All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

I like transition, but I don’t get the point/marketing of the Relay. What’s the point of an E-bike that can double as a really heavy pedal bike when you remove the battery?

Not trying to be a smartass, I just genuinely don’t see the benefit. Granted I prefer my motorcycles to have an internal combustion engine.

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/transition-releases-relay-emtb-lightweight.html

 

Personally, I think it's brilliant marketing. It's aiming at people who are indecisive. They pony up for the e-bike, because it's not that much more than a high end counterpart, but I have the option of using at as normal pedal bike so it helps justify the cost. I bet 99% of the people who buy it never pull the battery, but it may help them sell to another 5-10% of the marketplace because they're the only ones with this useless feature.

 

Could take the battery out for park days.
That's the only reasoning I see.

It's too expensive I think and when Orbea releases the new Wild aluminum and carbon I bet it will beat the weight with more travel.

 

My XT Alloy Spire is probably pushing 37.5 lbs as it sits with my DD Agressor and EXO+ Assegai. So it would be close to the same weight as the Relay without the battery. Food for thought if you’re into the ebike thing.

 

If you ride through a mixed landowner area of trails and one of the owners forbids e-bikes (Wasatch Crest in UT), that'd be a clever workaround. Or places in western Colorado that ban them outright would be another good use. Hit those spots sans battery and you'd be legal. (yes, enforcement is hit or miss in places, but if we're grasping for theoretical straws)

 

I bet if you go to a place that does enforce the no ebike thing, you'd get quite a bit of harassment on that thing regardless!

 

Harrassment probably, but not a ticket which I think is pretty stiff depending on jurisdiction.

But again, trying to justify why anyone buying an e-bike would want the option, and anti-ebikers really won't care on the nuance.

 

Eh, agree to disagree.

Running an e-bike in pedal mode just seems like a catchy marketing angle to me. I’ve never claimed, nor will I claim, to be the smartest guy in any room.

Weight wise I get that sans battery it’s close to other big bikes. That’s a good observation I’d overlooked.

The Fuel EXe still has too much going for it (aside from price) if one were looking for a lightweight e-bike to make me look elsewhere. Time and reviews will tell how the upcoming offerings from Transition and Orbea will stack up.

 

In the southeast, I’d wager it doesn’t matter because there are little to no e-bike restrictions. If I lived out west, not being able to ride the whole enchilada would matter in my bike vs ebike argument.

 

Hahaha! More temptation....

 

The Pink Puppy is under construction, for my youngest granddaughter. A baby chopper bike.







16 inch frame, 20 inch fork, 14 inch rear, 12 inch front.

 

Modding the sloppy “suspension” fork to be rigid. That fork came from a brand new Huffy. Maximum P. O. S.





Little Lyanna, 7 years old. I hope she likes it. It’s just her style.

 

As mentioned, it's good for people who have areas of mixed regulations, of which there are quite a few. Both CO and UT have lots of areas like that. Plenty of places that forbid them, and heavily ticket their use. And lots of places where the climbs are brutal, and the ebike makes those places much more accessible. With the Relay, you can have just one bike and ride all places without worry. Yeah, the climbs would be rough without the battery, but not much worse than big-travel soggy sleds. With the proper kinematics I'm sure the bike would pedal better than similar bikes in its class.
Now that Ex-E.... Well, if you're willing to chance the ticket it sure would be hard for anyone to tell (other than the display on the top tube). Those things are sleek, look like regular bikes, and are dead silent. And with the lower levels of assist you're not powering up things at speeds which would raise too many eyebrows. I'm intrigued.

 

It’s not so much the pad as it is the dirt between the frame and the pad. I put these (or some bike companies offer specific ones for their frames) on my bikes and am happy w them. https://www.merlincycles.com/en-us/lizard-skins-frame-kit-protectors-92962.html?ucpo=33667

 

there's also tons of little rubber downtube protectors you can get. You could make your own even. Bonus: any rock chips will hit the rubber and protect your bike even more!

 

Thanks for clarifying. @Gunshot-6A and @levie125 helped shed some light on the topic and educate me on the mixed use lands aspect. Definitely not something I’ve encountered much in the southeast and as such just wasn’t something I’d thought of.

I’m still pretty solid in the pedal bike camp, but if I was ever to sell my soul and buy an electric motorcycle it’d likely be one of these lighter weight offerings like the Relay or EXe. I am helping with a prospective pilot program at work currently. If things go well I’ll have access to some of our offerings in that segment

 

They're going to sell a million of these things. And 99% will never remove the battery

 

I kind of thought the removable battery would be nice if you have a long distance to get to actual trails. then you pop the battery out if your sessioning a section or something. stash the battery somewhere near the bottom and do some shorter laps. but now that i type that out, why not just leave the battery in?

yea im not too sure other than the 1 bike for it all and land regulations.

 

They'll sell the initial lot in 15 minutes, then they will be perpetually out of stock like every other Transition bike.

The Relay is non-sense otherwise, you'll never sell me an half e-bike for full e-bike money. The builds are absolute shite for the buck. I paid less than an Alloy GX for my full-fat Commencal with Ohlins/XT/DT Swiss..

Realistically these are for dad-bros that only ride 5 miles on average anyway so I guess it works for them in the end..

 

I’m a dad-bro and my average ride is only ~10miles. Maybe I’m their target consumer and I didn’t even know it

More importantly, word on the street is 2/15 release for the redesigned Transition Smuggler. As already touched on, full Transition style availablity is anticipated…limited at best at the time of release.