587 eMTB rabbit hole part "the end"


Let's end this thing. 

No, I'm not buying an eMTB. Good ones are expensive, cheap ones aren't that good or that cheap, and middle-tier ones are still expensive and a bit of a gamble. 

But mainly, I'm not buying one because I was interested in keeping up with my brother-in-law's Specialized Turbo Levo, and I realized a couple things: 

1. I'm never going to keep up with him. He's a former pro moto-cross racer. I'm not. We'll probably ride together some, and hopefully I'll get a bike that can handle all of that terrain, but I'm not going to buy a $4k+ bike for the two or ten times a year we ride together, I want a bike for every day. 

2. There are tons of other ebikes that can do what I want out of a bike, possibly better and for cheaper. That's going to be the next Bike & Battery entry.

Still, here's what I found about eMTBs, in a nutshell.


The Specialized Turbo Levo leads the pack of bikes over $5k. There are a bunch of different variants of it, with different motor and battery combos or a carbon frame. 


There are a bunch more eMTBs in that price range that are probably great, but I don't have experience with them, and from what I've heard and read, they're not better.


In the mid-tier, you have Luna Cycle. They make (or import) two eMTBs that are around $4k and have all the specs, the X-2 and the Z-1. 


Following after them are companies like FLX, Wattwagon, and Biktrix. They all make a decent spec eMTB, but not quite as cheap or high spec. Still, these are all mid-drive, full suspension, proper eMTBs. And some of them are pretty much identical.


Then you have the cheap guys. Here, you're going to get cheapo parts, generally a rear-hub motor and only a front fork for suspension. There are a ton of options here. The one that popped out at me is the Wired Freedom, which has a huge battery and powerful motor, full suspension and a 60 volt, aka more powerful, system. It's $2k.

They're changing the frame to an up-and-down rear shock, due to tire clearance issues.


Now, without further ado, and with very little explanation, here come a bunch more screenshots. Why? Because there might be something here I've forgotten, and because I want to get them off my phone.


As far as I've seen, this AccoLmile Cola Bear is the cheapest mid-drives full suspension eMTB that's available in the US without ordering directly from Chinababa.


What are my conclusions? It's a great time to buy an ebike, compared to ten years ago.Also, in another ten years, this market will have matured a lot. While there's a lot going on in the eMTB segment, there are several wholly new segments that are possibly innovating more.

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