Long time MTBer moving over to the electrified MTB side

[nicoli]

Hi Folks,

Interesting forum you have here, it has helped me out with my research since May 2012 for the best solution to my current problem.

I have been an avid mountain biker for the past circa 24 years and love the freedom and laugh with mates that mountain biking brings. However for the last 21 years I've also been living with a degenerative heart condition which at times has really been a pain in the proverbial when I've been wanting to be out riding. Thankfully though continue riding I did up until May last year when the condition threw another spanner in the works and I decided MTBing was just too much of a strain on the heart, sold my bikes and became and !

Then I thought, "what I need is a pedelec MTB, I wonder if they exist...". That led me here, then there, then all over. I looked at so many promising bikes but then became aware that there were many companies offering "MTBs" that quite frankly would collapse in the rocky environments of Welsh mountains, Lakes, Gisburn etc. Ghost produce a good looking hub powered bike but, a) they aren't importing it and b) research pointed in the direction that a crank drive system was best suited to MTBing with the quick changes required in torque necessary for MTBing and better weight distribution.

That kind of narrowed my personal choice down to the Haibike range, KTM Macina Race or Scott E-Aspect. Now one thing that made the decision easier amongst the three was the way Haibike have swung the motor up and within the frame out of harms way. The effective bottom bracket height of an underslung bosch motor is frankly a failure waiting to happen on a purpose built MTB that will be ridden on harsh terrain. Having lost a couple of teeth from the big ring on rock steps on my Cannondale the last time I was at Gisburn this was a non starter for me. So that left me with the Haibike range.

After trialling a RC29 at Alton I knew the bosch system could keep me in the saddle for another few years at least As I only ride for pleasure and purely MTBing, I ruled out the RC29 as it is a very stiff frame (but beautifully manufactured) and settled for the FS SL which isn't a million miles away from the suspension set up I had on my Giant Anthem. The bikes are, as any MTBer will know, excellent quality bikes that have been well adapted to incorporate a drive system. Why is it always the Germans?! If by some miracle I was cured overnight, I'd be happy to just strip all the electrics off the bike and ride it as is.

I'm just recovering from my last operation and the dealer is keeping hold of the bike until the end of the month so I don't get tempted to go out and ride it too soon. Following that I will be happy to feed back if anyone is interested on how it performs and if it's as good as it's claims, warts and all (although I'm hoping there won't be too many!) I'll no doubt be here picking brains if I have any questions about anything electrical (not my strong point!)

So thanks again for the help this forum has offered (from reading various posts by others) and look forward to learning more about the "e" side of MTBing now.

Nick

 

[Martin@e-bikeshop]

Nick,

I was going to call you this afternoon. I have the FS SL here in my hands! Arrived today..
Oh, and you forgot to mention what excellent service and advice you received

Martin

 

[nicoli]

Nick,

I was going to call you this afternoon. I have the FS SL here in my hands! Arrived today..
Oh, and you forgot to mention what excellent service and advice you received

Martin

Marvellous, cheers Martin

And yes, I can't fault the customer service!

 

[AlMel]

Fabulous looking bike; certainly interested to learn how it performs!

 

[andy slow coach]

I ruled out the RC29 as it is a very stiff frame (but beautifully manufactured)

Hi Nick, welcome to the forum, I've just bought a RC29 from Martin (Great guy), I'm not into the big off road stuff you seem to be into but I have been down a couple of local bridleways and found it great fun. Good luck and enjoy your new bike .

 

[nicoli]

Thanks Andy. I saw some posts that you had gone for the RC29, that is a really lovely bike and was actually my first choice after riding a Cannondale 29er hardtail last year. I have purely chosen the FS SL for the full suss platform as it will live offroad and it's only road time will be to cross to the next trail!

Sounds like you chose the perfect Haibike for your riding That stiff frame however delivers all that power to the forward propulsion, no frame flex there. Awesome bit of kit. How lucky are we?!

 

[Martin@e-bikeshop]

Cheers for the input guys!

Nick, here's one just for you!..



Apologies in advance for my our messy workshop, its been a manic day!

Regards
Martin

 

[nicoli]

Martin you are a gent

I know I'm biased but.....that looks the nuts

 

[nicoli]

Martin, BTW.....

If you have a spare Crank Cycles sticker, if you pop it in the box I'll stick it on the back of the campervan for a bit of free advertising for you. It can go on the tailgate below the bike rack so if people like the look of the bike they'll also see your web address

 

[Martin@e-bikeshop]

Martin, BTW.....

If you have a spare Crank Cycles sticker, if you pop it in the box I'll stick it on the back of the campervan for a bit of free advertising for you. It can go on the tailgate below the bike rack so if people like the look of the bike they'll also see your web address

Hi Nick,

Yes of course, what colour would you like?
Black, white or green?

Regards
Martin

 

[nicoli]

It's a silver van so the green will probably look good, cheers

 

[Martin@e-bikeshop]

No worries,

I will pop some in the box, if you need any thing else in the meantime, just give me a shout!

Regards
Martin

 

[nicoli]

Now need to change my signature as I'm not nearly a Haibike owner, I am one

Thanks again Martin, pleasure to do business with you.

Naff photo on the ferry...

As soon as I am healed up from my op enough, I'll post a mini review and further pictures in the hope it will help others.

 

[Martin@e-bikeshop]

I see the van stickers haven't made it on yet
Looking good! Nice to talk with you today!

Change the signature and most of all enjoy your new bike!..

Martin

 

[nicoli]

I see the van stickers haven't made it on yet

All in good time

 

[nicoli]

Well seeing as I'm a newbie and don't have enough posts or enough time on the Haibike to submit a full review on the forum yet, I'll basically sum up my experiences of my first ride yesterday on my Haibike Xduro FS SL.

Having not been on a bike for nearly a year due to my pesky, badly behaved heart, I very optimistically thought as we are heading into spring I'd leave the mud tyres in the shed and throw on my maxxis advantage and high roller tyres on the bike as they are a personal favourite combination of mine. What wetness was on the trails will be hardened up with a bit of frost so they'll be fine was my thinking....! Err no!

Thanks to the crank drive system, swapping the tyres was a breeze and even easier than a quick release with the bolt through axles. Another bonus point for me when deciding which bike to buy. Anyone who mountain bikes will know a puncture can strike at any time so I didn't want my humour tested with having to change a tube (or more realistically mend a puncture) on a hub motor system in the middle of a muddy trail, in a gale, miles from home and with numb hands.

So early morning I headed out with friends and the nice mild weather meant no frost, instead of firm frosty ground I found mud and floods of biblical proportions. Now I've been riding these trails for a couple of decades and I simply can't remember a time they were as wet as they are now, just mental. Now I start to think "you idiot, why did you put these fast rolling summer tyres on?!!" To help the situation a bit I dropped the pressures down to around 30-35psi which gave them some hope of gripping a bit.

The first section of really deep mud I came to was unrideable due to the damage from horses and sheer depth of the gloop. I knew this from experience and my mates attempt to get through underlined that when he ground to a halt, hopped off and sank almost to mid shin depth!! I however have a new toy and I was intent on using it. I did however have in my head that even with turbo setting I wouldn't make it, but I was curious to see if I could get as far as my mate. Oh how my faith was put in it's place! The bike just kept surging forward despite the depth of the mud and even with my terrible tyre choice the bosch system seemed to smoothly regulate the torque so the wheel hardly span up and the power just came in a very smooth yet very powerful manner. I emerged the other side with a grin that could be seen from space and to see my friends jaw sat in the mud. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would actually get through!

Now feeling enthused and very confident in the bike (after about 5 miles or so), I proceeded to start to aim for all the deep stuff to test it time and time again. Every time the same, just complimenting my input enough to give that extra boost to see the job done. I then realised that both Turbo and Sport levels are just incredible, so to ease off a bit, as I had no idea what range I would get, I started to ride mostly in Tour mode with the occasional Sport enabled for a really bad section. Tour mode dealt with most things very comfortably. I did however try to avoid flood water as best as possible but I did end up committed in a section that got to crank bolt depth and required rocking of the cranks to keep going through. I glanced down and realised if my motor was under slung it would have been completely submerged! Thankfully that was as deep as I got and managed to avoid the rest of the really deep water.

There is a long section through a field that leads to a woodland on the route we took. There is a section where cows congregate under the trees when its wet to shelter and the path runs right through this section. In conditions like yesterday it's hard to walk through let alone ride. If you were somehow able to muster the sheer force to ride through it you'd be maxxed out on the heart rate by the time you got to the woods, I know Ive got the T shirt! My friends tried and failed, I would have also failed on my Giant Anthem. Yesterday I progressively made my way through, with some tactful track standing in the worst bits just to stay upright, got to the gate, checked my heart rate monitor and it said 104 Whilst waiting for my friends to catch up, I watched the rate drop down nicely into the 80's which showed how my body, and most importantly my heart, hadn't been placed under prolonged stress. This is two weeks after my heart surgery and a year without cardiovascular exercise too so I was over the moon that the bike was doing everything I had hoped it would do but was doing it so much better than I thought it ever feasibly could.

To summarise we did a wee bit over 10 miles in the foulest ground conditions and with easily less than a mile of tarmac. As it was my first ride I was messing about with modes, playing with Turbo and Sport until I got a feel for the bike. In no means was I riding sympathetically regards the battery charge longevity. I returned with 3 lights remaining of the five on the battery. My friends said the 10 miler felt physically like a 30 mile ride.

Haibike have produced an excellent mountain bike that would stand it's ground easily on the trail amongst many "normal" mountain bikes costing significantly more. It rides like a normal bike (a very good one), weight distribution is very good and at no time did the bike feel unsettled. Coming from an 11kg bike to a 21kg bike I had hang ups about how it would ride in the rough. I needn't have bothered as once moving there is little perceivable difference. The suspension is great, the Rockshox Recon performed much better than anticipated and was nice and stiff (I'm a long time Fox fork fan), the Fox CTD rear shock was as you'd expect from Fox and flawless. SLX does exactly as it says on the tin and Haibike finishing kit of bars, grips, stem and seatpost are all good quality. After test riding though I did put their saddle out to pasture as it's probably the worst I've tried! Don't know what they were thinking with that one. Saddles are a very personal thing but there was no way that was staying on mine so my Cannondale saddle was put back into service. As for the Bosch system all I can say really is wow. It performed way beyond my expectations and I simply just raise my hat to the Bosch engineers (need a clappy hand icon!)

So to summarise I'm over the moon. Only mechanical failure would dampen my new found lust but only time will tell regards that.....

I was so glum that it appeared my MTBing days were over and the disease had wrecked my chances of continuing the one thing I have loved for many years. I felt an electric MTB would at best be a compromise but hey ho, if it meant I was still out, enjoying time with friends, then that's the way I would go. Instead I've found the bike has offered a breath of fresh air and excitement that a "normal" MTB just cant do. It's like starting the sport all over again and that is a very exciting prospect.

So good points - all of the above and the grin that comes with it.

Bad points - saddle and not been able to rotate the chain backwards with the cranks to use the chain scrubber after the ride. Oh and the fact that your friends now want to steal your bike!

Now has that rain stopped..........

 

[AlMel]

Rarely does a bike look so good caked in mud!
Thank you for such an inspiring review and photos.
You realise that the only way you can top them is to acquire one of those gopro cameras and delight us with a viewing!

 

[GORDONAL]

An inspiring read as AlMel has already stated . Super advert for Bosch and Haibike - a good detailed report

 

[nicoli]

Rarely does a bike look so good caked in mud!
Thank you for such an inspiring review and photos.
You realise that you only way you can top them is to acquire one of those gopro cameras and delight us with a viewing!

Thanks much appreciated. Sadly my pockets aren't deep enough for the GoPro otherwise I'd love to! Mind you Martin had a killer deal on a kit in the shop (the brand name has escaped me at the moment) I was quite tempted by (but alas the pockets only contain fluff now!) Sadly the pictures really don't do the bike justice.

An inspiring read as AlMel has already stated . Super advert for Bosch and Haibike - a good detailed report

Many thanks. Having only demo'd the RC29 (a lovely bike which would have been my weapon of choice if I was after a hard tail) around a couple of car parks in Alton thanks to Martin, I was putting a lot of faith in my years of mountain biking that the bike would be up to the job of what I was wanting it to do for me. I pride myself on knowing a good MTB when I see one and what will work and what won't in general. I can honestly say the gurus at Bosch and Haibike have nailed a game changer product. I'm still buzzing today from what would normally have been a run of the mill slog in the mud. It made old tired trails come alive again.

Oh and I wasn't lying about friends wanting to steal the bike, my mate text me literally a few minutes ago and said, and I quote, "I'm still in awe of your bike!" and "I'm going to dig out my tow rope!" so it certainly isn't me with rose tinted glasses on.

All of my biking buddies have been MTBing together for over 20 years so the praise for the bike isn't given lightly as some of my buddies ride bikes way more expensive than the Haibike.

Who needs a heart transplant....just get a Haibike!!!

I'd also like to point out that having read back through my posts someone could begin to think I'm Martin signed up as another user but honestly I'm not!

I will however say that I am in no way affiliated with Martin's business or Haibike but I do believe that credit should be given when it's due. Martin in my opinion is a sound guy who also has a passion about his products, and rightly so. This is evident in his shop as he only stocks quality brands and has managed to offer a wide range of bikes for all in a relatively small shop. He rides the product in the environment it was designed for and clearly knows his area well. He has always been at the end of an email, often within minutes and at all times and days of the week, from my initial contact with him when I went to view right through to now post purchase. It is refreshing in this day that someone runs a business with a passion and really cares about the consumer getting full satisfaction with their purchase. Nice one Martin.

 

[nicoli]

I'd also like to say that the bike is booked in for a hammering around Gisburn Forest (April), Dalby Forest (June) and either Coedy or Afan in September (not sure which yet, but one of them)

I'll be reporting back how it handles big rocks and fast singletrack