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[GusinCA]

What do you all think about this?

http://www.electricbikeattack.com/ktm-macina-egnition-electric-2015-order-now/?gclid=Cj0KEQiA99qnBRDnrYCkt4ClzZABEiQAvqPaLIdPVfMr6GRbAn1e0cgfaqwb3CF6oG2gGwjHBSP5BVAaAomA8P8HAQ

It seems pretty cool, 60 mile range plus the ability to pedal? Serious downhill suspension? About half the cost of the FX out the door? Easier to strap onto the roof or a bike rack?

Hmmmm....

[dkw12002]

 This e-bike seems over-priced even though the bike is light and has good suspension and brakes.  Yes, being able to pedal is a huge advantage. Also being able to remove either the battery pack or move the entire bike inside your home/apt. can be a huge advantage. I have 3 e-bikes, all street legal, but I think I paid $1100 for my Li 9.6AH, 36 volt/750 watts Ampedbike kit (my best ebike). The kit came with a front hub direct drive motor already mounted on the front wheel which I put on a Trek mountain bike. That's the largest legal size in Texas.  It gets me about 12 miles of electric power only. Add some leg power and you can go a very long way. None of these legal ebikes are good hill climbers. They would overheat and shut down or maybe even burn out the motor in extreme cases, but if you are willing to pedal and don't have a lot of steep hills, they are great. One other advantage...you don't really have to abide by traffic laws. You can not stop at stop signs, cut across parking lots, ride on sidewalks, etc. It's still not legal, but since kids ride bikes, I guess they are grandfathered in. I figured out I can get across town on my Ebike faster than in a car or motorcycle by disregarding traffic laws. I think for what you are looking for, the Stealth Bomber would be closer.

[Doctorbass]

For about he same price you get this:

http://vectorebike.com/bikes/typhoone-7000w.html





or this:

https://nyxbikes.com/?lang=fr



Doc

[Patrick Truchon]

As far as prices go, my regular mountain bike is about $4k and some of the higher end bikes can go to $7k easily.  It's all about the components...

I can't help but wonder what a 2-wheel drive (w/ 2 hub motors) electric mountain bike would feel like in the trails though.

[GusinCA]

That's what I figured, there must be some better e-mountain bikes out there at that price. One of the things I do like about the KTM is that it looks more or less like an unpowered bike, which can be important in places where the fuzz doesn't appreciate anything with a motor of any kind.

Where I live in Southern California, there are SO many trails that are legal for mountain bikes, but illegal for motorcycles, so I'm thinking along those lines...

[dkw12002]

What you probably wouldn't want to do is buy an expensive mountain bike, then convert it. The dropouts need to be very strong if you are using a front hub motor. Lots of cases of broken drop outs because that is where the motor attaches and delivers torque. For street use, the safest bike to convert would be a $20-$100 curb jumper.  My 15-year-old $200 Trek is a happy compromise. I can remove the front wheel with the electric motor, remove the battery tube and controller and slip on the original wheel and be back to a stock mountain bike in ten minutes. I don't think stuff comes off a bike designed and built as an ebike easily so it is always going to be heavier than you would like for use as a regular bicycle. The Stealth Bomber I mentioned is 116 lbs and hard to pedal. I don't know about the others. As you know Li is lighter than Pb/acid, but still heavy if you are going for longer range. That makes pedaling difficult. It's kind of a catch 22. Hard to have it both ways. An electric bike that gives you range and power is going to be heavy and hard to pedal, and one that is relatively easy to pedal will have a smaller battery.