E-bike for the wife

[smoothmoose]

Looks like end of season sales are popping up and I finally eyeing some ebike deals for my wife. She is very casual rider, but the couple times we rented an ebike for her she riding enjoyment goes up exponentially. She's never going to send it - but I think the cush of FS trail geo is still ideal for her. She's demo'ed both a Levo and a Powerfly and liked the Levo better - but still finds it bulky and standover too high. She's 5'3" @115lbs.

Here are the bikes we're considering - probably not going to be able to demo all - which one would you go for? With current sales I'm looking at the $3500-4k range.

Levo FSR
Cube Sting Hybrid 140
Cube Stereo Hybrid 120
Scott E-Spark 730
Haibike Xduro Fulllife 6.0
Giant Stance E+ 2

 

[system_weight]

Did she try the 15,5“ Trek?
My wife (taller though) just got the Powerfly 9 LT and she has a wide smile in her face ever since the first ride.

 

[ruthabagah]

I own both a Levo and a Haibike (5.0). The wife prefers the Haibike, because of the seating position, the perceived weight on the front wheel and the Yamaha assist feels more "natural" to her.

 

[smoothmoose]

Pretty sure it was. Shop said it was size Small. I tried it too and it felt like to Small to me. I took for a quick lap and even though I'm heavier I felt it was less plush than the Levo. She preferred the integrated controls on the Levo better and I also think the Levo has a walk assist mode?

She walked a couple sections on the Powerfly and it obviously is tonne to push up given her bodyweight. I think the Levo has a walkassist mode? Also on the Powerfly she was only comfortable on the 2 lowest assist modes. She felt the higher assists felt too jerky. So it's a balance between picking enough assist on the steeps to get through it without the feeling of losing control of the bike.

 

[smoothmoose]

Good to know the Yamaha system might be a bit smoother. How much does your wife weigh? I think given my wife's weight - the amount of assist and how it engages can definitely affect the feel and jerkiness of bike.

 

[ruthabagah]

about the same weight. she usually keep it on eco or standard. never on high.

 

[system_weight]

I think you did not get a current Trek model (2019)!
My wife just got a Powerfly LT 9 2019:
Supersmooth Suspension
Of course with WalkAssist
Very small display/ controller on left
Eco and Tour mode are sufficient for most trails.
EMTB mode is very sensitive reacting to your pedal pressure. So not jerky.

 

[smoothmoose]

It probably was a 2018 model. The battery was partially integrated - still a bit of frame hump versus being completely flush with the frame.

That said - we're looking at deals on 2018 close-outs! I'm actually interested to find out which ones of the bikes listed above do have a walkassist mode. That info pretty hard to find online.

 

[Giant Warp]

So my wife has a medium men's Levo and I have an XLrg Levo. The reason I did that was three fold. When my bike needs parts I can steal them off my wife's bike. When I want to go for a two battery ride I can steal the battery off of my wife's bike. My wife doesn't ride in the winter so I set her bike up with studded tires in the winter for ice rides. That makes it so I have two completely different setups in the winter for wherever I might want to ride. Very clever.......

 

[JillRide45]

I am 115 lbs ready to ride and ride a Levo. I just adjust the power levels using the mission control app. I love the Brose motor and how natural it feels. One thing I would caution is I have found lighter weight riders tend to activate the torque sensor different than heavier guys. Therefore they may have a different feel on how natural the bike is and how quickly it is engaging. I have no problem pushing the bike and have used the walk button a lot. Also consider the handlebar remote on the Levo as a real help. Much easier and faster to hit that up power than shift gears if she gets in a tight spot. One final suggestion is no matter which bike get her a dropper post on it. She will have little upper body mass to hold up the bike and will do better if she can get a foot down. Have fun together

 

[cjsb]

Ride my first e MTB today through a Trek demo at trailhead. It was so much fun. I thought it would be great to get one for my wife as she would ride a lot more with me.

don’t know the model but it had a Bosch. I could relax so much more and pedal hard all the time. can hit stuff really hard and not get so banged up and exhausted. maybe it was just first test ride, but I wanted to pedal harder and harder and stood and mashed
so much more. I wanted to find its limits but could not.

I found myself pushing the anaerobic effort so much more.

If i get one for my wife then son will want one,too. At that point, what the hell, get one for me, too. looking forward to them coming down in price, but can see why these are driving industry sales now.

 

[Giant Warp]

The other day I saw something out on the trail that I had not even considered. I came across a guy and his son enjoying a mountain view. There was one carbon Levo and one regular bike parked on the side of the trail. I assumed the Levo for was for the guy. Boy was I wrong. The Levo was for a scrawny little kid. When you think about it, it is a really smart idea. Little tiny kids that don't weight anything get bumped around by rocks, have a hard time with traction and just plain don't have the stamina or muscles to go on long rides. Other mountain bikers would get their kid the lightest mountain bike possible to help with climbing but this is just the opposite. Near 50 lb bike with 3.0 tires for a kid that is maybe 50 lbs. What a great idea! Dad gets a workout and the kid had fun.

My kids are grown now but something like this would have been great back in the day. My kids really struggled off road when they were little. We biked as a family everywhere. If the wife and kids could have had pedal assist I can only imagine the places and distance we could have gone.

 

[Exsee4me]

I had that happen to me. I race XC, am good for my age and almost always podium. So I ride with my wife, but it is tedious, with lots of waiting. When the Levo came out I got her a medium in hopes it would make our riding together a little more even. Which it did! If the uphill isn’t too technical, she can drop me in the medium trail setting. We both enjoy our rides together so much more. We are lucky to live in CO where the state parks are all ebike legal and have good singletrack.

So I also ride with my teenage son and his best friend. The friend has asthma and can’t keep up, so one day I let him take the Levo. He had a blast and could more than keep up. So I end up getting my son an XL. So I go from being able to drop them at will to being the slow one. So guess what, now it’s a Large Levo for me.

They are pretty addictive. I ride my Epic or Yeti three days a week, and ride the Levo on Sunday after my hard Saturday ride or race. I have found my downhill skills have improved a lot riding the Levo, and it’s a blast. I look forward to it so much, even though I am a glutton for aerobic punishment.

 

[smoothmoose]

Buying one eBike is slippery slope to more isn't it? Good thing the extra weight and fatter tires provide more traction!