Options and opinions for my other half

[Paulcon]

Hi all,

I recently got my Giant Reign E+1 and love it, my other half has seen how much more I enjoy riding now and wants an ebike herself.

We have a budget of about £6000 and have been looking at some of the SL bikes, she has a couple of questions that I can’t answer.

1. Is the smaller motor actually got any grunt, or is she best just going for a ’full fat’ ebike. She has seen reviews saying the SL lack grunt.
2. Is the Rockshox Gold 35 worth it on a £5k+ bike, or is it rubbish? (This is on the Levo)

She’s coming from a Trek Roscoe so this bike will be a big step up, but she wants to keep it for 3 years so doesn’t want something she’s going to feel outdated in 5 min.

The one she’s most interested in is the Orbea Rise H30, but also tempted by the Rail 7 or Levo.

Thanks in advance

 

[Tonybro]

Hi Paul,

I would suggest a Rise. Good amount of power but nowhere near as much as a full fat bike. Main advantage will be the weight, a minimum of 5kg difference against a full fat.

Rise has more power than the Levo SL too and is generally better specification and value. I saw (and replied to) your comment in the Wild FS frame thread. Wait until you read the horror stories with Specialized motors! To be fair to Spesh, you are paying for generally excellent warranty support.

 

[RustyMTB]

Not much to add, save to say although I don't own one, people really do seem to love the Rise. And yes, the 35 is a poor fork which can't really be meaningfully improved via upgrades. One to avoid.

 

[Tonybro]

I changed the one on my Merida within a couple of months of ownership. Poor fork...

 

[Howie145]

We got two emtb at the beginning of the Covid lockdowns....they have returned us to regular riding and I wouldn't be out there on my old damaged kees without the assistance of the motor. A while back I asked my other half what the best thing about her new bike was...."the dropper post" was her reply. She now appreciates many of the other features to.

For me I wanted a consistency of parts across both bikes and an option to swap wheels between bikes, as i run different tyres on the wheels of both bikes, due to riding styles and road/bike trail fitness training for me. It also means if one of the bikes has a breakage its an easy swap out to keep both bikes on the road at different times. (waiting for the back order parts)

On the trail I can carry 1 lot of spare parts for trail breakage between the 2 bikes eg quick links or a whole new chain.

We have 2 focus thron2, an XL and medium. Not all the components are the same now due to my upgrade path with front forks. Other wise I can swap things easily between bikes. It just makes chain, cassette and parts replacement easier. It also allows me in our supply chain troubled world to source and carry 1 spare part (chains, replacement small cogs etc) for both bikes as our usage differs and wear so far occurs at different times.

On the topic of chain wear....I'm only getting 1000km distance at 1mm chain wear. Replacing the 2 smallest cogs on the Shimano 12 speed SLX cassette. This was using a major brand "dry lube". When I cleaned the chain in mineral turpentine the amount of "grinding paste" left in the container surprised me! I thought i was cleaning and lubing well (obviously not so).

I am now trialing a hot melt wax lube. Initial new chain cleaning is a bit time consuming, as is the first time you set up and hot wax the chain. I really appreciate a clean non oily chain and cassette. We will have to see how the wear goes on chain and cassette as i only have arounds 200km on both chains.

My suggestion is to see if you are able to have bikes with similar or the same components in my experience it makes things easier.

Cheers M

 

[Akiwi]

After buying my frist e-mtb about 5 years ago, I stupidly let my wife try it! ;-) So of course, she wanted one too.
Since then, we have done tons of riding together in areas where she would have never gone on a normal bike. They are great equalizers. I enjoy riding for fitness and my wife more for the scenery, so when she is in Turbo, then I am often in Eco, but we are both enjoying ourselves and being out there together.
Yes, my wife loves the dropper post. Means she is a lot more confident on the steep downhills as her feet can touch the ground.
Also, both our bikes have the same battery, so we can swap between bikes, or if one of us wanted to do a huge ride, we could take 2 batteries.

 

[St4nley]

My other half has an SL and a Rail 7 they both have their advantages depending where we are riding, the SL does lack grunt obviously compared to the Rail.
If you are doing most of your riding together I don’t see how your other half could have any other than a full fat ebike as she will always be disadvantaged in battery power even on a Rise.
At 5”4 my other half handles her Rail really well, it’s her go to choice for our big days out in the Peak and Lakes, the turbo gets good use towards the end of the day when her legs are tiring.
I would always favour a Bosch motor over any other currently.

 

[Rubinstein]

Hi all,

I recently got my Giant Reign E+1 and love it, my other half has seen how much more I enjoy riding now and wants an ebike herself.

We have a budget of about £6000 and have been looking at some of the SL bikes, she has a couple of questions that I can’t answer.

1. Is the smaller motor actually got any grunt, or is she best just going for a ’full fat’ ebike. She has seen reviews saying the SL lack grunt.
2. Is the Rockshox Gold 35 worth it on a £5k+ bike, or is it rubbish? (This is on the Levo)

She’s coming from a Trek Roscoe so this bike will be a big step up, but she wants to keep it for 3 years so doesn’t want something she’s going to feel outdated in 5 min.

The one she’s most interested in is the Orbea Rise H30, but also tempted by the Rail 7 or Levo.

Thanks in advance

Hi, one thing you must do is go and demo the bikes on your short list. I nearly ordered the Orbea rise recently but decided to demo first and when I did I didn’t like it. Very capable bike but didn’t have the fun factor I’m used to coming from a full fat motor. Your going the other way so may not be an issue but your definitely going to get places on the reign that she will not on 60nm. Also don’t get hung up on weight. My giant trance is 25kg and I really didn’t notice the difference in weight when I rode the Orbea. It was the m10 ltd so sub 20kg. Best bike I’ve tested recently is the canyon spectral on, new price range coming in may could be worth a look, full fat, carbon, 900wh battery’s should be in budget.
As for the rock shock 35, I’ve done 2000k on it without problems, sure there’s more plush options, I’m myself considering an upgrade to fox performance 36, but it’s £1000, so the rockshox is built to a price point. All depends on your riding area. I do mainly trail/all mountain adventure stuff and it fine for that. Lastly, you could consider bikes from the Giant/Liv range, as others have commented, having 2 bikes from the same stable does have its benefits. So, for me it’s full fat, go demo, enjoy.

 

[Paulcon]

Thanks for all the responses everyone,

We haven’t pulled the trigger yet as their aren’t any Rise’s in stock (looking at the H15), does anyone know where we can demo the bikes? We are in Cheshire but can’t find any demo days

Laura is quite new to riding, she’s been to Flyup with me but current has a Trek Roscoe so any full suspension ebike is going to be a massive upgrade for her, she mainly rides trails but I would like something she can progress into over the 3 years after she has coaching and gains more confidence.

The Trance is an option, but you know what women are like, she prefers the colour of the Rise grey/blue

 

[wildsau2]

i suggest a lightweight full motor bike. orbea rise or perhaps a lighter weight hardtail with 2,6“ and a lighter 500wh battery (depends on your riding fav for sure, hardtails are good enough for flowtrails) . dropper is always usefull. and if she gets out of battery, swap your bikes.
this is my successfull strategy for the last 4 years.

 

[Pdoz]

The Trance is an option, but you know what women are like, she prefers the colour of the Rise grey/blue

The least you could do is show her the customisation paint options of the carbon rise....

Back to helpful advice - forget about a 3 year plan, both her and the bikes will evolve a lot in the next 3 years.If she likes to spin cranks rather than grunt up hills, I'd be looking for a second hand levo sl to get her through the next year or so, and then see where her skills / preferences are. If she just wants grunt, then buy the lightest full power you can find - it'll be easier to learn on than some overweight barge. At the very least, try VERY hard to test ride the bikes you have in mind. Any frame can be painted.

Please don't be put off by the " low power" of the SL's . My daughter refuses to ride my giant but loves riding my levo SL. She is 17, currently riding a scott genius 940 regular bike, and is a better rider than me. She describes the giant as having "dead " power delivery - apparently she doesn't feel connected when pedalling , but the levo sl has just enough feedback ? She has ridden an ep8 equipped merida e160 and declared that just as bad as the giant. If you spin the cranks, the levo sl still produces similar power to the other bikes - so she can leave most full power riders for dead uphill.

Apparently the extra weight also makes the giant handle like a sponge - she's reasonably strong , but also 20 kg lighter than me so doesn't have as much mass to toss the bike around with. Plus she is young / stupid enough to look for rocks to launch off....