Crestline x DJI - RS 181 SPECTRE Edition

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Suns_PSD said:
I think Crestline is done with Bosch at this moment.
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I think giving people both options since there are advantages/dis advantages to both is a good thing, but it's a lot for a small company to manage.

I do wonder what the updates might be. I'll start a list of guesses:
- Cable holes with matching grommets
- Bash guards not made out of glass
- Lighter weight frame
- Longer seat post insertion

The last isn't an issue for me and generally I think they got a lot of the details right. There could be a new Avinox motor by then, but I think that's a long shot. If/when a new one comes out, if it's "better" I hope it's available to purchase.
 
Well if the next bash guard is of better material and the motor and frame is the same then at least we can purchase the new version bash guard for our RS181 ✔️
I’m not sure there’s any way to gain a longer seat post insertion with a VPP shock tunnel platform, but I don’t need more insertion anyway.
The only way I’ll be jealous is if the next batch is MGU, which it 110% will NOT be. And even then, I won’t be purchasing the first release batch of MGUs anyway.
I’m good with my purchase for a few years, if DJI releases a non rattling motor that is interchangeable with mine I will consider buying one if offered.
 
John_likes_bikes said:
I think giving people both options since there are advantages/dis advantages to both is a good thing, but it's a lot for a small company to manage.

I do wonder what the updates might be. I'll start a list of guesses:
- Cable holes with matching grommets
- Bash guards not made out of glass
- Lighter weight frame
- Longer seat post insertion

The last isn't an issue for me and generally I think they got a lot of the details right. There could be a new Avinox motor by then, but I think that's a long shot. If/when a new one comes out, if it's "better" I hope it's available to purchase.
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On the first 2 I'd agree and I'd add that the batch of Avinox motors produced in 2026 will not rattle, at least not nearly as much. Clearly, they know how to make some that barely rattle.

CF frames just sort of weigh, what they weigh so no change there. The weight difference between the lightest and the heaviest is about a kilo and that's usually chalked up to design choices, and Crestline has never broken a frame that I've heard of, so why risk it?

Dropper insertion, I don't see it changing because of the shock location but I have wondered if they just left the seat post hole wide open at the bottom (maybe offered a rubber plug with a cable hole) if one could get another 10-20mm of dropper inserted.
 
CarolinaCrawler said:
I still wonder if they are going to make a Bosch bike frame also with the new updates.
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Going by the current consumer demand for everything DJI at the moment i can't see Troydon shifting back soon.

The last bosch Crestline took a couple of months to sell out and the dji frame option over a weekend. He currently has a license to print money with the Crestline DJI offering. Run another batch of 100 and they will sell out equally fast.

But..... in a year or two's time the DJI buzz would have settled and we have some real world data of its performance and I suspect the needle will swing back and possibly see bosch offerings again.

I think too there may be more regulation by the governments around the world limiting power output more precisely and we may see dji's being regulated back down. At that time there advantage is only form over function aesthetics or performance. IE long skinny battery making for thinner downtubes but worse handling or shorter fatter batteries forfatter down tubes but better handling.
 
Crestline have a sweet spot due to their size, go-to-market speed and operational efficiency. Bounce to whatever the best/newest drive unit is available at the time and sell 100 units. Rinse and repeat.
 
Anyone know if you can pair a garmin watch to the Avinox motor? I can’t figure it out if it’s possible
 
Has anyone had this error? Bike won't turn on but I can get the display to come on for a few seconds to display this error. With charger plugged in the charger shows a green light as if it's charged

Screenshot_20250908_125859_Avinox Ride.jpg 20250908_125443.jpg
 
No error codes for me yet, have you tried unplugging and plugging the battery from the motor, ie dropping the bash guard?
 
Scford said:
No error codes for me yet, have you tried unplugging and plugging the battery from the motor, ie dropping the bash guard?
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Not yet. I'm at the trailhead and I've got an inverter and charger shows that it's charged when it does power on momentarily the display says 100% then immediately gets the error and Powers off. It will wake the screen whenever I plug the charger in but it won't stay on
 
letsgomoreplaces said:
Has anyone had this error? Bike won't turn on but I can get the display to come on for a few seconds to display this error. With charger plugged in the charger shows a green light as if it's charged

View attachment 167742 View attachment 167743
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In lies the issue for many. What do you do when you have issues? Ebikes WILL have issues, and this will play out more and more as the bikes age. By buddy had his Orbea Rise brick, and thankfully he had a local dealer who supported Orbea and it was fixed 3 days later. My buddies with the Gen 3 Levo have had issues with aging motor (belts) etc., but yet agin, the local Specialized dealer had them up and running in a matter of no time and they have been very generous about warranty and free work. What does one do when you buy a boutique brand like Crestline and you have issues, and believe me, it will have issues down the road. Do you just remove the motor and send it to Avinox, or Bellingham?, or where? This also plays out when (if) you have a dealer but he's just a few hours away as DJI is not going the direction of dealers but YT style direct sales? But with such an emerging network of potential dealers, chances are, it won't be close, and you'll have to drive it there, leave it, and drive back to get it. Much different than a dealer network like Trek, Specialized, and Santa Cruz where most cities have dealers. Boutique is cool, until you need support.
 
Yes, it's called, you... the home mechanic. Not unique to Crestline, just unique to bikes purchased without local dealer networks established. Scenario, you have an issue with you Avinox motor. Just box it up and ship it back to them for warranty support., that's easy, right. I'm just making the point, that Specialized, Trek, and Santa Cruz have a distinct advantage in that they actually have a dealer network. In my case each is less than 2 miles away. Here is what you will have to potentially deal with:
Not a deal breaker, but be prepared!
 
westcoastmtbr said:
Yes, it's called, you... the home mechanic. Not unique to Crestline, just unique to bikes purchased without local dealer networks established. Scenario, you have an issue with you Avinox motor. Just box it up and ship it back to them for warranty support., that's easy, right. I'm just making the point, that Specialized, Trek, and Santa Cruz have a distinct advantage in that they actually have a dealer network. In my case each is less than 2 miles away. Here is what you will have to potentially deal with:
Not a deal breaker, but be prepared!
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Yeah. Thats one of the reasons im not jumping on the dji train sooner. I'm wating for local motor dealer support and back up support in NZ.

Good luck and kudos to the first adopters willing to take the punt and associated delays if there's motor related issues.
 
westcoastmtbr said:
Yes, it's called, you... the home mechanic. Not unique to Crestline, just unique to bikes purchased without local dealer networks established. Scenario, you have an issue with you Avinox motor. Just box it up and ship it back to them for warranty support., that's easy, right. I'm just making the point, that Specialized, Trek, and Santa Cruz have a distinct advantage in that they actually have a dealer network. In my case each is less than 2 miles away. Here is what you will have to potentially deal with:
Not a deal breaker, but be prepared!
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What this video shows is that if you didn't buy your Avinox motored Ebike from a LBS. You need to be able to wrench on your bike a little bit. And any warranty issues may take a few weeks to resolve. But it will be resolved.

I knew exactly this when purchasing my Avinox motored EMTB, so I did 2 things.

1) Waited till there was a LBS within an hour of my home that was a dealer of the Avinox EMTB.
2) Bought a much cheaper spec'd, but same travel EMTB, in a brand that I knew I could get spares for cheaply and quickly.

I paid AUD$14K for my Avinox motored EMTB. And AUD$5K for the spare. I see the $5K for the spare as very cheap insurance for if there is a failure of the Avinox motor system.

So far the Avinox motor system has been flawless. But having the spare has still been great, as lending it to some of my fellow analogue riders to try an EMTB, has resulted in them buying their own EMTB, which has resulted in more friends to ride with.

When you buy a frame and motor only EMTB like the Crestline. I think most people buying this would have some mechanical skills, or access to mechanical skills. Otherwise they would have just bought a complete bike.
 
westcoastmtbr said:
In lies the issue for many. What do you do when you have issues? Ebikes WILL have issues, and this will play out more and more as the bikes age. By buddy had his Orbea Rise brick, and thankfully he had a local dealer who supported Orbea and it was fixed 3 days later. My buddies with the Gen 3 Levo have had issues with aging motor (belts) etc., but yet agin, the local Specialized dealer had them up and running in a matter of no time and they have been very generous about warranty and free work. What does one do when you buy a boutique brand like Crestline and you have issues, and believe me, it will have issues down the road. Do you just remove the motor and send it to Avinox, or Bellingham?, or where? This also plays out when (if) you have a dealer but he's just a few hours away as DJI is not going the direction of dealers but YT style direct sales? But with such an emerging network of potential dealers, chances are, it won't be close, and you'll have to drive it there, leave it, and drive back to get it. Much different than a dealer network like Trek, Specialized, and Santa Cruz where most cities have dealers. Boutique is cool, until you need support.
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I agree trek, specialized, santa cruz etc have more local stores but they're just your bridge to contact motor suppliers. TBH most of these shops don't know how to repair or fix motors. Maybe some wiring but all they'll do is get in contact with bosch, brose, etc and file the warranty claim for you. I've seen a Transition relay Fazua powered bike sit at my LBS for 3 months for a motor replacement. Nothing the customer can do but wait.

More shops are now supporting avinox and can file warranty claims for you even if you did not buy from them. You typically contact Crestline when you have a frame issue and I think most of us can attest Troydon is very responsive.

Local support was a big factor for me when purchasing an ebike, I knew there would be three local shops all within 30 miles that were going to carry amflow/DJI bikes.
 
Astro66 said:
When you buy a frame and motor only EMTB like the Crestline. I think most people buying this would have some mechanical skills, or access to mechanical skills. Otherwise they would have just bought a complete bike.
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I agree.
Furthermore, for me it much better to be able to do it myself than having to rely on an LBS. When I swapped my broken amflow chainstay it only took me 3 days from I contacted amflow and until I was riding again. That would not have been possible with an LBS involved (no LSB near me at least).
 
volts said:
I agree.
Furthermore, for me it much better to be able to do it myself than having to rely on an LBS. When I swapped my broken amflow chainstay it only took me 3 days from I contacted amflow and until I was riding again. That would not have been possible with an LBS involved (no LSB near me at least).
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Awesome, and I agree with most of you, but the average rider (mass market) will not be dropping a motor, or will not know what to do when their bike update get interrupted 1/2 through the download, or figure 3 years down the road when other things go wrong. My riding buddy just had her Trek firmware act up, and I'm 100% sure she's not going to "do it herself", and the comfort and ease of dropping it off is the difference between total frustration and happiness. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out., and nice work if you can look after this yourself.
 
The tricky thing about the "E" in emtb is the additional knowhow needed to fix related issues. I would say even most LBS's and their techs aren't capable of handling them. It really comes down to support from the manufacturer. Whether or not you have an LBS to involve we're all calling the same people to help with the fix.

As it is related to Crestline or any frame only DTC purchase, more DYI is to be expected and I'd caution anyone not to buy a frame only if you need an LBS to do all of the work.
 
westcoastmtbr said:
Awesome, and I agree with most of you, but the average rider (mass market) will not be dropping a motor, or will not know what to do when their bike update get interrupted 1/2 through the download, or figure 3 years down the road when other things go wrong. My riding buddy just had her Trek firmware act up, and I'm 100% sure she's not going to "do it herself", and the comfort and ease of dropping it off is the difference between total frustration and happiness. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out., and nice work if you can look after this yourself.
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a frame kit is NOT for the average mass market rider and that's ok
 
mrtrinh said:
MX: there were two choices to choose from 445 and 450
29: 450
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Thx! It’s right there in the purchase receipt email 🤦🏻. It says 450 for my MX but I don’t recall seeing 445 option but then I was in rush to buy one before it’s sold out.
 
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