New member with (no surprise) a what bike to buy question

[Quinterly]

I ride XC and mild to medium downhill (for those who know BC, I ride Burnaby Mountain level stuff). I was pretty into mountain biking at one point (weekly or more) but in the past few years have been riding a lot of road. A lot of the road riding is my work commute once/twice a week for about the five months during the year I can handle the weather. Between COVID and working from home so much and getting a little bored with the road, I am hoping to substitute the MTB for that.

The trails around here are mostly OK for Class 1 eMTBs which is good news.

As for bikes, I've been doing a bit more research and have narrowed it down to 5 :

1. As above, the Giant Stance but also looking at the Trance E+ 2 Pro. Better components (not sure that I like that Suntour front fork) and it comes with a dropper seat which closes the price gap a bit. Have a test ride for both set up for Thursday.
2. The Cannondale Cujo Neo 130 also piqued my interest because it seems like a great value proposition, but another Suntour fork (albeit a slightly better one).
3. There is last year's Kona Remote CTRL which I can find on clearance for $5200 (CDN) which is a really good deal. It's only available in a medium and at 5'7" may be a bit big but I might ride it as well to see (although the store is not really an MTB store, but an ebike place).
4. And the last one is a 2019 Specialized Levo I found at another bike store but not one conveniently located but also only in a medium and in way too neon colour for my general taste.

Any advice or thoughts would be much appreciated.

 

[lumpy]

I ride XC and mild to medium downhill (for those who know BC, I ride Burnaby Mountain level stuff). I was pretty into mountain biking at one point (weekly or more) but in the past few years have been riding a lot of road. A lot of the road riding is my work commute once/twice a week for about the five months during the year I can handle the weather. Between COVID and working from home so much and getting a little bored with the road, I am hoping to substitute the MTB for that.

The trails around here are mostly OK for Class 1 eMTBs which is good news.

As for bikes, I've been doing a bit more research and have narrowed it down to 5 :

1. As above, the Giant Stance but also looking at the Trance E+ 2 Pro. Better components (not sure that I like that Suntour front fork) and it comes with a dropper seat which closes the price gap a bit. Have a test ride for both set up for Thursday.
2. The Cannondale Cujo Neo 130 also piqued my interest because it seems like a great value proposition, but another Suntour fork (albeit a slightly better one).
3. There is last year's Kona Remote CTRL which I can find on clearance for $5200 (CDN) which is a really good deal. It's only available in a medium and at 5'7" may be a bit big but I might ride it as well to see (although the store is not really an MTB store, but an ebike place).
4. And the last one is a 2019 Specialized Levo I found at another bike store but not one conveniently located but also only in a medium and in way too neon colour for my general taste.

Any advice or thoughts would be much appreciated.

Levo

 

[congerball]

Levo

 

[mas]

Levo then Trance.
Dont get the Stance.

 

[Quinterly]

Yea, I've moved on from the Stance or the Cannondale. Found a really good deal on a 2019 Kenevo Comp so now looking at that and the Reign on the theory that the motor will help overcome the more downhill nature of the bike on climbs but when I do ride DH, it will make a huge difference in terms of stability and control.

 

[Quinterly]

So I test rode the Reign E+ 2 Pro and was reasonably impressed with how good it felt and the motor was really good. Climbed a couple of steep hills that I usually feel on my road bike and it was so easy with the Reign.

I have found some 2019 Kenevo Comps at a great price (assuming that a medium will fit as there are no more smalls) but given the complete redesign of that bike for 2020 not sure I wouldn't be missing out on something by buying last year's. Hoping to ride one in the next day or two to compare with the Reign. The other bike I am seeing good deals on around here is the Norco Sight VLT 3. May take a look at that as well. Any thoughts?

 

[cozzy]

The kenevo comp 19 has a pretty weak motor 50nm and smaller battery. Sneaky trick. At least the latest models have the same motor. I would happily buy a 19 expert, in fact I did! But not a comp.

 

[Quinterly]

I thought the 1.2E was 60Nm not 50, but looking through some of the other threads it appears that. If it was just drivetrain, would be the Giant hands-down, esp with the auto mode and the better shifter. But, the Reign is a long bike and am wondering if the Kenevo would handle a bit better.