Greg's Weekly eMTB Briefing - 16 March 2026It's been quite the week. The BLM has quietly done something rather significant for eMTB access rights, Ducati has apparently decided it wants to sell you a motorcycle that's technically a bicycle, and somewhere in a Taiwanese convention centre, the Avinox M2 is presumably sitting in a box waiting to cause a frenzy. Meanwhile, the forum has been doing what the forum does best: arguing about tyres, welcoming veterans, and speculating wildly about motors. Shall we?
Moab Opens 200+ Miles of Trails to Class 1 eMTBs — And It Actually MattersThe Bureau of Land Management has officially opened more than 200 miles of trails around Moab, Utah to Class 1 electric mountain bikes, effective March 1st. For those who've been following the long, grinding slog of eMTB access debates across North America, this is the moment you underline in red and stick on the fridge. Moab isn't just any trail network — it's Slickrock, Whole Enchilada, Navajo Rocks. It's the kind of riding that ends up on magazine covers and in people's cycling obituaries. Opening that to Class 1 eMTBs isn't a token gesture. It's a statement.
What makes this particularly noteworthy is the framing. PeopleForBikes and the BLM haven't approached this as a reluctant concession — it's been positioned as a managed, deliberate expansion of access. Class 1 specifically (pedal-assist only, maximum 20mph motor cutoff) has been the category that land managers tend to be least terrified of, and the Moab decision will almost certainly be cited in every subsequent access negotiation across the Western US for the next several years. Precedent, as any lawyer will tell you, is everything.
The timing is also quietly significant. With the motor market exploding, bikes becoming more capable, and the eMTB demographic expanding well beyond the "cheating" stigma of five years ago, having Moab in the "open" column changes the conversation. Trail advocacy groups have spent years arguing that Class 1 eMTBs are functionally indistinguishable from acoustic bikes in terms of trail impact. The BLM, apparently, has read the reports. Whether the rest of the land management world follows is another matter entirely — but at this rate, someone's going to have to update a lot of trail maps.
Full story on Bureau of Land Management / PeopleForBikes
Avinox M2: The Motor That Isn't Here Yet but Is Somehow EverywhereThe Avinox M2 rumour mill has reached a pitch that can only be described as enthusiastic. A spotted prototype here, a leaked motor housing there, and now Taipei Cycle (March 25–28) looming on the horizon like a very expensive trade show that several companies are clearly saving their best announcements for. Forum member @Pudding spotted something with "Avinox M2" written directly on the motor housing, which is either a genuine leak or the world's most elaborate piece of product placement. Both seem plausible at this point. The ongoing DJI corporate restructuring — with Avinox apparently spinning out as its own entity — adds a layer of intrigue that the marketing department probably didn't intend. Keep your eyes on Taipei. It's going to be loud.
Full discussion on emtbforums.com
Thömus Oberrider: Swiss Precision Meets Avinox Motor, Wallet Weeps QuietlySwiss brand Thömus has unveiled the Oberrider, a high-pivot eMTB running the Avinox motor system, and it looks like someone built a bike by asking "what if we ignored all budget constraints entirely?" The high-pivot geometry combined with Avinox's motor credentials makes for a genuinely compelling package on paper — Switzerland has form for making things that are extremely good and extremely expensive, and nothing about the Oberrider suggests they've broken the habit. One for the lottery winners, dentists, and people who describe their watches as "investments."
Full story on E-Mountainbike
Ducati Enters the eMTB Chat (March 2026)Ducati has unveiled its electric mountain bike, because of course they have. Nothing says "we've thoroughly read the room" like a motorcycle brand deciding that what the eMTB market really needed was their particular brand of Italian drama and red paintwork. Details are still emerging, but the mere fact that Ducati is now in this space tells you something about where the industry thinks the money is going. Whether it's a genuinely engineered mountain bike or a badge-engineering exercise with a premium price tag remains to be seen. The cynic in me is taking bets. The optimist is cautiously intrigued. They are, unfortunately, the same person.
Merida ETMO: A Budget Aluminium eMTB That Has the Audacity to Be InterestingMerida has announced the ETMO, an aluminium eMTB that appears to be taking direct aim at the "I want to ride trails but I'd also like to keep my house" segment of the market. Budget aluminium bikes have historically been the category where excitement goes to die quietly, but Merida has a reasonable track record of building aluminium bikes that don't feel like punishment, and the spec sheet is apparently less horrifying than expected. Whether it's genuinely potent or merely "potent for the price" — a phrase that does a lot of heavy lifting in this industry — we'll find out when tests land.
Full story on E-Mountainbike
Stromer Fork Recall: Repair Kits Are (Apparently) ComingStromer has announced that repair kits for their recalled forks are expected to ship this month, which is the kind of update that is simultaneously reassuring and faintly alarming — reassuring because something is being done, alarming because "repair kits for recalled forks" is a sentence that should make any rider at least briefly consider the life choices that led them here. If you're a Stromer owner currently riding on the affected hardware, perhaps now is the time to check your inbox.
Full story on Bicycle Retailer
Whyte + Avinox: The Rumour That Won't Go AwayWhyte apparently has a prototype eMTB in testing using the Avinox motor system, and the forum has been quietly fizzing about it all week. An eLyte-style chassis with Avinox credentials would be a legitimately exciting combination — Whyte builds genuinely sorted bikes with proper British geometry, and pairing that with what is currently the most talked-about motor in the industry would make a lot of people sit up straight. Whether it makes production, at what price, and with what spec remains entirely unknown. But the prototype exists, people have seen it, and that's usually how these things start.
Full discussion on emtbforums.com
The Mirror Asks: Do You Want 32-Inch Wheels? (You Don't. You Don't Want 32-Inch Wheels.)Enduro-MTB's "The Mirror" column this week tackles 32-inch wheels — which is corporate speak for "we needed something to write about in March." To be fair to them, the piece is framed as "the innovation no one asked for," which suggests the author shares our general disposition on the matter. The 29er wars took the better part of a decade to settle. The mullet debate is still technically ongoing. And now someone wants to add a third wheel size to the mix. At this rate, we'll be running 34-inch wheels on a bike that somehow still weighs 23kg and is described as "playful."
Full story on Enduro-MTB
FROM YOUR FORUM THIS WEEK
DJI/Avinox Manipulating YouTube Comments? The Forum Has OpinionsThis week's most entertainingly conspiratorial new thread asks whether DJI or Avinox have been tidying up YouTube comment sections in their favour — which is either a legitimate concern about corporate behaviour or evidence that people have spent too long on the internet. Both, probably. The thread took an interesting detour when @Pudding dropped the casual revelation that the motor housing he spotted clearly had "Avinox M2" printed on the side — which, whatever you think about comment moderation, is considerably more exciting. Meanwhile, @Astro66 offered what may be the most philosophically grounded take on eMTB depreciation anyone has ever written, pointing out that at 60 years old, money is irrelevant compared to doing what you love, while also noting with admirable precision that his Merida E160s have been selling at steadily declining prices. Correct on both counts, frankly.
Join the discussion Whyte eLyte-Style Bike with Avinox Motor — Spotted@Rockhopper70 kicked off the week's most tantalising new thread by reporting that he'd spotted a Whyte prototype with an Avinox motor on Instagram — and then, naturally, couldn't find the post again. The forum, to its credit, found it anyway. @Waynemarlow chimed in noting the similarity to the E69 frame and raised the tantalising possibility of a retro-fit Avinox option. This is the forum working exactly as intended: one person half-remembers something, everyone else finds it, and we all end up more informed and slightly more impatient for a bike that hasn't been announced yet.
Join the discussion Bosch Alternatives: A Thread That Was InevitableWith 25 replies and presumably a certain amount of frustration powering them, the "is there an alternative to Bosch" thread has arrived and is doing brisk business. The motor market has never been more competitive — Mahle, Avinox, Specialized's own unit, and assorted others are all jostling for position — so the timing is apt. The fact that the thread exists at all tells you something about where community sentiment on Bosch currently sits.
Join the discussion Tyre Sidewalls: DH vs Trail — The Eternal Question, Refreshed@zirkel opened a pleasingly practical thread this week asking whether DH sidewalls are simply the right call for eMTBs, and whether mixing casings front and rear makes any sense. @Rando_12345 delivered the pragmatic answer: it depends on terrain and brand, but many experienced riders have simply gone full DH casing and stopped carrying tubes entirely. Most entertainingly, @Joakim runs lighter-than-trail casings with Cush Core inserts, arguing the rolling resistance gains more than compensate — which is either genius or the kind of thing that sounds great until 3pm on a trail that's further from the car park than expected. The debate, as always, continues.
Join the discussion Welcome, Gingershrek — A Proper Forum Introduction@Gingershrek introduced himself this week with a genuinely endearing post: 43-year-old veteran, broken down but still riding, on a Transition Spire after a journey through a Trance and a Canyon Stoic. The forum responded warmly, with @Stihldog immediately diving into the important business of Filmore valves, MucOff sealant compatibility, and the ongoing philosophical puzzle of finding the right saddle — which is, honestly, peak forum behaviour. Welcome, Sean. You'll fit in perfectly.
Join the discussion Dropper Post on a Cube Stereo Hybrid: Yes, You'll Probably Have to Take the Motor Out@Hill67 is trying to retrofit an RFR dropper post to a Cube Stereo Hybrid 120 and has been doing battle with cable routing all week. The specific puzzle of how to guide a cable through the headset without removing the upper battery holder has proven entertainingly difficult, with @Ghostrider.1127 delivering the unwelcome but honest verdict: motor out, fork out, PITA throughout — unless you go wireless, which honestly starts to look quite attractive from here. A wireless dropper post retrofit: the upgrade no one planned for but several people end up choosing.
Join the discussion
BIG THREAD WATCHThe SZZS CEF50 Thread — Still the Forum's Beating Heart
The CEF50 megathread continues to accumulate posts at a rate that suggests the bike has either a devoted fanbase or a truly remarkable number of things that occasionally need discussing. With over 5,000 posts since the last summary update and an extraordinary 1,451 documented community facts, this thread has essentially become a self-sustaining knowledge base. If you own or are considering a DJI-powered bike and have a question, the answer is almost certainly in here. Finding it is the challenge. Think of it as the Library of Alexandria, but for motor configuration and dropper cable routing.
The megathreadLevo Gen 4 Rumours: Still Generating Heat
With over 1,000 documented community facts and approaching 3,500 posts since its last summary update, the Levo Gen 4 thread remains one of the forum's most active rumour engines. Specialized's next chapter continues to attract strong opinions from people who own the current one, people who used to own the current one, and people who have never owned one but have a great deal to say anyway. Classic forum behaviour, and long may it continue.
Join the speculationOfficial Levo SL Thread — Nearly 3,800 posts of SL discourse and counting. Still going, presumably.
ThreadOfficial 2022 Kenevo SL Megathread — 24 documented community facts and still active, which tells you something about the longevity of Specialized's community engagement whether they like it or not.
ThreadStay muddy,
Greg
Got news I missed or spotted something good on the forum? Tag me @Greg Watts or drop it in my forum thread.
