Brandall

New to E mountain bikes. Looking for a bike that can get me into trails, forest areas for exploring and photography. Several manufactures offer competitively priced models with different travel. Example, Norco Range and Sight or Specialized Kenevo and Levo. Im looking at a large Norco Sight but find the Range to be same price, similar specs but more travel. Prices being similar and specs being close other than travel, why not just purchase the model with the most travel? Thanks, planning on learning and hopefully contributing to this site.

veganbikes

Do you need more travel? I would test ride the bikes and find which one is best for you in terms of comfort and usability. You may find yourself not needing more of an enduro bike.

If you are looking to carry stuff with you which maybe you might, you might also consider options from Riese and Müller. Their Delite Mountain (a useful set up but you can customize or choose Rohloff) might be just the trick. If you aren't carrying much then I personally like the Specialized stuff (am considering a Levo SL down the "road" maybe) but haven't tried Norco and haven't had time on the new Shimano motors (sadly) however the EP8 looks to be decent as I was not impressed by the E6000 motor. Really though it comes down to how you really plan on using the bike. All those seem like decent bikes but more travel isn't necessarily good or bad it just depends on the situation.

Get the best components you can and make sure you have a shop nearby that can handle e-bikes in particular what you are buying or at least the e-bike system. Bosch is generally pretty universal as any shop in the U.S. with QBP account has support and most other countries also have various support. Shimano is not bad as many shops do work with Shimano but I find the Bosch e-bike software to be a little better. Specialized has excellent support at their dealers but maybe are not quite as universal as Bosch and Shimano however if you have a good dealer nearby I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Brandall

Thanks for your detailed reply. I kind of get it. Still looking for the downside of too much travel for my type of riding. I’ll be packing 10-15 lbs of gear and I am too old to have time to heal from going over bars. These forums are a great source of info, thanks again.

prj71

Longer travel bikes are usually oriented for more downhill riding. Sounds like you would be doing more cross country riding. You haven't described what your trails are like so it's just a guess on my part.

Brandall

Thanks. I will not be doing jumps or body breaking manoeuvres. Your probably right. The Norco’s that I looked at were the same price, so close in spec I would never notice it but one had more travel. Saw no downside to more travel. Looked like a bit of an insurance policy if I hit something big.

Herzlos

I think you're trading off bounce with impact absorbing ability. So a 150mm travel fork will absorb more of a rock impact than a 100mm (more travel), but the 100mm travel fork will allow you to travel faster because it's less bouncy.

Of course, there are too many variables (like damping, rebound rate and so on) to be absolute on that.

For most riders I doubt it really matters, just get one you like and get it muddy.

prj71

What you are missing here is that longer travel bikes have different geometry than shorter travel bikes. Namely the head tube angle which is slacker for downhill riding which then sucks for riding around forest roads or flatter trail systems.

Brandall

Thanks. There is a difference in angles. Bought the Norco Sight. Appreciate all the comments.

Calsun

There are decided advantages to buying a bike with standard size tires so you have more options for upgrading the tires. A key focus of mine for using a bike for hauling photo gear is having a sturdy rear rack. A bike that has both these features is the $2,000 CTY e,2.1 sold by REI. Aftermarket bike racks will wobble with a photo backpack mounted which is not helpful when riding. The ultimate trail bike is not going to be the best for taking outdoor photo gear outdoors.