A Youtube search for Emtb is now 98% crapo ebikes!

[Expidia]

Have others found this to be true? I used some of the Youtube reviews last year to decide which brand and model I wanted. But the problem with Youtube now is all these Chinese ebikes have taken over Youtube by giving these reviewers free crapola ebikes or free kit to push their ebikes. Seems they have pushed out most of the top brand names now and decent ebike reviews are fewer and fewer.

At least Rob Rides recent reviews are still there!

Reviews even from decent reviewers are pretty useless from 2-5 years ago IMO.

 

[Stihldog]

Sometimes you get what you pay for. Buyer beware.
Some of those advertised ebikes would never stand up to the DH trails around here. They’re probably fine as a commuter eBike.
Over the years I have upgraded almost everything on my Trek Rail to better (hopefully) components. So at least upgrading components is possible. There seems like any manufacturer is getting into the market now.

 

[Expidia]

Sometimes you get what you pay for. Buyer beware.
Some of those advertised ebikes would never stand up to the DH trails around here. They’re probably fine as a commuter eBike.
Over the years I have upgraded almost everything on my Trek Rail to better (hopefully) components. So at least upgrading components is possible. There seems like any manufacturer is getting into the market now.

Exactly

 

[Expidia]

Exactly

Youtube shoud have a channel for $5,000 Ebikes and up. Or a way to filter out all the crap.

 

[Stihldog]

I’m almost embarrassed to say that my Rail now is about a $14K investment.…but that’s CDN.

 

[Expidia]

I’m almost embarrassed to say that my Rail now is about a $14K investment.…but that’s CDN.

Ya, mine was $6,200 and it came with upgraded components and at last count it's already over $9,200 (U.S.) in upgrades and kit. And I've been looking for a 2nd Ebike to add to the stable
I luv my current ride but it's 52 lbs without the battery (60 with) and I carry it up and down a winding staircase from my basement for each ride, so an ultra to mid light weight is starting to look like it's in my near future.

 

[irie]

...
Over the years I have upgraded almost everything on my Trek Rail to better (hopefully) components.
...

Same with my (alloy) Rail. Only stock items left are frame/motor/battery/chainring/cranks and surprisingly the Deore derailleur.

 

[Rando_12345]

To make things worse, the few channels doing specifically high end EMTBs are mostly doing paid product placement adverts where they can't really be critical. I don't want to name the channels and it seems to also be brand specific, but I did notice EMBN for instance often have to put a "paid product review" tag on their videos...

 

[Expidia]

Same with my (alloy) Rail. Only stock items left are frame/motor/battery/chainring/cranks and surprisingly the Deore derailleur.

Ha, the thought of having to get another Ebike with an auto derailleur and have to worry about yet "another" battery does not entice me. Each time I get back from a ride I have to charge my ebikes battery, my Garmin Varia Radar rear light (I travel many roads to get to the trails from my house), my Garmin 1030 plus, the Nyon computer that runs my Trek and a 1,000 lumen front light for more visibility in traffic. BTW if you use a high powered front light in the daytime (or night time) best to keep it pointed slightly down. I found people get really pissed off when you about to pass another biker or car coming at you and you see them throw up their hands in front of their eyes . . . Or are blasting that light into a cars review mirror. We don't realize how powerful these new lights are because we are "behind:" the light. We are hitting others in the eyes with the power of laser like lights!

 

[Expidia]

To make things worse, the few channels doing specifically high end EMTBs are mostly doing paid product placement adverts where they can't really be critical. I don't want to name the channels and it seems to also be brand specific, but I did notice EMBN for instance oftern have to put a "paid product review" tag on their videos...

Ya and it's about time they reveal it's a paid advertising channel. I've lost faith in Steve as almost everything he talks about now is alluding to some companies product and with never any negatives. Always a negative when a host is sitting in font of a dozen items from Park Tools or Muc-Off . Besides Rob's channel, the other channel I like is "The Electric Bike review". But he too has been reviewing a lot of low end odd branded Ebikes, but at least he is pretty non biased and not afraid to point out a model's negatives and he doesn't push links to products. He's been around for a long time too.

 

[Ark]

notable youtube channels that stood out for me were

https://www.youtube.com/@SamsBikes/videos

sam also has a website where you can filtet out bikes by price etc

Sam's Bikes - Where you know we only talk e-bikes!

Sam's Bikes: Riding and reviewing the best electric mountain bikes in the world right now. Try my Bike Finder to help select the best bike for you.

samsbikes.net

https://www.youtube.com/@embn

(not really reviews but they shill all the new stuff)
https://www.youtube.com/@ElectricBikeReview (General electric bikes but I like his reviews)

 

[Planemo]

Over the years I have upgraded almost everything on my Trek Rail to better (hopefully) components. So at least upgrading components is possible. There seems like any manufacturer is getting into the market now.

Good point but a Rail is also a good bike with modern standards to start with. I'm not sure what sorta bikes the OP was looking at but a lot of the cheap crap out there isn't upgradable because they use non-standard (old) specs like non-boost hubs, shitty odd-sized bottom brackets, non-taper headsets (some are still 1" quill!) and even, I shit you not, frames without disc mounts. Add 6/7 speed cassettes etc and you could be left with something that is pretty much impossible to upgrade. I did mange to add a coupla bits to my Mrs hub-drive to make it more bearable (DNM rear shock, RST air forks) but the rest of it is no bueno. Thankfully she only potters about and it's fine for her but the difficulty of upgrading a cheap bike is something that I suspect many 1st time buyers wouldn't be aware of.

 

[2WheelsNot4]

These vids drive me to distraction.

Just looking at them I can se the parts of the bike are so cheap they are pretty much worthless. Forks that hardly work, to brakes that are underpowered, or fail to work consistently beyond the first month. A drivetrain that sells for a few quid or is the start of any groupset and not really designed for anything other than weekend use around a city center. Yet all show their bikes being used in an offroad capacity.

Just cheap and nasty across the board, and a reviewer who doesn't know his arse from his elbow.

 

[Expidia]

These vids drive me to distraction.

Just looking at them I can se the parts of the bike are so cheap they are pretty much worthless. Forks that hardly work, to brakes that are underpowered, or fail to work consistently beyond the first month. A drivetrain that sells for a few quid or is the start of any groupset and not really designed for anything other than weekend use around a city center. Yet all show their bikes being used in an offroad capacity.

Just cheap and nasty across the board, and a reviewer who doesn't know his arse from his elbow.

All so true. You buy one of these and you might as well write out another $1500 check, tear it up and flush it down the toilet because that's where your first $1500 just went!

Then some of these uncertified batteries (or owners rebuild the batteries themselves) catch fire and then world comes down on all the quality brands with new rules and laws.

Also, just type in ebike into Craigs List and see how almost every ebike for sale there is a POS.

 

[RiderOnTheStorm]

When researching e-mtb offerings before selecting my last bike, I didn't have high expectations watching YT videos, as most reviews are often biased and sponsored, basically disguised commercials.

But visiting a whole bunch of bike shops was very helpful on the other hand. Seeing the bikes, trying them out, asking questions to professionals, getting tips and guidance, is what actually helped me make a decision at the end.