My process and priorities for choosing my emtb. Yours?

[More-read-than-ride]

I wrote the below post as an answer, but then I thought it might be an interesting talk to start.

I am an amateur rider, but a huge "gear-nerd", so I have read most articles in terms of reviews, specs, brands etc.

If it is of any use to you, here is my process in terms of prioirites. It is completely personal, not a pro:
1. Suspension quality and type as first priority - As a general rule, go FS not hardtail and relatively good components if you can afford it.
2. Type of bike (trail, allmountain, vs. enduro etc) - you can go for more travel than on a conventional bike, but dont exagerate. If in doubt go for 130-150mm FS trail bike as an allrounder.
3. Motor: For amateurs like me who climb a lot and that is their main goal for support, Bosch is a good fit. If you do more straights and trails, more people like Shimano, Yamaha and Brose because of lower drag and more natural power delivery. TQ is new.
3. Then consider your need for service (direct sale vs. dealer) - if you are a good mecanic and like it, there is money to be saved going direct like Canyon or Thok, but ebikes need service.
4. Finally brands and other components. Personal favorites include Cube TM and Action team models (Stable, great value and spec with Bosch), canyon (direct sale, great spec, agile) and of course the ever present Levo (Agile, Brose, too expensive for me though). There are many other great brands though...

As the always supportive @steve_sordy told me, most importantly try them and make sure they are set up for you. Setup and personal affinity makes a world of difference.
@Rob Hancill what is your take on the process?

 

[Janluke]

1. Reliability of the "E" components- I'll take a bombproof reliable system with less power and features over somethine higher tech but fragile
2. Support/Customer Service- from Bike brand, motor manufacturer and dealer
3. Range- Either decent range from one battery and/or affordable easy to carry second/third batteries
4. everything else

 

[More-read-than-ride]

1. Reliability of the "E" components- I'll take a bombproof reliable system with less power and features over somethine higher tech but fragile
2. Support/Customer Service- from Bike brand, motor manufacturer and dealer
3. Range- Either decent range from one battery and/or affordable easy to carry second/third batteries
4. everything else

All great points!

 

[Gary]

Pre-requisite: Brand new with full UK warranty

1 Geometry

Sub 65deg HA. Low BB, short(ish) stays and reach of between 420-40mm)​

and 650b (not plus)​

2 Suspension:

160mm min travel​

4-bar horst or VPP/DW but def not a single pivot (or linkage SP)​

progressive leverage curve, good pedalling and braking characteristics​

Lyrik/Yari fork chassis min fork spec​

RS Mornarch plus/Super Deluxe (piggybacks) min shock spec​

​

3 Weight - Sub 50lb easily achievable (if over as spec'd)

4 Motor - No (or very low) drag. pref smooth fast pick up and intuitive control

5. Brakes - min 200mm rotors and good powerful and reliable performance

6 Drivetrain:

components pref Deore/SLX/GX level or above​

preferably not 12 speed or ex1 firstly to avoid paying a premium and reduce running costs​

7 Contact points/finishing kit:

not massively important as can be easily and cheaply swapped out to personal preference (which I'm incredibly picky about anyway)​

​

​

Local support not massively important as I have 20+ yrs experience working as a bike mechanic. A local motor serivice centre would have been a massive plus since working on many motors invalidates warranty.

Range was pretty much the same with all the bikes that fit my first priority so a little mute. I fully expect this to change/improve over time.

 

[More-read-than-ride]

Range was pretty much the same with all the bikes that fit my first priority so a little mute. I fully expect this to change/improve over time.

I also found this to be the case for all 500Wh bikes. But yes, this will surely change.

 

[Re-Cycle]

In random order, but all important criteria to me:
- Geometry, not only sizes and angles that influence riding, but also fitting.
- Testing possibilities are very limited where I live (The Netherlands), unlike in some other countries. So reading reviews (and interpreting them) was important.
- Looks, I just don't want to ride a bike that I find doesn't look good. And let's be honest, many e-mtb's don't look that great at all...
- Good parts (esp. suspension, since these are expensive to upgrade) and a reasonable price.
- I wanted a Brose or a Shimano motor, because these seemed to have the smoothest power delivery. A Bosch I defenitely didn't want because of the resistance when the motor stops, the long chainstays all these bikes have, and the "stupid" little chainring.

I liked the looks of the Merida E-Onesixty from the first time I saw one. When I started to seriously look at e-mtb's the geometry seemed to be spot on, as if they asked me how I liked it before they built it. The reviews were great, and the price was very competitive.
Commencal and Specialized Levo were the two other bikes that I had a serious look at, but the Specialized was overpriced for the parts you get (as always), and the geometry of the Commençal was a little bit less ideal for me compared to that of the E-Onesixty.

I got the chance to test ride the E900E and that gave me no reason not to choose the Merida. So the choice was easy
And I don't regret it, every ride is good fun and that's what cycling to me is all about... (be it on the road, on an analog bike or on an e-mtb).

 

[steve_sordy]

I'm a newbie do I recently went through the selection process. Therefore my views are untroubled by the experience of emtb ownership!
I want the "look back factor". I don't care how great the bike is, if it is neon pink, or if the battery looks like wart, I wouldn't buy it so why even test ride it? There, I've said it - how a bike looks is important to me!
How it rides. If I can't ride it because it's an internet purchase then it must have several 5 star reviews. For my first emtb this meant that the bike must have an LBS.
The motor must have either no drag or very little drag. That's the Bosch out of the equation then.
Having tried them, no 8-speed cassette for me. I realise that they are billed as the dog's danglies but I could not find a gear I was comfortable in.

I had other criteria, like Horst Link suspension or similar take, and deffo no single pivot. But these crumbled in the face of the test rides. The bike I eventually bought has a Faux bar (linkage controlled single pivot).

 

[More-read-than-ride]

- Looks, I just don't want to ride a bike that I find doesn't look good. And let's be honest, many e-mtb's don't look that great at all...

I have to agree and I know others do too...

I want the "look back factor". I don't care how great the bike is, if it is neon pink I wouldn't buy it so why even test ride it? There, I've said it - how a bike looks is important to me!
How it rides. If I can't ride it because it's an import then it must have several 5 star reviews.
The motor must have either no drag or very little drag. That's the Bosch out of the equation then.

I think we all care about the looks... some secretly, but we care

 

[Mavik]

Based on the kind of trails we have here in Malaysia and the limited choices we have with emtb, the first choice is always after sales support. Officially the only emtb we get here so far are from Specialized so that pretty much narrows our choices.

1) After sales support
2) Type of bike (trail vs enduro)
3) Component specs

 

[dirt huffer]

One thing to factor in if you're mulling over buying direct - how long is the motors warranty and how much are you saving vs. an LBS bike? I saved a couple thousand over a similarly spec'd LBS bike. And with that savings could buy replacements for the motor and battery when they're toast.

 

[Gary]

aren't all motors warrantied for 2 years? or is that just an eu/uk thing?

 

[dirt huffer]

aren't all motors warrantied for 2 years? or is that just an eu/uk thing?

I think so. 2 years isn't very long. I know Bosch sells rebuild kits for 99 bucks. Hopefully all motor manufacturers will sell rebuild kits that won't break the bank. I don't want to mail my motor in for work I can do myself

 

[ggx]

The bosch rebuilt kit as 2 years warrantie

 

[Tim29]

For me i don’t need the most powerful motor, i like a lot of elevation so battery size was important.
But most important was geometry.
I made a big mistake on my first bike by buying a bike with 68.5 head angle and found out with a battery up front that a deadly combination for a true enduro bike.
So geometry is everything as that’s one of the hardest aspects to change.
Second is seat post drop. I need min of 130 but prefer 150.
Next motor noise. I want a smooth quiet bike..
So that narrowed the field.
Travel, after rididin 130 to 180 travel bikes i quickly realized an ebike pedals so good you don’t pay a big price for long travel.
So 160mm travel.
That left me with 5 choices.
Only two of those choices where under 10k.
So easy process of Elimination.