Thinking about getting an analogue bike, how do they compare to an emtb?

[mtbexpress585]

I quit mountain biking about 15 years ago, finally got back into it a few years ago with a 2021 Turbo Levo and have been loving it.

But I'm thinking about getting an analogue bike, something with more travel and lighter. I don't live near any shops that will let me test ride an analogue mountain bike.

How does analogue bike compare to a full power ebike like the Turbo Levo? When I turn the power off while climbing it feels nearly impossible. Anyone with an analogue bike know if it will be the same? I just don't want to waste my money getting a non-powered bike only to find out that I hate the climbing.

 

[skinnyboy]

Just transitioned back due to the weather here, (transporting analogue much easier with salted roads). Definitely not as difficult climbing as your bike with the power off, but my brain had adjusted to the assist and it was awful at first without it. Definitely try one before buying, if possible. Emtbs are truly a game changer.

Cheers.

 

[EmtbChar]

I have an acoustic gravel bike weighing 21 lbs to ride around town… all flat. I miss assist even on flatland. I couldn’t imagine climbing hills on an acoustic. Better workout though

 

[Julie_X1]

Longer travel than your Levo? It’s going to be relatively heavy…

Maybe consider a lightweight e-mtb? Their weights are getting closer to those of acoustic bikes.

I have a regular bike I love, but it’s a lightweight carbon race bike. It’s still a lot easier to climb hills on my “lightweight” Trek Fuel EXe.

 

[Ou812]

I still have a small fleet of analog bikes, just built up a new Yeti SB140 to replace my SB130 and now I’m looking at building an Ibis HD6 to replace my Yeti SB150. The analog bike will be a good bit lighter than your e-bike for sure, the HD6 I did a demo on weighed 33lbs, my Levo is right at 47lbs. All my analog bikes pedal way better than my levo with the power turned off, it’s not even close.

When I first got my e-bike it was all I would ride, I seriously considered selling all my analog bikes. Now I’m back to riding my analog bikes more, it’s about a 70/30 split. When I first started riding my analogs again I absolutely hated it, did my first real climb and thought I was going to die. It took me about 2 months of riding just about every day to get back to where I was before I bought the e-bike.

TL;DR version: swapping back to an analog bike will be rough at first, especially if you’ve ridden nothing but e-bikes for a few years.

 

[cozzy]

Don't waste your time or money.
I've bought 2 since having an ebike.
160mm enduro bike, rode it 3 times and sold after 5 weeks.
DH bike. Loved this but obviously not used to pedal anywhere. Sold after 16 months.
Will not be buying any more non eebs.
It just seems pointless to own a bike that offers more pushing or riding slowly uphill and less of the actual fun downhill bits.

 

[rzr]

analog bike is a bit different, it's a bit easier to climb
first, your emtb (with motor off), gearing is not the same (higher), crank arms are shorter ! (with high gearing even worse), probably heavier tires? and of course bike weights more.

I tried once to ride with not so fit friends on my levo without a battery, and at the end I couldn't finish one climb, despite being quite fit. what happened? I have 34t chainring and 11-46 cassete, 29" wheel at the back and crank arms 160mm !! and still a bit heavier bike.
On my analog, I have 32t chainring and 10-42 cassete - which gives similar ratios, but crankarms are 170. and the bike is lighter.

I took my Sentinel for a spin month ago, I did 2000m elevation, but at the end, I'm sure i want to sell it, all those long climbs - what a waste of time...

 

[Chrysaor]

What I find a good quiver is a full power EMTB setup for proper enduro riding and a very light analogue trail bike to keep things pleasant going up hill.

 

[irie]

... all those long climbs - what a waste of time...

This ^^^

 

[Montana St Alum]

I made it to age 70 before pulling the trigger on an ebike. I love it. But I've lived on the Wasatch Back (Utah) where the climbs begin at over 7000' for over 30 years and if I go much less than 50% on the donut powered bike, I start "jonesing" pretty bad for a good climb. Also, trips to Moab are analog only, and I'm not ready to give THAT up!

But, I sure wish my wife would relent and get an ebike so that I don't have to ride mine with her - with the motor off!

 

[Stihldog]

The days of being called a “cheater” are over. When I purchased my first eMTB in 2019 (Rail 9.7), and started riding to the highest trails on our mountain, I knew this was IT. There were areas that very few could reach on a bike. I would only see the occasional hiker outfitted for the climb. But that has changed. I sold my analog gravel and road bikes pre-Covid and purchased another eMTB (HT).

Within my small circle friends, and soon the neighbours, eMTBs started to grow. There are still a couple of die-hards but eMTBs are the norm now for this mountain.

A few weeks ago, on a sunny holiday, I could not believe the amount of eMTBs. 60-70% of the bikes were eMTBs. Its now become difficult for me to pass a bike, while on a climb, to my favourite trail.

I may add the Trek EXE to the stable …eventually.

 

[Ribinrobin]

Owned ebikes since 2019 and currently have a Levo. I've always kept and reguarly used my normal bike. I have a specialized enduro i use for racing, parks and even a bit of trail riding. It keeps me fit and i love how it rides! Great looking bike too.

I really like having my acoustic bike electric free too, just get it out van it works every time (providing i aint broke it) no plugs no electric just pure bike. I can see why people go full EMTB as they are amazing, but i like having two different riding experiences.

I'd say if your a full fat ebiker its going to take you a long time to get back to normal bike fitness and enjoying it, but its a very rewarding experience.

 

[Mrj35]

I quit mountain biking about 15 years ago, finally got back into it a few years ago with a 2021 Turbo Levo and have been loving it.

But I'm thinking about getting an analogue bike, something with more travel and lighter. I don't live near any shops that will let me test ride an analogue mountain bike.

How does analogue bike compare to a full power ebike like the Turbo Levo? When I turn the power off while climbing it feels nearly impossible. Anyone with an analogue bike know if it will be the same? I just don't want to waste my money getting a non-powered bike only to find out that I hate the climbing.

go rent a regular bike or demo one. saves you spending money. go climb some good hills with it. Descending is pretty much the same but bike will feel pretty light.

 

[TommyC]

I’ve been thinking this exact same thing recently. Partly because I put a hub motor on my boys bike so he could keep up but it’s made it less of an exercise for him. I’m on the look out for a decent 2nd hand bike. That way if it’s a mistake hopefully I won’t lose too much money on it!

 

[Streddaz]

I quit mountain biking about 15 years ago, finally got back into it a few years ago with a 2021 Turbo Levo and have been loving it.

But I'm thinking about getting an analogue bike, something with more travel and lighter. I don't live near any shops that will let me test ride an analogue mountain bike.

How does analogue bike compare to a full power ebike like the Turbo Levo? When I turn the power off while climbing it feels nearly impossible. Anyone with an analogue bike know if it will be the same? I just don't want to waste my money getting a non-powered bike only to find out that I hate the climbing.

I have a Levo SL and a 2015 Norco Sight as my non-Ebike. I'm planning to upgrade the Norco to a Specialized Stumpjumper ST (the 130/140 travel version) as I want something that is a 29er, light and can do the odd XC race on and some big backcountry rides, so it needs to climb well. I feel that the Levo SL will handle all the big stuff like enduro racing and the Stumpjumper will be for my analogue rides.
If you wanted more suspension the Evo version of the Stumpjumper is the non-Ebike version of the Levo, so that wouldn't feel to out of place.

 

[Suns_PSD]

I greatly enjoy both my mid-power e-bike and my bike but if I HAD to choose one for the next 15 years (until 67), I'd probably choose the bike. In old age I'd choose the e-bike. Better to always have both.

Where I'm at with it is that riding steep grinding terrain on a 33# aggressive tire having All Mountain bike, kind of sucks even though I did it for years. Just too high of a percent of the time is spent climbing (probably 75%) and the juice just ain't worth the squeeze to me any longer. An e-bike offers a much better balance making the climbing/ descending, much closer to 50/ 50. The e-bike is never as satisfying for me though.

Conversely, easier trails are pretty awful on an e-bike. My e-bike is much too capable and fast to make a 'trail ride' any fun at all.

So, what I have built is an all-out mid-power e-bike. It's a Relay with very grippy tires and soon to have full coil suspension. And frankly it is awesome when the trails are particularly gnarly. So fun and it's just great not having to suffer so much climbing back up after finding some new downhill chunk.

However, my (pedal) bike is a quite capable 28.5# 130mm trail bike and key to its performance is pretty fast tires (not Minions or other enduro tires). You don't really want super high grip tires on your trail bike because not only is the bike considerably faster on 'trail' tires but some slipping and sliding is super fun. There is nothing quite like maintaining hell of momentum thru fast sections and quick ups/ downs on this bike. It feels alive in a way that my 44# e-bike with a motor, just can't. It's satisfying in a way that an e-bike, just isn't.

Also, you learn some things riding an e-bike, but you also learn some things on a bike and I think there is a place for both.

BTW, I only rode an e-bike for about 3 months and my first ride on my new bike was a bit of a struggle but now 2 months in I'm only down maybe 20% from my absolute biking peak.

So my advice is e-bike for the gnar, pedal bike for the trails.

GL

 

[Husky430]

 

[Mikerb]

I think a lot depends both on the type of trails you ride and your level of fitness. Fitness can also be age constrained given there are 4 different aspects, muscle strength, stamina, cardio and recovery. I changed from mtb to EMTB at 68 when I found "recovery" was the main one of those 4 to be the most noticeably worse.
My preferred riding is gravity trails in the forest, meaning I am either diving downhill or riding back up....little or no riding on the flat apart from getting to the forest in the first place. What I noticed very quickly using an EMTB ( first one was a Levo Comp) was that my rides became 90% fun time as opposed to only 10% fun time on an analogue bike and each ride was twice as long as I used to do.
I'm 73 now and feel I am riding better than ever so there is no way I would bother with an analogue bike now. If I was 35 and did more xc/adventure type riding on flatter terrain maybe I would have a different view..........that aint going to happen though!!

 

[Streddaz]

I greatly enjoy both my mid-power e-bike and my bike but if I HAD to choose one for the next 15 years (until 67), I'd probably choose the bike. In old age I'd choose the e-bike. Better to always have both.

Where I'm at with it is that riding steep grinding terrain on a 33# aggressive tire having All Mountain bike, kind of sucks even though I did it for years. Just too high of a percent of the time is spent climbing (probably 75%) and the juice just ain't worth the squeeze to me any longer. An e-bike offers a much better balance making the climbing/ descending, much closer to 50/ 50. The e-bike is never as satisfying for me though.

Conversely, easier trails are pretty awful on an e-bike. My e-bike is much too capable and fast to make a 'trail ride' any fun at all.

So, what I have built is an all-out mid-power e-bike. It's a Relay with very grippy tires and soon to have full coil suspension. And frankly it is awesome when the trails are particularly gnarly. So fun and it's just great not having to suffer so much climbing back up after finding some new downhill chunk.

However, my (pedal) bike is a quite capable 28.5# 130mm trail bike and key to its performance is pretty fast tires (not Minions or other enduro tires). You don't really want super high grip tires on your trail bike because not only is the bike considerably faster on 'trail' tires but some slipping and sliding is super fun. There is nothing quite like maintaining hell of momentum thru fast sections and quick ups/ downs on this bike. It feels alive in a way that my 44# e-bike with a motor, just can't. It's satisfying in a way that an e-bike, just isn't.

Also, you learn some things riding an e-bike, but you also learn some things on a bike and I think there is a place for both.

BTW, I only rode an e-bike for about 3 months and my first ride on my new bike was a bit of a struggle but now 2 months in I'm only down maybe 20% from my absolute biking peak.

So my advice is e-bike for the gnar, pedal bike for the trails.

GL

That's what I think too. The long travel heavy bike may as well be the Ebike, as the weight isn't as much of an issue and the normal bike is the one that is light and a good climber so a light trail bike would be best.

 

[KnollyBro]

I quit mountain biking about 15 years ago, finally got back into it a few years ago with a 2021 Turbo Levo and have been loving it.

But I'm thinking about getting an analogue bike, something with more travel and lighter. I don't live near any shops that will let me test ride an analogue mountain bike.

How does analogue bike compare to a full power ebike like the Turbo Levo? When I turn the power off while climbing it feels nearly impossible. Anyone with an analogue bike know if it will be the same? I just don't want to waste my money getting a non-powered bike only to find out that I hate the climbing.

Why do you want an analogue bike if you are happy with the Levo? Put a bigger fork on your Levo if you want more travel. As stated by so many, you will not appreciate the pain of climbing on analogue bike when you could be enjoying more DH riding on your Levo. The only exception to that rule would be that you are not allowed to use an emtb on some trails you want to ride, you can shuttle or ride in a bike park with lift access. My Knolly Warden is 25% more fun to ride than my Kenevo SL until I have to climb up a hill, on it then it becomes 100% less fun to ride. Both bikes are equally spec'd but the 7lbs of motor and battery on the KSL will always be my bike of choice if any more than 20% of my time is spent climbing.

I love my pedal bike the most, as long as I don't have to pedal it much

 

[Ribinrobin]

If your a park rider just have a park bike/uplift bike. I use my Levo for most my trails and sometimes the odd normie ride, but any uplift park the normals going on.

 

[Christurbo]

I built an Enduro from frame up to go with my EMTB.

It’s a pretty ornament now. Used it a handful of times. It’s boring compared, limited laps so difficult to session. Unlike the Kenevo which is like a portable shuttle for me!

 

[rzr]

I used my Levo in bike parks, but just without the battery (and putting only the cover with duct tape )

 

[Tooks]

Horses for courses isn’t it, I enjoy riding e-bikes and 100% human powered ones as well.

I’ve got two full suspension e-bikes, and the non e-bikes are a 160mm travel full sus enduro and a 150mm travel hardtail. I’ve got other ‘projects’ including e-bike conversions, but bike wrenching is just another side of the hobby for me.

All are fun to ride in their own way, flicking the hardtail around fairly flat forest single track has been the most fun riding I’ve done this year.

The night riding I’m doing now is also fun, but for different reasons, and that’s on any bike.

I think worrying and FOMO sometimes seem to go hand in hand with e-bike ownership, but just ride whatever you’ve got now and only think about changing or adding to your bike stable if somehow you’re being limited by something that a new bike would unlock.

 

[Ribinrobin]

If your a park rider just have a park bike/uplift bike. I use my Levo for most my trails and sometimes the odd normie ride, but any uplift park the normals going on.

I built an Enduro from frame up to go with my EMTB.

It’s a pretty ornament now. Used it a handful of times. It’s boring compared, limited laps so difficult to session. Unlike the Kenevo which is like a portable shuttle for me!

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[Christurbo]

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[Mario Antony]

I understand your question, but let me try to explain first my position.

I always had bikes (mtb & road), and when we were a smaller family, I usual did my commute back home, on my road bike (around 25miles / 50km).
On a normal year, I would do between 10Kkm and 12Kkm.

My MTB rides, were normally hard, being fit, and usualy alone, because no one had the fitness.
Also waking up at 700am on a Saturday, I wouldn't like to do ½ of the distance.
I enjoy the social, but at that time, was looking for some connection from mother nature, and accomplish hard stuf.
Usual ride would be around 40km and almost 2.000m.

Back into the present, with a larger family, not being able to commute by bike and having limit time to maintain the fitnesamein order to continue enjoy the same thrills as I was used to, I would need an ebike,
With the ebike, returned the social riding, it was easier to have fellow mates on a ride, and all would do the +35km, +1600m.
Until... I get bored!
You can ride ebikes and get tired (less assistance or faster, or both!)... but it wasn't the physical aspect, that was making me bored.

It seems the challendge wasn't there anymore... even if ebikes permits having lots of fun on the climbs! And not only on the descents...

So I started moving away from my usual trails, and discover trails, that lead me away from the mountains trails, climbing less, and discoverin distante trails.

And this new rides, werr something else!
Similar as my Enduro moto, where you follow a trail, and basically get lost in the woods.
Sure I needed a GPS, but I wasn't following a GPX. It was a bit of freedom, go anywhere, don't worry of you are right or wrong!
If there were no passage, I would return back and go for the alternative.

This type of riding, started to be usual, and I was having more and more fun.
also this kind of adventures , permited adventuring on my MTB on these trails, knowing before hand that I wouldn'T need to suffer if I was wrong, nor did I would need to follow a GPX,

Both are different, emtb and mtb look similar, but are to diffferent things, being the emtb a machine closer to an Enduro moto, but with more physical demand (this is not linear... but i think you get the idea).
I still have my bikes alonside my ebikes and Motos.

Would I sell any? Probably, time is scarse and limited, so I don't use so much each.
But having the option, to ride any of then, is like a small child with a room full of toys!

A bike, is a bike and when I ride it, I never came home thinking how hard I had to push on that climb...or anything!
It's a known factor, you just need to embrace and adapt!

PS: the thing I really like about BIKES, is the weight, simplicity, lack of noise, nimble ride, and how connected you can be with the machine.

 

[Christurbo]

I understand your question, but let me try to explain first my position.

I always had bikes (mtb & road), and when we were a smaller family, I usual do my work commute back home, on my road bike (around 25miles / 50km). On a normal year, I would do between 10Kkm and 12Kkm.

My MTB rides, were normally hard, being fit, and usualy alone, because no one had the fitness, and waking up at 700am on a Saturday, I wouldn't like to do on the same time ½ of the distance. I enjoy the social, but at that time, was looking for some connection from mother nature, and accomplish hard stuf. Usual ride would be around 40km and almost 2.000m.

Back into the present, with a larger family, not being able to commute on my bike and having limit time to maintain the fitness, to enjoy the same thrills as I was used to, I would need an ebike,
With the ebike, returned the social riding, it was easier to have fellow mates on a ride, and all would do the +35km, +1600m.
Until... I get bored!
You can ride ebikes and get tired (less assistance or faster, or both!)... but it wasn't the physical aspect, that was making me bored.

It seems the challendge wasn't there anymore... even if ebikes permits having lots of fun on the climbs! Not only on the descents...

So I started moving away from my usual trails, and discover trails, that lead me moving away from the mountains trails, climbing less, and discovering more distante trails.
And it was something else! Similar as my Enduro moto, where you follow a trail, and basically get lost in the woods.
Sure I needed a GPS, but I wasn't following a GPX. It was a bit of freedom!
If there were no passage, I would return back and go for the alternative.
This new way of riding, has pushed me on having more and more fun, and also permited adventuring on my MTB on these trails, knowing before hand that I wouldn'T need to suffer if I was wrong, nor did I would need to follow a GPX,

Both are different, emtb and mtb look similar, but are to diffferent things, being the emtb a machine closer to an Enduro moto, but with more physical demand (this is not linear... but i think you get the idea).
I still have my bikes alonside my ebikes and Motos.
Would I sell any? Probably, time is scarse and limited, so Imdon't use so much each. But having the option, is something else, and never came home thinking how hard I had to push on that climb...or anything!
It's a known factor, you just need to embrace and adapt!

I like that idea …. Keeps things interesting.

 

[Quantock Explorer]

I quit mountain biking about 15 years ago, finally got back into it a few years ago with a 2021 Turbo Levo and have been loving it.

But I'm thinking about getting an analogue bike, something with more travel and lighter. I don't live near any shops that will let me test ride an analogue mountain bike.

How does analogue bike compare to a full power ebike like the Turbo Levo? When I turn the power off while climbing it feels nearly impossible. Anyone with an analogue bike know if it will be the same? I just don't want to waste my money getting a non-powered bike only to find out that I hate the climbing.

I think the key question is do you enjoy climbing? And by that, I mean the physical exertion of it.
If you do, go for it.
I bought a hardtail Pace 2 years ago and I've never looked back. I now ride it 90% of the time.
My Levo is fun, but the Pace is far more rewarding and it's in it's element on twisty single track.
In fact, I've enjoyed the analogue so much that I've just invested in a full suss (YT Izzo).

 

[The Hodge]

I'd love to join in this conversation but haven't a clue what these analog / acoustic bikes folks keep mentioning are ?
If you were considering whether or not to get an mtb to go with an emtb ..I wouldn't bother ..it'll be a crap experience after being used to the ebike ..