Forbidden Druid - Avinox Powered

andreaverona said:
Idler is the worst part of the bike. It has embarrassing drag and the bearings are practically stuck due to the incorrect bearing seat tolerance. If you remove the bearings, even with Solid Lube, they spin... if you put them back, everything jams. Embarrassing. I'm wondering if Jank Comp, Cascade, or Finesse are working on a aftermarket idler to buy it... I'm sure the difference would be impressive.
Click to expand...

In the PB e-bike shootout they commented on how much worse the range was on the Avinox motored bike. But that bike was the E-Druid compared to an LTe.
Maybe it was never the motor and was always the idler drag?
 
⚡ EMTB Pro Go Pro — exclusive discounts & ad-free Peaty's 25% off & more · Ad-free browsing · Pro badge See the deals →
Suns_PSD said:
In the PB e-bike shootout they commented on how much worse the range was on the Avinox motored bike. But that bike was the E-Druid compared to an LTe.
Maybe it was never the motor and was always the idler drag?
Click to expand...
Both most likely. Idler drag of itself is a 2% type of thing.
If I had an e-druid, the first thing I'd be doing is checking those bearing stack tolerances.
With the avinox, it's penchant for more power out, will always equate to more power in.
 
ntm95 said:
If the shim between the bearings isn't sized correctly, the inner and outer races of the bearing may not be appropriately aligned. As in, the shim thickness must precisely equal the seated gap on the bearings. Easy enough to play around with shim thickness and check drag on the bearings.
This is typically because of the bearings not fully seating due to a machining tolerance error or surface finish error, causing excessive preload on the inner races, as the spindle bolt sets a fixed lateral dimension on the inner races.
Very common issue in other stacked bearing applications.
Click to expand...
Is this really the issue though? If you put a thin shim washer (0.6mm) between the bolt and the idler, and torque it down correctly, the idler now spins perfectly freely. That's putting exactly the same lateral force on the inner race as before, but the problem goes away.

On the backside of the head of the idler bolt is a circular ridge - isn't the actual issue that when the bolt is tightened this ridge is pushing on the bearing seal and sideloading the balls/cage, causing the drag?
 
mxh said:
Is this really the issue though? If you put a thin shim washer (0.6mm) between the bolt and the idler, and torque it down correctly, the idler now spins perfectly freely. That's putting exactly the same lateral force on the inner race as before, but the problem goes away.

On the backside of the head of the idler bolt is a circular ridge - isn't the actual issue that when the bolt is tightened this ridge is pushing on the bearing seal and sideloading the balls/cage, causing the drag?
Click to expand...
Very possible. They use a similar design with the druid v2 and dreadnought v2, without issue though.
The assumption was that it's related to the design change of going to a dual bearing idler.
 
ntm95 said:
Very possible. They use a similar design with the druid v2 and dreadnought v2, without issue though.
The assumption was that it's related to the design change of going to a dual bearing idler.
Click to expand...
Will be interesting to see what they have done with the eDreadnought then. Stuck with the current system or made adjustments. Similarly, have they made adjustments with this new range of eDruids.

We'll have to wait and see!
 
Same front triangle, so perhaps there's been a running change to tolerances, but there's no change to the idler design on the new e-druids, visually at least.
 
ntm95 said:
Same front triangle, so perhaps there's been a running change to tolerances, but there's no change to the idler design on the new e-druids, visually at least.
Click to expand...
Has it been announced?

Edit:

Ah yeah, Looks the same bike bar colourways and spec changes for this year then
 
Last edited:
Curious is the 700wh battery will work. Avinox is making a big deal about backwards compatibilty.

700wh with better energy density would be my sweet spot

Motor changes are 🤷‍♂️ . I don’t need more power
 
Very disappointed in the spec and colour of the T2 for the price. Probably going to cancel my order and go with the new Mondaker. Lighter, more travel, better spec, MUCH better colour. Gutted as I wanted the Forbidden.

Also on their 2026 Druid-E video they say they have spec’d a steel idler with dual bearings to help spread the load or something like that!

Edit - “dual bearings for improved durability”. So sounds like nothing to improve on from 2025.
 
Last edited:
Hey guys…Can you advise me how to remove the bushings ( mount stuff ) and put them on another shock absorber (Ohlins ttx)
Thank you
IMG_8161.webp
 
Highland Wheels said:
Has it been announced?

Edit:

Ah yeah, Looks the same bike bar colourways and spec changes for this year then
Click to expand...
I'm not enamoured with the new colours other than the Tier 1 black, which now looks very Velduroesk....

I hope the Dreadie is better and a little more understated. Don't need a lairy bike!!
 
andreaverona said:
Hey guys…Can you advise me how to remove the bushings ( mount stuff ) and put them on another shock absorber
Click to expand...
It's basically like a nut and bolt - so hold one side (vice, spanner etc) and undo the other side (socket, spanner etc)
 
Just watched the Druid-e video on the Forbidden site... and apparently it now comes with ride wrap factory installed. So I guess I can cancel my after market ride wrap and save some $$....
 
Red Peekay said:
Just watched the Druid-e video on the Forbidden site... and apparently it now comes with ride wrap factory installed. So I guess I can cancel my after market ride wrap and save some $$....
Click to expand...

it seems theyve just made the druid the LITE model now but with a 800wh battery. 100% did this so the dreadnuaghteee made sense. Zeb/Vivid 38/podium/x2 for dreaddie aka the druid core with 10mm more each end :unsure:
 
Ribinrobin said:
it seems theyve just made the druid the LITE model now but with a 800wh battery. 100% did this so the dreadnuaghteee made sense. Zeb/Vivid 38/podium/x2 for dreaddie aka the druid core with 10mm more each end :unsure:
Click to expand...
So stoked on my CorE with the Zeb bumped to 170 and a Telum coil. Zero need for the DreadE or whatever it’ll be called. Honestly super happy with the M1 and the only thing of the new motors that really intrigues me is some of the new App functionality. I de-tuned most of the power/torque settings anyway….
 
Red Peekay said:
Yeah but that Tier 1 all black looks super stealth...👣

The Tier 2 purple...meh 🥱
Click to expand...
Yeah, if I was trying to maximize the average selling price of the eDruid I’d make the ugliest colors the cheapest. Psychologically it’s less likely someone will purchase an expensive bike with an ugly paint job compared to a lower tier model, and having better looking paint jobs could incentivize those with the means to go up one tier and purchase something more expensive than originally planned.

People on the fence are already going to second guess spending >$10K on a bike for numerous reasons, and an ugly paint job should not be an additional one.
 
I wish the first Druids had more colour choices. I'd of preferred a brighter colour but ended up with the grey as everyone wanted the turquoise Cores 😂
 
Suns_PSD said:
In the PB e-bike shootout they commented on how much worse the range was on the Avinox motored bike. But that bike was the E-Druid compared to an LTe.
Maybe it was never the motor and was always the idler drag?
Click to expand...
jesus, really? you still have not understood it it seems. how much drag in W do you think an idler like that has? 100W?

it’s the 800% support. always has. if you don’t detune the support it will always use up more juice. simple physics.
 
sethimus said:
jesus, really? you still have not understood it it seems. how much drag in W do you think an idler like that has? 100W?

it’s the 800% support. always has. if you don’t detune the support it will always use up more juice. simple physics.
Click to expand...

Sethimus, most versions of the M1 are less efficienct than the Gen5, this is indisuputable at this point.

DJI themselves acknowledged this by saying they fixed the tight seal issue on the M2s. That's also why you can now pedal them without the motor turned on.

The reason the M1 showed to be efficient in the online test, was because the motor was tested at a very high power level so the 30ish watts of motor drag ended up being a small percent of the overall power, and the motor was operating in it's most efficient range. That's not the real world when people average closer to 200 watts on a typical e-bike ride.

Anyways, the M1 (which was well behind the Gen5) has now been replaced by the M2 which solved the rattle, the ineffiency, and also added a wallop of unneeded power. No appreciably improvement in battery density however.
 
Suns_PSD said:
Sethimus, most versions of the M1 are less efficienct than the Gen5, this is indisuputable at this point.

DJI themselves acknowledged this by saying they fixed the tight seal issue on the M2s. That's also why you can now pedal them without the motor turned on.

The reason the M1 showed to be efficient in the online test, was because the motor was tested at a very high power level so the 30ish watts of motor drag ended up being a small percent of the overall power, and the motor was operating in it's most efficient range. That's not the real world when people average closer to 200 watts on a typical e-bike ride.

Anyways, the M1 (which was well behind the Gen5) has now been replaced by the M2 which solved the rattle, the ineffiency, and also added a wallop of unneeded power. No appreciably improvement in battery density however.
Click to expand...
And yet in the real world M1 vs Gen 5 efficiency is pretty much the same providing you have detuned it 😂

I'm assuming you've still not ridden an Avinox bike? Surpised you havnt cancelled your Bosch Orbea for the Avinox version either
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Keep reading
    Browse all

    Similar Threads

    Community Stats

    Since 2018
    668K
    Messages
    40,724
    Members
    Join 30,000+ Riders, it's free!
    Back
    Top