Old Ebike, go Light or go Big?

[Rando_12345]

Ok, so my 2018 Commencal Meta Power has been sitting in my garage for a full year while its replacement, a Giant Reign e+, is used close to daily. After lowering the price from 3k (it has a very nice build with mostly new components) down to 2k, I just saw an ad on my equivalent of craigslist for a similar bike going for 1500k. I am not letting such a good bike go for that price.

My main issue is that the Giant does everything better than the Commencal and is very similar in travel, weight, size etc. So there are almost no reason to take the Meta out.

Option 1: Go lightweight, like stupidly inconveniently lightweight, but not actually that light. The bike weights around 23.5kg with very heavy tyres, coil shock etc, I could probably trim that down to 21kg with some questionable upgrades: carbon rims (I only need one rim and spokes), trail shock, drivetrain upgrade, fast rolling exo+ tyres instead of DH. I'm still not sure it would make the bike more likely to be ridden, but would be a fun challenge, could get expensive though. An advantage of this is that it would force me to take it easy on the bike and maybe make parts/motor last longer.

Option 2: Turn it into a park bike. There isn't a whole lot I would need to do here, I have all the parts I need. It is just that going this direction will accelerate motor wear/breaking, so at some point I will have a broken motor and then just run the bike battery less at lift access parks.

Let's add 2 bonkers questions:
1) Anyone ever replaced an e8000 motor with just a bb? I saw an article about a gearbox that would fit the mounts, I'm thinking with no battery or motor I could have a fun 20kg park bike.
2) Has anyone ever successfully removed battery cells from a BT-8010 external Shimano battery pack? I have 2 500Wh packs, in the name of insanity it could be fun to take out 1.5 kg worth of batteries from one pack and have a 1kg 150Wh battery pack.

 

[Stihldog]

I just sold my 2020 Powerfly HT to make room for a new Fuel EXE FS. But I’m gonna keep the Rail 9.7. The use of the new Fuel EXE FS will still be less than the Rail yet more than the Powerfly HT.

This was an expensive decision but now my balance of use will likely be 25/75% in favour of the Rail. When I want or need too, I will use the SL Fuel EXE with other analog mtb’s, or when I ride with my wife.

I guess we all have different reasons.

 

[Plummet]

If its worse than your other bike sell it. Cut your losses and take what ever you can get for it. It's only going go loose value from here.

But if you do want to transform it into something different. Look at your riding style and what you enjoy doing that the other bike isn't set up for and do that.

 

[Bummers]

I had a slightly similar decision, in the end decided to keep it simple. A 'do it all' full suspension enduro e-bike and a 200mm full sus analogue downhill bike for uplift days.
Between those two I covered every use I could have for a bike.

If you can't think of a use for it though, sell it.

If you don't need the money keep it as a spare for non e-bike friends to borrow to ride with you and in case anything happens to your other bike.

 

[Mikerb]

This must a familiar problem for lots of folks who have a bike they would like to sell in order to upgrade ec but second hand prices mean it would be a painful decision to take.
I have a slightly different take on it. I have a fantastic bike that is playing second fiddle to a newer bike and hardly getting used. A sensible course of action would be to sell it.......BUT.........not now!!
The range of discounted bikes is bound to dry up at some stage I reckon and 2024 bikes are starting to appear with prices well above those that are discounted, even if they are essentially unchanged. What I see currently is the popular sizes selling out on those discounted bikes. So a lot are only available now in xxl or S.
So I am going to wait c 4 months. My bike will not lose any more value in that time and could well sell for quite a bit more than now.

 

[Mrj35]

This must a familiar problem for lots of folks who have a bike they would like to sell in order to upgrade ec but second hand prices mean it would be a painful decision to take.
I have a slightly different take on it. I have a fantastic bike that is playing second fiddle to a newer bike and hardly getting used. A sensible course of action would be to sell it.......BUT.........not now!!
The range of discounted bikes is bound to dry up at some stage I reckon and 2024 bikes are starting to appear with prices well

Yep I went to sell my bike in September and quickly realized this isn't good timing to sell a used bike. I'll put it back up in May atleast when the better weather returns.

 

[RustyIron]

Don't feel bad, I always seem to buy high and sell low.

If the old clunker doesn't do anything as well as your newer bike, it's better to dump it than to throw more money at it.

 

[KnollyBro]

I just sold my 2020 Powerfly HT to make room for a new Fuel EXE FS. But I’m gonna keep the Rail 9.7. The use of the new Fuel EXE FS will still be less than the Rail yet more than the Powerfly HT.

This was an expensive decision but now my balance of use will likely be 25/75% in favour of the Rail. When I want or need too, I will use the SL Fuel EXE with other analog mtb’s, or when I ride with my wife.

I guess we all have different reasons.

For a minute there, I thought you had switched over to the dark side of SL emtbs but it sounds like you are committed to full powered bikes? I would like to say my main ride is a Kenevo SL but I am really just as happy on my Levo SL as they have a very similar build and only weigh 4 lbs different. If I didnt have to pedal up, I would ride my Knolly Warden (similar build but weighs 4 lbs less than my LSL) all the time but unless its a shuttle or park day, its an SL for me. I wouldnt sell any of them as they are all great bikes!
@Rando_12345 , I agree with @RustyIron and @Mikerb , if you aren't using it, unload it at the beginning of the next season when people are looking for their next bike. Anyone need a new Fox 38 Factory Grip 2 170mm 27.5 fork? Bikes are not the only thing that are difficult to sell these days!

 

[Stihldog]

For a minute there, I thought you had switched over to the dark side of SL emtbs.

It would be very difficult to part with the FF Rail9.7 Tank. After 4 years it fits and feels like a glove…not to mention the upgrades.

The geometry of the Fuel EXE is suppose to be similar to the Rail. This summer if the Fuel EXE still feels good, I’ll start throwing some more upgrades at it. I’ll use the Fuel EXE for our lower trails on Burke , Whistler and rides with my wife. The Rail will be a Beast for Burke.

 

[RoJo]

Had the same problem. Dumped a fantastic Pivot Firebird 29 on the market that I wasn't using. I was tempted to throw more money at it to go dual crown and make it a park bike, but I already have a DH bike so it's hard to imagine a niche that I could make it fill.
In the end I got peanuts for it because I decided that throwing money at it wasn't going to make me want to ride it.
If you do decide to sell and get precious little for it then think of it as good karma. Someone is getting to enjoy MTB at a level they might not otherwise have been able to afford. A rotting bike in the back of a shed does nobody any good!
That said I am genuinely curious about your tiny battery plan. My girlfriend only rides electric so when we take her bike on uplifts the battery means it is really heavy. She doesn't want no battery (tried it) but clearly doesn't need all that capacity.
Btw, I'm not sure the used market will pick up. These aren't like classic cars. It might stop dropping, but every year much better eBikes are being released. With manual bikes not much has changed in 5 years, perhaps Zeb/38 and storage boxes but you can upgrade to the former and live without the latter. An ebike now is very noticeably better than a 5 year old one. When shops have finally dumped old inventory, there are going to be some cracking new eBikes released to stimulate the market again making that old eBike look worse...

 

[Dax]

Both those options are bad. It’s never going to be lightweight and lifting a 20+ kg bike onto lifts is miserable.

 

[Rando_12345]

Cheers for all the feedback, I agree that I don't see the market picking back up, maybe for MTBs but not older ebikes out of warranty.

@Dax I have been running ebikes at the bike park for 3 years now, here in the south of France the lifts are either a cabin or you just lift the front wheel up and slot it into a holder. The issue is more that running a 20+kg bike over 4-5000m descending gets very tiresome on the arms and back. Also, I'm hitting the big 40 this year and still can't do nice whips, they might be more achievable on a 20kg bike .

I have ridden the Meta at the bike park without the battery, and actually preferred it to my Capra at the time. But in an ideal world I would take the motor and battery out and mount a BB (19 bike), or use a 200Wh battery just to get to the 2-3 secret tracks and power out of turns (22kg ebike with very low range). Realistically, I won't actually do those mods.

I had great plans of taking my old riding buddy out while I own 2 ebikes (he never converted to the electrified world), but planning a day out between the two of us having toddlers is a lost cause... I ride solo 99% of the time.

 

[Rando_12345]

Update: sold for €1800, will hopefully get another 200 out of the second more recent battery. I don't even want to add up the upgrades and fixes (€1000 just for the motor that was still under warranty). It's brutal out there, can only console myself that the electric car I bought 12 months ago is depreciating even faster than my bikes


Anyway, this doesn't mean I can't still make stupid purchases: I'm now debating whether to buy a cheap old DJ bike or a brand new kids 26" full sus to be used a pumptracks and skills parks until my toddler can use it (eta 6 years).

 

[Mrj35]

Both those options are bad. It’s never going to be lightweight and lifting a 20+ kg bike onto lifts is miserable.

lol its also difficult lifting a 25+ kg bike over cattle fences so I've learned

 

[Stihldog]

Another update; I’ve had the Fuel EXE 8 for almost a month now. I completely screwed up in my usage prediction. I’m keeping the Rail but I find I’m using it less. It’s probably 70/30 in favour of the Fuel EXE…and today I’ve started upgrading stuff. Ordered carbon 160mm cranks for the Fuel EXE.

I really thought that the field would be leveled when I ride with my FF eMTB friends …but it’s not. I’m either keeping pace or leaving them behind on climbs.

The ability is different even though the geometry is the same as the Rail. There is no comparison on downhill trails. The Fuel EXE is fast and agile.

I’m happy with this bike now.