What is the perfect EMTB?

[VWsurfbum]

So my beloved Heckler goes out of warranty this month, so the mind wonders what would be its "Perfect" replacement?
Do I need that 190mm of travel?
Do I need a 900 battery?
Do I need a full Fat?
Do I need a Lightweight?
Is Bosch/Shimano the best option?
Do I need a VPP (or other) Suspension design?
Do I want a mullet or a full 29er?
Do I spend the same amount as a small family car on a push bike?
Are Specialized still breaking motors constantly?
Do I wait a whole year after putting a deposit down?
Do I keep what I have and buy a nice camper van instead?
Do any of the Ebikes make me a better rider?
Do I sell my bike or keep it as its so blinged I wouldn't get anything back for it?

So I want a 29er, 600+ battery with a VPP suspension and be lightweight with 90nm of torque 150-160 travel, not be a specialized and look Gucci.

Answers on a postcard to what would be your Ideal bike.

 

[smc_stefan]

No idea how a Santa would be less Gucci than a Spesh but honestly you should give it a try. Do a testride an see for yourself. I personally went for a Levo Pro and I'm very happy with it.

Some of the reasons I got it:
- Fuel EXe was not available in my desired Spec and coulour
- Liked the Levo more than the Fuel after a testride
- There's a Spesh LBS 15min from my home (just in case something breaks, this comes in handy)
- It's perfect for my local trails
- It fits my riding style
- All good EMTBs are fckn expensive, so what...

But if you don't have any issues with your Heckler, why don't you just keep it and get that Campervan, there will be no nice one for the price of an EMTB, but you could at least get a very used "crackhead edition" style Van for the price of a new bike.

 

[Paulquattro]

There isn't one

 

[Moderator]

This has all the ingredients to be a contentious thread ...

Just to remind everyone :

Only your view matters.
Your view and experience is more important and relevant than anyone else's.
Remember, no one else is a real person with thoughts or feelings, so say whatever you like.
Rational discussion and/or reasoning are pointless.
There is no right or wrong, unless you're saying it.

 

[smc_stefan]

There isn't one

Very true!
At the end it's the best compromise which you will buy.

Ideal for me personally would be:
- 150/160 travel
- 750wH battery
- 60 to 90nm
- no more than 18kg
- powerful, light and reliable motor

Hopefully battery tech will develop further, so we can have lighter battery packs, which would be a real blast.

 

[InRustWeTrust]

I would say it depends entirely on what you ride if you ride mostly trail, forest roads or enduro or a little bit of each.

the most ultimate would be a bike with 140-150 damping and a 540 battery and 29 wheels.
then you have a fairly all-round bike, then which brand you choose is up to you.

 

[The EMF]

So my beloved Heckler goes out of warranty this month, so the mind wonders what would be its "Perfect" replacement?
Do I need that 190mm of travel?
Do I need a 900 battery?
Do I need a full Fat?
Do I need a Lightweight?
Is Bosch/Shimano the best option?
Do I need a VPP (or other) Suspension design?
Do I want a mullet or a full 29er?
Do I spend the same amount as a small family car on a push bike?
Are Specialized still breaking motors constantly?
Do I wait a whole year after putting a deposit down?
Do I keep what I have and buy a nice camper van instead?
Do any of the Ebikes make me a better rider?
Do I sell my bike or keep it as its so blinged I wouldn't get anything back for it?

So I want a 29er, 600+ battery with a VPP suspension and be lightweight with 90nm of torque 150-160 travel, not be a specialized and look Gucci.

Answers on a postcard to what would be your Ideal bike.

A Heckler might be the perfect choice

 

[kombos]

Maybe just get a custom wrap for your Heckler….

 

[Mteam]

keep the heckler, the full fat emtb world hasnt moved on sufficiently from there to make changing bikes worthwhile IMO, unless the riding you do has now changed.

buy the campervan/go on holidays etc

 

[Shjay]

Not VVP but new Wild ticks all other boxes, put all the Heckler bling on lowest carbon model, could sell Heckler as frameset & parts off Wild separately bit of work but worth it

 

[VWsurfbum]

keep the heckler, the full fat emtb world hasnt moved on sufficiently from there to make changing bikes worthwhile IMO, unless the riding you do has now changed.

buy the campervan/go on holidays etc

I'm thinking this maybe the route

 

[VWsurfbum]

Not VVP but new Wild ticks all other boxes, put all the Heckler bling on lowest carbon model, could sell Heckler as frameset & parts off Wild separately bit of work but worth it

Its the year wait that puts me off.

 

[Shjay]

Its the year wait that puts me off.

Forgot that small part

 

[Mikerb]

My priorities are slightly different. I think most of the brands have converged on a fairly standard geo and have 160/170mm bikes equally suited to trail and most enduro capable......... so the main differences for me are:-

Excellent engineering............ally not carbon, no headset cable routing, no knock blocks, quality visible welds.

Excellent component selection........RS or Fox but top of the range suspension, Code RSC brakes, SRAM Eagle GX minimum, Bosch CX motor, DT Swiss hybrid wheels and hubs, Maxxis DHR/DHF or Assegai.....ECO + front, DD rear.

Local dealership

 

[Doomanic]

Do I keep what I have and buy a nice camper van instead?

I know eBikes are expensive, but have you seen the cost of a decent camper these days?

 

[RustyIron]

So my beloved Heckler goes out of warranty this month, so the mind wonders what would be its "Perfect" replacement?

The NEW Heckler?
Is there anything wrong with your current bike? I've got the same as you, but have six months left on the warranty. I've tricked this one out to my liking, so I'm not eager to replace it right away. If I was going to buy another bike, I'd be looking at a newer model Heckler, or a Pivot Shuttle LT.

 

[maynard]

Keep it and get a light weight eeb

 

[Stihldog]

I’d personally keep the 2020 Rail9.7 Tank. Have you seen the price of a high end new one . $19K CDN. But the EXE Fuel looks tempting… as a spare.

 

[VWsurfbum]

The NEW Heckler?
Is there anything wrong with your current bike? I've got the same as you, but have six months left on the warranty. I've tricked this one out to my liking, so I'm not eager to replace it right away. If I was going to buy another bike, I'd be looking at a newer model Heckler, or a Pivot Shuttle LT.

Nope nothing wrong with the current one or the new one (apart from not doing a proper yellow) so is near the top of the list

 

[VWsurfbum]

Keep it and get a light weight eeb

Thats not a bad idea, add to the fleet, not replace??? Hmmmmmmm

 

[VWsurfbum]

My priorities are slightly different. I think most of the brands have converged on a fairly standard geo and have 160/170mm bikes equally suited to trail and most enduro capable......... so the main differences for me are:-

Excellent engineering............ally not carbon, no headset cable routing, no knock blocks, quality visible welds.

Excellent component selection........RS or Fox but top of the range suspension, Code RSC brakes, SRAM Eagle GX minimum, Bosch CX motor, DT Swiss hybrid wheels and hubs, Maxxis DHR/DHF or Assegai.....ECO + front, DD rear.

Local dealership

WOW we couldnt be further apart on what we like lol

Canbon not ally. Hate seeing the welds also on ally bikes lol
Code brakes oh no, DT Swiss wheels Meh

 

[MOTO13]

The perfect bike doesn't exist and never will. It's like the perfect woman...eventually, you just want to ride a different one.

 

[Doomanic]

You're supposed to end statements like that with [/BamBam]

 

[Dave_B]

The Rail is good mate. I’m enjoying mine. Had a few niggles with it but all ironed out now.

The motor feels better than the Brose.
You can Mullet a Rail.
You cannot run the Levo full 29’r.
750wh battery on the Rail is all we would ever need. (Same for 700 on the Levo).

I bought the Rail because I could get warranty support local (and I have used it several times).

Not sure if there is a Trek dealer local to Chelmsford?

Spesh obvs local to you.

The Wild looks extremely good but I would not want to wait a year.

Full vs Semi vs SL ?
Do you want to go to places like Afan, coedy etc and not worry at all about the climbs? Full fat for me.
The idea of an SL is great and as you know I had the Levo SL. If I could have two bikes, then yeah full fat and SL. I can’t have two bikes so the full fat wins.

Bullet is your other option. It has the bigger battery and you have the local ish support.

 

[Doomanic]

I don't think there's a bad eMTB out there now so once you've decided on which motor you want (as the only fixed item) you've then only got to decide what spec you want and the price you are prepared to pay, brand is not so important.

 

[stage 4 steve]

For me , full power bosch mullet , alloy frame ,trp brakes. (220front)170mm lyrik front , coil back 150mm (I'm heavy)correct geo , and set up for me. Belt driven gearbox drive if such a thing will ever be available . Carbon front wheel alloy rear. Dd tyre on the back, endure on the front..700+wh battery.

I don't think there's a bad eMTB out there now so once you've decided on which motor you want (as the only fixed item) you've then only got to decide what spec you want and the price you are prepared to pay, brand is not so important.

 

[steve_sordy]

The perfect emtb would have an easily and cheaply repairable motor and battery.

 

[roboman]

So my beloved Heckler goes out of warranty this month, so the mind wonders what would be its "Perfect" replacement?
Do I need that 190mm of travel?
Do I need a 900 battery?
Do I need a full Fat?
Do I need a Lightweight?
Is Bosch/Shimano the best option?
Do I need a VPP (or other) Suspension design?
Do I want a mullet or a full 29er?
Do I spend the same amount as a small family car on a push bike?
Are Specialized still breaking motors constantly?
Do I wait a whole year after putting a deposit down?
Do I keep what I have and buy a nice camper van instead?
Do any of the Ebikes make me a better rider?
Do I sell my bike or keep it as its so blinged I wouldn't get anything back for it?

So I want a 29er, 600+ battery with a VPP suspension and be lightweight with 90nm of torque 150-160 travel, not be a specialized and look Gucci.

Answers on a postcard to what would be your Ideal bike.

I bought a Giant Reign EMTB and it checks a lot of the boxes in your list.
- 170MM fork
- 800 battery
- light weight-ish - it's a EMTB right
- 85 Nm Yamaha motor that awesome & reliable
- Mullet design
- Good price for all the models
- Giant is the largest bike manufacturer so support isn't going away
Check it out Reign E+ 3 (2022) | Enduro bike | Giant Bicycles US

 

[paquo]

quiet
lighter weight
ability to tune power delivery --rules out bosch as turbo is but emtb is not
reliable-rules out spec

 

[Waynemarlow]

Shhhssh dont openly ask the question, but can the motor be err given just a wee bit of top end range. You cannot believe how much nicer the bikes are when you are not nudging into the speed limiter the whole time. Particularly the lightweights seem to be most afflicted on trail rides.

Its getting to the stage not all motors can be given the right sort of upgrade treatment