- Suspension travel, wheel size,
bike brands and component specification.
It's an incredibly complex business buying an e-bike
before you even get into frame materials.
Now by and large, it's a straightforward battle
between carbon and alloy,
yet it's not really that straightforward.
So today we'll be looking at this whole business
of frame materials
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Now in the past,
carbon bikes certainly have had the edge over alloy ones,
especially if they're matched with a slick paint job.
However that's changed quite a lot in recent years.
You can get some really good looking alloy bikes out there,
in fact for some brands, it's really hard to distinguish
the difference between the silhouette of a carbon bike
over an alloy one.
I mean look at these two bikes from Specialized,
the Levo in carbon and the Levo in alloy.
Or maybe the Mondraker Crafty in carbon or in alloy.
It really is hard to choose.
Then of course there are some brands that don't even choose
to make their flagship bikes in carbon.
So I guess the answer to the question
lies with you in this respect,
do you like the look of it or not?
It's one of the key factors in people's decision making.
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So are you looking to save weight on your e-mountain bike?
Well probably not.
Now on traditional mountain bikes,
the grams really do matter,
especially in disciplines such as cross-country or enduro,
but you really are going to be paying for it,
especially in the component specification department.
Now in general, carbon is lighter than alloy
for the same equivalent strength,
but it's an incredibly complex business.
The thing with e-bikes is the weight variation
between different bikes from different brands
is really quite big,
so therefore frame material has less of an effect
than such things as motor type and battery capacity.
For example a 500-Watt-hour battery will be lighter
than a 700-watt-hour one
but then if you're looking for performance advantage,
it'll definitely be with the latter.
Is carbon stronger than alloy or vice versa?
That's very difficult,
it really depends on the people involved
in the whole business, depends on the designers,
depends on the materials being used,
and, critically, it depends on the manufacturing processes
of each material.
Maybe a bigger or different question for you guys might be
what's the intended use of your e-bike?
On the whole, carbon does tend to crack under impact
whereas alloy tends to deform
but the whole business all lies
in the frame design of your bike,
you can get super stiff carbon ones
you can get super stiff alloy ones.
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Which brings us on to the next point
and a really, really important one,
how does the frame feel when you ride it?
Unforgiving, overly stiff frames and also wheels
can be very uncomfortable to ride,
and with the added mileage we're doing on our e-bikes,
then comfort is really important.
So what is more comfortable?
Now it's no secret, it's very well recognized
that some brands feel the stiffness
of a mountain bike is everything
and I've been on no end of press camps
where the marketing manager has done a presentation
and saying, "This bike is x-amount stiffer than last year."
And there's loads of journalists there going, "Oh no!"
The bottom line is that flex-stiffness balance is an art
and not everybody has got it right yet.
And the same way as getting the how do you feel
what is the right stiffness and right flex?
What's too flexi, what's too stiff?
Well, that comes down to experience and lots of it.
Now demonstrating the difference
between the flex-stiffness balance
is actually really simple.
Now these are two different carbon lay ups from Specialized,
so if you look at this material here,
it bends really, really easily in that direction,
whereas if you do a twist test on it,
it's actually really, really difficult to twist it.
This material, on the other hand,
really pretty stiff in that direction,
whereas this direction it's actually pretty flexi.
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Now when we look at the money involved
in the different materials,
in general, carbon is slightly more expensive
than alloy ones,
but then you look at different brands,
I mean some brands don't even make carbon bikes,
whereas some brands don't even make alloy ones.
The bottom line is carbon, yeah,
in general is a bit more pricey.
This is a tricky one.
Now we all hear these horror stories
of head tubes coming off or bottom brackets snapping.
The secret here is to do your homework with the brand,
have a look at the forums
and see if a particular brand has really good experience
and knowledge of carbon manufacturing.
Ah, that's a tricky one, isn't it?
The whole longevity and durability subject.
Now in general, as I mentioned earlier,
carbon does tend to snap under impact
whereas alloy tends to bend or deform,
that's under a pretty serious impact, by the way.
But maybe the question lies with you, the rider,
are you a heavy rider who rides
in really tricky, gnarly, rocky terrain?
You might be the kind of rider
that should be riding an alloy bike
but that's it, it's just a bet,
you don't know if you're going to fall off
so maybe have a look at the guarantee
that the bike manufacturer gives you on your e-mountain bike
or maybe have a look at the bike's frame protection
because that can really give your frame
a lot more longevity.
So that's it, brief run through
the different materials involved in e-mountain bikes.
Remember, there is the business of steel as well,
I'm sure there'll be more of them
in the not-too-distant future.
This subject is probably all about
getting involved in the comments.
A very complex business so do get involved
in the discussions just down below here.
In the meantime, if you want to have a look
at a carbon-fiber e-mountain bike,
have a look at the Levo or if you want to look at a alloy one,
there's the Canyon Spectral just down here.
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