What to buy

[Steve940]

Evening all,and yes,your all gonna be sick to death of another which bike to buy question.
So briefly,I. 43 years young and have rode mtbs on off since 2011..cube ltd which I loved and put lots of miles on.this was stolen and i didnt buy again for 12-18months by which time i opted for a orange clockwork,nice enough but I just didnt enjoy it the same,why? Cant put my finger on it in truth,maybe I got lazy maybe the 29" wheels felt slow heavy and just not the same. So we'll fast forward to now and like a lot of others I really want to jump back in to biking and see the Emtb as ideal for me as i cannot face having to start again fitness wise,the first 6months of cube ship was tough,and I mean tough.
So without debate I'm getting an ebike..budget is around 4k,and I've decide on full suspension and that was before reading anything here,its just what I want..
Now I could order online but have decided I'm going to buy local which is county durham,I'll also take advantage of 0% and keep my savings in the bank thank you very much.
Local dealer is cube,but they sell specialized,whyte and giant.all good reputable brands..I've been looking at the cube stereo 140/160
Specialized levo
And there was a whyte at this price point that looked pretty nice..my knowledge is mediocre at best so I'd appreciate advice but not why this and that as so many of these threads tend to go.cheere

 

[EebStrider]

Everyone seems to wax lyrical about Specialized bikes, but after doing a lot of research, at the same price point as you, I went for the Cube.

I wanted the Gen 4 Bosch CX motor, as it’s awesome, and gets great reviews. The motor in the Levo is quite loud in comparison, apparently. Looking at the other components, at the 4K price point, you’d need to spend at least another grand to get the same on a Levo. Unless you can find a discount on last years model. Which will be out of date anyway!

 

[Steve940]

I was under the impression the levo was very quiet compared the cubes Bosch motor.and yes,the cubes look superb value for money.

 

[EebStrider]

I was under the impression the levo was very quiet compared the cubes Bosch motor.and yes,the cubes look superb value for money.

Thats not what I’ve read on here. Just this morning I was reading people saying they’re loud and that they have to turn them off, so as to not get caught riding ebikes in restricted areas.

 

[Zimmerframe]

The latest cube is a really nice looking bike, and by all accounts, very nicely setup and rides well too.

Yes, the brose motor is normally very quiet. For some reason a few are a bit noisier, but still considerably quieter than a bosch or a shimano. You can barely hear the brose. The Mahle motor in the Levo SL is louder, more like a shimano.

Either way, you normally tune out the sound. It's more like an electric drill than a 2 stroke.

 

[Steve940]

The latest cube is a really nice looking bike, and by all accounts, very nicely setup and rides well too.

Yes, the brose motor is normally very quiet. For some reason a few are a bit noisier, but still considerably quieter than a bosch or a shimano. You can barely hear the brose. The Mahle motor in the Levo SL is louder, more like a shimano.

Either way, you normally tune out the sound. It's more like an electric drill than a 2 stroke.

Pretty much what I thought,I'll have a look in person when I finally get to the shop.i justhope the bosch isnt overly loud,it ould be a deal breaker

 

[R120]

Thats not what I’ve read on here. Just this morning I was reading people saying they’re loud and that they have to turn them off, so as to not get caught riding ebikes in restricted areas.

Thats the Levo SL, which uses a different motor to the regular Levo.

 

[Steve940]

I quite.liked the idea of the haibike flyon,but slightly more than I want to pay and the motor as superb as it seems Ive zero idea how reliable they are...if they were a little cheaper then I might of been very tempted..

 

[Akiwi]

I think it is very important to buy Locally. You are lucky that you seem to have quite a good range of bikes you could choose from. Probably extreeeeeemly important in making your decision will be availability at the moment. I watched the latest Embn show where they mentioned that the bike shops are being completely swamped with customers as everyone realises that they cant do most other sports except biking, and possibly have a bit of cash to spare due to cancelled holidays.
I have a new Cube TM 160 so am biassed. My buying decisions were Value for money, and I got it 10% cheaper on Black Friday. I went for the 160 with 27.5 wheels as it just felt a bit livelier and similar to my previous 27.5 bike.
I am very happy with the bike and the new Bosch motor. Sounds about the same as the previous model, but is much easier to pedal without the motor on.

 

[steve_sordy]

Do yourself a big favour and try as many different bikes and motors as possible. I know that currently that will be hard to achieve. But you don't want to shell out all the money and get yet another bike that you are not happy with but can't quite put your finger on why..........

 

[Steve940]

Do yourself a big favour and try as many different bikes and motors as possible. I know that currently that will be hard to achieve. But you don't want to shell out all the money and get yet another bike that you are not happy with but can't quite put your finger on why..........

Definitely!!!

 

[Steve940]

Done a few miles on the orange this evening and it's nearly killed me,spent 20mins afterwards sweating n coughing...thus will be tough regardless of motor lol

 

[deksawyer]

My advice is to ignore which motor the bike comes with and choose one with the best spec you can that you like, suspension especially. Brakes too and any other tasty cycle parts.

I spent £3k last year on my Haibike (which was already discounted) and have spent quite a bit "making it my own".... higher bars, shorter stem, new shock, fork damper upgrade, bigger rotors.

It's almost there for me, but it might have been easier/cheaper getting a higher spec model in the first place (gotta love nice bar and stem though).

Happy hunting.

D.

 

[steve_sordy]

My advice is to ignore which motor the bike comes with . ..............................

I have a different opinion to that. During my testing period, I discovered that the motors were different. Some had more drag than others, some were noisier. But the features that surprised me were neither of those. The motors can have different max torque, like 50Nm - 90Nm, and I believe that the new Haibikes can even go right up to 120Nm. That is a hell of a range and cannot be ignored as it will have a fundamental impact upon how the bike rides and how you ride it. Another feature is the shape of that torque curve, ie where does the torque come in? On the Yamaha motor, it felt sadly lacking in grunt at low cadence, but delivered loads at high cadence. The Shimano motor always seemed to deliver what I needed when I needed it and best suited my pedalling style. Yet another is the number of modes. I found three to suit me best (Eco Trail and Boost) plus a Walk function. One bike had six! (plus walk). That I found to be just too many, confusing in fact.

Separate to motors, but as impact-full, is the mode changer ie switch or lever? I could not get on with the rocker switches. I couldn't feel the click through my gloves (it was winter when I was testing) and with the whole bike vibrating due to the rough trail I frequently shifted multiple times and ended up in completely the wrong mode, once in the "Off" mode! The Di2 levers were perfect for me because I clicked once up or down and that was what I got, one mode shift.

As I said at the beginning, these are my opinions. But if you don't know about these differences, or haven't been able to experience them, then you won't know what to look for to see if you like them, or not.

 

[Steve940]

As a slightly heavier rider and I use slightly sparingly,I always assumed more power and bigger battery is best.ie flyon..brose sounds perfect except for the reliability,but let's face it,I will be using warranty at some point regardless.
In my head,the cube with its gen4 Bosch motor is favourite,75nm with a 625wh battery...my knowledge is bang average at best but the overall package,bike and its components,motor and battery and obviously price make it a clear winner.until i test ride all of the above is completely irrelevant

 

[outerlimits]

As a slightly heavier rider and I use slightly sparingly,I always assumed more power and bigger battery is best.ie flyon..brose sounds perfect except for the reliability,but let's face it,I will be using warranty at some point regardless.
In my head,the cube with its gen4 Bosch motor is favourite,75nm with a 625wh battery...my knowledge is bang average at best but the overall package,bike and its components,motor and battery and obviously price make it a clear winner.until i test ride all of the above is completely irrelevant

I had my motor replaced under warranty in my Levo. They put the 70nm T motor in by mistake instead of the 90nm S motor. I am a heavier rider like yourself and I really noticed the decreased torque. The motor was replaced with the right one and now all good. Specialized warranty is the best I have come across, with a no questions asked replacements given.
The warranty on the new motor resets, so it’s good for another 2 years.
All ebikes have issues, and the Spesh is inflated because of their inflated ownership.

Oh, and to satisfy the emotional and ill informed ones on here I’ll give you another piece of advice. Just buy the bike that is right for you.

 

[Zimmerframe]

Just buy the bike that is right for you.

Or .. if everywhere's pretty much out of stock ..

Just buy the bike that is left for you.

 

[outerlimits]

Or .. if everywhere's pretty much out of stock ..

Just buy the bike that is left for you.

And then become an emotional one...

 

[Zimmerframe]

And then become an emotional one...

I think you mean e-motional.

 

[Steve940]

I've been to my local store today,only 10miles away,and test ride thr cube stereo race 140 that they had on display..the guy showed me everything on that bike and then explained the small differences on what I wanted..the 160sl..
Super friendly place in durham and insisted on me getting the bike out and going for a ride to see what I thought..suppose they know the bikes sell themselves..pretty strange experience but they really are the game changer a fat knacker like me expected lol.
No need to test the levo although I may pop through and have a go just for the fun of it.
The 75nm is more than enough,even at my 110kgs the power was plenty.must admit that top power mode could be overused and I'll never get any fitter.
So I've ordered the 160sl in the blue/orange scheme but i would have it till end of may,the carbon back/grey one is in next week but I'd rather wait and see both in the flesh just to make sure I get the exact bike I want..also.i grab some nice flat paddles and get the frame wrapped..might see somebody from here up and down the north east coastal routes..fat kid on a buzzing blue bike....oh and the noise was absolutely fine,slight hum,i was expecting g much louder