Dream ebike of the future. What would you want?

[Stumpy]

With all the stuff thats hitting the bike tech news recently it got me thinking... If you could have a bike with the current tech / around the corner tech what would it be?

Mine would be something like this

• 160 mm Travel with 'Live Wire' adaptability to adjust on the fly when needed
• 500 Wh lighter cheaper in frame battery but have modular capability to add another 250 Wh inside the frame for epic all day rides
• Fast Charging to 80% in 30 minutes. Trail centres with charging stations. Industry standard charging adaptor (industry should get together and agree a single standard)
• Modular lights that run off the battery. Must be able to be removed and there be very little visible bracketing left over. Runs off bike battery (I enjoy night rides!)
• Wireless Shifting (not gonna lie the SRAM DXS looks amazing)
• Smart stuff like GPS tracking for anti theft (so many bikes being stolen at the moment). Ability to add / remove a screen, for BLEvo functionality.
• Silent motor with seamless disengagement
• 18 KG
• 29er wheels
• 5 year warranty for all manufacturing defects
• A shit hot dealer to take care of you

Maybe we can get a bulk order in Rob? - I'll have one

 

[All Mountain Coaching]

18 KG

Just this, But with the same range/torque, Better motor durability and fully customisable assistance speed restriction limit. (I realise none of this is never going to happen on a durable 170mm FS enduro emtb but one can dream)
Other than weight/motor durability my Vitus is pretty much perfect.
I don't really like gadgets. And definitely don't want electronic gearing etc. I'm in the minority here who still prefers the simplicity and maneoverability of riding my 4X hardtail to my Ebike. (I actually still prefer my Capra to it aswell but the eeb always wins as it's so much easier to get to the good trails assisted)

I'm with you, don't want anything else. Certainly no displays etc.

Just drop the weight.

 

[StuE]

Honda to make an ebike

 

[dirt huffer]

Honda to make an ebike

Honda Powersports

 

[Eckythump]

Mid mounted e-Pinion gearbox with e-shift. Fast charging via RoPD connector. RoPD charge points at the popular venues.
A magnetic accessory connection point would be cool too.

 

[HikerDave]

M

With all the stuff thats hitting the bike tech news recently it got me thinking... If you could have a bike with the current tech / around the corner tech what would it be?

Mine would be something like this

• 160 mm Travel with 'Live Wire' adaptability to adjust on the fly when needed
• 500 Wh lighter cheaper in frame battery but have modular capability to add another 250 Wh inside the frame for epic all day rides
• Fast Charging to 80% in 30 minutes. Trail centres with charging stations. Industry standard charging adaptor (industry should get together and agree a single standard)
• Modular lights that run off the battery. Must be able to be removed and there be very little visible bracketing left over. Runs off bike battery (I enjoy night rides!)
• Wireless Shifting (not gonna lie the SRAM AXS looks amazing)
• Smart stuff like GPS tracking for anti theft (so many bikes being stolen at the moment). Ability to add / remove a screen, for BLEvo functionality.
• Silent motor with seamless disengagement
• 18 KG
• 29er wheels
• 5 year warranty for all manufacturing defects
• A shit hot dealer to take care of you

My top feature would be the addition of traction control; the bike detects wheel spin and backs off when that happens. Now that I'm used to the bike wheel spin isn't a problem for me, but for the first two months on the trail I had to be -very- careful. There was a learning curve on the eBike after riding 36 years human-powered.

Being able to lock and alarm the bike would be good, too. If I don't plan ahead and bring my lock home from the rack at work, I am very unlikely to run any errands with the bike because of the fear of theft, so the only weekend miles on my bike are usually trail miles.

 

[Ivan]

A combined gearbox and motor, something along the lines of a ebike version of a Zerode Taniwha.

I smashed my derailleur yesterday, so this is very much on my mind!

 

[akkypac]

Erm, all the above plus self-cleaning?

 

[StuckintheSpokes]

I think we can get way lighter than 18kg.

16 I think is probably the sweet spot (thinking downhill bikes).

But for pure climbing maybe lighter.

1500 Wah I think is the most anyone needs (It would be nice to blast it in boost for the whole day).

Tougher materials, such as graphene components and frames.

Everything that needs being E bike specific being E bike specific.

Electric everything (display, lights, fork and rear shock adjusters, drivetrain, brakes, seatpost).

Longer warranties (transferable would be nice, but that’s more of a dream than anything else).

Secure but ridiculously easy fittings (everything can clip in rather than needing tools to loosen and tighten: battery, motor etc. can just be pulled off the bike). However, everything should be lockable with a digital system (no keys required).

Electric brakes can be manipulated to keep the bike stationary to stop thieves just riding it away.

Everything being brought down to that magic price point (£3k).

I think after all that there would be no further updates required.

 

[steve_sordy]

............

I think after all that there would be no further updates required.

Close the patent office!

 

[Gary]

I think we can get way lighter than 18kg.

16 I think is probably the sweet spot (thinking downhill bikes).

16kg for an XC emtb with rider weight and intended use limits, yeah. I can't see that being too difficult to do and can totally see that happening in a few years but for a proper mtb capable of riding Enduro/DH repeatedly I doubt we'll ever will get that light. Not without hugely sacrificing durability anyway.
I already ride my 170mm Emtb pretty much the same as I do my 170mm enduro bike and not far off how I ride my 16-17kg DH bikes so wouldn't want any less durability for the sake of less weight.
Many of the 16kg DH bikes you'll have seen are already sacrificing durability/reliability to get them down to that weight.

 

[Gary]

1500 Wah I think is the most anyone needs (It would be nice to blast it in boost for the whole day).

Tougher materials, such as graphene components and frames.

Everything that needs being E bike specific being E bike specific.

Electric everything (display, lights, fork and rear shock adjusters, drivetrain, brakes, seatpost).

Longer warranties (transferable would be nice, but that’s more of a dream than anything else).

Secure but ridiculously easy fittings (everything can clip in rather than needing tools to loosen and tighten: battery, motor etc. can just be pulled off the bike). However, everything should be lockable with a digital system (no keys required).

Electric brakes can be manipulated to keep the bike stationary to stop thieves just riding it away.

Everything being brought down to that magic price point (£3k).

I think after all that there would be no further updates required.

You realise every single one of these points would ADD weight?

 

[StuckintheSpokes]

16kg for an XC emtb with rider weight and intended use limits, yeah. I can't see that being too difficult to do and can totally see that happening in a few years but for a proper mtb capable of riding Enduro/DH repeatedly I doubt we'll ever will get that light. Not without hugely sacrificing durability anyway.
I already ride my 170mm Emtb pretty much the same as I do my 170mm enduro bike and not far off how I ride my 16-17kg DH bikes so wouldn't want any less durability for the sake of less weight.
Many of the 16kg DH bikes you'll have seen are already sacrificing durability/reliability to get them down to that weight.

It’s not very feasible with current materials, for sure. The Bulls Wild Flow EVO makes me dream.

You realise every single one of these points would ADD weight?

Battery technology will keep improving. What’s physically possible has yet to be made.

Graphene is a VERY light material. How does that increase weight?

Electric everything will lose weight with some things and gain weight with the inclusion of more features, for sure. So it would roughly remain a similar weight.

At the end of the day it’s in the future and a dream bike.

 

[Gary]

The thread is about curently available or just around the corner tech not ultimate fantasy dreamland wishes. So I'm just being more realistic about it. don't take it personally.

Yes in the future battery technology will gradually improve allowing slightly lighter weight packs but not to the extent you are suggesting for a very very long time.
It's going take a Walt Disney cryogenically frozen length sleep to wait for your dream of a 1500wh battery that is lighter than a current 504wh pack to come to fruition. and even then it certainly won't be on a sub £3k Electric mountain bike.

"graphene frames" contain around 1% Graphene. building tougher components and frames from it would realistically be no lighter than carbon possibly heavier.

Electric (I'm assuming also integrated) EVERYTHING as you suggest would add more parts ergo more weight.
(Particualrly in many of the components you mentioned)

At the end of the day it’s in the future and a dream bike.

not mine!

sorry.

 

[Kangr]

Im not sure how light i would want to go as the extra weight of a emtb gives it great stability. Of course i want them lighter than now but im not sure how light.

 

[Gary]

The Bulls Wild Flow EVO

This basically IS that XC bike I mentioned not seeing any problem being achievable.

 

[highpeakrider]

I'd quite like a nuclear reactor and a coffee machine.

 

[highpeakrider]

I'm quite happy with what i've got, i want it to be a bit like a standard MTB.
Extra range would be good, ability to remote stop bike usage would be good but would need a built in SIM to help stop theft., on board GPS and navigation would be cool.

 

[StuckintheSpokes]

The thread is about curently available or just around the corner tech not ultimate fantasy dreamland wishes. So I'm just being more realistic about it. don't take it personally.

Yes in the future battery technology will gradually improve allowing slightly lighter weight packs but not to the extent you are suggesting for a very very long time.
It's going take a Walt Disney cryogenically frozen length sleep to wait for your dream of a 1500wh battery that is lighter than a current 504wh pack to come to fruition. and even then it certainly won't be on a sub £3k Electric mountain bike.

"graphene frames" contain around 1% Graphene. building tougher components and frames from it would realistically be no lighter than carbon possibly heavier.

Electric (I'm assuming also integrated) EVERYTHING as you suggest would add more parts ergo more weight.
(Particualrly in many of the components you mentioned)


not mine!

sorry.

Well at least Rob agreed with me, hehe.

Current battery technology is very long in the tooth (how long have lithium batteries been available?). I have seen YouTube videos about being able to increase it 6 fold. Things that revolutionary take ages to come to market: first the military get their hands on it, then if they can combat it or it reaches peak data distribution (they can’t keep a lid on the info required to repeat the concept), it then goes to market, at exorbitant prices. Intellectual property rights are ignored, the Chinese undercut everyone, then hey presto, decent batteries.

Graphene can be used as a smart material (I don’t want to go in detail), and I think the Dassi frame is 3% Graphene (it’s a road bike frame, but still).

A frame built molecule by molecule 150 times stronger than steel should weigh 2 thirds of a percent of a steel frame in theory, I guess.

I'd quite like a nuclear reactor and a coffee machine.

Make sure it’s a thorium reactor.

Maybe have an Espresso shot in a heated head tube?

 

[R120]

You can already get a lightweight XC EMTB, the Focus Raven could quite easily be built down to sub 15kg.

First Review: FOCUS Raven² Pro – record-breaking E-MTB with 15.5 kg | E-MOUNTAINBIKE Magazine

I also reckon I could easily get my E-Sentier hardtail down to 18kg if I went to town with weight weenie components, carbon wheels etc.

The main issue at the moment is the weight of the motors and batteries, and the reinforcement to the frames needed to deal with this weight, and then the (wrongly perceived in a lot of cases IMO) need to beef up the components to deal with the extra weight of the frame motor and battery.

 

[Slowroller]

Integrated gearbox and motor

Standardized motor mounts, so you can upgrade your motor, or replace it if it dies in 5 years.

External modular batteries, so that you can replace them as needed. The planned quick obsolescence of ebikes is aggravating to me.

Boost button so you can get boost while stutter pedalling through rocky chunder. Otherwise, we're all going to be riding 135mm cranks eventually to keep spinning 100% of the time without bashing.

 

[Gary]

Boost button so you can get boost while stutter pedalling through rocky chunder.

Every Shimano motor already has this.
simply shift mode on the remote to Boost.
but you don't need boost (or a motor at all for that matter) to rachet pedal in low pedal clearance situations

Otherwise, we're all going to be riding 135mm cranks eventually to keep spinning 100% of the time without bashing.

Er.. also see above.
You shouldn't be spinning 100% of the time.
Very few people actually need shorter cranks. infact most who have fitted them have done so in an attempt to counter poor technique.

 

[Gary]

(wrongly perceived in a lot of cases IMO) need to beef up the components to deal with the extra weight of the frame motor and battery.

Yeah. that's pretty hugely misconcieved. Very few people are going to ride their Emtb any more aggressively than they would a regular bike and the extra punishment handed out by the weight of the motor/battery causes no more stress than a rider adding a full backpack would.
I still see tyres as the biggest culprit here.
I honestly don't get why anyone would run anything tougher/heavier than exo casing at a trail centre or for general trail riding.
If you're bashing/denting rims and ripping sidewalls your tyre pressures are too low for the terrain you ride. So instead of fitting DH casings and inserts simply run appropriate pressures.

 

[Schbeemb]

On a flip side of EMTB development, I would also like to see far more stripped down bike with less integration and unnecessary tech thrown at them. I really like what Radon have done with the Swoop that Rob has on test for example, they have essentially stripped the bike down to the bare necessities of making an EMTB, with external battery and the motor simply mounted into the frame, and as a result come up with a pretty lite bike. for a Bosch Motored EMTB


A bare bones bike appeals to me, I like the idea idea matching something like the new Sram AXS wireless groups to a bare bones EMTB, that is super easy to maintain. Seems a lot of the day to day issues and niggels members have with bikes are partly born out of complex integration and fiddly cable rounding/battery integration

Hiya mate, I have the the non ebike Swoop 10 and once set up properly, its a beast and one of the best bikes I have owned. It also happens to be the cheapest I've owned too.

I think the Hybrid version needs some work however. From reviews its stable but, thats a long rear which will make for a bike with tricky handling around the twisties, more so when coupled with the weight.

Its their first attempt and I'm watching closely to see what they come up with next. I can vouch for the normal Swoop being so, so capable. Its been to Revolution a few times now and very capable.

 

[Eddy Current]

I want fully customizable settings. How it engages, how it ramps, how much pedal motion, how much overun etc etc.

And please leave stock 400wh internal and then various sizes of extenders and do smaller motors, but squeeze the power bafangs 250wh get some serious beatings with 52v battery’s 21ah controllers and keep working miles and miles. Ebikes can be easily sub 20kgs without any sacrifices and crazy prices. Pivot managed to do a 20kgs ebike with full power motor, 500wh battery with alloy wheels and plus tires.

 

[DrStupid]

I'm happy with my 2019 spec bikes, for the riding I do (hour of power).

I need only an integrated transmission to arrive before I buy my next emtb. Until then I plan staying with what I have.

 

[towzer]

120 or 130 suspension
Modular battery System, something like 0 or 1 or 2 250Ish modules (easily and quickly removable) In the frame and as many as you want in the rucksack Or maybe a click to frame option
16kg(*with just one 250)
Motor designed for long term ownership, so full diagrams, instructions and parts, supplied by manufactures for a min of 5 years
Display like the shimano one (location, size),
No motor resistance if motor off or >15mph

 

[Philpug]

Sub 40lb full suspension, 150mm travel, 250w motor is fine, even less range, 30 miles is fine. I am a believer of Colin Chapman's philosophy, "add lightness"

 

[routrax]

Integrated gearbox would be cool.

 

[Dirtnvert]

Biggest thing id like to see is a major increase in durability and serviceability. Huge serviceable bottom bracket/motor/crank bearings that can be swapped when needed. All electric wires should be in brakeline type sheathing and well protected/reinforced big connectors. Complete diagnostics on the app is a must