CH said:
You're in the US? I'll be extra careful getting an amflow there :

Facebook

www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
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Yeah I am US based, I saw the facebook post as well. I hear Amflows are officially arriving in the US through proper distributors in the next few weeks. My thought it that its a manufacture defect and should be a warranty replacement. This user imported it so it may not be so easy for him/her. I haven't seen any other reports of defects like this one.
 
Two pretty different bikes tbh

I've ridden an Amflow but wouldn't buy one myself, Have a Druid Core on order instead. High pivot rides mint, My other Bike is a Deviate Claymore so hopefully pretty similar
 
For me. Neither.

They both fail my personal spec as below.
180mm travel, min 165mm rear
Removable batteries without dropping motors.

I don't need to list any more of my specs. Those two are hard stops....
 
Highland Wheels said:
Two pretty different bikes tbh

I've ridden an Amflow but wouldn't buy one myself, Have a Druid Core on order instead. High pivot rides mint, My other Bike is a Deviate Claymore so hopefully pretty similar
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What size E-Druid are you getting. Their size large and above has a 14mm longer chainstay. That will be a step change different ( more stable less playful) to the claymore for playfulness. Medium geo's are similar.
 
Winford said:
The battery will come out, just requires motor removal. It is just not designed for quick removal.
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Not acceptable for me. Integrated batteries are a deal breaker for me. I want to change batteries trailside and carry on riding or take the battery out and charge it in a hotel room.

I don't want to drop motors to do that.
 
Plummet said:
Not acceptable for me. Integrated batteries are a deal breaker for me. I want to change batteries trailside and carry on riding or take the battery out and charge it in a hotel room.

I don't want to drop motors to do that.
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I hear you on that, I would likely bring a mobile powerbank with me if I needed to charge and just take the cable out my trunk and charge it while traveling etc.

This is fair criticism but for me I can get around that limitation easy enough.
 
DToX said:
I hear you on that, I would likely bring a mobile powerbank with me if I needed to charge and just take the cable out my trunk and charge it while traveling etc.

This is fair criticism but for me I can get around that limitation easy enough.
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I also want to run different battery sizes. No need to carry more battery weight on shorter rides. My favorite battery currently is my 400wh. It's 1kg lighter than a 600wh and the bike feels a lot more like an mtb and less like a heavy E. Integrated battery means you are stuck with the biggest battery you will need for that bike. That sucks, Particularly when i am doing my E hike a bikes and having to push and carry the bike. Lighter is better.

I personally have 400wh and 600wh (bosch) and 80% of the time 400wh is the go to size. If i need to go longer i go 600wh and when im away holidaying and want to do a full day I swap out batteries mid day for 1000wh of goodness.

But I get that my requirements are specific and most people can and do happily use and integrated battery E-bike.
 
Plummet said:
I also want to run different battery sizes. No need to carry more battery weight on shorter rides. My favorite battery currently is my 400wh. It's 1kg lighter than a 600wh and the bike feels a lot more like an mtb and less like a heavy E. Integrated battery means you are stuck with the biggest battery you will need for that bike. That sucks, Particularly when i am doing my E hike a bikes and having to push and carry the bike. Lighter is better.

I personally have 400wh and 600wh (bosch) and 80% of the time 400wh is the go to size. If i need to go longer i go 600wh and when im away holidaying and want to do a full day I swap out batteries mid day for 1000wh of goodness.

But I get that my requirements are specific and most people can and do happily use and integrated battery E-bike.
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That makes a lot of sense, I personally prefer the looks of the integrated vs removeable but for your usage I can see the need.
 
Plummet said:
I want to change batteries trailside and carry on riding or take the battery out and charge it in a hotel room.
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I throw out a word of caution. Have you drained an 800w or 900w battery? I do it almost daily on rough trails.

So I ride 25 to 35 miles and climb and drop 4000' in 2 hours if im feeling good. 3 hours on recovery days.

If I ride in the morning I can charge in 5 hours and get back out there and drain the 900 a second time in the evening.

I am very fit, and the second ride is usually a butt kicker and usually gets pretty sketchy because im getting mentally drained and a bit drained physically. Maybe you are in way better shape than me, but just use some caution, that second battery usually wipes me out. I always have a few close calls on that second charge.

Nice thing about the Amflow PL pro is the quick charger, gives you time to hydrate and eat and rest a hair and you can get back out fairly quickly.

We have a guy here that is an animal and drains two 600w batteries every day, dude is at 5,200 miles for the year so far. So you should have no problem. Just use a little common sense and you will rip it.
 
Winford said:
I throw out a word of caution. Have you drained an 800w or 900w battery? I do it almost daily on rough trails.

So I ride 25 to 35 miles and climb and drop 4000' in 2 hours if im feeling good. 3 hours on recovery days.

If I ride in the morning I can charge in 5 hours and get back out there and drain the 900 a second time in the evening.

I am very fit, and the second ride is usually a butt kicker and usually gets pretty sketchy because im getting mentally drained and a bit drained physically. Maybe you are in way better shape than me, but just use some caution, that second battery usually wipes me out. I always have a few close calls on that second charge.

Nice thing about the Amflow PL pro is the quick charger, gives you time to hydrate and eat and rest a hair and you can get back out fairly quickly.

We have a guy here that is an animal and drains two 600w batteries every day, dude is at 5,200 miles for the year so far. So you should have no problem. Just use a little common sense and you will rip it.
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I am fit and the body can handle a dual battery burn. I'm not saying its easy. But I am capable.

The sillyest ive done Re riding was when i did a South Island Epic earlier this year.
11 days riding with one day rest 100000 foot of descending. 5 days in bike parks. that smashed out 78000 foot and 6 days doing epic hike a bikes 22000 foot. Some of the hike a bike days was up to 7 hours in the saddle. Hike a bikes on the enduro mtb (no E) and bike parks on the DH bike.

So yeah. Dual battery burn E days. No problemo. I've done a bunch of dual days since getting the Crestline in April.

Some a were mtb then E. Then others dual E days. The below was a cool dual E battery burn day when i was on holiday in Wellington.


1752123488887.png

1752123521254.png
 
DToX said:
Given the two choices below what would you choose?
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Depends. Do you want a heavier harder hitting downhill bike, or a lighter more playful, better climbing bike ?

I got the Amflow PL Carbon Pro and mulleted it for better downhill. And I'm getting more air than I ever have on any MTB. Not sure if I'm sacrificing downhill, as no bike I have owned, downhilled better. I am certainly outbiked by the Amflow.

If I need more downhill, I'd fit a Fox38 170mm, and fit a Marzocchi Coil rear shock. I find a properly setup coil, feels like you have more travel. But I really don't need to go faster downhill.

I'm not a fan of high pivot. Only because it's just more mechanical complexity and parts. But it should give a better ride.
 
Plummet said:
What size E-Druid are you getting. Their size large and above has a 14mm longer chainstay. That will be a step change different ( more stable less playful) to the claymore for playfulness. Medium geo's are similar.
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S4, I'm fine if it's not as playful. I'm an aim and plough rider anyway so more stability is fine

In my size it's actually 30mm longer 😅
 
Or Forbidden are just pushing sizing more than anyone else, although the Claymore is also shorter on the rear than my old Eeb but longer overall

Feels good either way.
 
Probably neither but if I HAD to choose...the Forbidden due to a proper US presence, since I am in the US. I may even have a dealer in the Denver area.
 
Odd that the Amflow looks like the most dated Avinox bike already.
 
Forbidden. I like the rear suspension on the forbidden but prefer fox suspension. you can replace the fork and shock as time goes by. Not insinuating the amflow isn’t a great bike.
 
Diggy said:
Forbidden. I like the rear suspension on the forbidden but prefer fox suspension. you can replace the fork and shock as time goes by. Not insinuating the amflow isn’t a great bike.
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I agree with you, I think I need to photoshop Fox suspension on the druid core to see how it looks :)
I think both are good bikes but I can only buy 1 and picking is a challenge, since the Unno Mith is not available in the US I am leaning on Forbidden now.
 
DToX said:
Fox suspension
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If they made a 180 amflow trail bike that was a hair heavier, I would have went that route too. I punish a fox38 160

I just hope the amflow fits a bigger tire than the small rear they have now. 2.4 was a weird choice
 
Druid without a doubt. The Amflow is of absolutely zero interest to me.
 
Neither. An e-core looks mint from the reviews. But the price and the long chainstay in my s4 size (457mm) are not to taste.

I’d go the Amf PL in silver and adjust as required. There are plenty of options which still leave a heap of money on the table. Eg I went the more trail direction with the 66 degree head angle Slack-R mod described a week or two back (Slack-R ‘November’ 1.7 degree mod). Couldn’t be happier.

The alternate to my mind is to put a 1 degree Slack-R on (eg ‘Hotel’), reversed, then stir in a 180mm fork to get back to 64.5 degree head angle. Add coil. Find some steep terrain with chunk. Send it. I think the frame is good for it in terms of vertical compliance, albeit a bit squirrely in sideways airborne landings at warp speed (quite an ‘interesting’ experience in itself though).
 
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