Bike suggestion for a dad

[Ribafish]

Hi! I’m looking for some bike recommendations…not even necessary exact model, for starters I’m not even sure what type of e-bike makes most sense for me.

I’ used to ride downhill and bike parks a lot (10ish years ago). I still have my old do bike (trek session 8, 2012) and 4x bike. Other than that I have a ~18 year old basic mtb I really don’t like and which I’d like to replace. I have a wife and a small kid (1y8m). The kid loves his balance bike, he loves going to the pump track, so we bought the MacRide. We live in the Alps and my wife has a Specialized Turbo Vado, so I’m kinda lagging behind.

I’d like to ride more and I think with the kid growing up we could do that. I’d like to go on some trails, now with the MacRide, later on acting as the shuttle for him. I don’t think my wife would enjoy trails, so the fact that she doesn’t have a real mtb isn’t that big of a deal. I think. We might ride weekly during the summer, but this is my first kid so realistically I have no idea. He really likes the outdoors though, so maybe.

So now the question, do I get a electric fully, and if so do I go full power or SL? I'm 187cm and 103kg. Would a emtb hardtail be enough? Perhaps even a good analog fully? If I’d get a (electric) fully, I’d probably sell the session. With a hardtail I’d keep it.

Budget is 3500 EUR, new or used.

What do other dads have, is it enough, do you wish for something different? Money no object I’d just get a electric fully, but with the prices…it’s not really that it doesn’t matter. I'm not looking from yall to answer the question how and how much I/we're gonna use the bike, but it'd be great if there were others in a similar situation, or you have both an SL and FP ebike, etc. Smile

Note: Generally I'm leaning towards a full power fully in the 150mm 29er range. But I'm not sure if that'll get used enough to warrant the price increase over a 29er e-hardtail for example.

 

[Brawwp]

What does your local bike shop have? Demo a couple if you can. Whatever they carry will likely be similar to what’s on your local used market. That way you have an idea on what you want.

 

[RustyIron]

used to ride downhill and bike parks a lot

So you have some skills. That's a place to start. Even when I'm riding sissy trails, I'm happier when I'm on a bike that can do what I want, in case I see something I'd like to hit. It's also been my experience that people prefer a burlier eMTB than they'd ride if they were rollin' Amish Style. My advice is to get the full-power full-suspension bike.

 

[irie]

My advice is to get the full-power full-suspension bike.

This ^^^

 

[johnnystorm]

Echoing the above, full power, full sus! Aside from upkeep, the suspension does away with the negatives of full suspension.

I have a gen2 levo and a £10 tow rope from Amazon that takes the sting out of any long climbs when I'm out with my daughter. With the Amflow PR Carbon coming out ~4k I think you'll have plenty of options within, or just above your budget.

 

[TonTonUB]

Grab an used amflow PL, and enjoy ! You can also tweak it (light enduro mode : 170 mm fork, cascade link for rear plushness etc) and as a bonus, the M1 motor will allow you some nice shuttling options.

All in all, the lightness and the natural assist from the avinox will blow your mind (and you can ride it in fullpower mode, or in a SL mode).

 

[Paulquattro]

Welcome to the site

 

[Ribafish]

Thanks for all your answers.

It's really funny though that you guys are all suggesting full power, on pinkibike I got some good arguments for going analog (kid is not gonna be on an ebike for some time, etc.) and some mixed comments on reddit . At least you all agree on full sus (which I was gonna do anyway I think).

I test rode Spec Turbo Levo, both in FP and SL form and kinda preferred the SL... on the store parking lot (in another town). I need to rent it close by to test it out on the local trails, but I'm waiting for the store to reopen.

The SL still felt like a bike, I was also considering getting a modern analog ~150mm full sus bike, but I'm not a huge fan of climbs, so I have a feeling SL would help enough, without feeling I'm just motoring up.

Edit: As for used Amflows - I haven't seen a single one in the used market tbh

 

[Dax]

Something with Bosch SX with a range extender for the big days. Or the Amflow that weighs about the same.

Transition regulator, Whyte elyte etc.

 

[Fugu]

Thanks for all your answers.

It's really funny though that you guys are all suggesting full power, on pinkibike I got some good arguments for going analog (kid is not gonna be on an ebike for some time, etc.) and some mixed comments on reddit . At least you all agree on full sus (which I was gonna do anyway I think).

I test rode Spec Turbo Levo, both in FP and SL form and kinda preferred the SL... on the store parking lot (in another town). I need to rent it close by to test it out on the local trails, but I'm waiting for the store to reopen.

The SL still felt like a bike, I was also considering getting a modern analog ~150mm full sus bike, but I'm not a huge fan of climbs, so I have a feeling SL would help enough, without feeling I'm just motoring up.

Edit: As for used Amflows - I haven't seen a single one in the used market tbh

Be honest about your fitness and intentions around fitness - how much work you want to do on that? Since you live in the Alps, and it sounds like your intention is recreational rather than seriously pursuing cycling fitness, we have these wonderful ebikes to allow us to spend more time having fun and practically zero specifically working on fitness. It's exercise doing it to some extent, but there's not need for doing long slow rides or intervals or any crap like that.

You might friend great deals on Bosch Gen 5 bikes too, and other non-Avinox bikes. I just bought one. Despite what you'll hear from many here it doesn't HAVE to be an Avinox the others still work and have some benefits over Avinox.

 

[Ribafish]

Be honest about your fitness and intentions around fitness - how much work you want to do on that? Since you live in the Alps, and it sounds like your intention is recreational rather than seriously pursuing cycling fitness, we have these wonderful ebikes to allow us to spend more time having fun and practically zero specifically working on fitness. It's exercise doing it to some extent, but there's not need for doing long slow rides or intervals or any crap like that.

You might friend great deals on Bosch Gen 5 bikes too, and other non-Avinox bikes. I just bought one. Despite what you'll hear from many here it doesn't HAVE to be an Avinox the others still work and have some benefits over Avinox.

Oh, I'm definitely not looking at seriously pursuing cycling fitness, however, I'd also be happy with getting a bit of a workout. Not such much where I'd go analog, but it'd be nice to also do something for myself while I'm at it. We've rented a couple fo HT fullpower bikes 3 years ago (bosch CX) and I mostly stayed in Eco mode. I got up to turbo only to see how fast I can actually go on a steep climb - turns out, very

 

[Fugu]

Oh, I'm definitely not looking at seriously pursuing cycling fitness, however, I'd also be happy with getting a bit of a workout. Not such much where I'd go analog, but it'd be nice to also do something for myself while I'm at it. We've rented a couple fo HT fullpower bikes 3 years ago (bosch CX) and I mostly stayed in Eco mode. I got up to turbo only to see how fast I can actually go on a steep climb - turns out, very

I tried SL, and I think they're for the fit rider - probably trail rider - who wants a little assistance to do more. They're great - for their intended audience. And yeah, they will give more of a quad muscle and VO2 max workout, but they don't serve shuttle duties very well at all. Bodyweight comes into question too... as the BMI creeps past 25 towards 30 the SL is going to get less fun, IMO.

You still get decent cardio on full power, just very aerobic. There's lots of squatting in attack position, working the bike I think a good combo is ebike and some resistance training, for anyone wanting to cover that anaerobic base...

I've tried to stop thinking about riding as fitness now, after doing so for years. I go out when I feel like it and do it just for fun. I have a high energy dog who's happy to work on fitness with me if I want to run, and a lot of walking is compulsory. Trying to establish a basic dumbbell/bodyweight routine for strength ongoing - that stops and starts so far lol. I think it's good to let riding be that thing I do just for me though, for fun.

 

[Sander23]

I would go for a full power fully.
You can allways tune it down in power.
You say You dont like climbing, i was that to untill i got the emtb.
I actually like climbing with it now as I can do stuff i wouldn't do normally

 

[Cygg]

103kg in the Alps - skip the SL, you'll feel it on climbs. Full power is the right call at your weight.
Hardtail I'd also skip, the terrain there really justifies a fully. Keep the Session for bike park, they're different bikes anyway.
€3500 new is tough but used is very doable: 2-3 year old Rail, Kenevo or Wild FS pop up in that range regularly. Check bikemarkt.de if you're in the area.
And yeah you'll use it. Alps + kid who's already into it = you'll find the reasons.

 

[Sander23]

Maybe you should look at the radon render 2024 models. They are on sale and pretty good spec for the price.
If you can stretch your budget a bit you can go for the render 10.0 750 or the render 9.0

 

[Kepa]

SL for hills, full power for mountains. Hardtail ok for paved roads.