Higher travel on ebikes questions...

[RefreshGarageRich]

Hey I've been doing tons of research before my purchase, I just like to hear opinions. Do you think longer travel hinders ebikes as much as analog bikes? Riding xc trails, which is mostly what I ride, on anything over 150, 160mm used to be considered insane, pointless but I've been reading with the latest crop of ebikes, this isn't an issue, as the weight penalty doesn't apply. I'm a "playful" rider, liking to bunny hop and float above technical stuff, do drops, manuals etc. Right now I'm trying to decide between the more Enduro style, '21 Commencal Meta Power 29, or the SX (27.5) (both 170-180f, 160r travel), or the more trail oriented Meta Power TR (29) with 150/140. I would also like to ride a local bike park, Mountain Creek from time to time. Is it possible to have 1 bike to do it all? Also if you were going to mullet one, not changing the fork, would you do it with a 29er and buy a smaller rear wheel or 27.5 bike and buy a 29 front?

Edit, just found this thread : Feeling overbiked on a longer travel eMTB? - EMTB Forums

 

[B1rdie]

I like riding modern XC tracks with my spectralon and think you will enjoy it better with the short trave (150mm) lightest ebike you can get.
The 23kg+ ebikes are much harder to pop bunny hops or float over tech terrain and the long travel ones even worse.

 

[RickBullotta]

Depending on what you ride at Mountain Creek, along with your skill level, you may or may not be able to get by with a trail oriented bike. It would certainly be possible to bottom out the travel on some of the bigger drops and features there, which could damage your bike and/or you. Though I've ridden (most of) 7 springs for years with a 140mm travel bike and managed to get through. I don't do monster drops though.

The shorter travel bike will be better the other 99.5% of your riding time.

 

[R120]

The simple answer is that the motor mitigates a lot of the issues with a conventional long travel bike, however IMO opinion a big old long travel bike is still a big old bike, and if you are primarily riding flows single track then a bike designed for that will ride better.

There travel issue is separate from the weight issue with ebikes - a lot for people will say that why bother getting a shorter travel bike if it weighs the same as the longer travel one - I dont agree with that, as the fundamentals of geometry and bike design still hold true no matter what the weight.

For me the best all round current crop of EMTB's are the likes of the Whyte E160/160's, and the new Marin Alpine trail. These bikes have 150/160mm of travel, combined with modern longer/slacker geometry and placement of the weight low down, and can ride well on anything from single track to enduro tracks, with full on DH really being the only thing out of their remit.

A lot of the bigger travel EMTB's, like the Kenevo, are incredible at descending and ploughing through terrain, but only really come alive when being pushed hard in the right terrain.

 

[Gary]

It's really not that simple.
Suspension characteristics and set up make more difference than amount of travel. Normal bikes or Eebs.
And weight of the bike makes more difference than you think.
Thing is. Many 170mm Eebs are actually lighter than some 120-140mm Eebs
Sizing and geometry make a massive difference too.
Even tyre choice makes a massive difference to how a bike handles.

In short, all that research you've done is pretty pointless. Ride lots of bikes, play with set up and make up your own mind.

 

[Zimmerframe]

Ride lots of bikes, play with set up and make up your own mind.

You make it sound so simple !

Oh, and in case anyone else only knew it was "Wednesday" it's actually new years eve eve and that's why all the shops were so damned stupidly busy ! Wow, Calendars - amazing !