# E-MTB for wife



## Stele (Jun 11, 2021)

My wife recently borrowed a friend's 150mm travel E-MTB and we had a great time together with me riding my Specialized Epic EVO on non-technical trails and gravel tracks.

We're looking at investing in an E-MTB for her for fun but also to improve her health and weight. 

We've looked at the Specialized Levo or Levo SL for her (there's very little stock choice in the UK due to COVID).

Is the Levo overkill for the mostly non-technical riding we'll be doing? The Levo SL seems more appropriate but we're worried that the smaller motor may struggle with range and power with her being quite heavy at the moment (225lbs).

Any suggestions?

Owing to COVID we aren't able to test ride bikes or even sit on them in the showroom in the UK.


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## toyotatacomaTRD (Apr 4, 2012)

If she's wanting to improve health and weight, skipping the fitness part of riding and jumping right to assistance probably isn't the best way to get in shape.


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## SoDakSooner (Nov 23, 2005)

Look at Giant as well. My wife has a Giant E road bike and there is a lot of value for the $$$ there. Full ultegra and good power and battery life for right at $4600 US. I was pretty impressed. I can get it up to 30 mph easily in our short little Cul-de-sac.


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## Stele (Jun 11, 2021)

toyotatacomaTRD said:


> If she's wanting to improve health and weight, skipping the fitness part of riding and jumping right to assistance probably isn't the best way to get in shape.


I ride an XC race bike so unless we never ride together I can't see that there's any option other than an E-MTB for her.


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## toyotatacomaTRD (Apr 4, 2012)

Stele said:


> I ride an XC race bike so unless we never ride together I can't see that there's any option other than an E-MTB for her.


My wife and I don't ride together, I think that's why we've stayed together for 25 years, lol.


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## smoothmoose (Jun 8, 2008)

toyotatacomaTRD said:


> If she's wanting to improve health and weight, skipping the fitness part of riding and jumping right to assistance probably isn't the best way to get in shape.


An ebike is great way to start training without getting "blown up" immediately. As she progresses, she can ratchet down the assistance level and increase time and duration.

@OP - I think in Europe you have more choices for eBikes - many of the direct to consumer brands: Vitus, Cube, YT, Canyon, etc. Not sure what's in stock.

I would not go for a Levo SL or Orbea Rise. At her weight you will probably get limited range and use out of it. E.g. For me I can get about 25-28miles and 4-5k of climbing on an Levo SL but I weight 150# and am fit at 10% bodyfat,


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## FortOrdMTB (May 29, 2021)

Stele said:


> My wife recently borrowed a friend's 150mm travel E-MTB and we had a great time together with me riding my Specialized Epic EVO on non-technical trails and gravel tracks.
> 
> We're looking at investing in an E-MTB for her for fun but also to improve her health and weight.
> 
> ...


My wife was feeling left out after I got my new bike but there is no way she can do the hills we ride on our local trails. Getting a regular bike would do nothing to help her feel included and she would hate it. We decided on the Trek Superfly 4 as we will do mostly fire roads and very easy single-track together. We are set to get it in August.

Best of luck!


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## JKA (Jul 26, 2006)

If she's not into any aggressive trails at all, the Levo might be overkill for her, and the SL maybe not quite enough. My wife is similar in that she likes to ride, but not aggressive trails at all. Just mellow single track. I bought her a Trek Powerfly FS4 and she absolutely loves it. Enough travel to make the trail fun and the power is perfect for her. She rides in Eco most of the time and gets a good workout. If we're riding together she might bump it up to tour mode a few times, but rarely more than that. Well built bike and the price was pretty good. There are many bikes that would be similar. The hard part right now is just finding one.


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## DtEW (Jun 14, 2004)

Stele said:


> My wife recently borrowed a friend's 150mm travel E-MTB and we had a great time together with me riding my Specialized Epic EVO on non-technical trails and gravel tracks.
> 
> We're looking at investing in an E-MTB for her for fun but also to improve her health and weight.
> 
> ...


We were in a similar situation here in California almost a year ago with the same early assumption (that the Levo SL would be perfect for her to keep up with me on my vintage SC Heckler). She was able to demo both the Levo SL and Levo, in that order.

While the early assumption turned out to be correct (i.e. that the Levo SL was enough to effectively keep-up with me on the short, non-technical test routes that I devised), our plans started to evolve as we began to grasp all the possibilities. In the end she bought a full-power Levo because in the course of everything... I became interested in getting an eMTB as well (not to mention my first bike update in many years). Which I did soon after with another full-power Levo.

Notable thoughts then:

1. The Levo SL and Levo were functionally-interchangeable in the context of a mature novice rider on short, non-technical routes for the purpose of keeping up with me on a nonelectric MTB. The only observed difference was really only the ~10 pounds difference in weight when getting them on/off the bike racks. We both recognized the limits of this evaluation, and therefore we took it with a grain of salt.

2. I knew that the best application of the new breed of lite-eMTBs was actually not for the novice mountain biker to keep-up with better riders on nonelectric MTBs, although it will do that fine... but rather for the advanced rider who can both finesse and throw-around their nonelectric MTBs on technical trails, but find it hard to do the same with a 50-pound full-power eMTB. While the former is applicable, the advantage that the latter provides over a full-power eMTB won't be applicable for my significant other for a while, if ever.

In the context of just her, there was not much reason to opt for the lite-eMTB over the full-powered eMTB. Whatever little was further eroded by the fact that at comparable price points, the 2021 Levo Comp was a more-attractively-spec'ed package than the 2021 Levo SL Comp, carbon or not. In the context of a pair of bikes, the Levo Comp was strongly-preferred for the Fox 36 (for my ~180lbs and riding style) over the relatively noodly Fox 34 on the Levo SL Comp.

Our initially-assumed solution evolved greatly once we started the process of test-riding and becoming fully-comfortable with eMTBs and what they bring to the table. It needs to be mentioned that all this took a couple of months, since we were also operating under COVID restrictions and the pandemic-facilitated spike in cycling interest. It is unfortunate that you can't experience this yourself to see if you end up at the same place we did, or find that the initially-assumed solution holds up or not through evolution in your particular situation. But that's what we did, and all I can say is that we are very glad to have ended up where we did.

Notable thought now:

Planning for tomorrow's ride, _she chose_ the longer, 27-mile, ~4k foot climbing option. Because once you address a novice's gating problem, sometimes they might discover much more to like about the activity, which will influence their drive to learn and self-challenge, and maybe ambition and goals. It also doesn't hurt that the pair of full-power Levos enable us to swap batteries mid-ride to equalize our varying charge consumption rates to maximize group range.


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## JillRide45 (Dec 11, 2015)

Another concern I have with the Levo SL and a novice is the motor requires a higher rpm to get the power. Most beginner riders seem to ride at a lower cadence, the levo really outshines the SL there.


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## gdb85 (Mar 4, 2017)

Stele said:


> My wife recently borrowed a friend's 150mm travel E-MTB and we had a great time together with me riding my Specialized Epic EVO on non-technical trails and gravel tracks.
> 
> We're looking at investing in an E-MTB for her for fun but also to improve her health and weight.
> 
> ...


I was in this position 2.5 yrs ago. My wife was not active nor a bike rider but was very interested undoing so. We wound up getting a S Levo. She rides mostly gravel and urban and does not lose anything as far as performance (lock out the suspension or not) can keep up just fine with assist up to 20 mph. It also helps me a little by chasing her up hills. We went with the Levo just in case she wanted to trail ride also, which we have done so on mellower trails. Its actually fun to have her join in on group rides and I don't need to worry about her wanting to progress and hang all the time because she does not like getting dirty or bouncing around, lol.


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## Lambow (Sep 29, 2013)

I will second the trek powerfly, and add the scott strike, sort the a light duty emtb


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## Stele (Jun 11, 2021)

Thanks everyone for all your help.

I’ve discounted Levi SL as it’s aimed at advanced riders and battery life will suffer with a heavier rider.

I’ve discounted Levi as it’s too aggressive for what we’ll be riding.

I’ve yet to check on availability of the Trek Power/Superfly in the UK but if that doesn’t work out we’ll wait for the Canyon women specific Neuron available in September. Full power battery but only 130mm travel.

Thanks again.


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## MSU Alum (Aug 8, 2009)

IDK much about ebikes, but there seems to be some pretty good advice here. I suppose it's very hard to get test rides if there's such low stock available, but of course that would help. I didn't consider that some motors kick in at lower rpm than others, but that and bike fit/comfort would be very important. Maybe she could get by with considerably less - or no - rear travel.
Even with an ebike, I'd REALLY concentrate on making it fun, rather than getting in miles, but you seem like you're sensitive to that.
Best of luck!


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## KRob (Jan 13, 2004)

We were in the same position as the OP last year. We had started riding together on paved bike paths and gravel/rail trails but she always felt like she was holding me up. We rented an eBike for her once while in St. George and she was instantly sold and wanted one. After riding three or four ebikes and doing some research online we ended up with the Turbo Levo Comp.

We decided to get one that would fit me as well ( both in size and riding application) and that she is still comfortable on (we have similar inseam even though I'm 4 inches taller than her)- For the seated, bike path riding she does, and also so that I could ride it on occasion when we weren't riding together. This also made the expense a little easier to justify. She loves it and it does not seem like too much bike for her, either in travel, size, or power. And it works really well for the more aggressive riding I do on it. It was an absolute game changer for marking course for our recent Fears Tears and Beers Enduro. She loves that she can keep up with ease and even leave me behind when we ride together. I also get a better work out when we ride together because I have to work so much harder to keep up.

I guess, if it will never go on more aggressive trails (or even moderately bumpy trails), the 150 rear/160mm front Levo is overkill, but I also don't see any disadvantage of the longer travel, more power/range, and more aggressive geometry on bike paths... other than cost and availability.


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## Stroganof (Jan 28, 2006)

My wife was also frustrated by the hills, so she got an Orbea Wild. It is just perfect. If she wants power she has it, if not she dials it back. That makes for more fun and expands the range of trails she can ride and enjoy. Plus, the capability of the bike on down hills gives her a larger margin for error than a more xc bike. For her, the low power bikes would have been a poor choice.


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## JKA (Jul 26, 2006)

Stroganof said:


> My wife was also frustrated by the hills, so she got an Orbea Wild. It is just perfect. If she wants power she has it, if not she dials it back. That makes for more fun and expands the range of trails she can ride and enjoy. Plus, the capability of the bike on down hills gives her a larger margin for error than a more xc bike. For her, the low power bikes would have been a poor choice.


I definitely second the Orbea Wild as a solid choice if you want longer travel. My son has one and I've ridden it a few times. Excellent bike.


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## smoothmoose (Jun 8, 2008)

KRob said:


> I guess, if it will never go on more aggressive trails (or even moderately bumpy trails), the 150 rear/160mm front Levo is overkill, but I also don't see any disadvantage of the longer travel, more power/range, and more aggressive geometry on bike paths... other than cost and availability.


So in general not a big deal to have too much travel on a eBike for a beginner. HOWEVER "more aggressive geometry" on the latest enduro ebikes - including the 2022 Levo and Kenevo SL can become an issue. The long front center and slack head angles requires an aggressive riding position, vs. just sitting and cruising. There is more potential to wash out and crash if she just sits and cruises over some loose and somewhat steep terrain and turns.

So for beginners I would actually recommend the previous generation Levo or other bikes in the 150mm travel range that's not super progressive in the geometry.


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## KRob (Jan 13, 2004)

smoothmoose said:


> So in general not a big deal to have too much travel on a eBike for a beginner. HOWEVER "more aggressive geometry" on the latest enduro ebikes - including the 2022 Levo and Kenevo SL can become an issue. The long front center and slack head angles requires an aggressive riding position, vs. just sitting and cruising. There is more potential to wash out and crash if she just sits and cruises over some loose and somewhat steep terrain and turns.
> 
> So for beginners I would actually recommend the previous generation Levo or other bikes in the 150mm travel range that's not super progressive in the geometry.


Good point. That's what we have. It also has a fairly short top tube for a large and with the seat pushed forward a bit on its rails fits my wife pretty well.

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## 33red (Jan 5, 2016)

I will simply share my experience. 11 months ago i bought a Giant Stance E + 2020.
Great bike for her but only 400Wh.
The 2021 is 500Wh so it is so reliable it is worth a look.
That is likely sold out so the Giant Trance with a 625Wh might be great.
I guess she can do like me and anything from Giant or the Liv *for woman*
wich have small differences.
My new 2021 Liv should be here next week.


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## OMEGANOX (Dec 2, 2004)

Our story, my wife has basically never ridden with me ever, I made an attempt once like 18-19 years ago and ended up selling the bike I got her a month or two later, just wasnt happening. Few years back I start talkiing about e-mtb's all the time so she was hearing about them all the time. I finally ended up selling my RIP9 last year and by a minor miracle secured a cube stereo 160tm in march. So after a few rides and hearing me wax poetic about the thing I go rent her a powerfly hardtail from the local trek shop, obviously an entry level bike but still packing 85nm of bosch gen4 power. Well lets just say that week was transformative, there was literally nowhere she couldnt follow me, we went everywhere from some urban to singletrack to gravel and it was incredible to see her right there on my flank or in front of me. 
So, now the bike. Before I got the Cube I was almost dead set on a yamaha moro pro and in some ways still am, in my opinion the PWX2 is the best motor in the entire industry, the design of the frame and suspension make the thing so easy to ride over bigger stuff it's just silly, so stable yet easy to pop over everything, I actually rode it back to back with a trek rail and I was so much faster and more confident on the moro, bottom line I loved the bike but when the deal for the TM came up I went for it mostly for the components, and I dont regret it but the moro never left my mind. Then I got to thinking about the way the top tube slopes down to the seatpost almost like a female specific Liv and it hit me like a ton of bricks. The standard moro in small would be the perfect bike for my wife, so I called yamaha directly and did a regional inventory search, found one in an adjoining state and the deal was done.
The moro was/is an incredibly easy bike to set up for her, she wanted some ergo grips and I swapped on some DMR pedals and a set of schwalbe johnny watts and she is in heaven. As I said in my opinion that PWX2 with the moro's programming is the best drive in the industry today, and thats coming from a bosch gen4 guy. Good luck to all who are in the process of making this happen with their spouse, I can assure you it will be one of the greatest investments you've ever made.


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## 33red (Jan 5, 2016)

OMEGANOX said:


> Our story, my wife has basically never ridden with me ever, I made an attempt once like 18-19 years ago and ended up selling the bike I got her a month or two later, just wasnt happening. Few years back I start talkiing about e-mtb's all the time so she was hearing about them all the time. I finally ended up selling my RIP9 last year and by a minor miracle secured a cube stereo 160tm in march. So after a few rides and hearing me wax poetic about the thing I go rent her a powerfly hardtail from the local trek shop, obviously an entry level bike but still packing 85nm of bosch gen4 power. Well lets just say that week was transformative, there was literally nowhere she couldnt follow me, we went everywhere from some urban to singletrack to gravel and it was incredible to see her right there on my flank or in front of me.
> So, now the bike. Before I got the Cube I was almost dead set on a yamaha moro pro and in some ways still am, in my opinion the PWX2 is the best motor in the entire industry, the design of the frame and suspension make the thing so easy to ride over bigger stuff it's just silly, so stable yet easy to pop over everything, I actually rode it back to back with a trek rail and I was so much faster and more confident on the moro, bottom line I loved the bike but when the deal for the TM came up I went for it mostly for the components, and I dont regret it but the moro never left my mind. Then I got to thinking about the way the top tube slopes down to the seatpost almost like a female specific Liv and it hit me like a ton of bricks. The standard moro in small would be the perfect bike for my wife, so I called yamaha directly and did a regional inventory search, found one in an adjoining state and the deal was done.
> The moro was/is an incredibly easy bike to set up for her, she wanted some ergo grips and I swapped on some DMR pedals and a set of schwalbe johnny watts and she is in heaven. As I said in my opinion that PWX2 with the moro's programming is the best drive in the industry today, and thats coming from a bosch gen4 guy. Good luck to all who are in the process of making this happen with their spouse, I can assure you it will be one of the greatest investments you've ever made.


I am glad you took the time to share your experiences. After lots of reading 2.5 years ago i was lucky to find me some *unsold* Haibike, that brand is unknown where i live in Quebec but i was shopping for a Yamaha and bingo the only one in my area was my fit. Never had a problem, loved that Ebike but it was stolen. 11 months ago similar positive experience with a Yamaha/Giant so next week should arrive my 2021 Yamaha/Giant. I did 2 demos i liked a Norco probably for the frame but that Shimano in my book is not a ready product just like the Specialized/Brose. Free i would not touch them. I Trust Bosch but Giant is more affordable so my experience is 100% positive with Yamaha and none with others.


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## rod9301 (Oct 30, 2004)

Yeah, bosch or Yamaha motors, unless you enjoy having your bike in the shop often. 

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## 33red (Jan 5, 2016)

rod9301 said:


> Yeah, bosch or Yamaha motors, unless you enjoy having your bike in the shop often.
> 
> Sent from my Redmi Note 8 Pro using Tapatalk


I call my Yamahas, pedal, smile, recharge and lube.
I do not had a display for 11 months so reading about error code XYZ, 505 is not from my planet.
Maybe in 2 or more years some other manufacturer will make the list i trust?


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## EpicTC (Jun 28, 2009)

Stele said:


> I ride an XC race bike so unless we never ride together I can't see that there's any option other than an E-MTB for her.


I can't help you for finding something in the UK, but I'd like to commend you for this move. I have a friend who's husband is, ummm....rotund. She got an e-bike for him to ride with her while she's on her Trek Fuel and the excitement of an e-assist got him on the bike enjoying his ride. Any movement that can inspire someone to do more is clutch!!


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