So I think I represent a reasonable sized portion of the EMTB market and certainly the new to EMTB market
I'm mid 50's, fit, and been riding both road and MTB likes regularly since a kid. I'd describe myself as an experienced enthusiast but certainly not an expert.Although I do a good few road sportives each year (inc the Prudential 100) my real love is MTB's. I'm lucky enough to live in the Surrey Hill's so great for access to great routes for both and I regularly take my Whyte T129S up to Redlands, Leith Hill and across to Peaslake etc and once a year we go to FoD for a week.
With my limited spare time, I found myself getting bored of doing the same trails locally so started thinking about an EMTB to get me across to Peaslake quicker for an evening blast. Keeping fit was crucial to me so I fully expect to keep the Whyte and use that on all the new runs I find.
So there is plenty of great information available on this forum, other similar forums and especially Youtube. So with an initial budget of £4.5-5k, (which crept up to"maybe just a little more!",) I quickly managed to draw up a "long" a short list as follows;
I know you can add plenty of others but all great bikes ,I'm sure you'll agree.
So although I can afford an EMTB, its still a major outlay to justify and I cannot afford to make a mistake or want to mess around upgrading certain elements later. Although the reviews are very detailed, you never know how influenced they are due to external commercial factors or just someone reinforcing to themselves they had made a wise choice.There are also some excellent examples of honest reviews where problems had been encountered and it was this point and more general concerns around reliability that led me to decide to buy as local as I could and I definitely needed a proper demo ride (not just around a car park)
So I fully accept this year is unusual by any standards but even before the lock down, during the lockdown (when bike shops were generally allowed to trade), and since the easing of restrictions, I've only been able to demo 2 bikes. The Whyte at Bedgebury and a similar Cube to the model I'm interested in.
I was really interested in both the Orbea and the Focus in particular but where are all the demo bikes? The demo events were either be much earlier in the season or were understandably cancelled but based on previous experience, these events are often over subscribed and feel a little rushed. The point I want to make is, where are the bikes themselves and why is the industry so bad at supporting the purchasing process?
I appreciate sales have been through the roof this year but surely its in the best long term interest of the manufacturers to help ensure demo bikes are available somewhere all year round? After all isn't this a year round sport? I now find myself, 6 months on from making the decision to buy an EMTB, expecting to wait another 2 or 3 months in the hope of getting one of the early 2021 models but feeling pressured to place an order for a bike I don't jet know the spec or price of. It just feels like the whole industry is a little arrogant or business is just too easy. As a consequence my money is destined to go to Cube or Whyte and I just hope I don't wonder what if.
I'm just interested to see if other newbies feel the same or have had better experiences.
I'm mid 50's, fit, and been riding both road and MTB likes regularly since a kid. I'd describe myself as an experienced enthusiast but certainly not an expert.Although I do a good few road sportives each year (inc the Prudential 100) my real love is MTB's. I'm lucky enough to live in the Surrey Hill's so great for access to great routes for both and I regularly take my Whyte T129S up to Redlands, Leith Hill and across to Peaslake etc and once a year we go to FoD for a week.
With my limited spare time, I found myself getting bored of doing the same trails locally so started thinking about an EMTB to get me across to Peaslake quicker for an evening blast. Keeping fit was crucial to me so I fully expect to keep the Whyte and use that on all the new runs I find.
So there is plenty of great information available on this forum, other similar forums and especially Youtube. So with an initial budget of £4.5-5k, (which crept up to"maybe just a little more!",) I quickly managed to draw up a "long" a short list as follows;
Whyte e150S or RS
Cannondate Moterra 2
Orbea Wild HS
Focus Jam2 6 8 Nine
Cube Stereo Hybrid 140 TM
I know you can add plenty of others but all great bikes ,I'm sure you'll agree.
So although I can afford an EMTB, its still a major outlay to justify and I cannot afford to make a mistake or want to mess around upgrading certain elements later. Although the reviews are very detailed, you never know how influenced they are due to external commercial factors or just someone reinforcing to themselves they had made a wise choice.There are also some excellent examples of honest reviews where problems had been encountered and it was this point and more general concerns around reliability that led me to decide to buy as local as I could and I definitely needed a proper demo ride (not just around a car park)
So I fully accept this year is unusual by any standards but even before the lock down, during the lockdown (when bike shops were generally allowed to trade), and since the easing of restrictions, I've only been able to demo 2 bikes. The Whyte at Bedgebury and a similar Cube to the model I'm interested in.
I was really interested in both the Orbea and the Focus in particular but where are all the demo bikes? The demo events were either be much earlier in the season or were understandably cancelled but based on previous experience, these events are often over subscribed and feel a little rushed. The point I want to make is, where are the bikes themselves and why is the industry so bad at supporting the purchasing process?
I appreciate sales have been through the roof this year but surely its in the best long term interest of the manufacturers to help ensure demo bikes are available somewhere all year round? After all isn't this a year round sport? I now find myself, 6 months on from making the decision to buy an EMTB, expecting to wait another 2 or 3 months in the hope of getting one of the early 2021 models but feeling pressured to place an order for a bike I don't jet know the spec or price of. It just feels like the whole industry is a little arrogant or business is just too easy. As a consequence my money is destined to go to Cube or Whyte and I just hope I don't wonder what if.
I'm just interested to see if other newbies feel the same or have had better experiences.
