Cycling UK Forum

Dear Forum Members,
I’m looking for a successor to my full suspension e MTB which I use primarily for off-tarmac touring and I wonder whether anyone can suggest a suitable candidate or means of converting an existing bike to my specific needs.
My current bike is a generation 2 Trek Rail 5 with a 625wh battery. It’s very much set up for touring, rather than down-hill heroics at bike parks. It is fitted with an extra bottle cage, Mudhugger mud guards, an Ortlieb bar bag with a map case fitted, ergonomic grips and a quad lock mount for my Satmap GPS. It also has a Thule rear rack, (one of the very few racks I could find that fitted full suspension MTBs). Interestingly because it is not part of the sprung mass, but part of the live suspension, it sustains a massive amount of movement and vibration which was brought home to me when I once included a hard-boiled egg in my lunch box during a trip involving the “Wayfarer Route” over the Berwyn Mountains in north Wales. Egg mayonnaise anyone? I suspect that other than Reise and Muller no one mounts the rack directly to the sprung mass of the bike, so constant movement and vibration of the load is probably unavoidable. I’m also looking to move away from a chain and derailleur drive train having replaced several cassettes and chains and smashed a derailleur off on a boulder on a Peak District rocky track.

The ideal bike will I suppose, be what the bike industry; especially in Europe is increasingly calling SUV bikes. I am though, looking for a combination of various features which I can’t identify on any single bike offered at the moment, certainly in the UK. My ideal shopping list is as follows:
• Reasonable sub 30kg weight.
• Full suspension.
• Bosch drive smart system. Possibly Pinion MGU as a second choice.
• 750 or 800 wh battery.
• Ability to fit a range extender.
• Rohloff hub gears.
• Gates belt drive.
• At least 50mm suspension travel.
• A relaxed head angle providing more of an enduro bike geometry.
• 29” wheels for their roll over ability or mullet set up at least.
• Rear rack.
• Plumbed in lights.
• Mud guards.
• Dropper seat post.
• Charger port for phone/GPS on control display unit.

I’ve explored various options, the Reise and Muller Delite could be a candidate despite its more upright geometry, not the Delite 5 which is too heavy but the Delite 4 if the front wheel could be changed to a 29er, which with the Fox fork option may be a possibility. There appears to be more options in Europe but availability of many models in the UK is severely limited or not available at all. The Nicolai S16 could be a contender if I can cope with the eye watering price. I’ve discussed converting a more recent Trek Rail with Bosch Smart system. Initially my local bike engineers were enthusiastic but ran into specification problems with both Rohloff and Gates and the project had to be abandoned. Equally I wonder if Orange bikes with their radical rear triangle frame design could more easily converted because there would be no need for the chain stay to be cut to accommodate a unique drop out for the Gates belt. However a discussion with their sales people did not elicit any enthusiasm.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

This answer fails on the "full suspension" requirement bit the tyres are so massive I'd actually say it doesn't matter.

The Tern Orox. (The model you'll be after is the R14).
https://www.ternbicycles.com/en/bikes/471/orox

An absolutely insane but also wildly fun expedition e-bike, massive load carrying capacity, huge range, Rohloff hub and belt drive.

It's difficult to find a full suspension MTB (especially an e-MTB) that'll effectively take a rear rack. The rear suspension movement and the pivot locations kind of mess up any rack mounting points. As you've found.

I think full-sus will maybe prove problematical to find. If you're willing to compromise on rear suspension (you could always put a suspension seatpost on...) then Willow Bike are now starting to build electric, see https://www.willowbike.com/blog/e-bike-musings

https://www.instagram.com/p/DVbhZkdlywd/?img_index=1

Much experience from owner Stephen Shand in designing and building bikes for off-road touring with Rohloffs and Gates belts.

Pete.

Full sus feels like a really odd choice for touring.

To be honest, I think your list is heading into unicorn territory - gates belt drive (let alone MGU) gets you down to a handful of bikes straight away, and none that you would consider as being cross-country machines.

I suspect that for touring you would be far better off on a decent hardtail.

If you’re insistent on the MGU idea - I reckon you want to wait out and give it another two years, as I think that will be the next area for expansion given likely wear on drivechains from the ongoing power/torque wars.

You’d better go to the Bespoked show which is on at Peckham over the w/e. I saw a quite amazing all-terrain cargo bike there today, looking like a cross between a very gnarly full-sus eMTB and a 1930s butcher’s bike. There were others of similar ilk, but since that sort of thing is well outside my realm I didn’t look closely at any of them.

I have a Topeak rack on my full suss ebike with matching bag. It works. As the bike was only bought ( at a silly low price from a mate) to accompany the domestic boss it's generally horrible handling is no big deal.
Otherwise I wouldn't even bother with front suspension.