craw's posts

Posted by: Sethimus

Posted by: craw

Posted by: Sethimus

Posted by: craw

Posted by: Sethimus

Posted by: craw

Can anyone comment on life on a Levo SL?

wait for the new one…

Can't wait to see how much that costs lol. The high end Specialized ones are so deep into WTF pricing.

with the non sl ones you pay for all the replacement motors…

What do you mean? Motors aren't covered under warranty?

the levo motors need to be changed quite often. this is priced in, hence the high prices. dealer usually has a few motors in stock, claim in the morning, confirmed by midday, replaced in the afternoon, replacement motor arrives next morning. repeat

problem are the brose motors. the sl motors (made by mahle) are way better, they only tend to get even louder with age.

expect some 50% power increase, s- sizing, battery size stays the same

So the price is insane, the motors don't last (hope you can get replacements when you need them), everything on the bike wears out a lot faster due to the extra weight. Great work capitalism.

All stuff on bikes is engineered and optimized for normal sized people so there is no way this stuff will survive under me. Certainly not at the level of performance, durability or maintenance level I would expect for that kind of money.

Posted by: Sethimus

Posted by: craw

Posted by: Sethimus

Posted by: craw

Can anyone comment on life on a Levo SL?

wait for the new one…

Can't wait to see how much that costs lol. The high end Specialized ones are so deep into WTF pricing.

with the non sl ones you pay for all the replacement motors…

What do you mean? Motors aren't covered under warranty?

Posted by: Sethimus

Posted by: craw

Can anyone comment on life on a Levo SL?

wait for the new one…

Can't wait to see how much that costs lol. The high end Specialized ones are so deep into WTF pricing.

Posted by: Vikb

I've got a box of handle bars. It's great to be able to try one out or lend one to a friend so they can see if it'll work for them before they buy. But ya that costs a few $$. That said being able to quickly make a bike feel better is priceless and often I'll try 2 or 3 bars before I find the perfect one for that specific bike and even then sometimes after 6-12 months I find a different bar works better. The few times I came across a bar that was never going to work for me I've been able to sell/trade it and get most of my $$ back out of it.

I look at it like having spare brake pads or tires in the garage...an upfront cost, but eventually everything gets used on a bike.

100%. I do the same thing. I don't have that many but I do have enough to let me know if I'm going in the right direction (more or less rise, more or less sweep, longer/shorter stem) then I can try something more extreme and buy a nice one.

Posted by: tashi

My assumption would be that the low power options would still be heavy enough that they would feel sluggish, therefore not worth the meagre power boost.  Sounds like they have a place, and one that's probably more appropriate alongside non-motorized users in a lot of situations.

It will be interesting to see how bikes like the Relay play out in real life. How much do they actually weigh? Given that a regular carbon Spire must be close to 34lbs then a motor and battery will add at least 5lbs but that's still pretty reasonable. And then what kind of performance and burn time will you really get? The Relay also uses the Fazua 60 motor which is a bit of an unknown as far as durability, performance and how much drag happens when the motor isn't in use. I'm glad this lighter weight lower power ebike option is coming. More choices is good.

Can anyone comment on life on a Levo SL?

Posted by: tashi

I can think of why you’d like a bike like that but just from my brief experience with eMTB, the power is pretty key to the experience. These mid-power/weight options just seem like the worst of both worlds.

I don't think that at all. Every current ebike I've ridden felt way way overpowered. So not only was it super heavy but I found anything to do with climbing or pedalling totally not engaging at all. So basically I'm on a ride where there is no climbing satisfaction but also no descending satisfaction either because the bike is super heavy. But yay more laps. If the climbing isn't going to be a part of the experience why not just have a throttle so you can focus on speed and make it interesting again. 

If anything I want an ebike that takes a little of the edge off the high end pain to allow for ever greater climbs, fewer rests, more fun descending, and a liveable ride home if I run out of juice. The Relay is like an actual bike with a little extra, not a wannabe e-moto.

Posted by: Vikb

Posted by: craw

Remember when they used to promote short chainstays as benefitting climbing? Tucking the rear wheel in for better climbing is what Zapata Espinoza used to say. That doesn't make any sense from any perspective and yet we all nodded. And we're doing the dumb nod about just as many things today, just won't know what they are until tomorrow.

Short CS 100% climb better for me than longer CS at 5'11" and 33" pants inseam. Not saying that universal, but it's not some mythical idea.

That's sort of counter-intuitive given that longer CS means a longer lever exerting downward pressure on everything. Why do you think you're getting good results with shorter CS? For you is that shorter CS on a previous gen reach/ESTA, or on something progressive with steep ESTA and long reach?

Posted by: geraldooka

Posted by: Kenny

My opinion is the bike industry sometimes latches on to something "cool" and just carpet bombs their entire product range with the feature, regardless of if it's actually appropriate for the different use cases.

Yup. As previously mentioned If your north of 30"ish inseam I suspect these steeper angles (at least on full suspension bikes) may now be just right. I suspect however that had longer chainstays been the first thing to come along ahead of steep seat angles the benefits of steep seat angles would not be so obvious. I'm not saying I love long chainstays (for other reasons) but they do "add traction" to the front end and mitigate wheel lift which is often cited as a benefit of steeper seat angles.

Remember when they used to promote short chainstays as benefitting climbing? Tucking the rear wheel in for better climbing is what Zapata Espinoza used to say. That doesn't make any sense from any perspective and yet we all nodded. And we're doing the dumb nod about just as many things today, just won't know what they are until tomorrow.

Posted by: XXX_er

I'm 5'8" and IME a  small is really small

The new enduro bikes in 29" are really long, I had a little trouble getting the 5.5 yeti (29/29) around banked 180's  at first but i got over it

then the Bullit  (29/ 27.5 mullet) was easier in spite of being longer slacker head angle,  the bike seems to  pivot on the back wheel much easier

At first I was going to argue about new bikes having more reach but that balancing out against the loss of ETT due to the steeper seat angle. Then I thought I better check.

2013 XL Specialized Enduro 29:              reach 465, ETT 640, rear center 430, wheelbase 1206, ESTA 75, HA 67.5

2022 S5 Specialized Stump EVO alloy:   reach 498, ETT 647, rear center 448, wheelbase 1285, ESTA 77, HA 64

So yeah that's a pretty big difference.

Posted by: heathen

I am in the market for a GPS sports watch and I just stumbled across the Amazfit T-rex. It seems legit for the price. I am wondering if anyone has some real world experience with one? How accurate is it? Is it tough?

https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/amazfit-t-rex-pro-fitness-watch-military-standard-certified-built-in-gps-100-sports-mode-18-day-battery-life-spo2-heart-rate-monitor-10-atm-waterproof-music-control-black/15765226

Curious, are most on this thread finding Strava or Trailforks mapping inaccurate? Or losing cell service in places? This watch looks really good but. Lots of interesting features not in my phone, to be sure. Trying to figure out if I need the features of bringing another piece of kit.

Posted by: FLATCH

Posted by: craw

not hate, just common sense.

Then why post it?

Because it's an actual thing for a certain class of ebike. And this is a conversation about ebikes.

Posted by: norona

Posted by: craw

And so it begins.

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/falling-batteries-and-risk-of-fire-leads-to-santa-cruz-recall-of-2022-heckler-emtbs.html

The above is Not really an issue with fire , I had this happen on a few of my shimano bikes, the battery lock holder space widens and needs to be adjusted and if not the battery can slip through one gateway and there is a safety to catch it, I have had one come out and since then backed it up with a strap, it is highly unlikely that it will cause a battery fire. The currrent espartans I am on now have the battery inside the frame and it is how most will go in the future.

I have had zero and alta electric dirt bikes with massive batteries and never been concerned with crashing or charging, and been on electric motor foils from lift and stinger for 5 years which are 4 times more power full than a typical ebike battery and never had an issue, several electric long boards-made in China without issue, and over 35,000km on emtb and same, simple to charge and safe, like plugging in a computer or iPhone. The only time a battery can be dangerous if it gets damaged and then you add a charge to it, so any cases which u may see or read about are extremely rare. Gonna have to find something else to hate or worry about, sure you will come up with something.

Chill out. I don't care particularly. I think this probably going to turn out to be an occasial thing for the masses of super incredibly cheap ebikes that non-cyclists will turn to in the coming months. So many are made so cheaply to hit such low price points that safety problems are inevitable. To your point I think well designed well built ebikes will be totally fine. It's not hate, just common sense.

I'm 6'6" 235 ish with a pack. I generally don't break frames. After 2 seasons or so I tend to get squirrelly for a fresh bike with fresh parts from a concern about fatigue. I put a special kind of hurt on parts through consistent hard riding and a ton of leverage and strength so I prefer to retire them before they retire me. I'm strong but I tend to ride pretty agile and active, light on my feet; I don't ride like a sack of potatoes slowly leaning into all my gear especially for seated climbing. Despite that I think my parts get sad after a couple of years.

I broke an FS bike seat tube like 20 years ago. I have a 35.5" inseam and on my XL G1 (475mm seat tube) and 200mm Reverb I've not had any issues in two years, or the two years on a G16 or the two years on a very slack Wreckoning before that. Maybe the very steep 79' seat angle on the G1 helps? I'm pretty conscious not to lean into the saddles on seated climbing through dips. I haven't broken a saddle, post or frame in years. 

To your point I think it's important to consider that most bikes are optimized for a 5'8" 170lb dude with a flat brim cap. Bikes get scaled up or down from there to varying levels of compromise for the rider. XS and XXL people get it the hardest. XS people the bikes are too long, too tall, too stiff, can't run a short enough dropper or get suspension to work right. The opposite is true if you're tall, doubly so if you're heavy. 

At 6'2"/200 you're not that tall or that heavy. An XXL G1 would be way too big for you. I would think you're still within reasonable limits for most stock XLs. You just have to get something of suitable quality that meets your particular fit needs. Something Shore-approved.

It took me a while to come around on 40mm WTB Ventures but I like them now.