Decathlon STILUS Full Suspension Electric Mountain Bike - SRAM SX

McNasty

New Member
Jul 17, 2020
37
69
Manchester
You might get away with it, but yes they aren't suited to the bikes intended use. They have a condom for a sidewall and the tread pattern is really only suited to fire roads and the road. If you're going to be riding singletrack and don't want to be on your knees fixing a puncture repeatedly, I'd get a new set of tyres.

Minion DHF's (Front & Rear) in MaxTerra, Pirelli Scorpion, Michelin Wild or Magic Mary's are all decent tyres. If you can and know how to do it I would go tubeless also. Tyres make such a difference to the ride experience!

Check the bolts thoroughly when you get it as well, especially crank bolts as they aren't always all done up very well!!

You will love it, it's a banger of a bike..
I think for me it’s the amount of confidence the good tyres fill you with on dodgy terrain, @TheBikePilot advised me to get some decent tyres when I first got my Stilus, I rode with the Smart Sam’s for about a week and you can feel that there is only a certain amount of grip when cornering or when on a loose and wet surface. I ended up trying to avoid anything that looked a bit sketchy and being a lot more hesitant and constantly on the brakes.

Now with 2.8 e-Wild on the rear and 2.6 Magic Mary on the front I feel far more confident, I actually look for the sketchy stuff now just to see if the tyres can handle it and they just fly through it without a problem. You’ll see the difference with the sidewalls as soon as you get them, the e-Wilds are more like something you’d put on a trial motorbike and the sidewalls are as tough as old boots.

The bike/tyres really fill you with confidence on the downhill, it’s planted and rolls through pretty much anything now. I never thought I’d been into downhill because it looked too dangerous on YouTube (and I’m also a bit of a wimp) but now I’ve been hunting out new trails to fly down, this is mainly down to the Stilus and nothing to do with what little skill I possess! I’m trying to not get too overconfident because I know a couple of people with far more experience than me have come a cropper. Glad to hear @RustyMTB had a ride out before and hopefully @Rap Dance 9000 is on the mend too. I’ve found myself flying down some pretty sketchy stuff and thinking “Should you really be going this fast?” but my old mate the Stilus has kept me upright with a massive smile on my face so far. I’ve also got a new found love for the dropper post, never had one before but I use it a lot now. Move the seat out of the way and then hang out as far over the back wheel as you can while hanging on for dear life!

I have finally found one thing I don’t like about the Stilus, trying to lift the thing over a stile! Might have to start removing the battery or start lifting some weights (or buy some bolt cutters!), it’s definitely liftable but it’s awkward and difficult to get it over while making sure I don’t cause any damage to any important components.

A couple of new upgrades, the original grips were giving me a bit of pain in my hands on long rides so swapped them out for some Ergon GA3 and also as pretty much everyone pointed out the original seat had absolutely no padding, swapped that for a Selle Italia which I got from Decathlon, the price tag actually said £40 but when I got to the till it was only £30. I’d definitely recommend both, no more hand pain and the saddle is actually quite comfortable.

This thing is a real head turner too, some poor bus driver almost broke his neck trying to get a glimpse of a real life Stilus today! ?

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MPJ

Active member
Nov 28, 2019
151
200
Chiltern Hills, UK
Hi @Rob Rides EMTB Any chance of getting our own Decathlon forum? There is so much info here in one thread that it is now impossible to find specifics.
Would be nice to have a few Stilus sub folders, maybe one called, 'I am waiting for a Stilus/I hate Decathlon' then another called, 'I have now got a Stilus and I think Decathlon are wonderful' etc. followed by other useful folders.
Happy to help with admin duties if needed.

Must not forget the E-ST boys and girls as well (y)
 
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PhilBaker

Well-known member
May 6, 2020
333
411
East London/Kent
I’m running 2.8 and love them and they are cheaper then the 2.6 at the mo

As is Zimmerframe and he knows everything :p

Either 2.6 or 2.8 would make a massive difference to the Smart Sam's.

I'm on 2.6 e-Wilds and growing more and more in confidence around what they can do versus the Smart Sams.

Not had any personal experience on running Butchers which come as standard on the Specialized Levo, but I ride with 6-8 guys over in Epping Forest who all have Levo's and not one of them is still on the Butchers due to lack of grip (although that is on loose over hard packed or muddy terrain)...

So to the original point, do you really have to change tyres? Depends on your riding style. If you ride road's and hard packed surfaces then in my view, no you don't have to upgrade the tyres, but if you are in mud or loose over hard packed conditions and want to push you will really need to change tyres...
 

Jon0881

New Member
Aug 28, 2020
14
3
Lancashire
Lol great I saw an offer on some butcher grid 2.6 for under £40 a pair so I got those. If they are marginally better than the sams I’m sure they will suit my ability
 

GunplaMad

New Member
Aug 1, 2020
58
32
Glasgow
My c&c order has moved from processing to in preparation. Fingers crossed.

Can't wait to get mine!

My one is the same. Hoping to see it in delivery sometime today would be good. Also got my Cyclescheme voucher issued on Tuesday ready for pick up...

Still a complete pain in the arse I had to purchase it on Credit Card to get a Cycle To Work.

So when I pick it up I'll get a refund and then they'll put through the Cyclescheme voucher!!!

Got an email asking for a review but not doing it till said and done. But the whole fact I had to purchase it on Credit Card to get the bike in store might bring me to a 3 Star purely because if I was a customer who didn't have a credit card but a Cycle Voucher I would get the bike must likely.
 
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charlieback

Member
Jul 10, 2020
36
37
UK
Given the loose bolts a lot of people seem to be experiencing, do people recommend getting a torque wrench? If so, which one?
 

GunplaMad

New Member
Aug 1, 2020
58
32
Glasgow
Oh yeah forgot to say I've purchased a GPS tracker and disc alarm lock for my Stilus for locking up in my station.

The little GPS tracker works like a mobile phone and takes a SIM card so will have to top it up with a tenner to activate the account.

It has a magnet on it so it's easy to hide.

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RustyMTB

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Jul 22, 2020
2,842
6,878
UK
If you do go for a torque wrench, it'll need to be on the low side. Plenty of bolts on bikes are torqued in the 2-10nm range, so you're into Park Tools, Topeak, that end of things & definitely not something from Halfords, meant for nipping up head bolts on Land Rovers. From memory, the highest torque I can recall on any of my bikes is the cranks at 40nm on my Lapierre.
 

GunplaMad

New Member
Aug 1, 2020
58
32
Glasgow
If you do go for a torque wrench, it'll need to be on the low side. Plenty of bolts on bikes are torqued in the 2-10nm range, so you're into Park Tools, Topeak, that end of things & definitely not something from Halfords, meant for nipping up head bolts on Land Rovers. From memory, the highest torque I can recall on any of my bikes is the cranks at 40nm on my Lapierre.

Believe it or not, good old Decathlon do a Torque wrench.

IMG_20200904_094002.jpg
 

Rap Dance 9000

Active member
Jul 15, 2020
230
149
Yorkshire
If you do go for a torque wrench, it'll need to be on the low side. Plenty of bolts on bikes are torqued in the 2-10nm range, so you're into Park Tools, Topeak, that end of things & definitely not something from Halfords, meant for nipping up head bolts on Land Rovers. From memory, the highest torque I can recall on any of my bikes is the cranks at 40nm on my Lapierre.
What about crank arms ? My left crank arm has needed tightening a couple of times after long rides, got a nasty creak. Some one was mentioning 40-50NM, is that for them ? I have zero bike tools other than a couple of fold up ones and am relying on my bro for stand and tools. Gonna buy a park stand and some tools , advice appreciated!
 

boltonironman

New Member
Aug 31, 2020
4
9
Bolton
Can't wait to get mine!

My one is the same. Hoping to see it in delivery sometime today would be good. Also got my Cyclescheme voucher issued on Tuesday ready for pick up...

Still a complete pain in the arse I had to purchase it on Credit Card to get a Cycle To Work.

So when I pick it up I'll get a refund and then they'll put through the Cyclescheme voucher!!!

Got an email asking for a review but not doing it till said and done. But the whole fact I had to purchase it on Credit Card to get the bike in store might bring me to a 3 Star purely because if I was a customer who didn't have a credit card but a Cycle Voucher I would get the bike must likely.

I would love to get a Stilus through one of the cycle to work schemes however I don't think this is possible given the current stock situation and constraints on Decathlon's side as I understand it.

I too, have ordered a Stilus when they came in stock on Monday morning ... paying by my business card. I rang up decathlon whilst the bike was "in stock" to see if they could reserve one for me under the bike to work scheme. I only live 10 minutes away from my local decathlon so I was ready to jump in the car and head down there to get my quote in person and reserve the bike. However, when I spoke to the guy in the decathlon cycle he said online stock is different from stock available to the store (and there wasn't any time). Furthermore, when I explained the situation around buying on my bank card and later switching to a cycle to work scheme he said unfortunately not. He said, if you were to come into store to collect the bike and then asked for payment method to be switched to a cycle to work scheme the bike would go back into warehouse stock for allocations and simply wouldn't be available for you to "transfer" to a cycle to work scheme.

He advised joining the "stock allocation" waiting list but said that as the bike is so popular, even in just my local store I would be joining a long list of people (right at the back). He mentioned something about a stock allocator chap who is based in the Midlands or something who decides on where the stock goes manually between all the stores and all the allocation requests and online availability. Sounds like a long wait to me and potential lottery.

FYI, I run a small limited company (just me and the wife) so in my case I am both the employer and employee. I registered with the bike to work scheme and email them for clarification on a few things. It seems that once you have committed and paid for a voucher, whilst you can "cancel" it .... they don't offer a refund, instead a credit will be held on the employers account to be offset against next person to use a scheme.

So in my personal experience, with decathlon basically saying you have to wait a long time to get the bike on a cycle to work scheme and the fact that the bike to work scheme wouldn't refund my £3k if I couldn't swap payment methods it seems too risky.

I'd love to hear about a way of getting the Stilus on a cycle to work scheme but from my experience .... it looks like mission impossible!
 

RustyMTB

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Jul 22, 2020
2,842
6,878
UK
What about crank arms ? My left crank arm has needed tightening a couple of times after long rides, got a nasty creak. Some one was mentioning 40-50NM, is that for them ? I have zero bike tools other than a couple of fold up ones and am relying on my bro for stand and tools. Gonna buy a park stand and some tools , advice appreciated!
Well that's the thing about torque values - unless you know what they are, you don't know what they are! The main thing is nearly all bikes are propietary frames with 3rd party gear bolted onto them, so you'll have scores of e bikes with the Bosch CX motor & cranks, therefore, it should be reasonably easy to research the torque value you need.

In the absence of it, common sense suggests nipping up bolts up to but not beyond the point where nothing will faill off on the trail is reasonable. (y)
 

GunplaMad

New Member
Aug 1, 2020
58
32
Glasgow
I would love to get a Stilus through one of the cycle to work schemes however I don't think this is possible given the current stock situation and constraints on Decathlon's side as I understand it.

I too, have ordered a Stilus when they came in stock on Monday morning ... paying by my business card. I rang up decathlon whilst the bike was "in stock" to see if they could reserve one for me under the bike to work scheme. I only live 10 minutes away from my local decathlon so I was ready to jump in the car and head down there to get my quote in person and reserve the bike. However, when I spoke to the guy in the decathlon cycle he said online stock is different from stock available to the store (and there wasn't any time). Furthermore, when I explained the situation around buying on my bank card and later switching to a cycle to work scheme he said unfortunately not. He said, if you were to come into store to collect the bike and then asked for payment method to be switched to a cycle to work scheme the bike would go back into warehouse stock for allocations and simply wouldn't be available for you to "transfer" to a cycle to work scheme.

He advised joining the "stock allocation" waiting list but said that as the bike is so popular, even in just my local store I would be joining a long list of people (right at the back). He mentioned something about a stock allocator chap who is based in the Midlands or something who decides on where the stock goes manually between all the stores and all the allocation requests and online availability. Sounds like a long wait to me and potential lottery.

FYI, I run a small limited company (just me and the wife) so in my case I am both the employer and employee. I registered with the bike to work scheme and email them for clarification on a few things. It seems that once you have committed and paid for a voucher, whilst you can "cancel" it .... they don't offer a refund, instead a credit will be held on the employers account to be offset against next person to use a scheme.

So in my personal experience, with decathlon basically saying you have to wait a long time to get the bike on a cycle to work scheme and the fact that the bike to work scheme wouldn't refund my £3k if I couldn't swap payment methods it seems too risky.

I'd love to hear about a way of getting the Stilus on a cycle to work scheme but from my experience .... it looks like mission impossible!

I can tell you I spoke to a manager about how to get it on the Cyclescheme and she told me this was the only way.

So if I go in and a manager goes back on their word, there will be hell to pay!

But I totally understand if you try to do it and it doesn't work out, that's a very big hit for your business.

I will keep you posted about what happens when I go to collect it and ask for a refund to put the voucher through.

Really a complete pile of shit system of working and proving a Cyclescheme service for all customers.
 

Lordy71

Active member
Jul 29, 2020
96
105
lancashire
What about crank arms ? My left crank arm has needed tightening a couple of times after long rides, got a nasty creak. Some one was mentioning 40-50NM, is that for them ? I have zero bike tools other than a couple of fold up ones and am relying on my bro for stand and tools. Gonna buy a park stand and some tools , advice appreciated!
40 nm on cranks arms for stilus, .
 

McNasty

New Member
Jul 17, 2020
37
69
Manchester
I would love to get a Stilus through one of the cycle to work schemes however I don't think this is possible given the current stock situation and constraints on Decathlon's side as I understand it.

I too, have ordered a Stilus when they came in stock on Monday morning ... paying by my business card. I rang up decathlon whilst the bike was "in stock" to see if they could reserve one for me under the bike to work scheme. I only live 10 minutes away from my local decathlon so I was ready to jump in the car and head down there to get my quote in person and reserve the bike. However, when I spoke to the guy in the decathlon cycle he said online stock is different from stock available to the store (and there wasn't any time). Furthermore, when I explained the situation around buying on my bank card and later switching to a cycle to work scheme he said unfortunately not. He said, if you were to come into store to collect the bike and then asked for payment method to be switched to a cycle to work scheme the bike would go back into warehouse stock for allocations and simply wouldn't be available for you to "transfer" to a cycle to work scheme.

He advised joining the "stock allocation" waiting list but said that as the bike is so popular, even in just my local store I would be joining a long list of people (right at the back). He mentioned something about a stock allocator chap who is based in the Midlands or something who decides on where the stock goes manually between all the stores and all the allocation requests and online availability. Sounds like a long wait to me and potential lottery.

FYI, I run a small limited company (just me and the wife) so in my case I am both the employer and employee. I registered with the bike to work scheme and email them for clarification on a few things. It seems that once you have committed and paid for a voucher, whilst you can "cancel" it .... they don't offer a refund, instead a credit will be held on the employers account to be offset against next person to use a scheme.

So in my personal experience, with decathlon basically saying you have to wait a long time to get the bike on a cycle to work scheme and the fact that the bike to work scheme wouldn't refund my £3k if I couldn't swap payment methods it seems too risky.

I'd love to hear about a way of getting the Stilus on a cycle to work scheme but from my experience .... it looks like mission impossible!

I got mine on Cycle to Work, guy in the shop said to pay for it on your card so that you’re guaranteed a bike and then when it arrives in store they will refund the cost of the bike to your card and then they will use the Cycle to Work code to buy the bike again.

I was dubious but it worked out fine, I got the refund in about 3 days and once they punch the Cycle to Work code in at the till I got an email from Cycle to Work confirming the purchase. It’s a bit of a backward process but it worked in the end.
 

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