Newbie looking to buy first EMTB

[JimWantsToRideEMTB]

Hi all! I'm new to MTB - started riding as a way to get out during the pandemic and been at it for all of 3 months. Absolutely loving it, wish I had gotten into this when I was younger (now 45, but looking to feel younger with this sport!). Riding an entry level hard tail Coop DRT1.1.

I'm in the San Francisco Bay Area, and my first attempt at riding a "real" mountain bike trail (Water Dog lake park in Belmont, rated a blue on trailforks.com) was sooo awesome but totally kicked my ass; I had to walk the bike twice up the ascent and once at the top I was so tired that I had a crash due to exhaustion at one point. I figured I'm just getting into this sport and just need to improve my skills, but after watching a ton of youtube videos on emtbs, I'm sold - I'll be able to have so much more enjoyment with an emtb.

So, I'm looking to get my first emtb and looking for advice and suggestions. I'm new to MTB but loved my one "real" mountain trail and I definitely want to do more of that. I don't see myself getting so into this sport that I'll be doing huge jumps or anything, but I think I'd want to get up to black diamond trails at some point. My budget is $2500USD, I can maaaaaaybe stretch it up to $3000. I've been looking for used emtbs but haven't seen a lot available, and what I've seen are in the $5500 offered at $3900 range - still outside my budget.

I'd really enjoy a thumb throttle for just cruising around, but I've only seen thumb throttle options on cheaper $1500 emtbs like this eAhora. So maybe throttles aren't for real emtbs?

Anyways, would appreciate any suggestions and advice!

 

[Al Boneta]

Instead of suggestions all you are going to get on this forum is opinions and personal bias. Myself included.
The best advice I can give you is to test ride a bunch of bikes and see what feels the best to you.
Buy from a reputable shop that will handle the service. At this time of the year there are usually bikes marked down considerably.
Don’t worry about having the most expensive Fox fork or carbon everything. As a new rider you’re not going notice a significant difference to justify the expense.
And chances are this will be the first of many bikes you’ll eventually own.

 

[JimWantsToRideEMTB]

Thanks Al. I do plan on heading out to try some bikes, but I'd love to hear opinions on which bikes to try - and more importantly, which bikes to not spend any time on. Also I know there are some direct-to-consumer options, which I may not be able to go try out. Direct-to-consumer is cheaper, so I'm thinking maybe the $2500-$3000 range can get me better direct-to-consumer bikes. Would love to hear people's opinions about that.

 

[Akelu]

If you buy a direct to consumer bike, make sure that you test ride a few bikes with very similar geometry so that you can be relatively sure that the sizing matches up. Learn about what the different geometries are so you understand the differences.

 

[CBSTD]

Bikes and biking is such a personal thing, there is no one size fits all, "one mans meat is another mans grissel"
The first poster was right, what you tend to get on here and all other platforms is the poster's personal opinions.
As a starting point be honest with yourself about what you will ride and what you intend to do on your bike and thats your starting point, by all means buy something that you can expand your skills with but no point in being the all the gear and no idea guy but most of all enjoy it

 

[Nicho]

Consider the fact that an E-MTB bought from a good local bike shop can be easily taken back to said shop if/when things go wrong with it, and E-MTBs are more complex machines than MTBs and have more things to go wrong.

The forum seems to be full of people complaining that they are having trouble getting satisfaction from direct sales outlets, even being asked to ship their bike back to the manufacturer in another country to get quite minor parts replaced (that is, if the company bothers to reply to their e-mails in the first place!).

Whilst plenty of people have bought direct and have had no problems, there are many here who are happy to pay a bit more for their bike in the knowledge that help is nearby if needed.

Buying from a local(ish) shop also allows you to sit on , or even test-ride bikes, so you can be sure of a good fit etc.

 

[Mr-EPIC-3]

Hi all! I'm new to MTB - started riding as a way to get out during the pandemic and been at it for all of 3 months. Absolutely loving it, wish I had gotten into this when I was younger (now 45, but looking to feel younger with this sport!). Riding an entry level hard tail Coop DRT1.1.

I'm in the San Francisco Bay Area, and my first attempt at riding a "real" mountain bike trail (Water Dog lake park in Belmont, rated a blue on trailforks.com) was sooo awesome but totally kicked my ass; I had to walk the bike twice up the ascent and once at the top I was so tired that I had a crash due to exhaustion at one point. I figured I'm just getting into this sport and just need to improve my skills, but after watching a ton of youtube videos on emtbs, I'm sold - I'll be able to have so much more enjoyment with an emtb.

So, I'm looking to get my first emtb and looking for advice and suggestions. I'm new to MTB but loved my one "real" mountain trail and I definitely want to do more of that. I don't see myself getting so into this sport that I'll be doing huge jumps or anything, but I think I'd want to get up to black diamond trails at some point. My budget is $2500USD, I can maaaaaaybe stretch it up to $3000. I've been looking for used emtbs but haven't seen a lot available, and what I've seen are in the $5500 offered at $3900 range - still outside my budget.

I'd really enjoy a thumb throttle for just cruising around, but I've only seen thumb throttle options on cheaper $1500 emtbs like this eAhora. So maybe throttles aren't for real emtbs?

Anyways, would appreciate any suggestions and advice!

I was like you, started MTB in my mid-forty I am 59 now. About year-half ago I wanted to get eMTB, but didn't want to spend alot as I wasn't sure if I would enjoy eMTBing. I purchased a Fezzari (Direct-to-Consumer brand) Wire Peak Comp base price $3600. Great thing about Fezzari is you can custom your eMTB, I order my stock expect for the fork, which I upgraded to a RS Gold 35, so out the door was $3900. It been a solid eMTB I have around 2300 miles on it and now looking to get my 2nd eMTB and give the Wire Peak Comp to my son.

 

[schleprx7]

Since your in the Bay Area, I'd recommend checking out Woodside Bike Shop in Redwood City. It's a small shop but Greg the owner and his wife have a bunch of bikes stuffed in there. They carry, Norco, Davinci, Orbea, Santa Cruz and a few others brands. Not sure what they have in stock now though.

Good luck

 

[JimWantsToRideEMTB]

I purchased a Fezzari (Direct-to-Consumer brand) Wire Peak Comp base price $3600.

Awesome - I’m inspired to still do MTN when I’m 59!

the Fezzari looks great. Have you had any issues with needing replacement parts or support? Do you have to ship it back to manufacturer, or are there local dealers who are able to service the Fezzari?

 

[JimWantsToRideEMTB]

If you buy a direct to consumer bike, make sure that you test ride a few bikes with very similar geometry so that you can be relatively sure that the sizing matches up. Learn about what the different geometries are so you understand the differences.

Ah thanks for the tip. I’ve been watching YouTube videos to learn about the geo differences, definitely need to try them out at a store.

 

[JimWantsToRideEMTB]

Since your in the Bay Area, I'd recommend checking out Woodside Bike Shop in Redwood City. It's a small shop but Greg the owner and his wife have a bunch of bikes stuffed in there. They carry, Norco, Davinci, Orbea, Santa Cruz and a few others brands. Not sure what they have in stock now though.

Good luck

Thanks for the recommendation! I’ll go check them out

 

[Mr-EPIC-3]

Awesome - I’m inspired to still do MTN when I’m 59!

the Fezzari looks great. Have you had any issues with needing replacement parts or support? Do you have to ship it back to manufacturer, or are there local dealers who are able to service the Fezzari?

The only issue I had with the Wire Peak Comp was the rear hub needed to be serviced after 1600 miles of hard riding. I contact Bearpawl hubs and Evan help me out with getting me the parts I needed. Direct buy vs Bike Shop buy, if you know how to work on your bike Direct buy is way to go, but if you are someone who just does want to deal with repairs then go with the Bike Shop buy route.