Which bike?

[CJaMTB]

Hey all, I'm looking for some recommendations for a possible new bike.

I've been riding eMTBs for 3yrs and, being lucky enough to live next to some amazing and varied riding, I sold my car and pretty much ride everywhere now. As well as my trail riding, I commute a 25 mile round trip to work a few times each week (under normal circumstances, I'm at home still right now, due to Covid) and am thinking I'd like a bike to do these rides, plus a little light trail riding (think Blue and Red graded trails, as well as open country, long but not tech). Oh, my commutes are always done in Turbo, so bike needs to have a battery that can comfortably do a 25 mile, on road, Turbo commute.

I currently have a Levo SL, which I'd really rather not rack up commuter miles on, so do NOT need another mid/long travel bike. I'm open to hard tails or full sus, though would prefer full sus because my knees, hip and back will struggle to do any off road riding on a hardtail, but it needs to be on the lighter side in terms of weight if pos. Not too worried about price, but under £5k. No motor or manufacturer limitations that I can think of right now. All comments welcome but I'd mostly like to hear from anyone who can make a recommendation that's based on time in the saddle.

Cheers ?

 

[Zimmerframe]

@R120 I think you have some bikes which possibly fit into this criteria ?

 

[R120]

The Ebikes we have that are not EMTB's are pure commuters, and wouldnt be good for any trail riding.

Really the biggest difference between the commuting/hybrid bikes and the emtb's is the wheels and tyres - often the bikes are still nearly the same weight, but the road wheels and tires mean a ,lot less rolling resistance and you get more mileage as a result.

Maybe a hardtail?

 

[CJaMTB]

The Ebikes we have that are not EMTB's are pure commuters, and wouldnt be good for any trail riding.

Really the biggest difference between the commuting/hybrid bikes and the emtb's is the wheels and tyres - often the bikes are still nearly the same weight, but the road wheels and tires mean a ,lot less rolling resistance and you get more mileage as a result.

Maybe a hardtail?

It's possible. The issue is that I become very limited as to what trails I can ride on a HT, due to permanent ankle, knee, hip, and back injuries. I've previously had a Levo HT and Powerfly HT, both of which were great commuting bikes, but the big issue was that they were simply too painful to ride in any meaningful way off road.

I was wondering about something like the Thron2 or the E120, though neither come in at a lower weight.

 

[R120]

Yeah the Thron is a good shout, I believe you can put racks etc on them so pretty versatile.

 

[CJaMTB]

Struggling to find any long-term reviews of them though. Found Rob's 'unboxing' vid and the Singletrack first ride, but pretty much everything else was just press release stuff. Do you know of any meaningful reviews other than the two I've mentioned?

 

[Zimmerframe]

not hugely indepth:

A Game Of Throns | Focus Introduce The Thron² – A Broad Spectrum e-MTB

It was way back in 2016 that Focus launched their first big eMTB, the Focus Jam². It was different to the other bikes out there in that it opted for a smaller 378wh battery to save weight rather th…

singletrackworld.com

 

[R120]

Well @Rob Hancill was on a Thron for this

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Surprised how capable the THRON is. Its a fun bike to ride, 'only' 130mm travel but I never felt like I needed more bike in the Lakes.

 

[CJaMTB]

Thanks all, much appreciated ?

 

[Spreaders]

Mrs S recently got a Thron², I have racked up a few miles since it was delivered and now wondering if I made a mistake ordering Jam² (yet to arrive) as the Thron rides so well.

 

[CJaMTB]

Mrs S recently got a Thron², I have racked up a few miles since it was delivered and now wondering if I made a mistake ordering Jam² (yet to arrive) as the Thron rides so well.

That's good to know at my end, hope the Jam turns up soon and is at least as good!