Hi from Bentonville, AR

[mizzourah2006]

Hi, I'm exploring EMTB options right now. I currently ride a 2018 Rocky Mountain Instinct and looking to get an E bike for those days where I'm interested in tackling 25-35+ miles. I currently have a deposit down on a YT Decoy MX Core 2, but would be interested in considering other similarly spec'd options in the $5.5-$7k USD range. One of my main concerns from reading about the YT is battery life. I weigh 225 pounds and like I mentioned, I want this to do longer rides, so I'm wondering how the battery would holdup for me. I guess one thing I'm wondering about is how much of the assistance a typical analog rider would need. For example a hard ride for me would be about 15-18 miles and about 1.8-2.1k ft of climb. So, I'm wondering how feasible doing 30-35 miles with ~4k ft of climb would be on a 540Wh battery.

My current Rocky Mountain has 160/155 travel and I'm looking to get that much if not a bit more, which makes the 170/165 travel of the decoy seem about perfect.

Any thoughts or alternative options that may fit my needs are much appreciated.

 

[steve_sordy]

I am lighter than you in my riding gear and I would not like to attempt 30-35 miles and 4kft of climbing with only 504Whrs. But I have dodgy knees and I go pretty much everywhere in Trail. If you stick to Eco, you may be OK.

When I first bought an emtb I had range anxiety, consequently I tried to ride everywhere in Eco. But the problem is that the extra torque is extremely seductive and once I got used to the bike and how far it could go, I soon switched to riding in Trail all the time. My guess is that the same would happen to you. Go big on the battery, 630Wh seems to be the optimum for many riders. By "optimum" I mean between extra weight, cost and range.

 

[mizzourah2006]

I am lighter than you in my riding gear and I would not like to attempt 30-35 miles and 4kft of climbing with only 504Whrs. But I have dodgy knees and I go pretty much everywhere in Trail. If you stick to Eco, you may be OK.

When I first bought an emtb I had range anxiety, consequently I tried to ride everywhere in Eco. But the problem is that the extra torque is extremely seductive and once I got used to the bike and how far it could go, I soon switched to riding in Trail all the time. My guess is that the same would happen to you. Go big on the battery, 630Wh seems to be the optimum for many riders. By "optimum" I mean between extra weight, cost and range.

Thank you this is helpful and seems to confirm with what I've been reading. Any options that readily come to mind that fits what I'm looking for as far as travel and offers a 630Wh battery in the $5.5-$7k/range?

 

[steve_sordy]

Thank you this is helpful and seems to confirm with what I've been reading. Any options that readily come to mind that fits what I'm looking for as far as travel and offers a 630Wh battery in the $5.5-$7k/range?

I'm a Brit, I have no idea of what is available in the USA nor the pricing. Sorry.

 

[nmhinton]

Hi, I was in exactly the same position as you until today. I'm actually in Bentonville and just cancelled my MX 2 order as well! Crazy coincidence. By good fortune I found a deal on a Santa Cruz bullit with the 630 battery. Otherwise, was looking at the polygon Mt Bromo N8, very sweet, but that has a 500wh battery too. There is so little available right now is the issue. Rocky mountain, orbea and commencal have some options but not sure how soon you can get them. Otherwise, I'd look for a used Rail or Levo for the time being. Good luck!

 

[Doomanic]

Is Bentonville the Walmart home town with the awesome trail network?

35-40 miles with 4k ft isn’t completely outside the realms of possibility if you stick to analog bike speeds, especially on the climbs. I’ve done 30ish miles with 3.3k ft on a 480Wh battery in the past but it was sloooow.

 

[mizzourah2006]

Hi, I was in exactly the same position as you until today. I'm actually in Bentonville and just cancelled my MX 2 order as well! Crazy coincidence. By good fortune I found a deal on a Santa Cruz bullit with the 630 battery. Otherwise, was looking at the polygon Mt Bromo N8, very sweet, but that has a 500wh battery too. There is so little available right now is the issue. Rocky mountain, orbea and commencal have some options but not sure how soon you can get them. Otherwise, I'd look for a used Rail or Levo for the time being. Good luck!

Thanks for the reply. I actually found a good price on a gently used and upgraded Levo SL that I pulled the trigger on. I still need to cancel my X 2 pre-order, but I wanted to make sure the Levo SL was the right bike for me. I haven't gone on a long ride yet, 13 miles has been the longest around the Slaughterpen area, but I found that even with the 35NM motor I really only need trail for a few of the climbs. I mostly use eco set at 25/35. In the 13 miles I used about 22% of the battery, so I feel like I could go up to 35/35 and use 70/20/10 eco/trail/turbo and with the range extender pretty easily get 45-50 miles on Little Sugar or the Back 40.

Is Bentonville the Walmart home town with the awesome trail network?

35-40 miles with 4k ft isn’t completely outside the realms of possibility if you stick to analog bike speeds, especially on the climbs. I’ve done 30ish miles with 3.3k ft on a 480Wh battery in the past but it was sloooow.

Bentonville is indeed the Walmart home town with the ever growing trail network. According to this in the NWA area we currently have just shy of 600 miles of trails.

Miles and Miles of Mountain Bike Trails | Arkansas Outside

Just how many miles of mountain bike trails do we have in Arkansas? Twenty or thirty years ago, mountain biking was a little different in Arkansas. This is not to […]

www.arkansasoutside.com

Yeah, so far I've been sticking to more analog bike speeds. I've found that even in mostly eco on an SL I'm adding 2-3 MPH to my normal routes.

 

[mizzourah2006]

Here's what I ended up getting. It's been perfect for me so far. Gives me just the extra power I need when I'm going up an extended climb while not feeling completely different than my Rocky Mountain.

 

[Mcharza]

A good choice, enjoy