Finally chosen my first E-bike.

[Pezzar]

In the end I'd whittled it down to an Orbea Rise H15, a Giant Reign E+2 and a Marin Alpine E2 - so I've gone for the Marin.
In medium, set up tubeless on the new Vee tyres as there is a shortage on the specced Maxxis and with a 400lb spring, ordered from the nice people at Dean Forest Cycles.
Watched a 100 reviews, looked at even more images and now I'm there I can't wait. I'll be giving my views on the bike (and ebikes in general - I'm an eeb noob!)) after a few weeks of owning and riding various trails on it.
Very lucky to get one as they are in really short supply (as are most bikes tbf) - happy days!

 

[Rubinstein]

Ive tested the Orbea and I own a giant trance, but I know nothing of the Marin, so interested to hear you views on it, what persuaded you to go for it over the other 2 ?

 

[2WheelsNot4]

what persuaded you to go for it over the other 2 ?

Im going to guess fork and shock. important parts of any suss are the suss bits, and those look an excellent pair.

 

[Pezzar]

Ive tested the Orbea and I own a giant trance, but I know nothing of the Marin, so interested to hear you views on it, what persuaded you to go for it over the other 2 ?

Primarily the components - for not much more than the Orbea I'm getting Fox elite 38's, good SLX 4 pot brakes, better tyres and the Fox DHX2 elite - never had a coil shock and always been curious. Discounted the Orbea first as I thought if I'm doing assist then go full fat and like I said in the end the components on the Marin are much stronger for your money - plus the reviews are excellent

 

[Rubinstein]

Have to agree on the Orbea, perfectly capable bike but for me didn’t have the fun factor with 60nm. 80nm or above will get you out of nearly any situation you get yourself in (I cock up quite a lot on the trails) and turn your bike into a hooligan if you want it. Good luck on the Marin, looks like a good choice

 

[urastus]

Im going to guess fork and shock. important parts of any suss are the suss bits, and those look an excellent pair.

have you seen the geo on the e2?

 

[Rubinstein]

yes, looking quite lively with the chain stay length, Geo is quite similar to a canyon spectral on I tested recently which was complete hooligan, really good fun

 

[urastus]

yes, looking quite lively with the chain stay length, Geo is quite similar to a canyon spectral on I tested recently which was complete hooligan, really good fun

Short chainstay and very slack ha and very steep sta. And a mullet! I don't think there's anything else with that combo.

 

[1oldfart]

I wish you good luck. I keep reading about terrible batteries on shimano.
I have no clue why people buy bikes that are not ready for market.

 

[urastus]

I wish you good luck. I keep reading about terrible batteries on shimano.
I have no clue why people buy bikes that are not ready for market.

Do you know one that is ready for market?

 

[Pezzar]

I wish you good luck. I keep reading about terrible batteries on shimano.
I have no clue why people buy bikes that are not ready for market.

Thanks, must admit in all the reviews I hadn't heard of battery issues. It's new though so at least under warranty.

 

[1oldfart]

Do you know one that is ready for market?

Well i keep riding trouble free on Giant/Yamaha.
Maybe it is because i never wash, i just wipe off the excess,
maybe they are more reliable or maybe i am lucky.
Good luck finding a bike you enjoy and is reliable

 

[Rubinstein]

Well i keep riding trouble free on Giant/Yamaha.
Maybe it is because i never wash, i just wipe off the excess,
maybe they are more reliable or maybe i am lucky.
Good luck finding a bike you enjoy and is reliable

I don’t wash mine all the time, only do it when it needs it. I think if you over do it your just pushing moisture and dirt needlessly into areas you can’t easily reach. When I do hose it down I take the battery out afterwards to check for water ingress. I also tape up the battery catch on the down tube and the hole where the 25 torx key goes to release the battery, makes all the difference to dust/water etc getting into the 2021 trance

 

[Rich-EMTB-UK]

In the end I'd whittled it down to an Orbea Rise H15, a Giant Reign E+2 and a Marin Alpine E2 - so I've gone for the Marin.
In medium, set up tubeless on the new Vee tyres as there is a shortage on the specced Maxxis and with a 400lb spring, ordered from the nice people at Dean Forest Cycles.
Watched a 100 reviews, looked at even more images and now I'm there I can't wait. I'll be giving my views on the bike (and ebikes in general - I'm an eeb noob!)) after a few weeks of owning and riding various trails on it.
Very lucky to get one as they are in really short supply (as are most bikes tbf) - happy days!

congrats hope you enjoy the ebike experience. Used to ride Marin's back in the day and they were great XC/Trail bikes so hopefully they are now on something of a resurgence.

 

[Pezzar]

congrats hope you enjoy the ebike experience. Used to ride Marin's back in the day and they were great XC/Trail bikes so hopefully they are now on something of a resurgence.

Cheers, yeah never had a Marin but love the look and spec of this one.

 

[Truckee Robert]

In the end I'd whittled it down to an Orbea Rise H15, a Giant Reign E+2 and a Marin Alpine E2 - so I've gone for the Marin.
In medium, set up tubeless on the new Vee tyres as there is a shortage on the specced Maxxis and with a 400lb spring, ordered from the nice people at Dean Forest Cycles.
Watched a 100 reviews, looked at even more images and now I'm there I can't wait. I'll be giving my views on the bike (and ebikes in general - I'm an eeb noob!)) after a few weeks of owning and riding various trails on it.
Very lucky to get one as they are in really short supply (as are most bikes tbf) - happy days!

Glad to hear you mad a decision. Now forget about all the reviews and go have fun. I did the same in Jan and got the Reign+2. They are all going to be a huge amount of fun and I as well went for value and I already was used to the Yamaha motor so staying with what I know has made a difference.

 

[urastus]

Well i keep riding trouble free on Giant/Yamaha.
Maybe it is because i never wash, i just wipe off the excess,
maybe they are more reliable or maybe i am lucky.
Good luck finding a bike you enjoy and is reliable

I am the same but with a 2020 merida / shimano setup. I don't wash my bike either and have the good fortune to ride where mud and water are a novelty. I simply don't ride when it's really wet, which isn't often

The dude I ride with most is also similar, albeit a slightly more aggressive rider than me (it doesn't take much). He has gone through 3 sets of crank arms and 3 wheels. He swears the crank arms are made out of lead. The only broken spokes I came across on trail were on giants and their 28 spoked wheels. Oh, and I also remember when he had a shitload of trouble on the firmware and app side of things - it drove him nuts. Also the motor just cutting out mid ride - we'd pull the battery out and reseat it and off it would go again . He has a giant reign e+2 (2020)

I just did a lazy search on this site "giant problems". Basically I don't think any e motor manufacturer has a system that is truly fit for purpose. I was shocked when I bought my ebike and started reading the horror stories on this site - I really thought an electric motor would be sealed and last for 10 years or so. Even shitty little things like speed sensors - they've been around forever and trouble free, yet they seem to be problematic with emtb!

 

[Pezzar]

Another reason I didn't get tempted by the second hand market - mostly because as it's got a battery, motor etc then the warranty is even more important than on a normal mtb, but also because it's all still relatively new tech and it will be improving year on year, so makes more sense to go for the latest models.

 

[Rubinstein]

I am the same but with a 2020 merida / shimano setup. I don't wash my bike either and have the good fortune to ride where mud and water are a novelty. I simply don't ride when it's really wet, which isn't often

The dude I ride with most is also similar, albeit a slightly more aggressive rider than me (it doesn't take much). He has gone through 3 sets of crank arms and 3 wheels. He swears the crank arms are made out of lead. The only broken spokes I came across on trail were on giants and their 28 spoked wheels. Oh, and I also remember when he had a shitload of trouble on the firmware and app side of things - it drove him nuts. Also the motor just cutting out mid ride - we'd pull the battery out and reseat it and off it would go again . He has a giant reign e+2 (2020)

I just did a lazy search on this site "giant problems". Basically I don't think any e motor manufacturer has a system that is truly fit for purpose. I was shocked when I bought my ebike and started reading the horror stories on this site - I really thought an electric motor would be sealed and last for 10 years or so. Even shitty little things like speed sensors - they've been around forever and trouble free, yet they seem to be problematic with emtb!

Did your friend sort out his cutting out issue with updates or via dealer ???
Mine wouldn’t turn on recently a couple of times, have to R and R the battery to get it going

 

[urastus]

Did your friend sort out his cutting out issue with updates or via dealer ???
Mine wouldn’t turn on recently a couple of times, have to R and R the battery to get it going

He's moved, so I don't know. It seemed like a connection issue but it wouldn't necessarily happen on particularly rough track so I don't know. In hindsight it still could have been a firmware issue I suppose? Have you tried updating firmware? Or overwriting it if you can? Then I'd try some conductive grease on the terminals. Or do the conductive grease first - playing with firmware is a gamble . I spent a bit of time making my battery more supported so that it doesn't move around - it seems to be a common issue on emtb.