anyone gone back to a normal bike?

Nope..and never will.
Forget about going downhill for a moment ..my ebike allows me to climb so much more technical stuff than I have ever managed on a normal bike and that is where the additional fun comes in .
As for downhill ..it isn't shy about getting little bits of air-time..but I've never been one for huge jumps and for the main part it's the most planted ( and forgiving) bike when my skill level has max'd out and I'm hanging on for dear life ..
I'm now actually riding the majority of trails I tackle ..with a minimum of pushing ..why would I want to go back to the dark ages

if you can ride where you want to without assistance then you dont need an e-bike. If you cant do those rides anymore then by the best e-bike you can possibly afford or scale down your riding to your current abilities would be my advice.
Personally I ride my lightweight hardtail locally and the ebike when on away from home big days out.

I regularly ride my normal bike. Better for fitness and strength, plus it handles better.

eMTB is better when I haven't got much time (got young kids to take care of) and still want a quick blast, or want to do some self-uplift style riding and the local DH runs. Also useful for taking the kids out on a mac-ride.

I'm currently debating what to do it/when the EMTB runs out of warranty and breaks. Not sure I'd replace it. Just too much money to run given Shimanos utter lack of support / spare parts once warranty expires.

Rich-EMTB-UK said:

if you can ride where you want to without assistance then you dont need an e-bike

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"Need" doesn't actually come into it for 90% of Emtb owners. And there's no reason it should. We're all adults here and perfectly capable of making the decision on what bike we want to ride all by ourselves.

A week ago I attended a Canyon demo day and I rode Spectral:ON CF and Spectral 125 and a Spectral 29. I do not think I'll ever go back on Amish bike, unless I change my riding totally and buy a DH bike and begin doing bike parks with uplift service. The 125 was a hoot though. I wish Canyon made a "Orbea Rise"-style version of it.

However, I also rode a Grizl and I could see myself riding a gravel bike without motor assistance. I also do own a touring bike and a grocery getter/pub bike which both are unassisted.

I also find the full-power bikes to be heavy and ponderous. It is like riding a light dirt bike with an ebike motor, in a way. I sold mine and got a Levo SL. It is far nicer with the lower weight. I still do ride my Ripley which its just under 30 lbs and still love that light nimble feeling. It is so easy to launch that things off any trail feature. Plus, it keeps my cycling strength up. If would not ride a full-power bike again and absolutely not an my only bike since it makes me much weaker on a MTB.

I have both e-bike and the normal one. So I can choose which one to drive depending on my mood. When it is for sports purposes I ride the normal one.

My Bullit is up for sale after waiting 12 weeks for a new Ep8 & in that time ive enjoyed riding my Bronson.

Well after 6 weeks solid on my ebike, yesterday I grabbed my old HT 29er and headed out. I swear Ive lost muscle power in my legs! I couldn't get up to my usual road speeds then when I went and tackled a short 400m hill climb my lungs and legs started to scream.

Personally I'm now going to alternate some analogue rides in between all the Ebike rides I'm doing.

2/3rd of my total KMs this year on an amish bike (to be fair, 10 days of Whistler bike park does add up the KMs LOL). My Trek Rail is a DH shuttle sled. Most of my fiends don't own emtbs yet so I generally ride that solo and pedal with my pals.

I haven't got my e-bike yet, but i have a nukeproof giga now. I fully intend to use it to keep mt fitness up when my ebike is delivered

went back after my used emtb motor failed and wouldve cost 1k all in to replace and repair, never worth it, sold up and back to a normal bike that will never have an error code and fail on me, screw ebikes

There is No going back unless you want to go to a horse n buggy as well. Welcome to the 21st century and not looking back !!

I just ordered a new mtb.......

I'm 50/50 e to mtb.

Things the e does awesomely. High speed ploughing mania, super chunk, multiple laps.

Things it sucks at manualling Poppy, playful style of riding, hike a bike.

Things the mtb is awesome at poppy, playful style of riding, hike a bike.

They both compliment each other.
I won't be going e only any time soon. If I had to go back to one type of bike it would be the mtb.

E is less reliable up too much shit to go wrong on it. I've had the e for a year abd I'd say it's bee.n in the shop for 3 weeks of that year getting electronic faults fixed up..... number of weeks my mtb has been in the bike whop?.... zero.

Plummet said:

E is less reliable up too much shit to go wrong on it. I've had the e for a year abd I'd say it's bee.n in the shop for 3 weeks of that year getting electronic faults fixed up..... number of weeks my mtb has been in the bike whop?.... zero.

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Sounds like you have a lemon, one of my ebikes is 3 years old now and it has never been in the shop nor has never had an update issued. Haha I just love ebikes once you grasp the various techniques it's a riot !!

I'm in the one of each category, but if I had to choose one it would be a bike.

Where I'm at emotionally is that I don't miss pedaling a bike up steep stuff especially during our very hot Summers, the e-bike is just a better tool for this. Because I don't have mountains with jeep roads to climb but rather hills with technical singletrack, I own a mid-power Relay on coil suspension.

My trail bike is a fast light 140mm trail bike that makes easy trails, way more exciting and I feel like Luke Skywalker on the Landspeeders flying through the trees on that bike.

Don't get an SL if you enjoy riding with other people. It works great if you're a loner or if you have buddies that all ride SL bikes. Otherwise you're going to be the slow guy dying to keep up with your friends on FF ebikes (not so bad if you're trying to stay fit) or you're going to be waiting for your friend that is pedaling under his/her own power.

If I had to choose between one bike it would be a tough call. I like them both for different reasons. I got my first ebike in 2019, a Levo SL. Loved it. Most of my friends bought SLs and we had a good thing going for a short time. Very quickly people started moving on to FF bikes and I was left in the dust. I ended up selling my SL right before the KSL came out, thinking I'd grab one of those the moment they dropped. Being covid, the bike ended up being out of stock for about 5 months, in which time I had to ride borrowed bikes, whatever was available at the time and it was mostly regular pedal bikes.

Surprisingly I was reminded how much I actually ejoyed pedaling and realized I had been missing the endorphine rush that only comes from strenuous exercise. Rides became more fun and yes, the regular bike just handles so much better. Way more quiet, easy to pick up and jump around.......just more enjoyable on many levels. It blows my mind because after getting an ebike I was quite confident I'd never ride a regular bike again.

Now I ride the regular bike 75% of the time, ebike the rest. I appreciate the ebike even more now because of the ease of use. It's just insane how easy it makes everything. yes there's a weight penalty but that's also the fun of it, just let off the brakes and smash. My ebike is used for heavy enduro/DH trails because of the extra travel and weight. I have a Stumpy Evo for most days but recently picked up a downcountry weight weenie bike for big pedal days and even sketchier descents (that bike really demands proper riding technique and has improved my riding on the other bikes).

Long story short: One of each is the holy grail if you can swing it. They both have their purpose and strong suits. They compliment each other.

I love my shopper for the pub

Rickster said:

Sounds like you have a lemon, one of my ebikes is 3 years old now and it has never been in the shop nor has never had an update issued. Haha I just love ebikes once you grasp the various techniques it's a riot !!

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Nope, I just use the shit out of my bikes in all weather.

I've torn two speed sensors off with sticks.... been riding in some truely horrendous conditions. Lets face it.
Lets face it, there is more to go wrong with E bikes than mtb's. It stands to reason that they will require more R&M.

Something else E bikes suck at. Going on a plane. Man what a pile of butt hurt trying to get a e bike overseas with a battery... Faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaark.

The majority of my rides are still manual bike.
But out of those 25% are on the back of an uplift van anyway

I thought I'd miss the Eeb but the reality is, the local stuff isn't really Eeb riding, not enough tech you can reach in a sensible time to make the Eeb worthwhile to session stuff. Maybe weekends when there's more time it'll get used to extend the ride.

Although it's nearly time for Alps anyway

Nope. After 30 years of riding, I've found my true home, even investing in a 2nd, this one a basic commuter type

I am building a non ebike, but i doubt I'll ever ride it.

Weeksy said:

I don't get the necessity for a carbon frame OR a full power emtb

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The reason for what is said above is due to what is said below

Weeksy said:

The majority of my rides are still manual bike.
But out of those 25% are on the back of an uplift van anyway

I thought I'd miss the Eeb but the reality is, the local stuff isn't really Eeb riding, not enough tech you can reach in a sensible time to make the Eeb worthwhile to session stuff. Maybe weekends when there's more time it'll get used to extend the ride.

Although it's nearly time for Alps anyway

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By contrast in 15 minutes ride from our house we're in full power eMTB territory, and to be fair many here have far more demanding and interesting terrain than we have.

Edit: switch post around and insert "power"

I bought an eMTB September '23 and ended up selling both of my acoustic MTBs late spring '24. The eMTB is just too much fun! Do I need an eMTB for my local trails? Nope. But the speed and 2 to 3'x the number of laps in the same amount of time sealed the deal for me. The eMTB brought back the joy of riding for this guy.

And I say that while I've been experiencing some rather annoying cut-outs mid ride (see other thread around here about it). I don't regret selling the acoustics one bit; while the eMTB is offline I'll just ride my roadie.

currently have a 2024 reign e+ & a Merida 160 FR(170/180) - love both, my reign, despite being 27kg doesnt feel like a 27kg bus, however my other bikes ive tried like the rail & ransom do feel lazy as helll.
Highly considering replacing them with the new e-slash+ for a Do-it-all, Its rated for a 190mm fork and according to our trek manager is bike park proof.

The only reason you would go back, is if you were having reliability issues with your ebike. And regarding reliability. Maintenance, maintenance, maintenance is the X factor. As well as not riding through deepish cold water, or spraying your bike with large amounts of cold, including on a bike rack in cold rain.

Regarding maintenance. On nights where there is nothing on Tele. I pick a part of the drive system, and pull it apart and clean it. Cleaning the motor seals behind the cranks and chainwheel spider by removing them and spraying Water Dispersant is a great start to preventing water ingress through the crank seals. Then wipe the Water Dispersant off, as it will collect dirt.

Also. Pull off covers to expose electrical connections and clean, then spray with water dispersant. Then wipe off. As well as removing electrical connectors and spray with contact cleaner, then replace and spray with Water Dispersant. I have a 5 litre container of Water Dispersant, that I use on my 3 Ebikes. Just remember to wipe off afterwards, to prevent dirt sticking to the parts.

Regarding riding through deepish cold water. If you spray or submerge your motor in cold water. The air inside cools and contracts, causing a vacuum and sucking in external air. If there is water present when this occurs. It will suck the water or moisture in with the air.

So the moral of the story. Water and Electrics do not mix. Taking measures to reduce the ingress of moisture into your motor, battery, electronics, displays and switches, will insure a much longer life without error codes.

I have had Ebikes for 6 years, and covered over 15,000km. Have not had a failure yet. And I ride in the wet. I just slow down for big puddles, and clean, dry and Water Disperse the bike after really wet rides.

Whilst my son, who does zero maintenance and takes no care when riding. I've replaced 2 displays, 1 battery and a motor in 4 years.

Get a good motored ebike. Look after your it. It will look after you. If looking after it is all too hard. Then be prepared to have failures that require shop repair, or go back to an MTB.