What will be your next emtb? Lightweight or full fat?

[knut7]

Looking at the last 8 emtb reviews I've done, only two of them have been full-fat emtbs! The rest are lightweights. How excited are we really about those bikes? Will you be buying one, or will a full-fat emtb be your next bike?

Sure, not all lightweight bikes are very lightweight, some full-fats can be as light. Let's just say it belongs to the lightweight category if it's reasonably light and comes with a weaker motor and small battery. So the 21kg Rise H30 belongs to the lightweight category.

 

[irie]

Lightweight full fat.

 

[TOLM]

I went full fat route. Gonna be 22kg heckler. Large battery and boost mode when needed. I test rode a base model fuel exe and did not like it. At 20 kg still does not feel like acoustic and lacks power

 

[knut7]

Actually I have 2 of each

Trek Fuel 9.8
Orbea Rise M Team

Levo Pro
Rocky Mountain Altitude

And they are all special in their own way.

Nice, but when you but the next one (n+1), what will that be?

Which of those do you use the most?

 

[knut7]

Lightweight full fat.

Yeah, I think many will agree. I'd still call that a full-fat. I think you buy a lightweight to get that milder, less assist, experience.

 

[big_scot_nanny]

I generally hate things that are a compromise. Jack of all trades are usually just not very good at all the jobs they are supposed to do.

I Feel the same way about bikes. get the right tool for the job, and that it does that job well. So I wanted ‘E’, and got ‘E’! Not ‘e’.

Here speaks the expert mind of a guy who hasn’t even ridden his new Ebike yet!

 

[Shjay]

Won’t be replacing mine for a bit, although I am contemplating an analog frame in CRC sales

 

[irie]

Yeah, I think many will agree. I'd still call that a full-fat. I think you buy a lightweight to get that milder, less assist, experience.

With a "lightweight full fat" you would have the choice of assist level whereas with current lightweights you have to sacrifice that choice as a direct result of weight reduction.

 

[Tonybro]

I have one of each and take whichever depending on mood, ride duration, etc.

Tend to ride the lightweight the most...

 

[Kingerz]

Full power, zero interest in the weaker ones.

 

[Mteam]

I also have one of each, a wild fs, and a trek fuel exe.

I prefer the trek downhill, and the wild fs uphill . Havent ridden the full fat since I got the trek - suspect the full fat will be reserved for those weekends away where everyone is on a full fat bike and turbo is the only mode. But I do wish trek would hurry up and get the range extender battery released.

I think if you're only going to have one e mtb, then a full fat would be the default choice for most people, unless you will be mainly riding with people on normal bikes, or know that you value low power & lighter weight over high power/heavy weight.

 

[dave_uk]

Not in the market for a new bike at the moment (just seeing where the sway is going), checked the stats:

"I'm buying one of each" = 28%

must be some dedicated riders on here to own both, or too much free cash!?

 

[knut7]

I went full fat route. Gonna be 22kg heckler. Large battery and boost mode when needed. I test rode a base model fuel exe and did not like it. At 20 kg still does not feel like acoustic and lacks power

Yeah, these lightweight bikes doesn't feel exactly like a non-assist bike. But some of them are closer than others. I appreciate having access to the motor power combined with a fairly lightweight bike. But if a natural riding experience is high priority. There is something to be gained by going lower weight and getting one of those new, small and silent motors.

 

[towzer]

deffo after lightweight mid power, for xc in not too hilly area and will have to be lifted over gates/fences/stiles Etc. hoping that fazua 60/tq motors turn out to be reliable and rebuildable, hoping more bikes with a removable battery+ extender facility come along. Basically something like a Scott lumen but without hidden shock and twinloc(or twinloc lever on stem/repositioned) and + removable battery And I’m not convinced by cables thru headset bearing.

 

[dave_uk]

... I’m not convinced by cables thru headset bearing.

Nor am I! I agree with most of your other points too, lets hope a manufacturer is reading this...!?

Cables work best hanging loose just like your balls!

 

[OldBean]

After a year with a Ries & Muller Delight mountain @27 kg My next bike will deffo be Full Fat Lightweight but MUST feature gearbox, belt drive and range extender.
Plus body building course for lifting over styles !

 

[Mikerb]

Full fat....not interested in xc bikes

 

[dave_uk]

....gearbox, belt drive

you want an automatic gear changer? I am into the belt drive, but I like to control the gears.

 

[flash]

Have two of each.

2x Levos. Got to have a spare for the motor swap outs. Actually my GF rides one when we travel. I bought the expert, lightly used, while waiting for my pro and ended up keeping both. I also have a couple of Shimano bike but I'll be selling those.

Forrestal Siryon. Bought it for gravity parks where you can't uplift yourself but I REALLY like the bike for pretty much everything. NEED a couple of battery extenders though.

eZesty. Haven't ridden it in 6 months but I'm keeping it. It rides completely different to the other two. Part of the reason it's not had much riding is the other bikes are new and it's also rained a lot here. But I'm looking at a ride 50 upgrade for it.

Gordon

 

[ZillaG]

Trek Fuel EXe 9.7

 

[Scford]

Just went back to a full fat, the problem with the majority of lightweights is they’re primarily geared as a trail bike. Companies need to put out more enduro/aggressive lightweight bikes, the transition relay looks about right! But who knows when that will actually hit the market ..

 

[Haveland]

I'm going full fat but actually fat Have a Norco Bigfoot VLT 1 showing up, hopefully tomorrow.

I am currently riding a Giant Stance E+, and I'm really between going light or full power. I think light is more my style. My stance has a 500wH battery and 70Nm Yamaha, and I ride it in setting 2 or 3 of the 5 settings (on purpose never went above setting 3 for the first 4 months). Only on one run last year did I use the whole battery, but that was quite the day.

However, I'm really on the fence. I was completely going lightweight until a few weeks ago when I started trying to ride my giant more in setting 4 of 5 and wow, that was kind of fun.

 

[MOTO13]

I have spoken to a few guys on the trails that bought the lightweight bikes. Not one said they liked it better than their full power bikes. One of the guys and I actually switched bikes for a bout 20 minutes. He rode my Husky HC7 and I rode his Specialized whatever the hell it was. I couldn't get off that bike quick enough. Sure it was light, but just felt wonky and WAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY underpowered to have any real fun. These light bikes may have a future with some, but I'll never have one in my garage.

 

[Alexbn921]

I want lots of travel. Currently on a 190mm Kenevo.
I want lots of range. 700 battery is the minimum. I don't want to have to ride with a range extender.
I don't really care about turbo or max power. 50nm is fine.
A quite bike motor is also top of the list.

 

[Suns_PSD]

I think it's very location dependent.

Kicked around Full Fats and spoke to people that had them, and they used them in places where they would climb a dirt road for an hour, then bomb DH for 20 minutes. But we don't have that here.

We have very rough undulating terrain, but our very longest climbs are 30 minutes, and most are much less. Our trails are also multiuse and bi-directional trails.

Lastly, I'm a pretty strong climber anyways, and I don't want to completely lose that. So mid -power lightweight e-bike for me for certain.

 

[Doomanic]

Lightweight full fat.

That's the ideal scenario but depending on what you consider to be lightweight it's still some way off.

 

[irie]

That's the ideal scenario but depending on what you consider to be lightweight it's still some way off.

<= 20kg with pedals. Couple of years perhaps.

 

[Mteam]

<= 20kg with pedals. Couple of years perhaps.

it could probably be done now with that new orbea wild - but you'd have to put some silly light weight cross country tyres and wheels on that wouldnt really be fit for the riding the bike was intended to do.

its a never ending process, the definition of full fat changes over time, there will be a point when its possible to have a <20kg bike with the battery capacity and motor power of your average 24kg bike today, but at that point there will be a 24kg bike that will have a 1200wh battery and a motor capable of 1000w peak/120nm, so the definition of what is full fat will be constantly moving . So I think you will always need to compromise on range and power relative to what else is available in order to get to a light weight bike.

 

[Doomanic]

It's battery tech that is the limiting factor. Elon needs to stop fucking around with Twatter and sort that out instead.

Even then, how much weight is it going to be possible to save? 2KG tops?

 

[Mikerb]

Look at the history. EMTBs primarilly designed as trail bikes and typically 150mm travel front and back were all about the same weight if ally..........maybe a little less if all carbon but not much. Then many of those trail oriented EMTBs ventured into the realms of Enduro which meant 160mm became more dominant with thicker stancion forks and piggy back shocks......at the same time batteries started getting bigger and heavier. Overall these bikes were much heavier duty.
All EMTB ally bikes are made from 6000 series ally ( Except the Polma), equipped with robust wheelsets and well protected tyre casings. So where are you going to lose a few Kgs without weakening the frame?? The same could be said for carbon framed bikes. Many of the frame elements have to withstand compression which is not the strong card for a lightweight composite construction.
Answer: smaller less powerful motor, smaller battery, XC quality wheels and tyres, carbon bars and cranks, maybe lighter suspension components.......or skimp on frame strength ( carbon or ally)..............all of which spells an XC or maybe a trail bike but not a bike park or enduro bike. To achieve ultra light weight with composite design the frame cannot be the same design as for an ally bike.........it needs a rethink.
The developments that would enable a full enduro design at a lighter weight would be the use of 7075 ally instead of 6061 ( but specialist welding techniques required), full capacity batteries that weight much less..........or maybe fuel cell rather than lithium, a complete redesign of the drivetrain; tyre technology that at least equals Maxxis DD type protection at half the weight. Carbon frames with a very different design to ally frames.
When all of that is achieved having a lower powered motor becomes irrelevant..........after all you can decide how much power you want/need already.