Part of me wants to go and get an M2S and be the prick that flies up the fire road at 25km/h. Because that’s what’s going to be happening, whether I do or not, so I might as well enjoy it. And it might be for a limited time...
I think Avinox are very shrewd marketers. They became the focus very quickly because of the torque and power numbers, and look at the number of OEMs on board now - a roaring success for their business. But it seems to me they did this by overstepping a gentleman’s agreement. Take Bosch for example - they were able to go from 85nm to 120nm just with firmware. So it seems like if they had been pursuing these sorts of big numbers when they made the Gen 5 or even Gen 4, they would have designed it differently and had bigger numbers - and thus be able to crank it up to even more now. Then those figures Avinox released with the M1 wouldn’t have been anything new.
It’s pretty obvious that blokes - the majority of eMTB users - like big power numbers. There’s an undeniable fact that “mines bigger than yours” sells - anything. It’s just the male ego. And Avinox capitalised on that. There might be a big price to pay, and not by Avinox in the end.
Seems the trail issue is definitely going to be a big issue in some places, like parts of the US. Will it be here? I dunno. We have issues with rampant teenagers on (non-EMTB) bikes tearing shit up. That’s going to come to a head at some point, and I wonder if we’ll end up caught up in that i.e. being hardcore policed, forced to comply, maybe even laws to confiscate non-legal bikes (completely believable in Australia).
There’s been plenty of times when I’ve been on a turbo ride in the forest, and I’m loving it, but the speed at which I’m catching and passing people feels pretty rude… afterwards. In the moment with adrenaline surging I’m just going for it. And I’m talking about on a 85nm speed restricted Bosch, and I'm heavy. If I had an Avinox I wouldn’t be obeying 25km/h. That’s just the reality. When I was 20 I drove every car like I stole it. It’s what I end up doing on an eMTB, being a kid again. I’m sure I’m not alone…
It would be awesome to see what Avinox could do shooting for lighter and 600w/80nm or something. I dunno, maybe it doesn’t get a whole lot lighter than the M2S anyway, in which case, why would they?
It will be interesting to see how it plays out. It will also be interesting to see what Bosch does. I don't think people really appreciate how big and serious of an engineering company Bosch is. I think they weren't trying to make motors this crazy. And being EU they may still not.
Here in Aus you can freely buy ebikes that aren’t legal (not just EMTB, non-pedal behemoths) and they're everywhere. I can’t see it lasting, but it's not going to be real easy to police either. So the Avinox is just a fraction of that problem.