# Decoy has landed! Holy Schnitzel is this beast sexy!



## Gutch (Dec 17, 2010)

Assembly in the works! Be riding this weekend. Had to trim the brake lines and need a Sram bleed tool. Parts changed: Ergon Seat, E8000 shifter, 32t Renthal chainring, SWAT top cap, 220 Front rotor, Maxxis 2.5 DD Aggressor, Tubeless. Will give a report after a few miles.






































Top level packaging, complete with tools! AKA: Mr.T


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## mtbbiker (Apr 8, 2004)

Gutch said:


> Assembly in the works! Be riding this weekend. Had to trim the brake lines and need a Sram bleed tool. Parts changed: Ergon Seat, E8000 shifter, 32t Renthal chainring, SWAT top cap, 220 Front rotor, Maxxis 2.5 DD Aggressor, Tubeless. Will give a report after a few miles.
> View attachment 1286987
> View attachment 1286989
> View attachment 1286991
> ...


Nice!!! I can't wait for the ride teport

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## shreddr (Oct 10, 2009)

Why did you go smaller on the chainring? I’m thinking of going bigger. 


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## Gutch (Dec 17, 2010)

shreddr said:


> Why did you go smaller on the chainring? I'm thinking of going bigger.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


 Sometimes I ride without juice, sometimes my battery dies and I'm in a hilly area. I never crank out my gears.


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## Bigwheel (Jan 12, 2004)

Gutch said:


> View attachment 1286985
> 
> 
> Top level packaging, complete with tools! AKA: Mr.T


Going to thru axles makes getting the wheels in there tight alot easier, the old 10mm knubs that stuck out with the funky plastic caps that seemed to fall off easily during shipment


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## KenPsz (Jan 21, 2007)

I have not had bike envy for a while now but DANG that is one nice bike!


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## Gutch (Dec 17, 2010)

KenPsz said:


> I have not had bike envy for a while now but DANG that is one nice bike!


Thank you. I've tried to buy this bike 3 times! Every time keep pushing my date out. Got P.Off. Bought a 19 Levo Expert. Great bike, but have owned 4 Levo's and a Focus, which are awesome btw. Any rate started getting more aggressive in my riding, btw I'm 94, but who's counting? Figured I'd settle for the duck, which I've named Mr. T. I'm gonna rip it and compare..


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## Sanchofula (Dec 30, 2007)

shreddr said:


> Why did you go smaller on the chainring? I'm thinking of going bigger.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Smaller chainring, ie lower gearing, allows more modulation at slower speeds without surging. My wife runs a 32t x 11-46 on her Shuttle, works great, she has a much easier time rock crawling and starting from a stop on a steep hill.


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## Sanchofula (Dec 30, 2007)

Gutch said:


> Thank you. I've tried to buy this bike 3 times! Every time keep pushing my date out. Got P.Off. Bought a 19 Levo Expert. Great bike, but have owned 4 Levo's and a Focus, which are awesome btw. Any rate started getting more aggressive in my riding, btw I'm 94, but who's counting? Figured I'd settle for the duck, which I've named Mr. T. I'm gonna rip it and compare..


I'm sorry, but did you just write that you are 94yo??


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## Gutch (Dec 17, 2010)

Yeah, just being sarcastic, 49, but feel 94 some mornings..


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## shreddr (Oct 10, 2009)

Nurse Ben said:


> Smaller chainring, ie lower gearing, allows more modulation at slower speeds without surging. My wife runs a 32t x 11-46 on her Shuttle, works great, she has a much easier time rock crawling and starting from a stop on a steep hill.


I get it, the smaller chainring tightens up the progression. For me I find I am often at the smaller end of the cluster, so maybe a bigger ring might let me ride the center of the cluster more and give a better chainline.


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## shreddr (Oct 10, 2009)

Dude, where are the final pics? you do understand the need for eye-candy!!!


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## Gutch (Dec 17, 2010)

shreddr said:


> Dude, where are the final pics? you do understand the need for eye-candy!!!


 Why yes, I do. Unfortunately I'm waiting for a SRAM bleed tool to arrive from Amazon. The brake lines were out of control, had to trim, this bleed. Believe me, I'm jonesing to ride.


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## Gutch (Dec 17, 2010)

This should slow things down.


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## Gutch (Dec 17, 2010)

I knew the fork was E-spec with beefier stancions and crown, but no idea the X2 was. What did they do? Different valving?


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## comtn (Jan 23, 2018)

Sweet! Let us know how it compares to the levo. I was a little skeptical of the older shimano motor otherwise I would have gotten the decoy. The components are incredible for the money.


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## mtbbiker (Apr 8, 2004)

Gutch said:


> View attachment 1287203
> View attachment 1287205
> This should slow things down.


I've gotta to order me up some 220mm rotor!!! Let us know if they do indeed feel much better: stronger and good modulation
Thanks,


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## springs (May 20, 2017)

Have the 36 and the Lyrik fork specs been updated as approved for the bigger rotors? I'll be putting them on my ebike too (Magura) btw


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## matt4x4 (Dec 21, 2013)

$houlda built up a 2x XC or DH. I like the 220 disc$


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## bachman1961 (Oct 9, 2013)

Gutch said:


> Sometimes I ride without juice, sometimes my battery dies and I'm in a hilly area. I never crank out my gears.


Sounds like me :thumbsup:

Congrats !


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## mlx john (Mar 22, 2010)

Eager to hear your comparison on the Shimano motor compared to the Brose. Did the '19 Expert Levo have the newer motor with the 700wh battery?

Took a '20 Levo Comp out yesterday (24 miles, 2700 climbing) and was super impressed.

The Decoy is an amazing bike or the money.


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## Gutch (Dec 17, 2010)

Yes, my Levo has the big battery and new motor. It was a great bike. I’ve had the shimano motor before and like it. Not as quiet or torquey as the Brose, but solid and I like the power delivery. I’m usually always in ECO mode.


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## mlx john (Mar 22, 2010)

Cool, I also kept in eco for the most part. Really liked the Mission Control app. Dialed down eco quite a bit, and the other two modes as well. Turbo at 100/100 was unrideable off road.

Is the tuning on the Shimano motor similar?

One more question: How do you like the "automatic" feature of the Shimano in the middle setting?


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## Gutch (Dec 17, 2010)

Tuning is low-med-high in ECO TRAIL BOOST. Not as fine tuned as mission control. What’s “auto” on the steps.


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## mlx john (Mar 22, 2010)

Quoted from a review of the shimano steps E8000 motor:


"The motor recognizes the intensity of your pedal strokes and adjusts the level of support accordingly. Depending on the basic setup (programmable via the App), this mode allows for all support-levels from Eco to Boost. This means one minute you could be cruising down a flat forest path and the next you’re blasting up a steep climb, all using the same mode."


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## Gutch (Dec 17, 2010)

Interesting, never heard of it.


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## honkinunit (Aug 6, 2004)

Gutch said:


> Tuning is low-med-high in ECO TRAIL BOOST. Not as fine tuned as mission control. What's "auto" on the steps.


The Shimano eTube app allows you to adjust the power levels in each mode.


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## honkinunit (Aug 6, 2004)

mlx john said:


> Quoted from a review of the shimano steps E8000 motor:
> 
> "The motor recognizes the intensity of your pedal strokes and adjusts the level of support accordingly. Depending on the basic setup (programmable via the App), this mode allows for all support-levels from Eco to Boost. This means one minute you could be cruising down a flat forest path and the next you're blasting up a steep climb, all using the same mode."


I've ridden extensively with the Bosch Gen3 and the E8000 Shimano systems, and IMHO, Shimano has a ways to go before they match the feel of the Bosch eMTB mode. Regardless of how I tune the Shimano in the app, I can't get the perfect combination of super low assist at a slow roll, but the power surge to easily wheelie. In other words, if I roll up to an 18 inch ledge on the Bosch system, I can roll up really slowly, then easily wheelie up over the ledge. With Shimano, I get too much assist rolling up to the ledge, which gets me there too fast, and then the torque surge is not as high as the Bosch, making it more of a manual operation to get over the ledge (no pun intended).

I'm hoping there will be a firmware fix from Shimano somewhere long the line. At least firmware updates with Shimano are easily done through the app rather than having to take the bike to a dealer as you do with Bosch Gen 3. I think Bosch Gen 4 has a phone app for firmware now as well.

On the plus side for Shimano, the battery life in Eco and Trail modes is really great, even with the 504Wh battery.


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## Gutch (Dec 17, 2010)

honkinunit said:


> The Shimano eTube app allows you to adjust the power levels in each mode.


 Am I missing something? I thought you can only tune Low-Med-High? What bike are you riding honkin?


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## shreddr (Oct 10, 2009)

get the eMax software and you can adjust the threshold torque settings individually (among other things)


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## benjyboard (Mar 31, 2004)

Hi can you advise which renthal ring you fitted is it this one

https://www.townsends-lb.co.uk/394/products/renthal-1xr-4-arm-104-bcd-chainring-1x-narrow-wide.aspx
Did you use the original chain, hows the shifting ?

Thanks in advance


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## Gutch (Dec 17, 2010)

Don’t run the Renthal, it doesn’t mate up perfectly. You will hog out your holes the first ride.


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## benjyboard (Mar 31, 2004)

Thanks for the response, I was about to place an order.
I’ve swapped my bars for Renthal stealth carbon, gone tubeless, added a matchmaker for the dropper lever. 
I’ve just had an issue of the system not firing up, think it was dampness in the connections, left a heater on in the garage, blew out all the connectors and all is fine. 

Enjoy your decoy


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