MTBMOTOMat
New Member
Just got my bike MC5 a over a week ago and the go and do this!
2021 Husqvarna ebikes
- Thread starter jbrown15
- Start date
MOTO13
Active member
My HC7 arrived on Sunday. I unboxed her, put her together...so far after one ride, it seems like a great choice. I need to upgrade the display to the 8000 so I can blue tooth a better custom motor set up though. The 3 stock motor programs are not good. Suspension is great. Overall, very pleased.
Last edited:
Mr-EPIC-3
Active member
The 2022
Intresting frame design, looks like the motor is vertical instead of parallel.
MOTO13
Active member
I agree. Based on shock placement etc, it looks to be in line with Trek's Ecaliber line. More of a recreational, shorter travel mtb. Not necessarily an enduro type.
Looks like a full on trail or enduro bike to me, clearly running a fox DPX 2 and 38 - very similar to the Levo and Whye in terms of motor orientation and battery placement- also looks like anothe bike where the designers have decided to shove all the cabling though the headset, which IMO is the worse trend to develop over the last few years.
Aren’t these designed by the same people who do haibike?
Aren’t these designed by the same people who do haibike?
MOTO13
Active member
Assuming it still has an EP8 in it.
Mr-EPIC-3
Active member
I am guessing it looks like a Carbon frame, wonder if they offer a Alu frame.
MOTO13
Active member
Have they ever offered a carbon framed bike before?
MTBMOTOMat
New Member
Ok after a few rides I'm really starting to like this bike! I think I have like 25 miles on it only. Of course the upgrades made it much better than stock. So far I've added a DVO Topaz rear shock, Fox 38 factory fork at 160mm travel, Maxxis Minion DHF 2.5 front and Dissector 2.6 in the rear (tubeless set up of course), and some ODI Dread Lock grips. Next up some Spanx bars just trying to figure out what I should cut them down to since they are over 800mm. Then seat and maybe some wheels. Brakes and drive train when it wears out.
Now I just need to ride some more trails and test its high speed feel and some real jumps!
Now I just need to ride some more trails and test its high speed feel and some real jumps!
Bad Mechanic
Member
How do you like the DVO Topaz? I have the Mountain Cross 5 as well, and the RockShox shock is pretty terrible, and I've been looking at buying a Topaz to replace it.
MTBMOTOMat
New Member
So I never rode in the dirt with the stock shock. I knew it was low end and wasn’t going to handle medium to aggressive riding so I swapped it immediately.
So far I’m pretty happy with it. I added a couple spacers to have more bottom resistance. It also helps because I can get proper sag easier with a bit less air.
If you can find one you’ll just need the mounting kit so it fits right. I used the rockshox spacer and then just the dvo washers.
Bad Mechanic
Member
I've had my large Husqvarna Mountain Cross 5 for a little over a month now, and it's really good:
The Good:
- The geometry is modern with a slack headtube (65*) and a steep-ish seat tube (76*) and a long reach (480mm). So it climbs well and descends really well. I wouldn't mind the seat tube being a couple degrees steeper and the reach being a little longer, but now I'm getting picky since it rides very, very well. Weirdly, a lost of eMTBs are coming with outdated geometry, which doesn't really make sense to me.
- The colorway on the 5 is gorgeous.
- One of the reasons I went with the Husky was the larger 630wh battery. A larger battery isn't much heavier than a smaller battery, and I like the having the extra capacity to either ride longer or use more assist.
- It has a good spec for the price point.
- It's a mullet with a 29" front and 27.5" back. Personally, I like a mullet and I think it works really well here.
- Aside from the lack of Bluetooth, I really prefer the entry level Shimano display, sits off to one side, and has a very simple and clear screen. Annoyingly, they also emitted Bluetooth on it, so I can't tune my power levels through my phone. I'm adding a Shimano BT adapter, but that's still an added expense.
- Weirdly, the stock seat is very comfortable.
- If you run an analysis on the rear suspension, you'll find it has low anti-squat. Basically, the designers sacrificing pedaling efficiency for a very active suspension, but under power and under braking. On an eMTB I think that's a good compromise to make.
- It's a great value at $4,300, especially with the larger battery.
The Bad:
- The fork is bad. The RockShox 35mm is a cut rate fork and it shows. The bushings are undersized, the MoCo damper is tuned wrong, it doesn't have high speed rebound, and the top caps are a proprietary thread pitch, so there aren't any easy upgrades. It's also just a Solo Air spring and not the DebonAir spring. You can shim the MoCo damper to eliminate the high speed spiking, and if you're feeling brave you can modify and install a Yari rebound damper to get HSC. The whole fork just makes you annoyed at RockShox.
- The shock is bad. I don't know who tuned it, but the shock has too much compression damping, and way too much rebound damping. I think it's supposed to provide a (rubbish) pedal platform, but it makes the rear harsh. In theory I could try re-shimming it, but I'm just going to upgrade to a DVO Topaz instead and go ride. After all the effort to make the suspension active, the stock shock just completely ruins it.
- They're hard to find, with most places sold out. I had to ship mine halfway across the country. Hopefully Husqvarna will send more to the US in 2022.
- They're being sold through Husqvarna dealers and not bike shops, so you'll be going to a motorcycle shop if you want to look at one, and there aren't a lot of them around. This is especially annoying for any warranty or adjustment issues.
- Finally, it only carries a 2 year warranty, including the frame. For a quality bike from a reputable manufacturer, I expect a lot longer of a warranty.
The Good:
- The geometry is modern with a slack headtube (65*) and a steep-ish seat tube (76*) and a long reach (480mm). So it climbs well and descends really well. I wouldn't mind the seat tube being a couple degrees steeper and the reach being a little longer, but now I'm getting picky since it rides very, very well. Weirdly, a lost of eMTBs are coming with outdated geometry, which doesn't really make sense to me.
- The colorway on the 5 is gorgeous.
- One of the reasons I went with the Husky was the larger 630wh battery. A larger battery isn't much heavier than a smaller battery, and I like the having the extra capacity to either ride longer or use more assist.
- It has a good spec for the price point.
- It's a mullet with a 29" front and 27.5" back. Personally, I like a mullet and I think it works really well here.
- Aside from the lack of Bluetooth, I really prefer the entry level Shimano display, sits off to one side, and has a very simple and clear screen. Annoyingly, they also emitted Bluetooth on it, so I can't tune my power levels through my phone. I'm adding a Shimano BT adapter, but that's still an added expense.
- Weirdly, the stock seat is very comfortable.
- If you run an analysis on the rear suspension, you'll find it has low anti-squat. Basically, the designers sacrificing pedaling efficiency for a very active suspension, but under power and under braking. On an eMTB I think that's a good compromise to make.
- It's a great value at $4,300, especially with the larger battery.
The Bad:
- The fork is bad. The RockShox 35mm is a cut rate fork and it shows. The bushings are undersized, the MoCo damper is tuned wrong, it doesn't have high speed rebound, and the top caps are a proprietary thread pitch, so there aren't any easy upgrades. It's also just a Solo Air spring and not the DebonAir spring. You can shim the MoCo damper to eliminate the high speed spiking, and if you're feeling brave you can modify and install a Yari rebound damper to get HSC. The whole fork just makes you annoyed at RockShox.
- The shock is bad. I don't know who tuned it, but the shock has too much compression damping, and way too much rebound damping. I think it's supposed to provide a (rubbish) pedal platform, but it makes the rear harsh. In theory I could try re-shimming it, but I'm just going to upgrade to a DVO Topaz instead and go ride. After all the effort to make the suspension active, the stock shock just completely ruins it.
- They're hard to find, with most places sold out. I had to ship mine halfway across the country. Hopefully Husqvarna will send more to the US in 2022.
- They're being sold through Husqvarna dealers and not bike shops, so you'll be going to a motorcycle shop if you want to look at one, and there aren't a lot of them around. This is especially annoying for any warranty or adjustment issues.
- Finally, it only carries a 2 year warranty, including the frame. For a quality bike from a reputable manufacturer, I expect a lot longer of a warranty.
jbrown15
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #53
If you want more rear travel you can easily fit a 205x65mm stroke shock on the MC5 & 7 bikes. I put a DHX2 205x65 on my friend's MC7, we also put a 170mm air shaft in his fork. So basically we turned his MC7 from a 150/150 to a 170mm front and roughly 160-165mm rear travel bike. He loves it.
Bad Mechanic
Member
Thanks, but I don't want more travel. I want the travel I have to be well adjusted.
Bad Mechanic
Member
...okay...
I said thanks, but I wasn't looking for more travel. How did that sound like anything other than thanking you for the suggestion?
I knew the fork was bad when I bought the bike, but if I'm doing a Good/Bad list then it still needs to end up on the bad list. If I removed everything from my list which I already knew, then I wouldn't have much of a list left.
However, just how bad the shock was surprised me. I knew it wasn't great shock, but I figured it would at least be passable. But it's just bad and does a disservice to the rest of the bike. I suspect removing the LSR shim stack would help, but I really don't want to start screwing around trying to modify the shock.
Bad Mechanic
Member
Air for several reasons. I always heard good things about DVO as well, and I especially like their commitment to making suspension which can be easily serviced by the owner. Their Topaz is $500 and for an extra $100 they'll do a custom tune for you based on your bike, weight, and riding style. $600 for a brand new, custom tuned shock is actually a pretty darn good deal.
While I'd love to add a DVO fork as well, I can pretty easily modify the RS 35 to work well enough where it wouldn't be worth it.
Bad Mechanic
Member
In case anyone is interested, I'm pretty sure the reason why the stock RoskShox Deluxe Select + sucks to much is:
- It doesn't have a low speed compression (LSC) circuit, so everything needs to go through the high speed shim stack, giving it way too much LSC damping.
- The low speed rebound (LSR) circuit runs through a reloaded shim stack (not a check valve). On the MC that translates to the circuit closing at about 10lbs of force at the wheel, and effectively preloading the spring.
RockShox probably did this to give the shock a pedal platform, but it gives a pretty harsh ride. I'm temporarily working around it by running the rebound only 1 click from full fast. If I weren't buying a new shock, the first thing I'd try is removing the preloaded shim stack on the LSR circuit. This would move the rebound clicker into a much more usable range, would allow the shock to rebound completely, and would also provide some amount of LSC. Every shock I've worked on has a larger LSR circuit than LSC circuit, so the LSC would probably still be too high, but it would still be better than not having any at all.
- It doesn't have a low speed compression (LSC) circuit, so everything needs to go through the high speed shim stack, giving it way too much LSC damping.
- The low speed rebound (LSR) circuit runs through a reloaded shim stack (not a check valve). On the MC that translates to the circuit closing at about 10lbs of force at the wheel, and effectively preloading the spring.
RockShox probably did this to give the shock a pedal platform, but it gives a pretty harsh ride. I'm temporarily working around it by running the rebound only 1 click from full fast. If I weren't buying a new shock, the first thing I'd try is removing the preloaded shim stack on the LSR circuit. This would move the rebound clicker into a much more usable range, would allow the shock to rebound completely, and would also provide some amount of LSC. Every shock I've worked on has a larger LSR circuit than LSC circuit, so the LSC would probably still be too high, but it would still be better than not having any at all.
Wintyfresh
Member
I've had a Mountain Cross 5 for three months now. Overall I'm really enjoying the bike, but the weight (my large is 57.5 lbs) is a definite issue. It's a hoot to ride but on the trail or lifting it into the bed of a truck after a ride you definitely feel all of those pounds. I also get a little concerned about parts availability; motorcycle shops don't tend to stock them so I fear if anything breaks it may be months to get a replacement.
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