Help with choosing the right eMTB

[greeneggsnsam]

Hi all, been looking at buying a bike for a bit but after nearly buying one and getting cold feet at the last second I thought I'd see if anyone can help. I am only looking at used bikes for a few reasons - budget, mainly, which is around £2,000 for the bike (with some more in the pot for any service bits or whatever).

The only eBike I've ridden is a Trek Powerfly 8, which I like but find a bit cumbersome, and I don't like the motor that much aside from the obvious benefits. The one I nearly bought was a Turbo Levo (2017). But I'm also interested in the Focus Jam2, which seems like it ought to be more nimble. But part of the fun of the eBikes is the motor on the climbs - is the Shimano noticeably weaker on them than the Bosch on the Trek? And is the Levo's motor noticeably stronger?

The type of riding I do is mixed, no bike pars but I like to go on the most challenging hills I can find in the woods. I would like a full suspension bike given how much I'm spending. Please don't say I should go and try them because the bikes I'm looking at are no longer on sale in shops and they're not readily available to ride!

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[sb5050]

Hi all, been looking at buying a bike for a bit but after nearly buying one and getting cold feet at the last second I thought I'd see if anyone can help. I am only looking at used bikes for a few reasons - budget, mainly, which is around £2,000 for the bike (with some more in the pot for any service bits or whatever).

The only eBike I've ridden is a Trek Powerfly 8, which I like but find a bit cumbersome, and I don't like the motor that much aside from the obvious benefits. The one I nearly bought was a Turbo Levo (2017). But I'm also interested in the Focus Jam2, which seems like it ought to be more nimble. But part of the fun of the eBikes is the motor on the climbs - is the Shimano noticeably weaker on them than the Bosch on the Trek? And is the Levo's motor noticeably stronger?

The type of riding I do is mixed, no bike pars but I like to go on the most challenging hills I can find in the woods. I would like a full suspension bike given how much I'm spending. Please don't say I should go and try them because the bikes I'm looking at are no longer on sale in shops and they're not readily available to ride!

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

The downside to buying used, is there is no warranty and sometimes you don't know the full history of the bike. That's sad the prices are definitely a lot cheaper and I believe if you could find a turbo levo for $2500 USD that had the motor replaced under warranty, you'd be doing yourself A great favor. I've written the Bosch, and shimano motors and of course the Brose 1.3 and 2.1 motors. They will all work for you. It's really dependent upon the deal that you can get and how much the bike has been ridden or if the motor has been replaced. It's pretty hard to go wrong with most of the more modern E bikes. I'm biased toward specialized because I've ridden quite a few and nothing feels quite as good to me as the way the turbo levo feels or even the Kenovo.

 

[GrandPaBrogan]

Yeah, buying 'used' privately is super risky. The mechanical bits are easy fixed or upgraded, but the electrical items are so expensive to fix or replace without a warranty (you might end-up with a used bike costing more than a new one). My recommendation is to watch for end-of-year clearance sales - which is about nearly finishing now. Also some bike shops may have some ex-demo bikes they want to get rid of, so as long as you can have an agreement (at least in a written email), that states that you are purchasing the bike in good faith that there's nothing wrong with it... and that are entitled to get support should the electrics play-up. Obviously it would have to be a bike shop near you for that to work.

I initially considered getting an ex-rental eMTB. Besides having to queue at the back of a long waiting list of others who already had the same idea, the bikes on offer had been punished for over a year, and won't have any warranty. In the end, I was able to find a brand new 2019 model on clearance - at nearly the same price as an ex-rental.

I realise this is something that you can't necessarily orchestrate. Things like this either happens to fall into your lap or it doesn't.

All the best, and I do hope you can find a good one within your budget!

 

[MitchF]

You can get a new hard tail for that budget, second hand is worth considering imo, as with anything look at an history , age and inspect and test ride.
Good luck , bigger budget doesn’t make a bigger smile ??‍??

 

[Zimmerframe]

as @MitchF says.

Or something like :

2017 Specialized Turbo Levo, Medium: 2200 - EMTB Forums

On the whole, you'll find the motors all pull fairly equally. We're not talking one being twice as strong as another for instance. From my experience with the E8000 (shimano) and the 1.3 Brose (in a Kenevo) they both feel different in the way the power comes in, but in actual riding, the performance is similar. On flat out climbs there's maybe about 1%-2% difference.

 

[MitchF]

That’s a lot of bike for 2.2k ?

 

[Zimmerframe]

That’s a lot of bike for 2.2k ?

That's what I thought .. It was like searching the forums for a second hand 15 year old ford focus and stumbling across a 2 year old lamborghini with a wrap and better tyres for the same money

 

[greeneggsnsam]

That's the sort of thing I was looking for. Shame that one's a medium as I need XL!

Good to hear there's not much difference between the motors. But has anyone tried the Levo and Jam2 together - is the difference in weight noticeable?

 

[greeneggsnsam]

Just another question as it's hard to find the right info online - is the 2017 Levo's motor the same as the 2018's? If not, what are the differences?

 

[khorn]

No, 2017 uses the 1.2 motor and 2018 uses the 1.3. The 1.3 Motor got a bit more torque, 90 nm.

Karsten

 

[greeneggsnsam]

Thanks - does the 1.2 have 60Nm? Meaning it's less powerful than the Shimano in the Focus? I'm not buying only for the power but just trying to work out the differences in prices for each.

 

[khorn]

The 1.2 got more power than the 8000, 80 nm as far as I recall.

Karsten

 

[greeneggsnsam]

I'm even more confused now as this page says it has 90Nm...

Specialized 2017 Turbo Levo FSR Expert 6Fattie

But either way, I think I'm going with the Levo. Thanks for your help.

 

[Zimmerframe]

I'm even more confused now as this page says it has 90Nm...

Specialized 2017 Turbo Levo FSR Expert 6Fattie

But either way, I think I'm going with the Levo. Thanks for your help.

Spesh are renown for typo's !

Don't forget it's just just "peak torque" it's how it's delivered through the range - which your riding naturally adapts to (in my theory) to get the most out of the motor .. I found this with the E8000 and now with the Brose. Don't expect one to be a dragster compared to the others. They all have different power curves and feelings, but they all get you up the hill with a smile on your face.

Fairly safe to say, you won't go wrong with the Levo. There was another thread on here last week about some ex-demo Kenevo's in Wales which were quite cheap. So there are bikes out there.

 

[greeneggsnsam]

Thanks all. What a helpful forum!