Trek Bike Frenzy is on. All bikes link:
https://www.trekbikes.com/au/en_AU/bikes/electric-bikes/c/B5…
The Dual Sport+ 2 is a lightweight and capable hybrid electric bike that’s designed for adventure on the road and light trails. It has an intuitive and natural feeling pedal-assist system that makes exploring your surroundings more fun and cruising up hills a breeze. Plus, stiff wheels and wide tyres give you confidence on varied terrain
It's doubleplusgood.
Half the sweat at thrice the price? But where's the sport in that?
They're getting great with the weight and function of e-bikes, I just don't think I could ride one without feeling lazy.
As a rider, the ease people sometime pass me on hills or in headwinds on these things, upright, using all but zero effort is always amusing to me.
If you're buying a mountain bike, this would potentially keep you out on the trails longer before you are clapped out and need a nap.
100% this
+1
You're being a bit judgmental there mate. If its a pedal assist there is still some effort needed and is still better than just sitting in the car/bus/train etc. Everyone starts somewhere, and not everyone has to be as strong as the fellow non ebike riders out there. Some people also ride this for other reasons (avoid traffic, environment, pleasure etc) and there should be nothing wrong with that too.
I was talking about myself not anyone else. You're the one being judgemental here. Unless of course I'm not allowed to be amused?
I’m really referring to you saying “using all but zero efforts”, which to me sounds like you’re judging people on ebikes are putting zero efforts. But anyway, whatever mate. Not trying to argue. Just pointing out different perspective
We get it, you're a rider.
I bought a Giant Talon E+1 MTB a couple of months back. Mid-drive motor so you have to pedal to get any assistance and it only assists up to 26kph. After 26kph it's up to you. The best I've seen so far is 52kph.
It's great. I can ride for a lot longer and the hills don't totally kill me. I can keep my cadence up around 80-100 rather than slowly dropping back to 40-50.
I use the middle "active" setting which give ~150W assist rather than the full 250(??)W.
With the exception of the illegal food delivery e-(motor)bikes, eBikes are not zero effort - e.g in mid drive the level of assist is by definition a ratio of human input to motor contribution, e.g 300% assist means for 1 unit of human input the motor contributes an additional 3 units. The motor responds to the effort you put in.
That's why it is so good for people who are not at peak fitness, it lets them exert effort to what they can contribute, and still ride with fitter friends & family.
Commuting is another reason for ebikes - it allows hauling a lot of gear/shopping and wearing work-clothes. an ebike commuter could be one less car on the road or one less person to cram a crowded train.
I work in an office without showers. I am a pretty fit rider and ride road and mountaing bike regularly on the weekend. I do have an ebike for commuting too. I honestly wouldn't consider riding to office if I had to get sweaty, so it's definitely a win for me.
e.g in mid drive the level of assist is by definition a ratio of human input
On some models maybe, but you need a torque sensor (mechanical power meter) for that, which is only found on higher end models (including this Trek).
My e-bike has all the hardware for doing what you say, but does not do it.
I've heard people who drive their car to work daily turn around tell somebody commuting on an e-bike that they're cheating.
I guess it's not black and white - doesn't have to be all or nothing. My wife rides an e-bike daily to work and back. If it wasn't easier than a normal pedal bike, she'd probably be driving. At least she's still pedalling.
I ride a normal mountain bike to work, but there are plenty of days I opt for the bus where I might have still ridden if I'd had an e-bike.
I've heard people who drive their car to work daily turn around tell somebody commuting on an e-bike that they're cheating.
it's such a ludicrous statement, you wonder if they seriously believe the bullshit coming out of their mouths. "cheating" at what exactly? commuting isn't exactly the tour de france
I usually see people maximally cross-chained, i.e. lowest on the crank and highest on the cassette, cruising along pedaling at 10rpm with the motor screaming in protest.
17kg, not bad. Hydraulic brakes, torque sensor, 9-speed. Still seems a lot of money for a hub-drive. But Trek badge …
I cross-shopped the Trek Dual Sport & Giant Talon E+ and the mid drive on the Giant got my $$. 23kg though
Oh…it's hub? Yeah…no thanks. At this price level, should be able to get a good mid-drive machine.
Not that there is anything wrong with hub motors on-road.
The main reason mid-drives feel better on bitumen is they usually(?) have torque-sensor. This Trek has that.
My wife had a very decent hub drive Gazelle. It was quite smooth when powered, and had various sensors to achieve that. Very nice bike really. Without power though, it sucked. Flats were a hassle, not that it would be the case on every bike - with hers, disassembly of cable housing was required to disconnect the wheel from the bike. Without power, the hub wheel would put vibrations through the bike as magnets rotated, and delivered a fair amount of resistance to forward motion.
Her newish mid-drive bike is much nicer. Can't feel any resistance at all freewheeling, and it's easily ridden without power. Very smooth…very powerful.
I converted her Gazelle to a manual bike since they no longer sell batteries to suit them (booo!), and it's now a nice town bike.
Totally anecdotal of course, but the experience completely coloured my view of hub drive bikes.
650 x 50c tyres in case anyone thought they were 700c .
No internal hubs tho, abs must have those days imo
ABS on a bicycle- wow times have changed.
On a heavy bike like this with a rrp of 3k+, no reason for not having internal hub+ carbon belt drive
ABS is a nice to have, but it's really not required for a bike capped at 25km/h assistance
Not about assistance, but rather considering the price and weight, there is no reason why it is not equipped with internal hubs and carbon belt drive
the reason is because you'd be paying for the logo 😁
If you're interested in this you should go for, or at least consider the FX2, which is basically the same, at the same price, except with mudguards and a rack thrown in.
https://www.trekbikes.com/au/en_AU/bikes/hybrid-bikes/electr…
Reading the descriptions it seems the one you have linked is not suitable off road?
.
1st rule: Don't believe the marketing.
That said, you wouldn't typically want to take a bike with a rack and mudguards on trails. But bike wise there's no major difference. Neither have forks/suspension which are popular for trails, hence why even in the other they only say "light trails". So basically both can go on trails equally, but that's not what they're well suited for.
not a real bicycle….fight me
Yeah, real bicycles don't come equipped with pedals.
bikies!
“Frenzy”
I can’t understand why Trek decided not to have a removable battery on these things.. ditto the FX2+
Thanks OP I was looking to buy a new MTB bike from Trek and had held off. With this sale (that I didnt know was on) I save a bunch of $$$
What’s the four sports?