Feeling overbiked on a longer travel eMTB?

[Zimmerframe]

Just refreshed the "lordgun" Kenevo page and they're all gone .... Think rutland cycles with the extra bonus money off code was the next best deal.

 

[33red]

Post # 50 you showed your ignorance questioning my PSI

 

[R120]

I have two EMTB's, 170mm Enduro bike and a 150mm Hardtail - by far and away the more "dangerous bike" to ride is the hardtail, you have to be on it all the time, full focus, and if you make a mistake it will bite you hard - but that's part of the reason I love the hardtail, because pushing myself on it means pushing my skill level.

The 170mm is like a magic carpet, you can go as fast as you want down pretty much anything, and as long as you don't ride like a total tool it will handle it.

The reason I feel it is over suspended for most of my riding, is that the suspension platform and the geometry required to make it works so well, means its a pretty long and slack bike, and a lot of my local riding is tight and switchbacks, where something with a little less travel and most as slack would handle better, but still crush through everything.

Still love the 170mm though, on the right terrain its the best feeling to ride it hard.

 

[Gary]

Wouldn’t that be people’s opinions? ?

There's very little point expressing your opinion when there's absolutely zero validity to it. :wink:

What makes a full suspension bike pedal efficiently is a combination of a good pedalling suspension design (efficient antisquat and pedal kickback numbers and a supportive leverage curve), the weight of the bike (distribution matters here too) and the rolling resistance of the bike (tyre casings/compounds/size and wheel weight).
ie. super soft oversized heavy casing tyres make any bike slow accelerating and more effort to pedal and most Emtbs come off the shelf with large overly heavy soft draggy tyres.

My 170mm travel FS Emtb has very efficient pedalling characteristics, light fast rolling tyres/wheels and (with very few noteable exceptions) weighs less than pretty much every off the shelf shorter travel FS emtb on the market with similar range/torque.
I generally ride ride fairly aggressively/fast on rough, fast DH/enduro tracks, hit big jumps and drops and like to jump, whip, manual and hop stuff at any opportunity often landing sideways into turns so run my suspension on the stiffer side with plenty of support and my tyres on the firm side too.
When I ride tamer smoother off road terrain I don't change any settings whatsoever and don't use anywhere near 170mm travel meaning my bike is actually far MOAR efficient than a slower less agressive riders 120mm travel bike set up to use all it's travel with soft compound tyres will be.

Yes. You can definitely be overbiked but a long travel bike can be just as efficient as shorter travel bike of similar weight.

I have the same two bikes as @R120 but unlike his neither of mine are overly long meaning neither are really any trouble in tight situations.
FWIW I absolutely hate riding the E hardtail (properly) off road and would far rather be on one of my non motorised hardtails. this only increases the more technical/rough/jumpy the trail. The weight of it (44lb so V. light for an Ebike) is just so heavy it kills all the traits I love about riding hardtails.

 

[Rusty]

Have found this thread rather comical.
If somone is feeling overbiked I suggest they try 24" cruiser ..... seriously.

With ebikes, just like analogue bikes there are sweet points where a certain style of bike matches the trails one is riding on - but that does not mean you can't ride your bike on other type trails and get through them safely - maybe even having a lot of fun on the way. I ride a local BMX track on my ebike when passing by just for a hoot. Used to ride it on my 26" analogue bikes as well as my 29ers. Rode some black trails on a fully rigid 29er Singlespeed when I was training for the 2010 SSWC and while I damn near wet myself a couple times I had a lot of fun.

What is 'over-biked'?
I would suggest of you are commuting and occasionally ride grade 1 or 2 trails then anything with more than 120mm travel is probably not necessary and 170 or more probably overkill. However if you are riding grade 3-5 then 120mm-160mm is probably the best range. If you ride grade 5/Black only then 170mm-200mm is probably the sweet area.
Does that mean you can't ride elsewhere? Nope, and like the guy I sighted this morning on an old DH bike with 200mm travel riding the local paved river trail with his kids - it is all about the grin factor.

 

[CjP]

I hope you all know he is probably sitting pants free with his hand on it while he types with the attention you all give him. (This post included)
There is not one statement he has ever written that can possible be true.
It makes me not want to go to Canada if this is an example of the population.

In saying that, I’m glad he is here as I haven’t laughed so hard in a while.

I went riding yesterday at 2 different parks, thought it’d be fun to swap bikes with my brother. Swap over my flats (don’t even get me started on clips v flats) and jumped on his 160mm 27.5 Merida. Wow what a massive difference from the Mulleted Kenevo. Long story short I ended up eating dirt and now I’m sitting here with missing skin and the possibility of a couple fractured ribs.
To all who say shorter travel bikes are better than longer travel bikes, you obviously don’t do anything too extreme. That’s fine by the way but if your going to make threads like these maybe you should be a little more specific to the type of terrain you ride.
It’s all good to swing dicks and compare opinions but it’s really all pointless when your comparing bikes that belong on the road to bikes that belong on mountains.
Apart from cost and maybe location there is no reason you would choose a small travel bike to hit what I consider true mountain biking.
Sorry for the rant, I just got up and I’m pretty sure I have concussion.

 

[Gary]

I just got up and I’m pretty sure I have concussion.

Take it easy.

Get well soon bro

 

[Zimmerframe]

I hope you all know he is probably sitting pants free with his hand on it while he types with the attention you all give him.

He should really do a review on screen wipes..

I just got up and I’m pretty sure I have concussion.

How's the head / body ?

Did you brother enjoy the Kenevo ???

 

[CjP]

Hahaha well he does know best.

Well I still have a headache so I’ll see how I feel tomorrow, might pay to get checked out.

Yeah he loves it, he has ridden it when it was standard so he was trying out the current mods.

He’s looking to upgrade so he trying to work out his next choice.
So far it’s Kenevo replacement, Cannondale SE or the new Merida. He wants slacker and bigger travel.

 

[Rusty]

This is what I call Under-biked ....

 

[brizi2003]

Hey -

Newbie here, having found the site while researching my first eMTB purchase and hoping for your collective sage wisdom on a particular query.

Now, were I buying another manual full-sus, I’d likely get a trail bike with 130-150mm travel. Realistically, given my questionable skills & limited bravery, I’d be overbiked on anything more and likely curse it on every climb.

However, the combination of cost and reviews has me tempted towards a Vitus e-Sommet VR, which at 170mm is much more enduro than I need – but looks like a lot of fun. (I realise they’re sold out for the year, but this will officially be an Xmas present from the wife, so I’ve both been dropping heavy hints to herself and quietly nursing my Wiggle discount ahead of the 2020 release.)

Anyhows, my query is, given climbing is so much easier, do you ever really feel overbiked on a longer-travel eMTB? Should I stick with the length of travel I’d opt for on a manual?

I’ve hired/ borrowed a few eMTBs, but none with more than 140mm travel as yet.

Ta muchly,

david

Can't say much about the Vitus but I have a 180mm Specialized Kenevo Comp and came from a 140mm Mondraker Foxy. The motor does make the weight disappear on climbs and I've used mine for every kind of MTB. As it allows you to climb more in the same time and feel less exhausted, I've ended up doing much more descending and the extra travel combined with the relaxed geometry has increased my confidence on tricky downhills and drop offs. Also, riding more downhills has improved my riding skills too. I also have an analogue hard tail and the skills are transferable. Shorter suspension ebikes feel more 'nimble' as with analogue bikes but the longer travel allows you to ride anything more easily. Like others have said geometry probably plays a big part also. I have also ascended much steeper climbs on my ebike than I could even attempt on my analogue bike. I now find myself looking for steeper more challenging ups and downs. I guess it depends on what you will use your bike for most.

 

[Dan63]

Overbiked? Hell no. Confident? Yes!

My eone sixty is an absolute machine and i love it. In fact after changing out the air shaft the Lyrik is now at 180mm which has made it even better. It does everything from technical single track, trails, climbs and then it just eats up the big stuff. It just asks for more!