Buying an EMTB for the wife

[michael_bc]

I'm looking into buying my wife an EMTB and wondering if anyone has any advice.

Background

She's a complete beginner. She has rarely biked in her life. We rented a bike in autumn and rode some gravel mountain roads and she loved it. We live in the Swiss Alps so there's a possibility she might want to try some easy downhill trails later on. For now, it would be gravel roads, albeit with some steep ascents and descents.

We rented a Flyer Uproc 3 4.10 in size small and she loved it. I tried this bike a bit and thought it was a lead brick. I thought it was a horrible piece of junk. That said, a Bosch CX motor (or similar) with ~625 Wh battery seems like a good starting point. This Decathlon hardtail looks quite nice and got me thinking.

I started a couple of years ago with a Focus Thron2 (130mm front and rear). I think this was an ideal starting point considering I did not know what kind of trails I'd end up riding. This bike has delivered in spades - it has been a pleasure on anything from gravel roads to backcountry trails to double black diamond downhill trails. My gut feeling is my wife should start with a similar full-suspension bike and not a hardtail.

Questions

• Is there such a thing as a women's EMTB vs. men's? Is it relevant?
• Full suspension or hardtail?
• 29" or 27.5"?
• Any other advice?

 

[johnnystorm]

If I could persuade my wife to get an eBike I'd get one as close as I could to mine so I could share parts, in particular the battery for longer solo riding, etc.

 

[Tubby G]

Why not buy her the best you can afford. No doubt you want her to enjoy biking as much as you do, so splash the cash and buy her something amazing. If you start cheap you’ll only be selling it on at a huge loss and upgrading to something far better, so go for the best you can afford now. It’s a great time to buy ebikes right now, they’re at their lowest prices. If you go for longer travel too such as 160mm front and rear they are very forgiving to beginners and you’ll soon get her rolling down the roughest trails rather than pottering around on gravel roads.

 

[samjlevy]

I went through the same thing, ended up getting her a Trek Rail 7 for £3700, was a great deal!

I don't think wheel size makes a big difference for how fast (or slow) she is going.

 

[ebsocalmtb]

A few comments based on getting my wife into mtb starting in 2020. We ended up getting her an m20 orbea rise, in size medium.

-beginners, particularly women are very focused on standover being the determining factor of bike fit. Very shortly after gaining experience, this fades away as they get confidence with how to stop and put their feet down, and the muscle memory of the dropper post. A big unlock for my wife was fitting the largest dropper post I could with the least amount of stack height (a 180mm oneup, shimmed down to 170 that replaced the factory 150mm dropper). That extra 20mm/.75" of clearance to sit on the bike and put her foot down was a confidence game changer.
-A light weight bike is important for light weight riders. My wife borrowed a medium santacruz bullit from our LBS to try it out. She was comfortable-ish on it... but the 53lb weight of the bike was far too big for her 120lb frame to muscle around. Her orbea rise weighs in at 39lbs and she has the confidence to lay it down, pick it up and stand it up on the rear wheel to maneuver it and get it on the bike rack herself. This helps confidence quite a bit.
-Wheel size generally doesn't matter if you're not going to ride insanely technical terrain and steeps... however full 29rs are a lot to handle for people that are 5'6" or so and under and weigh very little. It takes a lot of leverage to lean a full 29r over and it feels like you are leaning the bike more then you are. Assuming your wife is small/light weight, then maybe a mx or 27.5 wheel setup would be preferred.
-Continuation of the above weight conversation, keep in mind that she will need approximately 30-40% less battery for the same range as you would. I also have a rise with the same 360wh battery and I would need to use trail for at least 50-60% of the battery in order to get 25mi/3000' of climbing. In contrast, my wife will do those stats easily on the 360wh battery and have 20% or so remaining. There is practically no reason to carry around a 400-500-600wh battery if you weigh 120lbs and don't plan on doing 4-5k of climbing.

 

[irie]

5'7"/170cm wife has a 2022 Rail 5 Medium which is upgraded with a OneUp seat with which she can get her feet flat on the ground. Has some other upgrades but for her that is the most important one.

 

[irie]

I'm looking into buying my wife an EMTB and wondering if anyone has any advice.

Background

She's a complete beginner. She has rarely biked in her life. We rented a bike in autumn and rode some gravel mountain roads and she loved it. We live in the Swiss Alps so there's a possibility she might want to try some easy downhill trails later on. For now, it would be gravel roads, albeit with some steep ascents and descents.

We rented a Flyer Uproc 3 4.10 in size small and she loved it. I tried this bike a bit and thought it was a lead brick. I thought it was a horrible piece of junk. That said, a Bosch CX motor (or similar) with ~625 Wh battery seems like a good starting point. This Decathlon hardtail looks quite nice and got me thinking.

I started a couple of years ago with a Focus Thron2 (130mm front and rear). I think this was an ideal starting point considering I did not know what kind of trails I'd end up riding. This bike has delivered in spades - it has been a pleasure on anything from gravel roads to backcountry trails to double black diamond downhill trails. My gut feeling is my wife should start with a similar full-suspension bike and not a hardtail.

Questions

• Is there such a thing as a women's EMTB vs. men's? Is it relevant?
• Full suspension or hardtail?
• 29" or 27.5"?
• Any other advice?

How tall is your wife?

5'7"/170cm wife has a 2022 Rail 5 Medium which is upgraded with a OneUp seat with which she can get her feet flat on the ground. Has some other upgrades but for her that is the most important one. 29" wheels full suspension, hardtails and 27.5" wheels soon get grown out of.

 

[mike_kelly]

I would get what your wife likes, not what you like. Sure show her many choices but in the end, if you want her to ride. let her choose.

 

[irie]

I would get what your wife likes, not what you like. Sure show her many choices but in the end, if you want her to ride. let her choose.

Agree.

When I got my Large Rail my wife wanted a go, came back after 5 minutes and said "I want the same bike but a bit smaller and a nicer colour".

She has a Medium Rail in crimson below, mine is the Miami green bike.

 

[Stihldog]

Oh…Wow! @irie beat me to it but there were three things that were important while we were purchasing a bike for my wife;
1-the colour
2-the colour
3-the colour

Once we got past that hurdle we could focus on the;
1-seat
2-grips
3-peddles

Finally we wanted an eMTB as close to mine as possible. We now have his/hers HT Powerfly’s. Hers is a small size. We got other stuff later after the sticker/price shock wore off.

Did I mention that the colour mattered.

 

[Stihldog]

Agree.

When I got my Large Rail my wife wanted a go, came back after 5 minutes and said "I want the same bike but a bit smaller and a nicer colour".

She has a Medium Rail in crimson below, mine is the Miami green bike.

View attachment 132291

I wasn’t going to mention anything but …when I saw your bikes.
We also have 7 children between us. 9 grandchildren and two more on the way.

Our bikes.

 

[mike_kelly]

I would also add that low weight is important. I would not get a 50lb bike.

 

[michael_bc]

Finally we wanted an eMTB as close to mine as possible. We now have his/hers HT Powerfly’s. Hers is a small size. We got other stuff later after the sticker/price shock wore off.

Thanks for the great input! Appreciated. Can you elaborate a bit more on why you both got hardtails?

My intuition is to push for full suspension for the sake of versatility.

And the difference between his/her is just the color, right?

 

[michael_bc]

Why not buy her the best you can afford. No doubt you want her to enjoy biking as much as you do, so splash the cash and buy her something amazing. If you start cheap you’ll only be selling it on at a huge loss and upgrading to something far better, so go for the best you can afford now.

Totally agreed.

"Best" can mean a lot of things. Maybe I should have mentioned we know relatively little about bikes. The main thing is to have a future-proof bike that is versatile enough to last many years.

 

[irie]

If you go for longer travel too such as 160mm front and rear they are very forgiving to beginners ...

This ^^^

And also very comfortable ...

 

[Weeksy]

We've got a Liv Embolden E+2 it's honestly been great. The power on the Yamaha is excellent. It did have a controller issue which is now resolved. I've fitted Fox36s on the front end and now i use it at trail centers if needed.
It's a bit of a steamroller, but that's a plus as well as a downside.

Liv Embolden E+ 2 625 25Km/h Womens Ebike Cosmos Navy

Liv Embolden E+ 2 625 25Km/h Womens Ebike Cosmos Navy Cosmos Navy £2799.00

www.jejamescycles.com

TBH 99% of riders that would be perfectly fine for.

 

[samjlevy]

Oh…Wow! @irie beat me to it but there were three things that were important while we were purchasing a bike for my wife;
1-the colour
2-the colour
3-the colour

Do we have the same wife?

 

[michael_bc]

We've got a Liv Embolden E+2 it's honestly been great. The power on the Yamaha is excellent. It did have a controller issue which is now resolved. I've fitted Fox36s on the front end and now i use it at trail centers if needed.
It's a bit of a steamroller, but that's a plus as well as a downside.

Liv Embolden E+ 2 625 25Km/h Womens Ebike Cosmos Navy

Liv Embolden E+ 2 625 25Km/h Womens Ebike Cosmos Navy Cosmos Navy £2799.00

www.jejamescycles.com

TBH 99% of riders that would be perfectly fine for.

Here we go: the description says Women's Ebike. What does this mean?

 

[Weeksy]

Here we go: the description says Women's Ebike. What does this mean?

I guess it's to do with reach and standover height. You could arguably call it a 'not quite as tall and long in arms as a mans bike' but that's getting a bit silly. As you can see the Top Tube is fairly sloped which is quite common on womens versions of MTBs. You're aware Liv are the womens brand of Giant ?

 

[steve_sordy]

I have read many posts on here that have advised not to get an emtb hardtail. They don't ride quite as well as a full suss and many first purchasers soon have to undergo the expense of switching to a full suss.
I have not ridden an emtb hardtail, so the only experience I am speaking from is that of others who have and regretted it.

 

[michael_bc]

I guess it's to do with reach and standover height. You could arguably call it a 'not quite as tall and long in arms as a mans bike' but that's getting a bit silly. As you can see the Top Tube is fairly sloped which is quite common on womens versions of MTBs. You're aware Liv are the womens brand of Giant ?

No, I'm not aware!

How does this compare to brands that don't offer women's versions? Should I discard the Orbea Rise, for example? Or does it not matter as much?

 

[michael_bc]

I have read many posts on here that have advised not to get an emtb hardtail. They don't ride quite as well as a full suss and many first purchasers soon have to undergo the expense of switching to a full suss.
I have not ridden an emtb hardtail, so the only experience I am speaking from is that of others who have and regretted it.

This is also my gut feeling.

When I accidentally leave my rear suspension on "firm", I skid all over the place on technical descents and it feels almost dangerous. Getting a hardtail would mean we'd have to replace the bike as soon as my wife feels comfortable trying downhill trails.

That said, all my neighbors and friends' wives ride hardtails.

Nevertheless, I think we should invest in something future-proof and aspirational.

 

[steve_sordy]

@michael_bc I would add that once your wife gets used the bike and wants to do some steep descents, the conflict between her leg length and the size of the rear wheel may emerge for her.
My first emtb was also my first 29er and my arse was being buzzed on a frequent basis. My second emtb was a mullet and the problem just disappeared.

 

[michael_bc]

Oh…Wow! @irie beat me to it but there were three things that were important while we were purchasing a bike for my wife;
1-the colour
2-the colour
3-the colour

I'm not going to lie: I chose my first EMTB entirely based on the color - I absolutely loved the outdoorsy safari explorer vibe of the grasmere green + skinwall tires. Luckily, I had a knowledgeable friend confirm the technical details of my bike choice

Color was still an important factor when I upgraded to my 2nd bike.

 

[Stihldog]

I have read many posts on here that have advised not to get an emtb hardtail. They don't ride quite as well as a full suss and many first purchasers soon have to undergo the expense of switching to a full suss.
I have not ridden an emtb hardtail, so the only experience I am speaking from is that of others who have and regretted it.

I totally agree. Having a full-sus in the stable is a must for my riding. My wife is unlikely to ride our black to blue trails, but she could with the HT.

I guess our style of “together” riding is trips to Starbucks and tame trails. She likes that. To me a full suspension might be overkill for that purpose. (Bigger battery, heavy-ish shock, more adjustments etc. instead I just added a very comfy saddle for her. Less aggressive tires and more speed (easier rolling) seemed to be the compromise.

I still like taking the HT on our trails though and the magnetic pedals help keep my feet in position…cause it can be a challenge.

 

[irie]

... a very comfy saddle for her ...

Forgot about that. After colour and feet on the ground that's a key issue.

 

[KnollyBro]

I'm looking into buying my wife an EMTB and wondering if anyone has any advice.

Background

She's a complete beginner. She has rarely biked in her life. We rented a bike in autumn and rode some gravel mountain roads and she loved it. We live in the Swiss Alps so there's a possibility she might want to try some easy downhill trails later on. For now, it would be gravel roads, albeit with some steep ascents and descents.

We rented a Flyer Uproc 3 4.10 in size small and she loved it. I tried this bike a bit and thought it was a lead brick. I thought it was a horrible piece of junk. That said, a Bosch CX motor (or similar) with ~625 Wh battery seems like a good starting point. This Decathlon hardtail looks quite nice and got me thinking.

I started a couple of years ago with a Focus Thron2 (130mm front and rear). I think this was an ideal starting point considering I did not know what kind of trails I'd end up riding. This bike has delivered in spades - it has been a pleasure on anything from gravel roads to backcountry trails to double black diamond downhill trails. My gut feeling is my wife should start with a similar full-suspension bike and not a hardtail.

Questions

• Is there such a thing as a women's EMTB vs. men's? Is it relevant?
• Full suspension or hardtail?
• 29" or 27.5"?
• Any other advice?

Depending on your age, fitness level and experience, you may find it wishful thinking that your wife will be as interested at trying any kind of down hill trails that will appeal to the both of you. It has been my experience that couples that ride together are either younger and met riding bikes or started riding bikes at the same time as most "mature" ladies will not have much interest in getting bruised up a little while learning how to ride a bike. My advice is either to get the same bike you already have for you wife to ride (a spare is always a good thing), decide to ride easy dirt roads and XC as @Stihldog suggested or be content with riding with your friends who can ride. Finding a "mature" woman who can ride is like finding a woman who can make up her mind and stick to it .
Our his and hers bikes. Levo SLs in black as that is the ONLY color a bike should be!

 

[Polar]

I have read many posts on here that have advised not to get an emtb hardtail. They don't ride quite as well as a full suss and many first purchasers soon have to undergo the expense of switching to a full suss.
I have not ridden an emtb hardtail, so the only experience I am speaking from is that of others who have and regretted it.

My first eMTB was a hardtail Tero 5.0 but it wasn't as comfortable as I expected so I took a huge loss and bought a Levo comp and the difference was like night and day it was much easier to handle and way more comfortable so I totally agree go full sussp

 

[irie]

Finding a "mature" woman who can ride is like finding a woman who can make up her mind and stick to it .

Finally got lucky and found a "mature" woman who rides motorcycles, obviously has no problem riding eBikes, makes up her mind, and sticks to it. Only problem is that she can’t clean her own bike but hey, there are compensations.

 

[jeanmarc]

Liv Embolden E+1 for my wife last year. Her first eeb was a hardtail and that was a mistake.
I think there is value in staying with same manufacturer and LBS… And I agree with the black bikes comment
His and hers: