Cheapest way to lighten EMTB

[DWSN]

Hi all,

Trying to shift some weight from the EMTB as it feels sluggish and is hard to get much faster than the assisted speed on flat trails, or as I am new to EMTB is this just the way it is?

Thinking tyres for rotational weight - currently have magic marys which I really like, swap to carbon bars and change pedals....

Cheers!

 

[Tonybro]

Difficult to do with the bike and only saves small margins. Hard work, I know!, but shifting the weight off me helped loads!

 

[DWSN]

Haha yeah that would be by far the cheapest way and no doubt the best for me in the long run!

 

[Hobo Mikey]

easiest way is just go on a diet or take a good dump before each ride.

 

[Mteam]

Trying to shift some weight from the EMTB as it feels sluggish and is hard to get much faster than the assisted speed on flat trails, or as I am new to EMTB is this just the way it is?

Its sort of the way it is, but there are things that can be done to make it easier to pedal over the motor cut off speed without spending much money.

1. Make sure you're in the right gear - sounds obvious, but when the motor is assisting its easy to be in a higher gear than you would be if the motor wasnt assisting, so shift down a gear or two in general and keep your cadence high.
2. Dont use massive heavy draggy tyres - especially on the back. Heavy downhill casing tyres with super grippy rubber and a slow rolling tread pattern are awful unless pointing down a steep hill. The Magic mary tread pattern is quite slow rolling - ok on the front, but a bit slow on the back, not sure what compound and casing type you run, but if its sticky and heavy it will make the bike feel slow.

 

[Shjay]

MM are heavy & draggy, lighter & faster rolling tyres will make a difference

 

[DWSN]

Its sort of the way it is, but there are things that can be done to make it easier to pedal over the motor cut off speed without spending much money.

1. Make sure you're in the right gear - sounds obvious, but when the motor is assisting its easy to be in a higher gear than you would be if the motor wasnt assisting, so shift down a gear or two in general and keep your cadence high.
2. Dont use massive heavy draggy tyres - especially on the back. Heavy downhill casing tyres with super grippy rubber and a slow rolling tread pattern are awful unless pointing down a steep hill. The Magic mary tread pattern is quite slow rolling - ok on the front, but a bit slow on the back, not sure what compound and casing type you run, but if its sticky and heavy it will make the bike feel slow.

Good advice on cadence - thanks.

Tyres are

Front
Schwalbe Magic Mary 2.6 Super Trail Soft

Rear
Schwalbe Magic Mary 2.6 Super Gravity Soft

What would be a better setup for faster rolling?

 

[2WheelsNot4]

I've been looking at this myself- Lighter must equal better range, or so.
Its a big 12 freehub, and in truth I've yet to use more than about 7 or 8, so I could swop to a 10 speed, and I've a new carbon 10 spd XO rear mech and XO shifter to replace the XT/Deore stuff originally fitted, which knocks about 1/2 a kilo. Brakes are bottom of the range 4 pot shimano(m520) and got a par of new Hope tech3 E4 to replace them with, which isnt a big saving but its 3 or 4 ounce, and for what Im using it for I wonder if i really really need a dropper, which swopped to a standard would be another fair weight saving.
I think I worked it out at dropping at least 1kg from the overall weight, and thats without looking at wheels/tyres.

 

[Mteam]

Good advice on cadence - thanks.

Tyres are

Front
Schwalbe Magic Mary 2.6 Super Trail Soft

Rear
Schwalbe Magic Mary 2.6 Super Gravity Soft

What would be a better setup for faster rolling?

That magic mary on the back is not going to be doing any favours in terms of making it easy to pedal over the assist limit. I dont really know the schwalbe tyre range that well (I tend to stick to maxxis) so cant recommend a schwalbe replacement , but something like a maxxis minion DHR II in maxx terra compound, with an exo+ casing should be an improvement in rolling speed. You might have to run higher pressures though if you are prone to punctures (if that is the reason you're running a super gravity schwalbe tyre).

Its all about compromises in the end, so you need to find a compromise that works for you.

 

[R120]

Definitely the tyres, they may not drop a lot of weight but will change the way the bike feels to ride.

I rode MM both ends for a while a few years back and it was like riding with an anchor out the back

 

[RustyMTB]

Just bought two freshies today in order to ditch the MM's The drag is palpable. Great for the park, not so much the trail.

 

[Jimbo Vills]

Definitely the tyres, they may not drop a lot of weight but will change the way the bike feels to ride.

I rode MM both ends for a while a few years back and it was like riding with an anchor out the back

What you running now mate?

 

[#lazy]

Deristrict it , it will feel lighter instantly

 

[RustyIron]

the EMTB as it feels sluggish and is hard to get much faster than the assisted speed on flat trails, or as I am new to EMTB is this just the way it is?

What exactly are you trying to achieve?

On my Acoustic bike, maintaining speeds over 20 mph on the flat is a lot of work.
On my Electric bike, maintaining speeds over 20 mph on the flat is a lot of work.

 

[DWSN]

What you running now mate?

Hi, running these:

Front
Schwalbe Magic Mary 2.6 Super Trail Soft

Rear
Schwalbe Magic Mary 2.6 Super Gravity Soft

 

[Gary]

2.6+ tyres rarely roll well.
Single ply 2.35 Magic Mary's at a decent pressure arent really draggy at all upfront if you avoid the softest compounds.

Cheapest way to lighten most Ebikes and improve their nimbleness and ease of acceleration is to fit lighter single ply harder compound tyres and run them tubeless with no inserts.
Switching to a semi slick rear tyre tread (Minion SS, Rock razor, slaughter etc) even more so. Infact so much so that your bike will feel far nicer to pedal even when switched off.

 

[DWSN]

What exactly are you trying to achieve?

On my Acoustic bike, maintaining speeds over 20 mph on the flat is a lot of work.
On my Electric bike, maintaining speeds over 20 mph on the flat is a lot of work.

If I get out of the saddle to sprint on the emtb it doesn't seem to make much difference for a decent effort, want to see if I can change the dynamics without spending loads of money.

 

[DWSN]

2.6+ tyres rarely roll well.
Single ply 2.35 Magic Mary's at a decent pressure arent really draggy at all upfront if you avoid the softest compounds.

Cheapest way to lighten most Ebikes and improve their nimbleness and ease of acceleration is to fit lighter single ply harder compound tyres and run them tubeless with no inserts.
Switching to a semi slick rear tyre tread (Minion SS, Rock razor, slaughter etc) even more so. Infact so much so that your bike will feel far nicer to pedal even when switched off.

Magic Mary on the back is 1370g - I found this 29x2.3 Maxxis Minion DHR II 3C Maxx Terra EXO weighing in at 930g - that's a decent weight saving.

 

[R120]

What you running now mate?

Assegai 2.5 Exo + Max Terra up front and a 2.4 DHR DD Max Terra out back.

However I will swap them out for 2.3 Hillybillys once the mud gets serious.

 

[Zimmerframe]

Weirdly, I don't find the Standard 2.6 Mary's on the Focus (trail/gravity) to be that draggy, they're also lasting better than expected on the wear front. I was surprised and thought they'd feel like DH22's, but I find the resistance comparable to the Wild 2.4's on the Kenevo - though I have been running the Mary's a couple of PSI higher as I'd not even bothered taking the tubes out. Don't have any issues getting up over the limit with them at all. On both bikes I hit the same speeds on the flats, descents and climbs. Now they're tubeless and lower pressure, still feel fine.

 

[RustyIron]

If I get out of the saddle to sprint on the emtb it doesn't seem to make much difference for a decent effort, want to see if I can change the dynamics without spending loads of money.

Those tires you're running are slower than pouring treacle on a cold autumn morning. Don't plan on the DHR II to provide you with much more speed. It's a pig. I run it myself, but it's still a pig. Look for something with smaller knobs that are closer together, maybe something for XC or Trail.

 

[Gary]

3C isn't a fast rolling compound
a DHRII tread pattern isn't fast rolling either. But no worse than a Magic Mary

If you want a fast rolling tyre from maxxis dual compound is what you should be looking for

 

[Gary]

Very few tyres are worse rolling than a DH22 Zims

 

[maynard]

Take the fat ass that rides the bike and force them to eat a caloric restricted diet where they get results. I promise they won’t die. You’d be surprised how little food an adult needs. But if they eat hyper-processed shit food they’ll die soon anyway so likely I wouldn’t bother with a meal plan for most. They don’t get overweight by giving a FCK.

magic Mary’s are great tires especially for a front tire. For the rear you could honestly go with most any rear dedicated tire even as light as xc with high pressure and cushcore (still lighter). Just don’t expect mad rear tire breaking power. I have a 36lb Levo SL and a 37lb enduro and a 35lb DH bike. All with 1500-3000$ wheels and carbon cranks. It really doesn’t matter much when I’m 98kg.

Whats a caloric diet ? Low calories? Is that low carbs ? Cos I think I need one of these.

 

[Zimmerframe]

People love to think they’re starving but if you live in a developed country it’s impossible unless you’re a teenage girl who loves negative attention and see what that did to zimmerframe.

Feck off, at 22 I'm looking hot despite my advancing years ..

 

[PetrD]

A battery pull...

 

[#lazy]

Very few tyres are worse rolling than a DH22 Zims

I’d sacrifice rolling for grip all day long !

 

[KnollyBro]

Calorie restricted diet. Basically people are like ‘idk why I’m gaining weight’ and it’s because they’re stupid and are taking in more than they’re expending.

so it can be as simply basic as eating less until you see the scale showing you’re losing weight. People love to think they’re starving but if you live in a developed country it’s impossible unless you’re a teenage girl who loves negative attention and see what that did to zimmerframe.

Scales often lie or give you a negative sense of achievement. Take for instance when someone weighs themselves and loses a lb or 2 one day and gains it back the next day. The only tangible method to achieve weight reduction is to spend tremendous amounts of money on bike parts which never change weight. My wife lost 25 lbs off her bike using Noom (weight loss app) which has given her an all new level of confidence on and off her Levo SL. She looks great too . The weigh loss will work for all the fat old men on this forum but the new level of confidence will vary depending on your enjoyment of spending money for bike parts vs spending time on your health. I personally am 50/50 on this issue. Its a blame thing.

 

[jbv]

Magic Mary on the back is 1370g - I found this 29x2.3 Maxxis Minion DHR II 3C Maxx Terra EXO weighing in at 930g - that's a decent weight saving.

hope there's no rocks or roots on the trails, or you don't mind changing flats often.

 

[Gary]

I’d sacrifice rolling for grip all day long !

Yeah? Awesome!
You do realise the OP specifically asked how to improve his bikes sluggish handling and improve it's rolling speed.