The suspension did a great job of planting the bike into the ground, the EVOL-based Fox Suspension was superb, and there was plenty of sensitivity and support available to charge into the rough. Steep and muddy can overwhelm the Maxxis Minion tread pattern.Īfter finally getting to the top of a trail (with a couple of wheelies into the foliage), the Rocky took charge on the downhill. The tire and wheelset is a good choice for aggressive riding in most conditions, leaning towards the dry end of the spectrum. The Guide RE stoppers took some time to bed in, but combined with the 200mm rotors, they have ample power. The build kit is just what an aggressive bike deserves. The chain entering into the enclosed multi-wheel system can also drag grass and foliage inside, and if you are unlucky enough to drag a really tough weed in there, you could find yourself having to remove the guard whilst trail-side in order to clear things out. Dry lubes seemed to last only minutes, due to the extra torque on the chain and the fact that you'll be coasting far less on an eMTB. A generous slathering of wet lube helps to quiet things down, but then you are left with a filth-attracting chain in dry conditions. The continuous rumble from the multi-sprocket setup of the Powerplay drive does get frustrating. Are eMTB's for lazy people? That was my morning warm up, more than some people ride in a week. You can expect more range if your "shuttle route" is a gentle road climb. That's 30km of riding in total, 1800m of climbing, two hours of riding time, and back home before you could say "Bob's your obese e-bike riding uncle." That was in full power mode up a steep and loose climb. Using the 632wh battery, I squeezed out six runs on a track that descends 300m vertical over three minutes, in around a kilometer's distance. That said, if you can find an outlet, its 48-volt charger is claimed to be able to restore power up to 80% in only two hours. Some serious eMTB riders may be interested in an extra battery (for an eye-watering price) so they could swap out the battery and double their ride times, but that's not an option on the Powerplay, as the integrated battery cannot be removed (which can also be a problem if you don't have a power connection in your bike storage or hotel garage on a weekend away). BH just launched their Atom-X with a 720wh battery, and some bikes like the Focus Jam are starting to appear with secondary battery options to boost power up to, and over 800wh. The huge, 632wh battery is currently the biggest available, with Shimano and Bosch maxing out at 500wh. The difficulty found in climbing this bike is trail based, if you want to shuttle yourself up a road to pin the downhills, then what I'm describing here is almost a moot point, but climbing and descending challenging trails is where the eMTB fun begins. The light front wheel can be remedied slightly by using the Ride-9 adjustment chip on the shock linkage, but there are some disadvantages, namely, lifting the rear of the bike and steepening the steering geometry. It is easy to float the front wheel over obstacles, but much more easy to start to loop out or simply stray off the track. Luckily I have good hip flexibility, but many riders suffer here and will struggle to keep the front wheel on track and the bike on-line. Both make for a wheelie machine when ascending, which leads to extra fatigue on climbs as the rider must constantly battle to keep the front end down. The downsides of the Powerplay's trail bike geometry are its very short, 426mm chainstays and the slack, by modern standards, seat angle. Rocky's advantage may be short-lived, however, because Bosch and Shimano are also tackling this feature with their latest power modes via free software updates. Also, the quick engagement of the torque sensor means that the Powerplay is the easiest system I have found so far to feed the power in at the right time to keep the back wheel gripping on loose or slippery surfaces. Momentary pauses to avoid rock or terrain strikes with the pedals and using little quarter cranks here and there to pop over things and to maintain momentum feel very similar to a normal MTB (with the added power, of course). On the positive side, the instant engagement of the motor, combined with a little extra rotation from the chainring after you have stopped pedaling, makes technical climbing very easy and intuitive. The Altitude Powerplay is a trail riding conundrum.
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