Let's get the best e-bike for Downhill

[Endoguru]

I have the Kenevo SL and rode it at the bike park (Angel Fire in the US, so it has proper DH trails). I intended to ride it the first day just for fun and then rent a DH bike for the rest of the trip as I don’t own a DH anymore. The Kenevo was so capable I never rented a DH. On the double blacks the DH might be a little faster, but on everything else the Kenevo was more fun and easier to jume and throw around. The Fox 38 is a fantastic fork. I did have the shock custom tuned.

 

[MrSimmo]

All of those bikes on your list are really capable Enduro bikes. Adding a triple crown fork will turn them into weapons.

Also check out Haibike DWNHLL

 

[michael.kozera]

All of those bikes on your list are really capable Enduro bikes. Adding a triple crown fork will turn them into weapons.

Also check out Haibike DWNHLL

never heard or seen a triple crown fork? been building bikes for almost 30 years now.

i am to assume you meant dual instead of triple. and single instead of dual???

 

[MrSimmo]

never heard or seen a triple crown fork? been building bikes for almost 30 years now.

i am to assume you meant dual instead of triple. and single instead of dual???

Yes, sorry - early morning not awake properly stupidness on my part.

Meant Dual Crown/Triple Clamp fork. Why my brain said Triple Crown, who knows.

 

[Zimmerframe]

Why my brain said Triple Crown, who knows.

You've been watching rugby ?

Thinking of beer :

Showing your age ...

 

[MrSimmo]

You've been watching rugby ?

View attachment 87715

Thinking of beer :

View attachment 87717

Showing your age ...

View attachment 87718

Guilty on both fronts!

 

[Swissrider]

i think i speak for most when i say 180mm of travel is not exactly meant for DH....... like im sure it can do it, but surely out of its comfort range.

i would say minimum 200mm of travel, or at the minimum 180mm but with dual crown fork.

Maybe not. My bike has 180mm and with the current trend in ebikes for less travel (typically not more than 160mm) I'm glad of it, just to make my ride more comfortable. My son and his mates all have downhill bikes and rode bike parks all over the Alps and places like Finale (doing the black runs). However, many of them, like my son, have also bought Enduro bikes (YT Capras) and these days tend to use them, saying that they are more fun, although it bit more challenging. They also say they are easier to jump and faster to accelerate. So far, no one seems to have broken one, so it seems 180mm is OK for them.

 

[Endoguru]

Or someone is an old guy and comes from a moto background where the fork clamps are called triple clamps as the forks are clamped in 3 places: the upper fork crown, lower fork crown and the axle. Park Tools used to refer to MTB forks with the same lingo back in the day. So, everyone is correct. There is some useless info to brighten up your day.

 

[jempezen]

Who says? I use my Kenevo in various bike parks in the Alps. IMO, Kenevo is perfect for the Alps ans I have. 2018 model. Later Kenevos are even more downhill orientated. Have a look at Kenevos ridden by experts on You Tube. They take enormous jumps. There are very few bikes with more suspension travel than a Kenevo.

It's specialized that say that not me... on the link i have give you can follow and check yourself. And yes Kenovo is certainly a lovely DH emtb. And if i look at the pub they make for the Kenovo it's really crazy that on the document they say that's it's only a category 4 (re-edited) bike...

 

[michael.kozera]

Maybe not. My bike has 180mm and with the current trend in ebikes for less travel (typically not more than 160mm) I'm glad of it, just to make my ride more comfortable. My son and his mates all have downhill bikes and rode bike parks all over the Alps and places like Finale (doing the black runs). However, many of them, like my son, have also bought Enduro bikes (YT Capras) and these days tend to use them, saying that they are more fun, although it bit more challenging. They also say they are easier to jump and faster to accelerate. So far, no one seems to have broken one, so it seems 180mm is OK for them.

less travel makes it more comfortable? i think you got that backwards. more travel makes it more comfortable every time as you get more travel to soak up the bumps and hits. i much rather be over suspension'ed rather then under suspension'ed every day of the week, not to mention that the loss in efficiency due to more travel is negated because you got a motor to make up the difference.

 

[Mikerb]

What various people refer to as downhill varies a lot. A manicured jump line in a bike park is a world apart from the sort of downhill trails that consist extensive rock gardens etc..................and I suspect for most of us on here it is neither!!

 

[michael.kozera]

What various people refer to as downhill varies a lot. A manicured jump line in a bike park is a world apart from the sort of downhill trails that consist extensive rock gardens etc..................and I suspect for most of us on here it is neither!!

yeah, i can see that.

me personally, my gravel/trail e-bike has 230mm rear/200mm front travel.

and my road e-bike/commuter has 130mm rear/140mm front.

i guess im spoiled and prefer comfort every day of the week haha.

 

[Durrti]

View attachment 87630

How you liking this beast? Just waiting for mine to show up…

 

[thebarber]

How you liking this beast? Just waiting for mine to show up…

Ha!
I couldn't wait for it so got another vitus e-sommet last year fella.

 

[Spudley]

Definitely Regin E-0 can’t beat the price point and checks everything you will ever need !

They crack

 

[Dave976]

Who says? I use my Kenevo in various bike parks in the Alps. IMO, Kenevo is perfect for the Alps ans I have. 2018 model. Later Kenevos are even more downhill orientated. Have a look at Kenevos ridden by experts on You Tube. They take enormous jumps. There are very few bikes with more suspension travel than a Kenevo.

I wonder if you refer to the Kenevo with single or double crown fork

 

[Dave976]

Generally, I have a big concern when it comes to the fork, but maybe I don't know how the fork works ...

Example, even with a stupid jump (90 degrees drop of 2 meters), you may top the bottom of your fork and mono, my primarily need is to avoid that, which could save the bike but MOREOVER my beautiful backyard .
I've seen tests online about crashing the fork on the ground with that specific test, so it was done on purpose, but no one seemed concerned about it... How comes?
Is it me that I don't know how a fork works and how it can break, or my concern is real?

I think that with the bikeparks that I ride, I'd bottom quite a few times at each ride...
I also would like to ride in Bike Park Wales, possibly doing the longest jumps.

Regarding level of comfort, well, as long as the first requirement of safety is satisfied, I don't see the problem.
Certainly, a double crown fork feels more solid to me, but these bikes weight much more (17KG of enduro vs 22KG of a common DH), plus, tendentially the tires are larger and probably reinforced with more rubber (I just miss the technical name), but it's something that you can change in an enduro bike anyway.

Anyway, BOTTOM LINE, it's going late for the summer, still deciding...

 

[Another One]

I would of thought Kenovo with some upgrades.

 

[Spudley]

I am currently loving the Norco range vlt c1.
I came from the 2022 reign which was also very capable recently, and on my first park ride I got 11 pr in strava so can confirm its fast and extremely stable.
Also very plush.
No need for triple crown fork.
In my opinion the 38 is better than the 40 in most situations other than racing anyhow.
A full electric downhill bike will definetly flavour that end of the spectrum and sacrifice general riding pleasure so my advice is get a big super Enduro ebike as it will be more versatile.

 

[Growmac]

Generally, I have a big concern when it comes to the fork, but maybe I don't know how the fork works ...

Example, even with a stupid jump (90 degrees drop of 2 meters), you may top the bottom of your fork and mono, my primarily need is to avoid that, which could save the bike but MOREOVER my beautiful backyard .
I've seen tests online about crashing the fork on the ground with that specific test, so it was done on purpose, but no one seemed concerned about it... How comes?
Is it me that I don't know how a fork works and how it can break, or my concern is real?

I think that with the bikeparks that I ride, I'd bottom quite a few times at each ride...
I also would like to ride in Bike Park Wales, possibly doing the longest jumps.

Regarding level of comfort, well, as long as the first requirement of safety is satisfied, I don't see the problem.
Certainly, a double crown fork feels more solid to me, but these bikes weight much more (17KG of enduro vs 22KG of a common DH), plus, tendentially the tires are larger and probably reinforced with more rubber (I just miss the technical name), but it's something that you can change in an enduro bike anyway.

Anyway, BOTTOM LINE, it's going late for the summer, still deciding...

You're conflating two things here.

Whether the fork bottoms out or not is a combination of spring rate, spring ramp, and high-speed compression damping. You can avoid the fork bottoming out by using a stiffer spring / higher air pressure, reducing the air spring volume to make the spring rate ramp up as the fork compresses, and/or applying more high speed compression damping.

The second factor is strength. If you're doing huge drops then you want bigger, heavier, stronger stanchions, so 38 or probably 40 mm forks only, and possibly a double crown fork.

Of course, you also need a suitable frame so that you don't just end up snapping off the head tube. Most manufacturers rate the sort of treatment their bikes are supposed to endure. Certainly Merida and Specialised, for example, would regard jumps like you describe as being in the realm of DH bikes only, and even then they probably wouldn't warranty them.

 

[Onetime]

Don’t know if you’ve gotten your bike yet, but I have the Voima and it’s by far the best bike I’ve ever owned. It’s great at everything, up, down and everything in between.

 

[yomoe]

Hi,

I come from the Alps and I hate to pedal up to the top in UK... Usually, I do just something like 10 rides and I go home, which is quite annoying...

So I want to move to an e-Bike for the following reasons:
1. Avoid the pain back on the hill
2. The bike is heavier, I just love it, it gives me more stability
3. I can ride for longer when I go on long MTB trails, not bad for some side fun
4. I can wear all the protections of this planet, and I can still make it for an entire day of riding, the second day to the recovery room in hospital though

My primary use will be Downhill, so I wonder if the double fork models are so much better than the standard enduro fork.

I identified a few bikes:
- Giant Trance X X E+ Pro 2 2021 Trance X E+ Pro 29 2 (2021) | Giant Bicycles UK (4400 pounds, but probably I'd go for a Giant Reign around 6500 pounds)
- Whyte: E-180 S (6000 pounds, this seems to be much better)
- Husqvarna Extreme Cross 10 2021 - Extreme Cross 10 2021 (impossible to get in UK)
- Fantic Fantic E-Bike - Downhill - Integra XXF 2.0 720Wh Race (I don't know much about this e-bike, but I found it there and it seems that it could be available somewhere in UK)

The main discriminant is the fork, so, do I need to push my self to find a double fork model or I could be just fine with an enduro bike?
I'd like to have the max safety when it comes to landing, so I think that the DH model is the way...

I also need an e-bike where I can remove the battery quickly every time I need to charge it.

The Giant and Whyte are available, but Husqvarna and any other model similar to that are impossible to find in UK...
Probably Fantic is available somewhere, but then it always depends from the size etc.

Norco Range VLT for the win

 

[Bad-Latitude]

I have a Giant Reign E+2. So far I have run all of the downhill trails around my house that I used to run on my downhill bike. It handles everything great. I absolutely recommend this bike.

 

[Donamici]

Another vote for the Giant Reign, have an E+1 and it feels unshakable when hammering down trails.

63º HA with a flip chip, Fox 38, great brakes, climbs great, very little to touch the spec for the money. Stick some Assegai DH tyres on it and away you go. Local support for when things go wrong.

PS: Forget the Trance, it's not designed for DH.