G’day everyone

[Woody12]

Hi everyone. I have decided to get back into the sport at 39 years of age after spending my late teens and early 20’s riding.
Cheers to rob for his great YouTube channel and this site as I research my first emtb purchase.
I rode my first one a few months ago and have been weighing up my options since! They don’t make it easy with so many great bikes, It’s hard finding stock here in Australia though!

 

[Pdoz]

Gday, have you tried Bikes for Sale | Bike and Cycling Shops - BikeExchange.com.au

New seasons stock should be arriving soon. Hopefully....meanwhile we're starting to see s few second hand 2018/2019 . Where are you based?

 

[Woody12]

Gday, have you tried Bikes for Sale | Bike and Cycling Shops - BikeExchange.com.au

New seasons stock should be arriving soon. Hopefully....meanwhile we're starting to see s few second hand 2018/2019 . Where are you based?

hi

Gday, have you tried Bikes for Sale | Bike and Cycling Shops - BikeExchange.com.au

New seasons stock should be arriving soon. Hopefully....meanwhile we're starting to see s few second hand 2018/2019 . Where are you based?

Hi mate, I’m based in Tasmania. Just moved down last year from QLD. I spent most of my time riding down-hill tracks, not always on my wheels either....? bit older and wiser now though. Thanks for the link and info, I have been stalking a few sites and weighing up the pros and cons of buying local or online.

I really like the look of the up coming 2021 Commencal Meta AM 29. I also looked at the Trek Rail and Levo which are available locally. I would prefer to wait for the new Shimano motor to drop or would be happy with the Gen 4 Bosch. Happy to hear of anyone’s opinions, thoughts and experience with any of these brands and ways to buy a new bike. Cheers

 

[Pdoz]

Buy local if your dealer is any good - you WILL have warranty issues and may even gave motor issues - nothing beats a loyal dealer.

Just a generic biased totally non scientific useless piece or personal opinion - go trek if you want longevity , specialized if you are willing to sell before warranty runs out.

I'm from gippsland victoria, we have good dealers for trek, spec, and giant " locally" - ie within an hours drive.
The guys who bought trek have had relatively trouble free ownership with bikes getting up above 8 k of ROUGH vic high country usage. But they feel heavy ( they're not really, but there's something about their wheelbarrow feel). Warranty support has been slow .
The giant dealer / distributor offers amazing after sales service, bikes are nice but we've all tested the warranty support. We remain happy with warranty but I get the vibe giant is a year behind on development. I'm now riding an out of warranty giant but with a fresh motor / electrics - see below.
We're all lining up waiting to test ride a spec sl. Drooling but dreading another specialized motor saga - bloody covid, in a normal world we'd gave people putting some decent k's on the things by now......

I think that if I didn't like the levo sl when I rode it I'd be perfectly happy with whatever my local giant or spec dealer could get in .

BUT , if you want a bike NOW and none of the local dealers can provide that, I'd be having a long honest talk to the shop boss about how they'd feel if you bought a commencal and would they be willing to provide tech support if needed. I know it's fugly, but I'd buy the external battery version and keep an eye out for merida owners selling their spare batteries ( Do the guys at hobart still offer spare shimano battery hire? ) . If you're secure enough to live with the looks, nothing beats the ease of an external generic battery. Post covid, fly back to qld with your bike and borrow your merida mates shimano batteries.....or they can fly down to you and borrow your spares?

 

[Woody12]

Thanks Pdoz. I think I will definitely buy from a local shop. I work in engineering and fabrication so I know how temperamental mechanical and electrical gear can be.... let alone one being hucked down a hill. I rode the Merida and really enjoyed it. The new trek with the 2021 spec is available to purchase. I believe the rail 9 is landing here in my size, XL, in a few weeks and it runs the Bosch with new Zeb fork etc etc Can be had for about $10k which seems the norm for a bike of that spec. It’s not carbon but I’m not sure that really matters with a emtb. Thanks again for the help and information.

 

[wepn]

We're all lining up waiting to test ride a spec sl. Drooling but dreading another specialized motor saga

That's all excellent advice and makes a lot of sense. I could be wrong but the SL 1.1 internals look to be a step up in durability. The Brose belt & sprague clutch in its current form has well known fail modes. That seems to have been specifically addressed with the selection of the Mahle design and power curve. I haven't seen highly detailed descriptions or specs but from the pics, it looks like there are some nylon components used, most likely for noise reduction.

Depending on the exact composition & design, a nylon or plastic gear set component could be subject to mechanical degradation when compared to a metallic equivalent. Of course for all I know, it may not even be nylon but some super strength non degrading nano-composite ceramic. But probably not.

 

[Pdoz]

Woody - I agree carbon is of dubious benefit unless you want super stiff or super light. In which case you're not looking at trek anyway.

Wepn - I share your concerns about what looks like plastic internals, but it sounds like they have gone to impressive efforts to dust / water seal those motors , and I'm more worried about magic smoke escaping than things wearing out. My style of riding is shifting more to x country and I think my priorities with my next bike will be weight rather than power, so the levo sl is something I'd really like a ride on. Then perhaps a year yo see if everyone else wears them out before I just buy something more conventional.

 

[Woody12]

Have any of you had a chance to ride the SL? How was the assistance? It gained my attention as I am interested in the cardio side of riding these days and also lobbing down a few rough trails. But if I’m being realistic with myself the downhill days are going to be few and far between. More just nice single track and a few park days here and there.