One thing that more than one PM has mentioned to me is that e-bikes are really compelling in terms of the advancements and potential they hold. MTB progress is incremental now as the product matures. E-bikes are going to improve much more dramatically over the next 5 years than mountain bikes by virtue of being a product in infancy.
Nothing wrong with steps8000 but if you can buy the new gen of motors (Shimano, Bosch, or Specialized), you won't regret it.
As far as the water bottle goes...keep in mind that carrying a bit more weight on your back isn't as big a deal with an e-bike. Sure, that pack will still be back there, and if it's hot your comfort will suffer a bit, but having a bottle on the bike is slightly less important than on a regular bike. If that alone was stopping you from considering the Decoy, you might reconsider based on back- or waist-mounted water portability being less of an issue.
The other thing I've found about riding e-bikes is you have to dress a little warmer, or the other way to look at it is that the margin for error with layering is a little wider. Dress a bit warmer and don't worry about sweating quite so much, because you can still get up the hill at a good pace with less work. Or, you can ignore that completely and go for broke and sweat yourself silly. The choice is yours, but I rode with my brother-in-law today - he on a regular bike and me on a Trek Rail. I dialed down the assist to level 1 or 2 (Eco or Tour - Bosch motor) and it let me climb at a mellow pace without dropping him but he was certainly sweatier than me.
For those willing to experiment, there are a lot of fun parameters to play with.
Dec. 12, 2020, 5:49 p.m. - Pete Roggeman
One thing that more than one PM has mentioned to me is that e-bikes are really compelling in terms of the advancements and potential they hold. MTB progress is incremental now as the product matures. E-bikes are going to improve much more dramatically over the next 5 years than mountain bikes by virtue of being a product in infancy. Nothing wrong with steps8000 but if you can buy the new gen of motors (Shimano, Bosch, or Specialized), you won't regret it. As far as the water bottle goes...keep in mind that carrying a bit more weight on your back isn't as big a deal with an e-bike. Sure, that pack will still be back there, and if it's hot your comfort will suffer a bit, but having a bottle on the bike is slightly less important than on a regular bike. If that alone was stopping you from considering the Decoy, you might reconsider based on back- or waist-mounted water portability being less of an issue. The other thing I've found about riding e-bikes is you have to dress a little warmer, or the other way to look at it is that the margin for error with layering is a little wider. Dress a bit warmer and don't worry about sweating quite so much, because you can still get up the hill at a good pace with less work. Or, you can ignore that completely and go for broke and sweat yourself silly. The choice is yours, but I rode with my brother-in-law today - he on a regular bike and me on a Trek Rail. I dialed down the assist to level 1 or 2 (Eco or Tour - Bosch motor) and it let me climb at a mellow pace without dropping him but he was certainly sweatier than me. For those willing to experiment, there are a lot of fun parameters to play with.