Rail (625Wh) 2022 Rail 9.7 Gen 2 still a good buy?

[Rebelxd]

Hey all, new here. I want to get my first e bike and found a 2022 Rail 9.7 Gen 2 on sale for 4.5k at the Trek store. I was hoping to get some opinions if it’s still a good buy, it’s a fair bit cheaper than the newer models.
I’ve read about the battery rattle and asked the store about that, they said that’s been fixed and shouldn’t be an issue. Even though it’s on sale, it’s still a lot of money so I wanna feel good about it!

I was also considering a GasGas Trail 3, which is on sale for 3k and has very similar specs, but I like the idea of having the trek store nearby to handle any issues that may come up in the future.

Appreciate any input or thoughts y’all might have.
Thanks!

 

[BMP]

My wife and I bought Rail 7 Gen 2's recently. It looks like they are equipped the same as the 9.7 besides the Kiox display. Ours have been 100% trouble free and are a total blast to ride! Ours were 4.3K so if you can get the carbon bike for 4.5K, I feel it is an excellent buy. We are intermediate riders so we only changed out a few things. I ride a 20mm, 800 width Renthal bar and my wife rides a 30mm, 760 width bar. We also run Raceface Chester pedals and I upgraded the rotors to a 220 front and 203 rear SwissStop Catalyst Pro's and Exotherm pads.

We specifically wanted pre smart system bikes and that was the reason for our purchase.

Brad

 

[Rebelxd]

My wife and I bought Rail 7 Gen 2's recently. It looks like they are equipped the same as the 9.7 besides the Kiox display. Ours have been 100% trouble free and are a total blast to ride! Ours were 4.3K so if you can get the carbon bike for 4.5K, I feel it is an excellent buy. We are intermediate riders so we only changed out a few things. I ride a 20mm, 800 width Renthal bar and my wife rides a 30mm, 760 width bar. We also run Raceface Chester pedals and I upgraded the rotors to a 220 front and 203 rear SwissStop Catalyst Pro's and Exotherm pads.

We specifically wanted pre smart system bikes and that was the reason for our purchase.

Brad

Thanks Brad, I’m a totally newbie.. can you explain what pre smart system means? I played with the computer a bit on the 9.7 at the store.. seemed pretty ‘smart’ to me coming from my fixed gear bike

 

[BMP]

Most all electric MTB’s are Class 1 bikes. The motor will only assist up to 20 mph. The way around the speed limit is to use a plug in chip. The pre-Smart systems that use the Purion and Kiox displays allow for all the features of a Speedbox to be used. Unlimited speed, true speed displayed, motor lock, etc. The Smart systems are tunable but can still throw error codes, do not promote unlimited speed and the true speed to be displayed.

Brad

 

[Rebelxd]

Most all electric MTB’s are Class 1 bikes. The motor will only assist up to 20 mph. The way around the speed limit is to use a plug in chip. The pre-Smart systems that use the Purion and Kiox displays allow for all the features of a Speedbox to be used. Unlimited speed, true speed displayed, motor lock, etc. The Smart systems are tunable but can still throw error codes, do not promote unlimited speed and the true speed to be displayed.

Brad

Do you find that you need assist over 20mph? Curious in which situations you’d need that, racing or on the road or something?

 

[BMP]

Long travel e-bikes just start getting fun at 20 mph.

Brad

 

[markloch]

Do you find that you need assist over 20mph? Curious in which situations you’d need that, racing or on the road or something?

I find 20 mph assist is plenty for most of my riding, which avoids most thoroughfares and sticks to multiuse paths, fireroads/trails, and roads that either have dedicated bike lanes, or on which bikes are allowed full use of the lane (big green bike icons painted in the lane) not that I use the whole lane if there are cars around, unless it’s downhill and I can go as fast or often faster than the cars.

Looks like your in LA - you’re not likely to find many trails where 20mph on the flats or uphill is warranted or allowed. Downhill on the other hand, as @BMP notes, 20mph is just getting started. These Rails ride like they’re on, uh, rails.

“Smart” System was introduced by Bosch a couple years back and showed up on many/most of the ‘23 Rails. Bigger battery available, different head units, different app (that allows you to do stuff that for the older system you need to go to the dealer for). I dont have much experience with it so I don’t know what, if anything, I’m missing. 750wh battery would be nice, but not essential. I did ride a loaner (‘23?) XL 9.8 AXS with Smart System for a few days and couldn’t wait to get my own bike back.

I’ve got a ’21 XL Rail 5 (I wanted a 7 but very slim pickings back in May ‘21) and love it, about 4k miles and 600k vert, would be 10-20% more but I got (won) a second eMTB, an Orbea Urrun, Hardtail, more of an XC bike, lighter and more nimble, and been mainly riding that all summer.

My brother picked up a ‘22 9.7 in late ‘22, the model with bright orange paint, he loves it. He hasn‘t done any upgrades, aside from some riser bars. He’s 5’11’’ on a Large Rail (I’m 6’4” on an XL) and we both found the stock bars too low (we’re also old dudes, 60+) - I like my saddle and grips at around the same level, and with the stock bars and stem the grips were three inches lower than the saddle, tough on my arms and back I got bars with 60mm rise as well as a stem with some rise to it.

Have fun!

Mark

 

[Hotrod]

My wife and I purchased two 2022 Rail 9.7 bikes last year on a BOGO free sale. It was a deal we couldn't pass up. These are our first E-bikes and we could not be happier. We put some serious stress on them during a camping trip to the Sierras. We were doing 25 mile rides with over 3,000' of climbing at high elevation with technical terrain. Neither of the bikes had an issue and we put nearly 70 miles on them in a few days. The battery life is amazing, never got below 40% and I was not being stingy with the power. The bike clearly rides heavier than my Santa Cruz Hightower, not as poppy or easy to jump or huk, but it's a total game changer for 3 hour enjoyable rides with lots of climbing. I'd buy the bike again even at a higher price.

 

[dimitrin]

The main instance which I repeatedly run into where I need assist above 20 mph are jump lines where I'm coming into the face of the jump and I need just a little bit more to clear the gap. I step on the pedals and instead of immediate assist it feels like I'm dragging an anchor into the face of the jump, all the assist has turned off because I'm going at least 20 miles an hour. All I need is another pedal stroke or 2, and a derestriction device will let you get it.

 

[Hotrod]

Agree with that! I was riding a bike park downhill run and it's like I hit the brakes when it hit 20. So used to my SC which easily gets to 30. But the uphill is so fun now it makes up for it.