Moving from 2 bike setup (enduro + e-enduro) to single setup (light e-mtb)

[draliko]

Quick presentation and intro, actually got a spectral cllctv (the fox one) and a 2021 wild-fs m20 (with x2 upg.), I consider myself an average rider, and as time goes by I'm relegating the canyon to only park rides and newbie lessons (i'm a guide, in my spare time), while for everything else the emtb get selected. I'm lucky living near 3 awesome parks (La Thuile, Pila and Cervinia), but every ride here near the Mont Blanc require quite some time and training if done with a standard bike, so as i said having kids and a wife, i'm left with a lot less free time to train than what used to be, so i always have to choose a small 1-2h muscular ride (with if i'm lucky 20 mins of descents) or a small 1-2h e-ride (with half time of descents)... you could imagine the final choice (usual ride is around 15km with 600/800 d+, i love technical trails but sucks at jumping)

In the last 2 years more than 50% of the people i met on parks moved from a dedicated enduro bike to a light emtb (rise and levo sl in primis) mainly older bikers like me (in my 40s now) and when questioned about the choice, the answer was always the same: enough money to enjoy a nice bike and park rides, not enough time to dedicate to maintain and ride 2 bikes especially when they're "overlapping".
Doing other sports isn't also helping, here winter season is powder season and the canyon goes to sleep until summer, while i use the wild as my go to work choice. Now I've rode my emtb in parks (mainly with clients and out of curiosity) and even if I really don't dislike the handling it's for sure subpar compared to the canyon (I never had the chance to ride a light emtb in parks, none of my friends have one, nearly everyone of us is in the same situation, a couple of standard bikes and a nice e-enduro, so they couldn't help, no shop renting lights also).

In the past months the idea of having 2 bikes but not enough time really bugged me and I was thinking about moving to a single bike for everything, noticing I don't really the time I'd wish to cater for 2 mtbs (and maybe moving to a single middle of the road solution could actually simplify and enhance my bike time).

So TL;DR: Has anyone moved from a 2 bike setup to a single light emtb setup? Did you regret the choice? Do you miss something about your old full power emtb (other than nm)? Am i doing a stupid move (probably)? Why kids eat this fuc*ing much of my free time (j/king i love those little gremlins)?
By the way sorry for my english, not a native speaker.

P.S: I know that the real answer really depends on me, but sometimes talking with strangers raise good points of discussion that friends tend to skip or ignore.

 

[Ou812]

I currently have 8 bikes, only 2 of them ever really get ridden anymore. My plan is to sell off every one of them except my full fat e-bike and buy a lightweight e-bike. I’ll use the lightweight to ride with my non e-bike friends and my full fat for everything else.

 

[Streddaz]

Quick presentation and intro, actually got a spectral cllctv (the fox one) and a 2021 wild-fs m20 (with x2 upg.), I consider myself an average rider, and as time goes by I'm relegating the canyon to only park rides and newbie lessons (i'm a guide, in my spare time), while for everything else the emtb get selected. I'm lucky living near 3 awesome parks (La Thuile, Pila and Cervinia), but every ride here near the Mont Blanc require quite some time and training if done with a standard bike, so as i said having kids and a wife, i'm left with a lot less free time to train than what used to be, so i always have to choose a small 1-2h muscular ride (with if i'm lucky 20 mins of descents) or a small 1-2h e-ride (with half time of descents)... you could imagine the final choice (usual ride is around 15km with 600/800 d+, i love technical trails but sucks at jumping)

In the last 2 years more than 50% of the people i met on parks moved from a dedicated enduro bike to a light emtb (rise and levo sl in primis) mainly older bikers like me (in my 40s now) and when questioned about the choice, the answer was always the same: enough money to enjoy a nice bike and park rides, not enough time to dedicate to maintain and ride 2 bikes especially when they're "overlapping".
Doing other sports isn't also helping, here winter season is powder season and the canyon goes to sleep until summer, while i use the wild as my go to work choice. Now I've rode my emtb in parks (mainly with clients and out of curiosity) and even if I really don't dislike the handling it's for sure subpar compared to the canyon (I never had the chance to ride a light emtb in parks, none of my friends have one, nearly everyone of us is in the same situation, a couple of standard bikes and a nice e-enduro, so they couldn't help, no shop renting lights also).

In the past months the idea of having 2 bikes but not enough time really bugged me and I was thinking about moving to a single bike for everything, noticing I don't really the time I'd wish to cater for 2 mtbs (and maybe moving to a single middle of the road solution could actually simplify and enhance my bike time).

So TL;DR: Has anyone moved from a 2 bike setup to a single light emtb setup? Did you regret the choice? Do you miss something about your old full power emtb (other than nm)? Am i doing a stupid move (probably)? Why kids eat this fuc*ing much of my free time (j/king i love those little gremlins)?
By the way sorry for my english, not a native speaker.

P.S: I know that the real answer really depends on me, but sometimes talking with strangers raise good points of discussion that friends tend to skip or ignore.

I currently have two bikes. My trusty old 2015 Norco Sight and my 2021 Levo SL.

I've been contemplating upgrading the Sight to a short travel non-Ebike, trail bike as I still ride the meat powered bike with friends who don't ride Ebikes. The Levo SL does get ridden a lot more as have two wheelsets for it, so one is for commuting to work and light XC riding and the other set is for proper MTB rides. If I ride by myself I'll take the SL but I still see that I will want a non-Ebike for the odd XC race, and non-Ebike group rides. The SL can fill the longer travel category bike and the normal bike will fill the short travel work.
At this stage, I think I'll stick with two bikes.

 

[Plummet]

That is an awesome location you are in. I did a mtb week close by about 12 years ago. Chamonix, Legs Gets, Morzine, Alp D Hues, Les Deux Alps. A trip of a life time I tell ya. Farken awsome.

If I was you i'd have a full power big travel monster (i already do... heheheh) with a BIG battery to get as high into the mountains as possible as quick as possible. Stuff the light weight E, that wont get you up the hill fast enough. Go bigger travel to have more capability than your enduro bike.

But I would also have a park bike either freeride or heavy enduro. I would also have a full DH bike aswell.

To recap.

190mm e-bike. Pole Voima.
180mm Slayer
200mm dh bike. Being in France that would probably be a Comencal.

Ahh first world problems..

 

[brentonb]

I am running a 170 f/r enduro scott ransom and a 170 / 150 f/r turbo levo

perfect combination, enduro for parks and shuttles with friends and kids, levo for solo rides from home and rides with mates on other ebikes.
I don't need to worry about my mates on light weight bikes struggling to keep up as it just gives me some nature chill time and I have the range to do some rather long trails with the 700w battery

if you already have the 2 then keep them, you have already depreciated them to the money lost is lost, if you get another bike then you are losing a 3 bike of money.

stop thinking ride more and get your kids into riding with you, mine do it's awesome

 

[Semmelrocc]

In the end it's up to you to find an answer to your question. It depends on your fitness level, where you ride and who you ride with. In my case, my Levo SL is my do-it-all bike, for everything from commuting to riding with friends to bikepark – because it is capable enough to do it all (imo). I think, if you have a minimum fitness level, an SL is a perfect choice, because it lets you choose to ride with or without motor support due to its light weight; plus, it is nimble enough for trail shredding.
I think I would rather use a range extender and a spare (lighter) wheel set than having another bike in the garage.

 

[militantmandy]

That is an awesome location you are in. I did a mtb week close by about 12 years ago. Chamonix, Legs Gets, Morzine, Alp D Hues, Les Deux Alps. A trip of a life time I tell ya. Farken awsome.

If I was you i'd have a full power big travel monster (i already do... heheheh) with a BIG battery to get as high into the mountains as possible as quick as possible. Stuff the light weight E, that wont get you up the hill fast enough. Go bigger travel to have more capability than your enduro bike.

But I would also have a park bike either freeride or heavy enduro. I would also have a full DH bike aswell.

To recap.

190mm e-bike. Pole Voima.
180mm Slayer
200mm dh bike. Being in France that would probably be a Comencal.

Ahh first world problems..

No way I would go eeeb only if I lived here you do! As above if have a FF Enduro bike and something for the parks.

 

[p3eps]

I think you've summed it up yourself - that the real answer depends on you, but I'll throw my 2p's worth in anyway.

I'm 45, with 2 young kids (8 and 4) that eat up most of my spare time. I generally only get out for a few hours on the bike at the weekend, and maybe a couple of times a week during the lighter nights. It's now dark by 8pm here, so the evening rides will be over in a few more weeks.

Anyway - I rode a Stumpy for years. I've still got my last one (2017), but had a 2009, 2011, 2014 prior to that! I had 1 bike - that was it.
I did a LOT of research in at the end of 2019 about eMTB, and at the beginning of 2020 bought myself a new Trek Rail 9.9. I was amazed at the power (and also what 23kg felt like) and rode it for a couple of weeks... and Specialized announced the Levo SL. It sounded like much more what I was after - a little bit of help on the tough climbs, and a more manageable weight. I had a 30 day satisfaction guarantee on the Rail, so swapped it for a new Levo SL Expert, and spent the rest of the balance from the Rail on upgrades.

I've now been riding a Levo SL for over 3 and a half years, and swapped the frame to the SL 1.2 a few months ago. It's my 'do it all' bike. The SL 1.2 is a nicer bike to ride, and I can feel I can push it further / harder than my SL 1.1. Not sure if that's due to the updated geometry, or down to me taking a smaller size this time.
I ride it on a custom toned down Eco setting, so I'm still putting in a good shift... however I have the ability to crank it up to 100% if I need to. Last week I was at a trail centre and had tired legs, so I rode the ups in 100%, and the downs in my Eco setting. I also have 2 plug in Range Extenders - so I can burn through these if I want a boost!

I still have my 2017 Stumpy. I spent a lot of money upgrading it over the 2 1/2 years it was my only bike... and I know that I'll get barely anything back for it if I were to sell it. Occasionally, I take it out and remind myself how light it is (12.5kg's v's the 17.1kg of my Levo SL)... but most of the time it's either borrowed by friends who want to ride with me, or attached to a Kickr in my garage with a giant chainring (the Eagle drivetrain ratio isn't ideal for Zwift!)
Personally, I could quite easily live with the Levo SL as my ONLY bike. I can ride trails with the kids with it switched off, I can do 30-40 mile 5000ft rides in Eco on the internal battery only, and I can rip up the fire roads to have multiple shots of the DH runs in Turbo if I want to save my legs.

Going off piste a bit... I remember buying a Black and Decker multitool many years ago. A battery operated drill, sander and jigsaw all in 1. It was never as good as buying the 3 tools individually... however each did the job they were meant to.
I'd say there's going to be a bit of compromise having 1 bike for all... but as long as it does everything you want reasonably well, then that's ok! Does it suit your main task, and can do the others reasonably well?
My Levo SL isn't as good as a Kenevo SL for chunky steep downhill runs... however that's probably 5-10% of my overall riding.
Most of my riding is trails and singletrack, which the Levo SL excels at.

 

[steve_sordy]

Having just the one bike has its attractions, until it goes wrong and you need a bike straight away! But how often does that happen? Answer: Very rarely if you are in the habit of looking after your bike and paying attention to it.

Which bike? Hmmm, it has to be the one that you would use the most. Take into account that with a motor, even heavy big travel bikes can be used with pleasure on much tamer trails.
If you have just the one bike, then make it the best one that you can justify.

 

[Streddaz]

Having just the one bike has its attractions, until it goes wrong and you need a bike straight away! But how often does that happen? Answer: Very rarely if you are in the habit of looking after your bike and paying attention to it.

Which bike? Hmmm, it has to be the one that you would use the most. Take into account that with a motor, even heavy big travel bikes can be used with pleasure on much tamer trails.
If you have just the one bike, then make it the best one that you can justify.

I do agree that it is nice to have a second bike (whatever that may be) for those occasions where the other is out of action.

 

[Shjay]

I have a 2021 custom Rise & 23 mega 297 but actually prefer the rise even for bike parks think it’s the added weight would love to swap parts of my mega onto a KSL as second bike

 

[draliko]

Thanks all for the reply, reading different points of view really helps. One of the thing I'm doing is trying to write down and schematize my bike usage of the past 2 years, to have some data for reference. Doing so I really noticed that I don't like having spares and buying upgrades for 2 bikes ( I tried to keep drivetrain and brakes similar), and I don't like wasting time doing the same stuff on 2 bikes, bleeds, suspension setup, etc.. ride time is already short enough as it is... for now I'm moving toward the idea of waiting the next year for the new Bosch light motor powered bikes and moving toward a light emtb+extender for when I need to go with clients....
I know that may sound stupid but it seems to me that having more bikes simply made me ride less in the end

And regarding having 2 bikes to have 1 ride when something goes wrong, if you're unlucky you're unlucky, this year both the bikes had problems in the same time frame, in the wild the X2 got aerated oil, and the canyon needed a new frame for a BB problem (both in warranty claim)... so in the end I had a friend who was on holiday lend me his bike

 

[Tubby G]

I have three bikes, leg powered , lightweight and full fat

Leg - Privateer 161 - 170/161 travel
Light - Orbea Rise 160/140
Fat - Haibike Allmtn 160/160

Of the three, the lightweight is my go to bike and ridden probably 80% of the time

Leg powered is for bike parks / fitness and ridden around 18%

Full fat around 2% - reluctantly use it and only as a back up when the Orbea is in for service & repairs

I just don’t get on with the full fat. Find it too heavy and cumbersome. It’s ok for long XC rides but then so is the lightweight so use that instead. I get more range on the lightweight than I do the full fat!

My leg powered bike is my absolute favourite to ride. The amount of travel is spot on and the bike just feels so nice, no noises, squeaks or rattles, just tyres on dirt

My only gripe with the Rise is that I’d prefer more rear travel

Toyed with the idea of getting a long travel full fat such as the Propain Ekano or Kenevo, but that’s only because my most local trails are a super steep climb with some chunky downhill runs and I don’t ride them as often as I’d like to as they’re a little too much for the Rise. However, have plenty of other trails in my area that the Rise is more than capable of handling so can’t really justify spending another £6k just to ride a handful of trails

 

[Rando_12345]

Similar situation: small kid, stressful job, don't get anywhere near enough time for hobbies.
Added caveat is I have a tiny garage.

I had the usual setup: enduro bike (Capra) + E-bike (commencal meta power). Over time and especially once the kid arrived, I was using the capra 3-4 times per year, sold it with the plan of only having one ebike.

Currently, have a Reign-E and the commencal, both bikes are way too similar, but on the one hand I like having a spare "just in case" and on the other hand I tried selling the commencal, but there will basically be nothing worthwhile to buy with the money from the sale.

What is annoying is that the unused bike still needs some maintenance: sealant, brake bleeds, suspension freshening etc, if you leave it sitting for months at a time things definitely feel off when you ride it again... But I really don't trust the reliability of ebikes to just have one bike in the garage.

Looking forward, ideally I would go for a good full fat + lightweight (e.g. rise), but the lightweights are such a rip off and poorly equipped for the price. The lightweight would be for lunch rides which make up >50% of my riding these days.

But I have been thinking about this a bit, what I really need is a dad specific bike as a backup: a lightweight ebike for taking my kid to school etc, but also to mess around on pump tracks and skateparks once he starts being able to ride them. 26inch wheels, 300Wh battery, 120mm travel, 7 gear DH cluster. Come on bike industry, don't you see the opportunity here? Ok me neither to be honest, but would love to try it out.

 

[Mcharza]

I have three bikes, leg powered , lightweight and full fat

Leg - Privateer 161 - 170/161 travel
Light - Orbea Rise 160/140
Fat - Haibike Allmtn 160/160

Of the three, the lightweight is my go to bike and ridden probably 80% of the time

Leg powered is for bike parks / fitness and ridden around 18%

Full fat around 2% - reluctantly use it and only as a back up when the Orbea is in for service & repairs

I just don’t get on with the full fat. Find it too heavy and cumbersome. It’s ok for long XC rides but then so is the lightweight so use that instead. I get more range on the lightweight than I do the full fat!

My leg powered bike is my absolute favourite to ride. The amount of travel is spot on and the bike just feels so nice, no noises, squeaks or rattles, just tyres on dirt

My only gripe with the Rise is that I’d prefer more rear travel

Toyed with the idea of getting a long travel full fat such as the Propain Ekano or Kenevo, but that’s only because my most local trails are a super steep climb with some chunky downhill runs and I don’t ride them as often as I’d like to as they’re a little too much for the Rise. However, have plenty of other trails in my area that the Rise is more than capable of handling so can’t really justify spending another £6k just to ride a handful of trails

I liked how you categorized your bikes

 

[rzr]

I've just tested (up and down) my friend's Kenevo SL (19-20kg?) and compared to my Levo (170/165mm travel, 23kg)
so the bikes are quite similar, except for the weight.
and.... I'm torn. KSL is way lighter when going down (probably the main difference is less weight at the end of down tube - close to headtube), more nimble and playful.
Levo is more sure footed and planted, probably I like KSL a bit more,
BUT... climbs
I have Levo to do fast climbs (I can do 1500m in Turbo in 2h?),
on KSL in Turbo I can do ~900m? and still way slower.
at the end I think that Levo makes more sense for me, that was the reason I bought e-bike: to ride more descents in less time.
I even took it to some bikeparks (Schladming, Leogang etc.),
however I have Canyon Sender for bike parks normally.
And for my fitness (or when I have enough MTB) this:

 

[JayGoodrich]

Quick presentation and intro, actually got a spectral cllctv (the fox one) and a 2021 wild-fs m20 (with x2 upg.), I consider myself an average rider, and as time goes by I'm relegating the canyon to only park rides and newbie lessons (i'm a guide, in my spare time), while for everything else the emtb get selected. I'm lucky living near 3 awesome parks (La Thuile, Pila and Cervinia), but every ride here near the Mont Blanc require quite some time and training if done with a standard bike, so as i said having kids and a wife, i'm left with a lot less free time to train than what used to be, so i always have to choose a small 1-2h muscular ride (with if i'm lucky 20 mins of descents) or a small 1-2h e-ride (with half time of descents)... you could imagine the final choice (usual ride is around 15km with 600/800 d+, i love technical trails but sucks at jumping)

In the last 2 years more than 50% of the people i met on parks moved from a dedicated enduro bike to a light emtb (rise and levo sl in primis) mainly older bikers like me (in my 40s now) and when questioned about the choice, the answer was always the same: enough money to enjoy a nice bike and park rides, not enough time to dedicate to maintain and ride 2 bikes especially when they're "overlapping".
Doing other sports isn't also helping, here winter season is powder season and the canyon goes to sleep until summer, while i use the wild as my go to work choice. Now I've rode my emtb in parks (mainly with clients and out of curiosity) and even if I really don't dislike the handling it's for sure subpar compared to the canyon (I never had the chance to ride a light emtb in parks, none of my friends have one, nearly everyone of us is in the same situation, a couple of standard bikes and a nice e-enduro, so they couldn't help, no shop renting lights also).

In the past months the idea of having 2 bikes but not enough time really bugged me and I was thinking about moving to a single bike for everything, noticing I don't really the time I'd wish to cater for 2 mtbs (and maybe moving to a single middle of the road solution could actually simplify and enhance my bike time).

So TL;DR: Has anyone moved from a 2 bike setup to a single light emtb setup? Did you regret the choice? Do you miss something about your old full power emtb (other than nm)? Am i doing a stupid move (probably)? Why kids eat this fuc*ing much of my free time (j/king i love those little gremlins)?
By the way sorry for my english, not a native speaker.

P.S: I know that the real answer really depends on me, but sometimes talking with strangers raise good points of discussion that friends tend to skip or ignore.

I did exactly what you are thinking about and now have 2 e-Bikes! One just wasn’t enough. both are lightweight bikes—Trek EX-e and Orbea Rise LTD. E-MTBs are banned on probably half the trails here in the U.S., but screw that, I just ride the Trek on those and the Orbea on the others. The Trek kicks ass in the bike park as well. It’s super easy to pull the battery too which puts it almost at the same weight of the analog Trek Fuel EX.

So I think you are thinking correctly. Put your time and money into a really nice SL bike. You won’t be disappointed and you will be in better shape as years progress while having the most fun.

 

[timcking]

Quick presentation and intro, actually got a spectral cllctv (the fox one) and a 2021 wild-fs m20 (with x2 upg.), I consider myself an average rider, and as time goes by I'm relegating the canyon to only park rides and newbie lessons (i'm a guide, in my spare time), while for everything else the emtb get selected. I'm lucky living near 3 awesome parks (La Thuile, Pila and Cervinia), but every ride here near the Mont Blanc require quite some time and training if done with a standard bike, so as i said having kids and a wife, i'm left with a lot less free time to train than what used to be, so i always have to choose a small 1-2h muscular ride (with if i'm lucky 20 mins of descents) or a small 1-2h e-ride (with half time of descents)... you could imagine the final choice (usual ride is around 15km with 600/800 d+, i love technical trails but sucks at jumping)

In the last 2 years more than 50% of the people i met on parks moved from a dedicated enduro bike to a light emtb (rise and levo sl in primis) mainly older bikers like me (in my 40s now) and when questioned about the choice, the answer was always the same: enough money to enjoy a nice bike and park rides, not enough time to dedicate to maintain and ride 2 bikes especially when they're "overlapping".
Doing other sports isn't also helping, here winter season is powder season and the canyon goes to sleep until summer, while i use the wild as my go to work choice. Now I've rode my emtb in parks (mainly with clients and out of curiosity) and even if I really don't dislike the handling it's for sure subpar compared to the canyon (I never had the chance to ride a light emtb in parks, none of my friends have one, nearly everyone of us is in the same situation, a couple of standard bikes and a nice e-enduro, so they couldn't help, no shop renting lights also).

In the past months the idea of having 2 bikes but not enough time really bugged me and I was thinking about moving to a single bike for everything, noticing I don't really the time I'd wish to cater for 2 mtbs (and maybe moving to a single middle of the road solution could actually simplify and enhance my bike time).

So TL;DR: Has anyone moved from a 2 bike setup to a single light emtb setup? Did you regret the choice? Do you miss something about your old full power emtb (other than nm)? Am i doing a stupid move (probably)? Why kids eat this fuc*ing much of my free time (j/king i love those little gremlins)?
By the way sorry for my english, not a native speaker.

P.S: I know that the real answer really depends on me, but sometimes talking with strangers raise good points of discussion that friends tend to skip or ignore.

I'm 75 and in great shape. I purchased a Yamaha YDX during COVID. I live surrounded by mountains and thought it'd let me return to the steeps. Great plan, but I discovered 53lbs isn't my style of riding. On the flats I ended up riding it with the motor turned off, so why bother. The light weight EMB is the way to go for me when I need it.

 

[TheQuantumLoser]

@draliko I did exactly that. I moved down to one EMTB and made a light enduro build from a Trek Fuel Ex-e. Check out Robs “Trek Fuel Exe RR edition” for more info, but it’s basically a 170/151mm, sub 21kg bike with 50Nm. For me, it’s the one and only. You can take the battery out for bike park laps and take off 2-3 kg. It’s a different answer for everyone, but I am a fan of having only one mtb to take care of, and always having the same feeling bike under me. Cheers

 

[vman]

I would invest in two person Burley trailer and put both kids in it and enjoy the time riding with the kids. If you choose the Burley route you will for sure want to keep your full power EMTB. We live in the SF bay area and spend alot of time in the sierra mountains so we do alot of climbing typical ride is 1000 to 2000 meters. In comparing a levo SL or Orbea rise to our bosch bikes its not even close when climbing steep technical trails at speed - you can definingly get up anything on a low power emtb but your pace will be much lower. We would rather climb faster on an EMTB to get a better workout than go slower up with a low powered emtb. The former serves up much more descending. As far as bike handling nothing will be as easy as a non powered bike as they are both light and much easier to balance given you don't have to work around the motor assist as such we tend to lean to analog or full power emtb.

V

 

[Chairman]

If you are fit and strong....or want to be....go with full fat and big travel. You can ride it anywhere. If you are a little unfit or maybe a bit on the weaker side go with the sl. They make it fun for cruising

 

[THA]

Thanks all for the reply, reading different points of view really helps. One of the thing I'm doing is trying to write down and schematize my bike usage of the past 2 years, to have some data for reference. Doing so I really noticed that I don't like having spares and buying upgrades for 2 bikes ( I tried to keep drivetrain and brakes similar), and I don't like wasting time doing the same stuff on 2 bikes, bleeds, suspension setup, etc.. ride time is already short enough as it is... for now I'm moving toward the idea of waiting the next year for the new Bosch light motor powered bikes and moving toward a light emtb+extender for when I need to go with clients....
I know that may sound stupid but it seems to me that having more bikes simply made me ride less in the end

And regarding having 2 bikes to have 1 ride when something goes wrong, if you're unlucky you're unlucky, this year both the bikes had problems in the same time frame, in the wild the X2 got aerated oil, and the canyon needed a new frame for a BB problem (both in warranty claim)... so in the end I had a friend who was on holiday lend me his bike

I can share this. About a year ago I though Levo SL would be perfect 2-in-1. No, just illusion.
Finally I ended up having Cube Hybrid TM140 eMtb and TM140 acoustic - all the parts fit across. Any eMtb just can't beat playfullness of 14 kg, or any any SL can't beat full power Bosch. Although now having Pole Voima and I can only wish Leo has some plans to introduce Vikkelä in K0 as well... but if You realy need to have just one bike, then SL gategory might be for You.

 

[beutelfuchs]

I had the same thoughts, which is merging my Stumpi Evo and Levo to a Levo SL. I live around costa Brava with lots of mid sized mountain ranges. Climbs can be steep, but usually have a pleasent surface. Most of the time I am on the Stumpi and I leave the Levo for weekends when I have time to go longer and want to focus on descending. Or for recovery rides to still get conveniently up to the trail head.
The reason I didn't go for the SL is a) the small battery which is way too little to get my 90Kg anywhere significant. b) it's the fact that its still to much of an ebike to be effectively ridden uphill with engine off, which I enjoy a lot.
Both these factors maybe don't apply to you.

But, my parents in law live close to Chamonix so I am spending significant time there over summer and of course go riding as they deal with the kids
Every ascent I have ever ridden there started steep. And after a short while turned to very and then at least partly to extremly steep. More often than not in combo with a much more difficult surface, loose rocks over hard, channels etc.
I'd say that I am quite strong. But even with the Levo at 100% more often then not I have to give everything to stay on the bike. And I also pushed and carried the thing much more than I wanted (up & down).
Maybe thats different for you, but looking at the map I don't think so
So no way I'd go with any SL there! And I also never saw anyone else who did.
Still I also take the Stumpjumper for park riding, Les Gets etc. As the Levo just sucks too much there, even with battery removed.

 

[rzr]

hm.... I have Levo gen3 (170/165mm travel) and it works quite well in bike parks (with or without a battery) - big jumps/gaps/drops/stepdowns or just charging down.
It has more travel than SJ and thanks to a bit extra weight it's more stable (like DH bike)

 

[beutelfuchs]

hm.... I have Levo gen3 (170/165mm travel) and it works quite well in bike parks (with or without a battery) - big jumps/gaps/drops/stepdowns or just charging down.

It might be that its a matter of getting used to. If you have the choice, you try the heavy bike once, doesn't work like the light one, you leave it there. Maybe with a bit of consistet work it would get better. Good point!

 

[Ou812]

I think I must be the only one that’s not bothered by the weight of a full fat. My freeride bike from back in the day weighed 44lbs and we had to pedal those up the mountain with no assist.

 

[Binhill1]

I think I must be the only one that’s not bothered by the weight of a full fat. My freeride bike from back in the day weighed 44lbs and we had to pedal those up the mountain with no assist.

Humphing it over a deer fence can be a chew . I don't know much folk who have sold their ebike and went back to a hardtail . If you could only get two rides a month what would people choose .

 

[rzr]

It might be that its a matter of getting used to. If you have the choice, you try the heavy bike once, doesn't work like the light one, you leave it there. Maybe with a bit of consistet work it would get better. Good point!

definitely after 10 months with that bike I feel way better. However, few days ago I tried Kenevo SL and the feeling was amazing but... at the end of a day, I wouldn't trade my power and battery for that lightness, as it defeats the point of having emtb for me.

 

[Binhill1]

definitely after 10 months with that bike I feel way better. However, few days ago I tried Kenevo SL and the feeling was amazing but... at the end of a day, I wouldn't trade my power and battery for that lightness, as it defeats the point of having emtb for me.

Like following a hard tail down a twisty bermed track on a full susser back in the day. You can't look near them but that's life. Thankfully after nearly 40 years of all types of mtb bikes I'm happy to chug along on the full fat Ĺevo. Have the old hardtail and a dawes tourer in the shed and yes they are nice and light for a run out occasionally. Rant over

 

[p3eps]

I've had my old Stumpjumper in an MTB-Hopper manual trainer for the last few weeks - trying to learn to manual.
I only spend 5 mins at a time, maybe a couple of times a week. I'm now starting to find the balance point.

On Saturday, I was out the front of the house with my 4 year old son... and a Jumpack ramp. We were just using the first section of it - so it's about the height of a kerb. I'd been out on my Levo SL earlier in the morning, so I thought I'd take the Stumpjumper out instead. Levo SL = 17.1kg, Stumpy = 13.2kg. Little jumps off the ramp, wheelie back up the hill, attempting 180s (more like 90's!)...

That ~4kg makes such a difference. Bunnyhops, wheelies, tilting to manual etc are sooooo much easier on the Stumpy than on the Levo SL. When swapping back to the LSL on Sunday, I was really aware of the weight difference... and that's a lightweight eMTB. I can't imagine what going from a 13kg Stumpy to a 22kg full fat must feel like.

On the flip side, a jump bike or BMX are probably considerably lighter than my Stumpy... so again it goes back to having 1 bike for all purposes isn't going to be good as one that's specifically designed for a task. The compromise of a 1 for all bike!