Want to hear about your eMTB stories

[minsunmini]

I am doing the research around eMTB bikes and want to hear about your stories.

Could you share with me on this thread:
1. What eMTB bike you have?
2. What did you choose to buy the eMTB bike?
3. Tell me about how often do you ride and your riding experience is like.
4. What did you love about your bike?
5. What do you wish was improved about your bike?

Also, if you live in USA, I would love to chat more. I will provide $50 certificate for 30 minutes of your time. Please message me.

Thank you everyone. I am loving this eMTB community and how passionate everyone is.

 

[DtEW]

Is this research sponsored by a corporate entity, or primarily academic?

 

[minsunmini]

Mostly for my personal interest.
I have freelanced with a bike company and got interested in learning more about eMTB world and where it is going.

 

[aviserated]

I purchased a Trek Rail 5. I went to dealer to buy a full suspension bike and the Rail 5 was all they had. I ride about 12 miles a day with my wife. She rides a Rad hardtail and she can keep up with me easily. We ride mostly on paved trails. What I love the most about the bike is how easily it climbs hills. One thing i think needs improving on my Rail 5 is the drive train. The smallest cog will wear quickly causing chain to slip if you use that gear too often. I now hot wax my chain and shift more often to put less strain on smallest gear.

 

[RustyIron]

Also, if you live in USA, I would love to chat more. I will provide $50 certificate for 30 minutes of your time.

Minsunmini from New York City.
I'm Rob from The O.C.
I'm not averse to chatting, but I'm skeptical.
What's your goal, and what is the gift certificate good for?

 

[Moderator]

User appears to be legitimate........

Thread tidied to keep it on subject.

 

[minsunmini]

Minsunmini from New York City.
I'm Rob from The O.C.
I'm not averse to chatting, but I'm skeptical.
What's your goal, and what is the gift certificate good for?

Thank you everyone. I am real person living in NYC. Love weekend trips outside of the city and freelanced with a bike company before and got interested in this eMTB space and the world in general.

I think my goals is to learn what are possible opportunities for maybe my future project around eMTB world (I am a UX researcher by profession). As a researcher, I think it is rude to ask for time without some compensation, so I can provide either REI, Backcountry or Patagonia gift certificate for your time.

 

[Neeko DeVinchi]

Not too sure what was said previously to get the moderators involved but, heyho!!!

Anywho, background and backstory.

So I started my ebike adventure potentially just like a lot of people. I was riding one day and saw someone whizzing passed me. Its only as I caught up to the rider where I realised that they've got one big hell of a water bottle on the downtube, to which it became obvious that they were on a ebike.

Back then (2016), I use to call them 'battery bikes'.

Anywho, the first ebike I brought was for my mom. She got me into riding at an early age but she could never find the time to ride due to work. It was at that point, where it became apparent of how much the motor can give a rider an advantage compared to someone without. So, naturally I needed to buy one as well.

Well, technically I built ebikes but my first ebike (which ironically I still own and it still works ?) is my NCM Moscow 29. Granted, my mom's bike was better than mine but I had my Stumpy so wasn't too fussed.
So fast forward two years later where everyone was raving about full suspension ebikes, I opted to build emtbs instead of spending the big money they cost.

Actually no, that's technically not true. Originally, I wanted a Levo. But I couldn't get one cus none of my local dealers back then could get XL's and...........there were other excuses as well. Nevertheless, I got one eventually ?.

But the bikes I built (Freedom, Saviour, Blade , Lancer and Tsunami), were the emtbs which allowed me understand (to a certain extent) where the hype was. Naturally because I built them using the Bafang M400 and M620 motors, I felt no need to restrict them to 15.5mph. But the ability to traverse and cover ground (especially in places which you would ordinarily push a regular bike), yeah! I was hooked.
2019 at the launch of the gen two levos was when I brought my 2018 Levo Comp (finally). And not a day goes by how fortunate I am to own one. Becoming acclimated to the 15.5mph speed restriction took some getting use too. But I'll gladly admit that the familiarity of having a ebike similar to my stumpjumper was beneficial.
Naturally, throughout 2019/2020, it was just me Stumpy and Levo. And then came Levo HT. Then Kenevo one and Kenevo Two ?

It's funny, I get asked the question, How many bikes do you own?
Nowadays, my reply is, I've got a bike for every day of the week.........and then some!!!

Obviously, I've sold a lot of my earlier stuff but the bikes which leave a lasting impression are usually the bikes I end up keeping and upgrading. And I guess it doesn't hurt to have 'a bike guy' in the family. My uncles, aunts, cousins, etc, usually end up borrowing my ebikes which gets them outside away from the TV and internet and 'the stress of life'.

So....... that's my backstory. I appreciate the ebike for reinvigorating the passion of the sport for myself and others by demonstrating a side to which I'd never seen. My choices to build, buy, upgrade etc, are a testament to my love and fondness of ebikes.
But I'd say (more than anything), its the memories. To race my mom whose in her 50s like she was in her early 30s. Or to see that look of achievement when someone conquers a climb or a feature. And all they needed was a bit of assist (or a lot in some cases?).
To the riders who I've ended up building ebikes for because of financial constraints, and to know they too can get a peice of the action.

I gladly say, I have no regrets in embracing the ebike. I don't subscribe to the notion that they'll replace regular bikes. Moreso, theirs room for both.

But I digress, hopefully this LOOOOOOONNNNNGGGGG message helps in your study @minsunmini ??

 

[fenwick458]

I am doing the research around eMTB bikes and want to hear about your stories.

Could you share with me on this thread:
1. What eMTB bike you have?
2. What did you choose to buy the eMTB bike?
3. Tell me about how often do you ride and your riding experience is like.
4. What did you love about your bike?
5. What do you wish was improved about your bike?

Also, if you live in USA, I would love to chat more. I will provide $50 certificate for 30 minutes of your time. Please message me.

Thank you everyone. I am loving this eMTB community and how passionate everyone is.

1. Orbea Wild FS
2.I've been a keen biker for many years, but due to a hip problem was unable to get out as much as I wanted without suffering afterwards. i'm still not really able to ride like I did without suffering pain, but the e bikes definitely help. If I didn't have e bikes then mountain biking and road biking just wouldn't happen anymore
3.the rides are almost the same as they always were with my regular bikes, 2 hours. 20km, 1000m climbing average, except I do them much faster and can do them on any day I chose. you could say since the e-bike I now ride on flatter terrain that I used to, the e bike makes flatter boring trails fun, whereas with a regular bike my attitude was if it wasn't super steep it wasn't worth it. also the heavy e bike does not turn as fast as the regular bike on steep technical descents and I'm not able to even attempt to make it do that anymore so there's another reason for moving towards the tamer trails.
4.well the obvious answer is that it goes up hills really easily! another would be I can pick and choose how much effort to put in. If I really want a workout I can ride my electric road bike switched off for half the ride, and the switch it on to complete the other half, and if I run out of energy near the end I can put it in turbo and get me home without suffering.
5.I wish it was the same weight as my old bike, and since we are dreaming I also with it was the same price!

 

[Gary]

I think I can speak for BAM when I say $50 is not enough to fuel cool stories from either of our adventurous lives.
Be wary when he messages you to come over and hear them face to face tho.

 

[Doomanic]

Well, it's certainly not enough to cover your out of pocket expenses...

 

[#lazy]

Basically it’s mountain biking but faster and more fun ?

 

[minsunmini]

1. Orbea Wild FS
2.I've been a keen biker for many years, but due to a hip problem was unable to get out as much as I wanted without suffering afterwards. i'm still not really able to ride like I did without suffering pain, but the e bikes definitely help. If I didn't have e bikes then mountain biking and road biking just wouldn't happen anymore
3.the rides are almost the same as they always were with my regular bikes, 2 hours. 20km, 1000m climbing average, except I do them much faster and can do them on any day I chose. you could say since the e-bike I now ride on flatter terrain that I used to, the e bike makes flatter boring trails fun, whereas with a regular bike my attitude was if it wasn't super steep it wasn't worth it. also the heavy e bike does not turn as fast as the regular bike on steep technical descents and I'm not able to even attempt to make it do that anymore so there's another reason for moving towards the tamer trails.
4.well the obvious answer is that it goes up hills really easily! another would be I can pick and choose how much effort to put in. If I really want a workout I can ride my electric road bike switched off for half the ride, and the switch it on to complete the other half, and if I run out of energy near the end I can put it in turbo and get me home without suffering.
5.I wish it was the same weight as my old bike, and since we are dreaming I also with it was the same price!

This is so good. Thank you. You guys are so fun. I need myself a eMTB seriously.

 

[minsunmini]

Not too sure what was said previously to get the moderators involved but, heyho!!!

Anywho, background and backstory.

So I started my ebike adventure potentially just like a lot of people. I was riding one day and saw someone whizzing passed me. Its only as I caught up to the rider where I realised that they've got one big hell of a water bottle on the downtube, to which it became obvious that they were on a ebike.

Back then (2016), I use to call them 'battery bikes'.

Anywho, the first ebike I brought was for my mom. She got me into riding at an early age but she could never find the time to ride due to work. It was at that point, where it became apparent of how much the motor can give a rider an advantage compared to someone without. So, naturally I needed to buy one as well.

Well, technically I built ebikes but my first ebike (which ironically I still own and it still works ?) is my NCM Moscow 29. Granted, my mom's bike was better than mine but I had my Stumpy so wasn't too fussed.
So fast forward two years later where everyone was raving about full suspension ebikes, I opted to build emtbs instead of spending the big money they cost.

Actually no, that's technically not true. Originally, I wanted a Levo. But I couldn't get one cus none of my local dealers back then could get XL's and...........there were other excuses as well. Nevertheless, I got one eventually ?.

But the bikes I built (Freedom, Saviour, Blade , Lancer and Tsunami), were the emtbs which allowed me understand (to a certain extent) where the hype was. Naturally because I built them using the Bafang M400 and M620 motors, I felt no need to restrict them to 15.5mph. But the ability to traverse and cover ground (especially in places which you would ordinarily push a regular bike), yeah! I was hooked.
2019 at the launch of the gen two levos was when I brought my 2018 Levo Comp (finally). And not a day goes by how fortunate I am to own one. Becoming acclimated to the 15.5mph speed restriction took some getting use too. But I'll gladly admit that the familiarity of having a ebike similar to my stumpjumper was beneficial.
Naturally, throughout 2019/2020, it was just me Stumpy and Levo. And then came Levo HT. Then Kenevo one and Kenevo Two ?

It's funny, I get asked the question, How many bikes do you own?
Nowadays, my reply is, I've got a bike for every day of the week.........and then some!!!

Obviously, I've sold a lot of my earlier stuff but the bikes which leave a lasting impression are usually the bikes I end up keeping and upgrading. And I guess it doesn't hurt to have 'a bike guy' in the family. My uncles, aunts, cousins, etc, usually end up borrowing my ebikes which gets them outside away from the TV and internet and 'the stress of life'.

So....... that's my backstory. I appreciate the ebike for reinvigorating the passion of the sport for myself and others by demonstrating a side to which I'd never seen. My choices to build, buy, upgrade etc, are a testament to my love and fondness of ebikes.
But I'd say (more than anything), its the memories. To race my mom whose in her 50s like she was in her early 30s. Or to see that look of achievement when someone conquers a climb or a feature. And all they needed was a bit of assist (or a lot in some cases?).
To the riders who I've ended up building ebikes for because of financial constraints, and to know they too can get a peice of the action.

I gladly say, I have no regrets in embracing the ebike. I don't subscribe to the notion that they'll replace regular bikes. Moreso, theirs room for both.

But I digress, hopefully this LOOOOOOONNNNNGGGGG message helps in your study @minsunmini ??

Thank you so much!!!

 

[minsunmini]

I think I can speak for BAM when I say $50 is not enough to fuel cool stories from either of our adventurous lives.
Be wary when he messages you to come over and hear them face to face tho.

Who is BAM? I am getting some fun and interesting people for sure. I am sure with internet these days you can find where I live (creepy even for someone in Tech world).

 

[Gary]

Don't say his name 3 times