All the colours of the rainbow *ebike warning*

fatboyonabike

Captain oblivious
That's what I was thinking or showing my age a San Andreas, so what's a non electric non acoustic bike called? Most noises would be the puffing and panting of the pedaller.
Yes, my San An made alot of weird and not so wonderful noises..some unsettling, some of more concern!
 

BB1

Likes Dirt
I have the e160 8000 and am super happy with it. I have both acoustic and electric bikes, and jump on either depending on my mood and time I have available. As an example, when I've got 1.5 hours available, I'm jump on the e160 and bang out 25-30km on my local loop with lots of climbing. I have a ball, am sore in the upper body as there's more downhill, and get a ride in. I'll ride the acoustic with mates when I have 3-4 hours spare, which is becoming more rare as the kids get older.

In regards to battery usage, the best thing about the Shimano is that it's fully customisable. As an example, I've kept eco the same, but wound down assistance in trail as well to extend range. I only use boost on the road, and have found that eco is fine pretty much everywhere on single track. Even with hills, I'll sit and spin, it just means it is a little slower, which is often no bad thing. Finding it easy to get 60km+ on a mountain bike ride, but I'm usually stuffed after 40km, just like on an acoustic MTB!
 

mas2

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Update time as I just pumped out over 1100km. Love riding it and it's the best thing I have ever done.
Get about 30km on full charge if super hilly and about 40km if not which is perfect for the amount of riding I can get in.
Love the little info screen. Only thing I wish it did would be record elevation.
Don't really notice the weight except for lifting it on/off the car.
Hate the motor friction at the 25km/h mark but it's a worthwhile tradeoff for the zoomies up.

If I bought again the next bike the main things I would look for would be:
1 - less friction from motor
2 - slightly larger battery
3 - maybe more aggressive geo

Changes:
  • Setup tubeless with Stans, Dert, and blue bear tape.
  • Forks swapped to the Z1's and switched out with black graphics from Slik. Cant understand why the Marz/Fox people put a gold knob with an anodised grey one.
  • Seat switched to Ergon as I landed on the last one and bent the rails
  • Grips changed back to the original. Love the ESI's but they just fall apart after a few scrapes and a tear from the end just kept growing.

Notes:
  • Shimano drivetrain holding up well. Might need a chain change soon.
  • Lost the battery cover which was found by Flow-rider. Got a spare now too which is mounted on pretty well.
  • Deity pedals have a couple of little plastic pins which have snapped off and a couple of the metal pins are gone so will fix them
  • Thinking of coil rear and converting forks to coil. Not sure which will have the most benefits. Would need a progressive coil rear.
  • Dropper is feeling pretty rough. Have lubed it and cleaned out the top of it too but it's not that much better.
  • I find because I am riding it more it's getting abused and damaged so I am less concerned about keeping it perfect

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Minlak

custom titis
Only turbo on the fire roads. I reckon the trail assistance could be turned down which would give me more range.
What size is the battery? And do you have a readout of the battery condition? That just seems really low
 

mas2

Likes Bikes and Dirt
What size is the battery? And do you have a readout of the battery condition? That just seems really low
It's the 500Wh battery. Riding with a friend who has a Trance SX E+ Pro and he gets about the same when we ride.
 

Minlak

custom titis
It's the 500Wh battery. Riding with a friend who has a Trance SX E+ Pro and he gets about the same when we ride.
Maybe cause I ride in Eco I just have an in realistic expectation of what you should be getting :) still they are nice bikes
 

Nambra

Definitely should have gone to specsavers
Nice update @mas2, glad you’re still having a blast on it.

If I bought again the next bike the main things I would look for would be:
1 - less friction from motor
2 - slightly larger battery
3 - maybe more aggressive geo
Sell a kidney and get the new Bullit? Certainly ticks off on 2&3, imagine the new EP8 motor is a big leap forward on the E8000 too...
 

Calvin27

Eats Squid
Why don't you take tothe maxxiss text with a sharpie and make it more black? Also black bottle to suit?
 

mas2

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Nice update @mas2, glad you’re still having a blast on it.



Sell a kidney and get the new Bullit? Certainly ticks off on 2&3, imagine the new EP8 motor is a big leap forward on the E8000 too...
Definitely anything with an EP8 and the new 600W battery would interest me but I wouldnt be allowed to anyway. From what I have seen the EP8 is better with the friction but now has a knock/click sound. I'd be happy with that as a tradeoff.
 

mas2

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Update time!

Just hit 1500km and still love it.

Upgrades:
Megneg - I was certain I would go coil except the suspension is meant to be too linear so the suggestion is to get a progressive coil. I thought I would give the Megneg a go after reading a few forum reviews and am so glad I did because it is such a fantastic upgrade, especially for the price. Before I couldn't get the super deluxe setup right and I would either feel everything or just blow through the travel but now it tracks really well and handles chunky stuff super well. Can still take a spacer out which I think I will just to get that last bit of travel.

Coil Fork - Another awesome upgrade @beeb . Put a coil in the Z1 and bumped from 160 to 170mm travel with the firm spring. I think it sits about 15mm higher now though than the air version did. I immediately noticed the slacker head angle with turning and it feels more comfortable just sitting that bit more upright. I did some familiar chunky trails a lot faster than normal on the weekend and it and not even using full travel. It even gave the bottom bracket that bit more clearance so that I don't scrape it on small logs anymore in a place that has about 4 in a row.

Dropper - It was feeling super rough and I took it apart and noticed a bit of stanchion wear inside and grooving inside the bottom post guide channels. It wasnt covered by warranty but I noticed that because the upper only has 2 keyways but the bottom post had 4 channels if I rotated it 90 degrees then it felt perfect again.

Brakes - The basic 4 pot deore brakes are fantastic and ample for pulling my 90kg's.

Cons:
Same gripes as before which a slightly larger battery would be better and motor drag at the 25km/h affects my confidence with taking bigger jumps.
Dropper length is only 125mm. I would prefer 170/200mm with 150mm at a minimum but due to the short tube any longer and they cant be slammed all the way down.

Conclusion:
Can't believe it was a 1/4 of the price of the new Levo.
I find it really interesting that a lot of the new bikes have the same motor and frame across all models and just tweak all the componetry. I am thinking about the newest base model Merida with the EP8 and 604wh battery and swapping my stuff over just for that. It's not all black though...

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mas2

Likes Bikes and Dirt
It’s been just over 1 year and 2000km so I gave it a wash. Bike has been pretty faultless, getting a lot better and confident with small jumps/doubles. Had one issue where I thought it was the motor but turned out to be a loose crank. Since getting it I think my mtb riding km's has at least doubled and I was riding to work everyday until I changed jobs too.

Changes:
  • New chain 2 months ago but cassette is skipping now so new one ordered and will drop from a 10-51t to a 10-45t. I don’t think 12 speed should be on ebikes and the new shimano linkglide will hopefully start coming standard on ebikes now.
  • Z1 – Removed anodising off the cap and painted it black
  • Oil slick parts – grips, stem bolts, stem cap, valves, crank torque cap, crank bolts, chainring bolts, shifter and brake bolts, and rear caliper bolts
  • Grips – Ergon. Comfy AND durable. I use pretty thick Fox dirtpaw gloves and have no issues with them.
  • Cushcore rear – Love them. I ruined 2 tyres without it. Am not sure it will be possible to put a tube in them mid-ride though if something goes wrong…
Notes:
  • The new cassette is my first purchase from Chain Reaction Cycles in 6 years.
  • Z1 – The bump from 160-170 gave the BB that little bit extra needed clearance. Could possibly use a lighter coil as not getting last 15/20mm of travel. Really rate it as a fork. Not sure what meaningful gains would come from a 38 but would like to try them.
  • Shoes – 510 Freeriders coming to end of life I think. Not sure if it’s worth the risk changing to anything else though.
  • Shock – Megneg feels awesome still. Using all travel a little bit much so might put another negative band back in.

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mas2

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Update time:

Fathers day last year I got some got some new riding glasses. Oakley Sutro with Trail prizm lenses (I think they are 5% tint vs the road prizm which are 15% tint). Just the slight level of contrast these give is fantastic. The only issue I have is that the helmet sometimes hits the top of the glasses frame. But I just move them forward slight and otherwise I highly recommend.

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For Christmas I got myself some new freerider pros off wiggle for $165 in size 10 which was the first time I have bought anything from there in years.

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Just before Christmas I got 9 stitches in the back of my leg from my flat pedal pins which struggled to heal and got infected twice so I didn’t get to ride or even swim for the whole holiday period which was super frustrating. Still found some skin in the old pedals 6 weeks later.

Shimano Troubles
I don’t think ebikes need 12 speed let alone a 52t so I had switched out to a 45t cassette (42t would be more than enough for me). However, for a couple of months leading up to Christmas I found that it was shifting terribly. I cleaned and lubed everything, memorised the setup instructions to the T, watched heaps of setup vids, bought 2 new chains, cleaned the clutch, bought a new 52t cassette, replaced the cable, and checked my hanger. Nothing could get it right.

The next step was to replace the derailleur. When I took it off though, I could see a groove in the ferrule in the end of the derailleur hanger (pic below). I pushed it out, turned it 180 degrees, then pushed it back in. Shifting then worked great again. It turns out Shimano had stopped recommending using the 45t cassette with the SGS derailleur and now it’s only the GS.

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A week later I bought AXS.

It is incredible and the technology is amazing. While it easily has the world’s worst written setup instructions (It says “step 1” in 5 different spots on the one sheet ). Watching other peoples youtube videos made setup and tuning super easy. Removing the cables looks super neat. Haven’t had SRAM before and so absolutely loved locking out the derailleur to change the chain. The only issue is the stock shifter was crap and super awkward to operate so I switched to the replacement rocker one and it is 1000 times better.

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Replaced my old deity’s pedals with the same ones. While I was very impressed with the Super Deluxe Megneg I just bought a bomber CR coil to have a test of just because I can. I've never ridden coil rear so super keen to see how it goes.

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