The founder of Sweden’s high-end snow and cycling protection brand POC is branching out and building a new generation of electric dirt bikes. Light, fun, silent, friendly, and clean, the is nothing like the motorcycles of the past and may even be the machine that gets you riding.

What’s Cake?

The new electric motorcycle company’s headquarters is in downtown Stockholm, but its heart and soul can be found in the tiny fishing village of Hallshuk, on the north shore of Gotland, a bucolic island in the Baltic Sea.

Founder and CEO Stefan Ytterborn has a summer home there and visits with his sons Karl and Nils, who are co-founders in the new company, to explore trails, surf the small Baltic swells, and fish its waters. This is where I visited to test their new motorcycle.

Their barn is filled with surfboards, fishing poles, protection equipment, and a motley assortment of electric motorcycle-bicycle hybrids that the family collected in the run-up to designing the Kalk. Trails snake from the property, up and over limestone cliffs and into the surrounding woodlands and pastures. Kalksten is Swedish for limestone, hence the bike’s name.

What’s the Kalk?

Blurring the lines between a gravity bike and a motorcycle, the Kalk weighs 100 pounds less than the next-lightest electric motorcycle, the KTM EX-C. At just 150 pounds, it’s far lighter than any gas-powered bike.

Over the past decade, dozens of small companies have attempted to build something similar, but their components were an odd mix of heavy stuff pulled from the motorcycle world and too-fragile parts from bikes. Cake has avoided that dilemma by making its own purpose-built components in-house and partnering with legendary Swedish suspension maker Ohlins to create the Kalk’s unique forks and monoshock.

By designing its own components, Cake is able to maximize this electric motorcycle’s low-impact qualities. The 24-inch tires are made from a unique rubber compound/tread pattern combo that’s meant to create low rolling resistance as well as high traction to avoid tearing up trails. The company offers a solar charger that can recharge the Kalk’s 2.6 kWh battery pack in 90 minutes.

The 65-degree head angle and 205 millimeters of suspension travel also split the difference between mountain and dirt bikes. The Ohlins suspension is as good as it gets, with high- and low-speed adjustments for compression damping and a three-stage air-spring front fork that you can dial in for ride height and bottoming resistance.

Riding It

The Kalk’s visual elegance and simplicity is complemented by an equally straightforward riding experience. Predictable, intuitive, and enjoyable, this bike is unintimidating and loads of fun.

One of the chief advantages of electric power is that its components have no fixed arrangement like the cylinders, induction systems, exhausts, and gearboxes of internal combustion engines. That means designers of electric motorcycles are free to cluster heavy batteries and motors however they want. On the Kalk, that results in a low center of gravity and a slim width that combine to make its svelte 150-pound weight feel even lighter, making it easy to maneuver and control over almost any terrain. Despite its dirt-bike-tall 35-inch seat height, the Kalk remains remarkably friendly for smaller riders, thanks to that ultra-low weight and slim dimensions.

That ease-of-use is accentuated by the simple controls. Without the need for a gearshift lever or a clutch, the Kalk has hand controls only, with the rear brake on the left and the twist throttle and front brake on the right. All your feet do is stand on the foot pegs. If you want to switch to a bicycle-like lever setup, you can just swap those around.

The only noise comes from the whir of the electric motor—think cordless drill on steroids—and the tires interacting with the surface you’re riding over. Anyone with a motorcycle background will be shocked by how quiet this thing is.

Three preset riding modes—Discover, Explore, and Excite—allow the rider to dial in throttle response, while another setting lets you tweak how strong the artificial “engine braking” actuates. This allows you to achieve the freewheeling feel of a bicycle or the strong deceleration you achieve when you let off the throttle on a four-stroke dirt bike. This feature also provides regenerative battery charging.

I spent a couple days riding the Kalk through Gotland’s tight forest trails and on Cake’s motocross track. It felt like nothing else I’ve ever swung a leg over. Once up to speed on tight singletrack, it felt like descending on a mountain bike, no matter if the trail was going up, down, or staying flat. Flicking the rear around requires only a touch of throttle, and the tires lift off the ground over even the smallest bump. The slack head tube and short wheelbase combine stability with agile turning, and the large brake discs and hydraulic calipers make scrubbing all that speed a breeze.

The Kalk does without the brush guards that are standard on dirt bikes. This keeps it visually clean, but without that protection, your hands get slapped by passing branches. Depending on what types of trails you ride and how fast you want to tackle them, you’ll probably want to add hand protection. The Kalk also does without a side stand, but even the smallest rider in our group (110 pounds) had no problem picking up the bike after laying it down flat.

The Kalk really shines on Cake’s small motocross track. Thirty pound-feet of torque is a lot on a 150-pound bike, and it’s delivered immediately, at any speed, with a simple twist of the throttle. Being able to ride without shifting really helped me maintain speed, and the suspension soaked up the whoops and landings, even when I cased the tabletops. The bike’s top speed of 50 miles per hour is more than enough on a track like this or through tight trails.

Who’s It For?

Ytterborn says he wants Cake to be “more Patagonia than Kawasaki.” But given the $13,000 price tag, it’s hard to imagine someone without motorcycle experience picking one of these up on a whim. The Kalk’s strong performance, even in the mildest throttle setting, will also be a lot for a new rider to handle. It accelerates much faster than, say, a scooter, or 125cc learner motorcycle.

But if you already know how to ride a motorcycle, the quiet, clean, and ultralight Kalk will offer you a completely new riding experience. It makes even the tightest and most technical trails much more manageable. It gives you the opportunity to encounter wildlife while you’re out riding. On it, you can explore the woods without disrupting them.

If that sounds like fun, and if you want to burn fewer fossil fuels and don’t want everyone within a mile to hear you riding by, then the Kalk will change how you feel about motorcycles. Cake is hoping this describes more than a few of you.

Likes

• Elegant design.
• Flawless engineering and quality.
• Amazing suspension.
• Strong performance.
• Near-silent operation.
• Extremely lightweight.
• Incredibly easy to ride.
• Low maintenance.

Dislikes

• Only 50 miles of range on a trail.
• Not street legal (yet).
• Expensive.
• No headlight.

Should You Buy It?

Every time I test a new vehicle, I try to imagine owning one. I could strap this thing to the front of our military truck when my wife, son, and I set out on an overland adventure, charge it from our onboard solar panels, and use it to explore the areas outside our camps, ride it into town for supplies, and rely on it as emergency transportation, since that LMTV breaks down a lot. Honestly, I think it’d be ideal in that role.

But that’s admittedly a niche use case. Cake’s first motorcycle is a dirt bike for people who don’t like dirt bikes. Given the quality of the product, I think the company will be able to find a strong if small following for such a thing. But it’s what comes next for the new brand that’ll be its real challenge. Will Cake move closer to the motorsports world or find new ways to put electric motorcycles in different hands?

If the Ytterborns can figure that out, then I think they might really be on to something.

The post You’re Going to Want the Cake Kalk E-Dirt Bike appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

Everyone on the internet likes to call electric bicycles “motorcycles,” so maybe it makes sense that a motorcycle company is now making electric bicycles. Yamaha just debuted a line of , and we tested them in the mountains of Southern California.

There’s actually a lot more to these bikes than just a meme come full circle. Yamaha is an absolutely gigantic company, producing everything from keyboards to world championship–winning motorcycles. And the company has been manufacturing e-bike motors and batteries for the past 25 years. It has supplied Trek with e-bike components since 2012 and offers everything from software to controls and displays to brands across the bicycle spectrum. Now Yamaha is bringing that expertise to its own ground-up designs.

The Bikes

Yamaha’s power-assist e-bikes, which start at $2,400, are designed for mountain, road, and city bikers looking for a rig with solid components and electric-assist pedaling.

Yamaha CrossConnect ($2,999)

What Is It? A hybrid road bike for school, errands, and gym commutes or just riding along a bike path.

Who’s It For? College students, young professionals, older riders, and tourists who want sensible two-wheeled transportation that won’t leave them soaked in sweat.

The CrossConnect is intended as a do-it-all road bike for people who like the convenience of a bike for their daily travels. It has an upright riding position and is fully accessorized with integrated front and rear fenders, rear rack, and lights. It sports an air-sleeve suspension fork to smooth the ride (it can also be fully locked out to increase pedaling efficiency).

Yamaha UrbanRush ($3,299)

What Is It? A road bike that accepts large-volume tires and is compatible with fenders and a rack.

Who’s It For? Long-distance commuters, gravel riders, and weekend leisure riders.

More performance-focused than the CrossConnect, the UrbanRush is a versatile road bike with room to mount gravel tires for dirt roads and light trails. The drop bars are mounted high enough to be all-day comfortable, so you could run courier deliveries on this thing.

Yamaha CrossCore ($2,400)

What Is It? An entry-level version of the CrossConnect.

Who’s It For? Price-conscious buyers in need of an urban grocery-getter.

Equipped with a more affordable rigid fork, the CrossCore is a basic hybrid utility bike that should work great in congested cities.

Yamaha YDX-Torc ($3,499)

What Is It? A 27.5-inch hardtail mountain bike with middle-of-the road components.

Who’s It For? Mild to moderate recreational trail riders.

This is a 27.5-inch wheel, aluminum frame, hardtail power-assist mountain bike built with a modern progressive trail geometry—slacker head-tube angle, shorter chainstays, and lower bottom bracket—that gives the bike a solid and predictable feel on the trail. The drivetrain is 11-speed Shimano, brakes are hydraulic discs with 180mm rotors, and the front suspension fork from RockShox offers 120mm of travel. The motor and battery are positioned as low as possible (standard with higher-end e-bikes) to improve handling.

The Ride

“We wanted to make bikes that appealed to the largest numbers of riders possible and do it at a good price,” explains Drew Englemann, sales and marketing director of Yamaha’s new Power Assist Bicycle Division. Yamaha isn’t taking any chances here. The bikes are targeted at the middle of the booming e-bike market, taking advantage of the company’s economies of scale to offer a little better price-to-performance ratio than rival brands.

Electric bicycle sales in the United States doubled from 2016 to 2017. About 30,000 of these things are now sold every year, creating a $70 million market. That’s still a mere fraction of the 17.4 million bicycles sold here, totaling $6.2 billion, but it does make e-bikes the fastest-growing segment in the industry. Solid, affordable options like these Yamahas should help put new riders on two wheels or enable existing riders to do more miles, more often.

Like other e-bikes, Yamaha’s motors are designed to assist the rider’s pedal stroke, decreasing the effort it takes to ride and increasing the speed. That means the big challenge for designers is integrating the electric assist into the pedal stroke as seamlessly yet helpfully as possible. Achieving an ideal feel is a case of balancing the motor’s power delivery with software and rider controls designed to tailor the power to individual circumstances. Get it right and a good e-bike should feel totally like a conventional bicycle, just one that requires less effort for more speed. Get it wrong and riding a bad one can become unnerving, unpredictable, and frustrating.

Yamaha has a huge advantage here, since it has more than two decades of experience dialing in power delivery. The motors provide significant low-speed torque and quick power delivery. Low pedal-speed torque helps push the bike forward from a dead stop or when you find yourself in a high gear going up a climb and are mashing on the pedals to make progress. It also makes hill starts and track stands easy and is a huge help on technical trail climbs.

The quick delivery of Yamaha’s system can make a rider feel superhuman, instantly delivering a large pulse of power as you apply pressure to the pedals. This differs from other systems we’ve tested, which aim to provide a more natural feel to the pedal assist by slowly ramping up power. Each approach has its advantages, but Yamaha’s fast but predictable delivery makes quick acceleration easier and can be crucial when it comes to getting out of the way of fast-moving traffic or clearing a difficult section of trail.

The battery life provided by the 500 watt-hour batteries on all four bikes is impressive, even when operated in the highest power setting. Typical range is estimated at 50 to 100 miles, depending on terrain, speed, and other such factors. Additionally, Yamaha’s rider controls are intuitive and customizable, making it easy to monitor battery life, speed, trip distance, and other data.

Our biggest complaint is that motor noise is plainly evident. Yamaha claims the higher-decibel levels compared to rival systems are the result of the higher density of better parts used inside the motor, which it claims should result in a longer service life. Perhaps that’s true, but during our short time on the bikes, long-term reliability wasn’t testable, and the noise was annoying.

All four bikes are spec’d with durable components that deliver solid performance appropriate for the prices. But unlike pricier competitors, the batteries look like they’ve simply been slapped onto a bike frame, rather than being integrated into the down tubes. We also feel like all four bikes could benefit from from an aesthetic overhaul. Take a look at the Specialized Turbo Levo or the to get an idea of how elegant an e-bike can look.

Our last complaint is saved for the YDX-Torc tires. This is a 43-pound bike, so you’d think it would make sense to equip it with plus-size tires and tubeless-ready wheels. Larger-volume tubeless tires increase traction and reduce risk of a tire puncture, necessities on a heavy bike like this that delivers significant power when pedaling. The absence of a large-volume tubeless tire is made more obvious by the hardtail, putting the onus on the rear tire and frame to absorb impacts. The combination of a stiff aluminum hardtail frame, smaller-volume tubed tires, and the power and weight of this thing virtually guarantees pinch flats, bent rims, and a harsh ride on demanding trails.

Likes

• Affordable prices
• Durable components
• Solid frame geometry
• Smooth, predictable performance
• Proven electric components
• Deep support from a large company

Dislikes

• No high-performance options
• Sloppy looks
• Loud motors
• Poor high-cadence motor performance on road bikes
• MTB desperately needs plus-size tires

Should You Buy One?

If you’re looking to purchase a solid, reliable, and reasonably well-equipped commuter or do-it-all bike at a good price, then Yamaha is offering three good options. And you’ll have no problems with its electrical components.

But if you’re looking for a pedal-assist mountain bike, you’d do well to spend up to a more expensive rival. starts at just $4,500 and comes with full suspension and much more suitable wheels and tires.

We hope this venture from Yamaha inspires more investment into the sector, pushes prices down, and results in more innovative designs down the road. Until then, Yamaha’s e-bikes are good (if uninspiring), affordable options.

The post Yamaha Just Launched Its First Electric Bicycles appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

Electric bicycles can fill an important need. Low-power electric-assist mountain bikes, like the Specialized Turbo Levo FSR we tested last year, can make riding more accessible to more people, making up for gaps in fitness and training or helping people pedal through injuries. But electric bikes can also exist solely to exploit legal loopholes. This can reach speeds in excess of 60 miles per hour on level ground, putting motorcycle performance in places where it doesn’t belong.

What Is It?

is a small Southern California company founded in 2008 by brothers Chris and Derek Hunt. They started selling electric retrofit kits for existing platforms but now design and manufacture very fast electric bicycles from the ground up.

The Revolution we tested starts at $9,999 and is based on the slack geometry of a downhill bike. Like a normal downhill bike, it uses high-end RockShox suspension with eight inches of travel up front and nine inches at the rear, plus a 10-speed SRAM derailleur. Unlike a normal downhill bike, its rear wheel contains a 7.3 horsepower motor, the frame is built around a 1,800 watt-hour battery pack, and you can kick the bottom bracket to select a second speed on the single-ring front crank. The 85-tooth-equivalent gearing allows you to provide assistance to the motor, achieving a combined top speed of 60 mph.

Of course, that’s only after you reprogram it. The bike ships with a power and speed limiter that caps it at 20 mph to achieve legal classification as a pedal-assist bicycle. It also ships with instructions that enable the owner to remove these restrictions.

Because no one is going to buy an 82-pound bicycle, that essentially means HPC is selling a very light electric motorcycle that, thanks to pedals and post-sale programming, is legally considered a bicycle.

The model we tested has a twist throttle and a 75-mile electric-only range.

Riding It

Adding a small battery pack and motor to a bike takes the weight up to around 50 pounds, which makes most pedal-assist electric mountain bikes feel cumbersome on the trail. Their makers extend a lot of effort to try to make the assisted pedal stroke feel natural and predictable and do their best to minimize the packaging compromises of the electric components.

But with the Revolution’s much more robust power output and twist throttle, you don’t need to ride it like a mountain bike. It has a lot more weight in the wheels, battery, and frame than a bicycle would, which makes pedaling through low-speed, technical climbs virtually impossible. On the Revolution, though, you don’t have to pedal through an obstacle—you can just grab a handful of throttle and power through it. Stuff you’d pedal through at 2 mph becomes stuff you take at 20 mph. On the bike, the uphill start to feel like downhill.

Having said that, the Revolution doesn’t actually feel like other electric motorcycles. The Alta Motors Redshift MX makes 42 horsepower and 120 pound-feet of torque and weighs 265 pounds. The KTM Freeride E-XC makes 25 horsepower and 31 pound-feet and weighs 238 pounds. Where those bikes are designed to please seasoned motorcyclists and perform on a motocross track, the 82-pound Revolution is nearly as easy to ride as a normal bicycle and simply flies along tight singletrack with the sort of confidence that the bigger bikes could never give you. With only the noise of wind and tires, it feels like you’re actually flying through the woods.

You will feel the weight when it comes time to load up the bike and take it somewhere. Most people will need to treat it like a motorcycle and use a ramp to load it into the back of a pickup. Roof racks are simply out of the question.

On the road, where the unlocked bike is technically illegal, the Revolution is stable and safe up to its combined top speed of 60 mph. That’s highway speed, so bad stuff can happen very fast, and crashing would likely hurt you very badly. We didn’t feel comfortable riding at those speeds without at least a full-face helmet, gloves, and pads, at a minimum.

Likes

• Lightest dirt bike out there.
• Quieter than pedal-assist bikes.
• Elegant packaging and quality build.
• High-quality components.
• Proven downhill geometry feels instantly familiar.

Dislikes

• Heavy for a bicycle.
• Charge time exceeds ride time.
• No dropper post—really?!
• Illegal on bike trails, illegal on the road.
• No headlight or taillight.
• Expensive AF. $11,500 as tested.

Who’s It For?

That’s the biggest question when it comes to this thing. Using it on both roads and bike trails will mostly be illegal, so it’s definitely not for cyclists. Does that mean it’s for motorcyclists? Well, it’s not going to win any motocross races or even keep up with your buddies at the OHV park. This thing is going to be best enjoyed if you have a big patch of private land, and that essentially makes it a toy for the rich. It’s a very well-built, cleverly designed, extremely fun toy that you can’t, or at least shouldn’t, use virtually everywhere.

To us, the value in testing this thing and doing this review lies in defining the line between e-bike and motorcycle. A good electric bicycle makes riding a little easier, but you still need to work to ride an e-bike. A motorcycle is designed to be ridden with the throttle and is capable of speeds far in excess of anything a machine with pedals should be capable of.

Why does the distinction matter? Riding this thing, it wasn’t so much the greater potential for trail erosion or some tribal identity for those with bulging quadriceps that mattered. It was simply a case of relative speed. Sharing a trail with other cyclists, as well as horses and hikers, just isn’t safe, smart, or considerate when you have a 30 mph difference in speed.

The post When Is an Electric Mountain Bike No Longer a Bicycle? appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

Looking for a truck that’s big enough for a family to live in, but still has true go-anywhere off-road capability? You could spend $100,000-plus on a purpose built rig. Or, my wife, Rachel, and I thought, you could spend a couple grand on a decommissioned military truck. 

Meet the LMTV

It stands for . But remember we’re talking military terminology here, so in this case “light” actually translates to a curb weight over 19,000 pounds. To put that in perspective, a four-door Jeep Wrangler weighs 4,000 pounds. 

Like pretty much all the U.S. military’s equipment, the LMTV is made in America. It’s powered by a 6.6-liter Caterpillar turbodiesel engine that sends power to all four wheels through a seven-speed Allison transmission, which is similar to commercial items used in big rigs and construction equipment. In other words, they’re designed to last a long time while working hard.

Our truck is the van version of the LMTV—designated the M1079—and was meant to be used as a radio communications vehicle. Only about one in 50 LMTVs is configured like this. The big aluminum box on the back has five huge windows that open for ventilation, and come equipped with blackout shades. The 47-inch tires are equipped with a built-in inflation system that allows the driver to air them up and down with the push of a button. That’s a huge time saver when it’s time to get back on the highway (which requires high tire pressures) after a few days playing in the sandy desert (low pressures).

Why Buy One?

Rachel and I had been planning to drive our 1987 Toyota 4Runner down to Tierra Del Fuego at the southern tip of South America. That was before our son, Wilder, came along last September, and before we decided to adopt a third dog. In order to keep traveling, we needed to find a larger vehicle. Something we could sleep, cook, and shower in. 

We started considering the options. Would a four-wheel drive van be big enough? Could a school bus go off-road? Did it make sense to tow a trailer?

To help narrow the choices, we created a list of must-haves: secure seating for at least three, possibly four, humans; room for the dogs; diesel power for better fuel economy; at least 80 square feet of living space; and four-wheel drive for go-anywhere ability. And it couldn't cost more than $50,000, including the build-out. 

That last factor ruled out a Mercedes Sprinter, quad-cab Mitsubishi Fuso, and more exotic, custom-build off-road RVs like those made by Earthroamer or Sportsmobile. So we turned to the LMTV. 

How Do You Buy One?

Buying an old military truck isn’t as straight forward as buying a normal used car. The most common way people acquire them is through an online military surplus auction, but that’s a process filled with potentially ruinous pitfalls. While numerous photos of each vehicle are included in each listing, as are the results of a perfunctory inspection, most of the trucks sold aren’t in running condition, and require a tractor trailer in order to collect them from the auction site. (Expect to pay $3 per mile for shipping.) Once you’ve gotten the vehicle home, getting it into roadworthy condition, and getting it registered, will likely prove extremely time consuming and expensive.

That hassle has created a cottage industry for resellers, who buy the trucks at auction for prices sometimes as low as a couple thousand dollars, perform the minimum work required to get them road legal, then turn a healthy profit by selling you a drivable machine. We went that route, purchasing an LMTV from a reseller in Maryland for $23,000.

Six Months and $45,000 Later

From that moment on, we entered a half-year crash course in mechanics and industrial interior design. 

Getting the truck from Maryland to Seattle was our first lesson and challenge. In this case, we phoned a friend, who thought the idea of driving a truck with a 55-mile-per-hour top speed coast-to-coast sounded like a good time and offered to fly out and get the LMTV for us. He checked the fluids and tire pressures, handed over our cashier’s check, and met us in Flagstaff, Arizona, at the Overland Expo, six days later.

From there, we wound our way back to the Pacific Northwest, taking 4×4 trails whenever possible. We crossed sand dunes, forded rivers, and slept on our inflatable sleeping pads in the back of the truck. LMTV life felt good all the way to a truck stop on the outskirts of Bend, Oregon, where the alternator failed. A new one cost 10 days and $900. 

Once we got the truck home, we began stripping it down to turn it into the RV we wanted. Inside, we got rid of the avocado green paint and the bright, buzzing 48-inch fluorescent lights. 500-pounds of steel plates bolted to the floor got in the way of our insulation and wood flooring, so I ground off its two-inch-thick bolts and tugged the plate out the back door. We built a queen-size bed platform, stainless steel counters, a sink, shower, and installed a hot-water heater.

Next, we needed off-grid power. The truck's roof was big enough to hold two commercial-grade 435-watt solar panels from . The electricity they produce is fed through a Victron solar charge controller, and stored in four 100 amp-hour AGM batteries. That powers the water pump, fridge, and lighting, with enough left over to run a chop saw and charge batteries. 

Building the interior was way easier than fixing the truck itself, where even seemingly routine upgrades took on biblical proportions. Take swapping out the 24-year-old tires, our first big project after replacing the alternator. A new tire runs $1,500, and you need five. (The LMTV has a full-size spare mounted on a hydraulic lift behind the cab.) Fortunately, we found a seller offering new old stock tires for $300 a piece. Shipping five up north was just $587 for all of them.

Of course, mounting those behemoths was nothing like putting a new set of rubber on a passenger car. Lacking the military’s specialist tools, I resorted to an angle grinder to cut the old tires’ beads off the rims. Loosening the lug nuts took 500 pound-feet of force. The whole project took most of a week. Pay someone else to do it and it’ll cost you $100 per hour, at five hours of labor per wheel.

I also did some other basic maintenance. For unknown reasons, the military specs motor oil in the transmission, so I replaced that with actual transmission fluid. The 6.6-liter engine takes 6.5 gallons, or $150, of oil. After sitting for so long, I figured it was a good idea to go ahead and replace all the other fluids and filters, too.

Since then, we’ve also insulated the cab for sound and heat. Yet with such a big motor sitting directly under our seats, the noise cancellation is negligible, and without AC (not a standard feature of the LMTV), the insulation really just prevents the cab from getting overly hot when the engine's running. 

What’s that all add up to? Getting the truck home ended up costing us $5,000. The initial build-out, the new tires, and the other basic maintenance added another $7,000. At this point, the truck wasn’t quite where we wanted, but I thought it was at least livable, safe, and reliable. 

Then, while driving over a mountain pass a couple weeks after completing all that work, the oil light came on. We pulled over, and noticed that a smČč±ô±ôÌęline had blown, emptying five gallons of oil before we’d stopped. It took us a few days to get a new line custom fabricated in a small mountain town. I thought that was the end of the issue, but eight miles later, the engine dropped a valve, cracking the head. Coolant and oil poured out of the truck as we stood watching helplessly. 

Towing the LMTV to a shop capable of working on it cost $703. Through social media, I found another owner willing to sell me a low-mileage used engine for $3,700, and shipping that here was $686. Pulling the old motor and dropping in that new one should be $3,500. New fluids, seals, and some other miscellaneous parts will be $800. A Caterpillar machine shop is doing that right now.

So…Is The LMTV Worth It?

As much work and headache as it has given us, we love this truck. It’s a true go-anywhere, do-anything, live-in-the-back vehicle with unlimited potential. It’s fun to drive, and the project of building it into our home as a family has been a great experience. 

The dollar signs have been adding up faster than we planned, but I still think the LMTV makes sense—for us. Let’s compare it to the cheapest viable alternative—a Sprinter 4×4 converted into an RV—so you can see my thinking. A fully built-out Sprinter van getting 19 miles per gallon would have cost us at least $30,000 more than where we stand now. Probably close to $95,000 total to really get it nice inside. 

Given the global average price of diesel fuel (about $3), a circuitous route from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina (about 20,000 miles, and our plan for next year), driving a Sprinter would cost $3,200 in fuel. Taking the 8.5 MPG LMTV will use $7,100 in fuel. 

Given the huge difference in purchase price, we would have to make that trip eight times for the Sprinter to break even, and we wouldn’t have anything like the living space of the LMTV. 

Of course, it's not for everyone. A machine like this will require enormous amounts of work and it won't be easy to find people to service it. But, if after Čč±ô±ôÌęthose caveats, you're still interested in one of these things, then read on about how you can make the process a wee bitt better.   

Learn from Our Experience

We bought our truck from a mediocre reseller, where only the absolute minimum work had been done to get it rolling. That’s what led to the maintenance backlog—and the blown engine. At the time, we thought that was our only option given our budget, and pressing need for a larger vehicle. 

What I wish we'd been able to do was buy a totally restored truck from well-respected , based in Bend, Oregon. They buy the trucks at auction, then go through them nut-and-bolt to improve their reliability and drivability. A ready-to-go LMTV from Grigsby will set you back about $50,000. That’s about equal to our total investment, just with an awful lot less headache. Grigsby can also help maintain your LMTV, and build it out into your ultimate overland RV.

What’s Next?

Once this new engine is finalized, we’re heading to Colorado, where we plan to spend the winter in our family’s barn, completing the rest of the build out. We plan to hit the road full-time next fall with really only one date in calendar: July 2, 2019, for the total solar eclipse in Chile.

After that: Who knows?

The post We Bought a Military Truck So You Don’t Have To appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

Bicycles are the premiere example of functional art. And nowhere is there a more beautiful bike frame than those made by Portland, Oregon–based . Can wood work as a mountain bike? We spent two weeks on the Fat-Ash 27.5+ to find out.

Why Wood?

Wood has remarkable engineering qualities. It’s light, strong, withstands lots of stress, and, perhaps most notably, has vibration-damping abilities several times that of steel or carbon fiber. It’s also highly damage-resistant, incredibly simple to repair, and renewable as a resource. That it’s also beautiful doesn’t hurt.

Plus, the idea of a wooden bicycle is as old as the bicycle itself. The first bicycles back in the early 1800s were all made from wood, as were the first planes, boats, and cars. Today, modern manufacturing techniques are giving the material new purpose.

What’s Renovo?

Renovo, founded ten years ago by Ken Wheeler, a former airplane engineer, makes road, commuter, and mountain bikes. All are made almost entirely from wood, with the exception of aluminum inserts in the head tube, bottom bracket, seat tube, and custom rear dropouts.

The company uses all kinds of wood. Visiting the factory, I saw zebrawood, ironwood, and several types of oak, hickory, and maple. Each variety has different strengths and excels in different applications. This is what gives Renovo the ability to precisely tailor properties like stiffness, hardness, and dampening across different frames and frame components.

Before it can be turned into a frame, the wood is first kiln-dried. This eliminates warping and cracking and ensures consistency during the manufacturing process. Planks of various woods are then selected to compose the specific frame being constructed. They are milled to exacting thicknesses and lengths, and then laminated together. Once these multi-wood planks are bonded, they are sent to a CNC machine, where joints are cut, tubes are hollowed, and beautiful curves are revealed.

The frame components now resemble the finished product. But before they are bonded together, the interiors of the hollow tubes are sealed, eliminating the potential for moisture to invade the wood from the inside.

Joints are then fitted together, constructing the frame, head tube, and seat tube. Bottom brackets are inserted, and the dropouts are attached.

What’s the Fat-Ash?

Designed for versatility, responsiveness, and reliability, the hardtail Fat-Ash is intended to be a do-anything mountain bike. Designed around the 27.5-inch wheel with plus-size tires, it can also accept 29ers.

Those larger tires on the midsize wheel make for a stable ride, with lots of rubber on the ground to increase traction. Lower the air pressure a bit and you get a cushy ride that seems to float over harsh terrain. There are drawbacks, of course. Larger tires are heavier, so they’re also slower to accelerate, less nimble, and just like the big mud terrains on your truck, incredibly sensitive to inflation pressure. You can read more about the benefits and drawbacks of plus-size tires here.

At 68.5 degrees, the Fat-Ash’s head-tube angle is just right. Climbing tight switchbacks is possible, yet the angle is relaxed enough to inspire confidence during fast descents. Medium-length chainstays make lifting the front wheel off the ground easy but also keep it planted while attacking steep climbs. A relaxed seat-tube angle puts weight over the back tire for better control at speed. The bottom bracket sits low in the frame, but pedal strikes are rare. All-up weight with top-spec components is 25 pounds. This is a Goldilocks bike—it’s just right.

Built with top-of-the-line components, like a Fox Factory 34 fork (120mm of travel), SRAM Eagle 12-speed drivetrain, and Thomson stem and dropper post, there’s really nothing here to left to be desired. The only thing I found unsatisfactory were the lock-on grips, which mount the lock ring on the outside of the bar, creating a hard contact point in an area I like to grab while climbing. The frame design also limits how low you can position the brake and shifter levers: Push them down too far and they’ll put a groove in the top tube.

Limited frame sizes may be a bugbear for very tall or very short riders. There are only two sizes: 17- and 19-inch. That means if you’re shorter than 5’6″ or taller than 6’2″, you’ll have to order a custom frame.

Who’s It For?

For the mountain biker who needs just one more bike in their quiver, the Fat-Ash rides well and is stunning. It’s a true conversation piece that also performs on cross-country trails. Combined with exceptional build and ride quality, the Fat-Ash justifies its $3,450 frame-only price ($7,145 complete, as pictured).

Of course, that beautiful wood finish is the visual selling point, but it may also leave riders loathe to push the bike’s limits across sharp, rocky terrain. Consider if that’s a factor before you fork over the cash.

Riding It

Two things about this bike really stand out: vibration damping and noise—or the lack of it.

Wood absorbs vibration through its fibrous cellular structure, making it far better at reducing jarring. The effect is subtle but significant. The cumulative effect of these forces amount to a lot of mental and physical fatigue over the course of a three-hour ride. Day in, day out, eliminating this feedback makes an enormous difference. That wood dampens vibration better than aluminum is obvious, but the degree to which it outperforms carbon, steel, and titanium will surprise you. Wood damps twice as efficiently as titanium.

Gone too is frame noise. The high-pitch ting of a rock hitting the down tube, the hollow brushing rumble of pine needles across the seat tube, the clickety-clack of a chain hitting the stay, the amplified echo of a creaky bottom bracket—all gone.

Only after you’ve had the chance to ride something as quiet as the Fat-Ash do you realize what you’ve been missing. Sounds that didn’t exist before now become part of the riding experience.

The smooth, quiet ride of the Fat-Ash would mean nothing if the bike didn’t also handle superbly. I’m happy to report that the torsional stiffness of the wood works exceptionally with the rock-solid frame geometry, and it’s all tied together with impeccable construction and a great set of components.

Likes

• Absolutely beautiful bike
• Whisper quiet
• Velvety smooth
• Versatile
• Predictable
• Lively
• Unique

Dislikes

• Limited stem and brake/shift lever position
• Too many people want to talk to you at every trailhead
• Limited sizes

One Last Thing: Just How Durable Is a Wooden Mountain Bike?

There’s a picture in the Portland showroom showing 3,000 pounds of weight hanging from the bottom bracket of a Renovo frame. The rear dropouts and head tube are supported by steel rods, because no suspension, tires, or wheels could ever support that kind of weight.

Also in the showroom is Renovo’s first-ever mountain bike. The geometry and components date the bike—steep head tube, early ten-speed, 2.1-inch-wide 29er tires—and it’s been ridden heavily for years, but nothing on it is damaged. After several years of bombing trails, the bike still looks like new.

Wheeler claims that wood—correctly selected, bonded, and machined—matches or outperforms the strength of carbon fiber and aluminum frames. So far, in Renovo’s ten-year history, no frames have failed.

The post This Wooden Mountain Bike Can Shred appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

Fat bikes are already the all-terrain vehicles of the mountain bike world. Their wide tires mean you can pedal them over the kind of surfaces (think soft sand or snow) that would stop anything narrower dead in its tracks. But the increased size, friction, and weight also make them harder to pedal.

Then there are e-MTBs. By adding some torque to your pedal stroke, they make even neophyte riders feel like Lance on a climb, but adding the weight of electrification makes supposedly trail-oriented bikes suffer once pointed downhill. Something that weighs 50 pounds is just never going to be as maneuverable as something that weighs 20.

That disparity was evident when we tested the Specialized Turbo Levo. Similar to the șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Gear of The Year winning Stumpjumper 6Fattie, it predictably makes climbs easier, but just can’t keep up with the lighter, non-electrified alternative once those climbs end. But what if you put an electric motor in a fat bike? Does the more utility-focused ride prove a better application for the technology?

We’ve been riding the German-based Bulls’ to find out.

Bulls has been successfully selling electric mountain bikes in Europe since 2010. The brand has made limited forays into the U.S. market, but previously only with direct-to-consumer web sales. Now, it’s populating the showrooms of bike shops across the country. You can throw a leg over a Monster E FS by visiting one of them.

You’ll be familiar with Bosch’s 500wH battery and 350 watt motor from other e-MTBs. (The same package is sold to Haibike, and Trek.) It’s torquier than Specialized’s Brose motor, but that brand integrates its proprietary battery more seamlessly into the downtube and achieves a more deft level of power integration with your pedal stroke. When șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű tested trail bikes equipped with the same Bosch package as this Bulls, we found that it could “surge and feel like it gets away from you a little” when pedaling.

That’s not the case with the new Bulls. Equipped with four-inch-wide tires, we found the fattie was better able to make full use of that torque on a wider variety of terrain. It can still get away from you on wet roots or an icy bridge, but you quickly learn to moderate your pedaling over those obstacles.

Compared to the more trail-oriented e-Specialized, this fat bike is much more confident plowing through rock gardens or climbing over fallen logs. But it’s much less fun on descents, where its size really gets in the way. If the Specialized is a Toyota 4Runner, the Bulls is a lifted Jeep on 40-inch mud terrains. There’s nothing the Bulls can’t get up and over, but the Specialized is way more nimble and fun to ride on twisty singletrack.

At 54 pounds, the Bulls is a big bike, and that means a lot of braking is needed to slow this sucker down. The Magura discs are barely up to the task, meaning a conservative approach is needed on downhills, braking well in advance of turns, and keeping your outright speed much lower than you would on something lighter.

Jumping this Bulls is also essentially out of the question. Obviously with enough trying you can get it off the ground, but the rotational inertia of the large tires, combined with the weight of the battery and motor, make it impossible to correct in the air. Drops were a little more manageable. The 120mm of travel and 26×4-inch Schwalbe Jumbo Jims were just enough to soak up small ledges.

Transporting the thing is the final challenge. A roof rack is out of the question and smaller riders will even struggle to load the bike onto a hitch rack. It’s also a pain to move around the garage: I found my bike stand had trouble holding the bike in position for simple cleaning and maintenance.

Most serious recreational riders won’t get much benefit from owning a bike like this. What you gain in climbing speed and efficiency you trade for no-fun descents, complicated operation, and difficulty in transporting it.

But here’s the thing: you can’t argue with this bike’s ability to make crossing any terrain easy. And therein lies the electric fat bike’s unique appeal.

It would be near perfect for a resort trail builder or bike ranger or hunter. A rider who’s paid to maintain trails would benefit tremendously from the assist provided by the Bosch motor. Riding your bike is only a method to an end, and that end is to get to a trail, with tools, and have the energy to build a final product. The assist helps reserve energy for the task and gets the rider there quicker. With the fat tires and assist, a ranger can buzz up to an injured rider or trail mishap at speed. It’s a great tool to get far into the backcountry, while hauling in camping gear or hauling out meat.

The Bulls would also make an excellent complement to your adventure van or truck. Overland adventures often put you in places far off the beaten path. A single mechanical problem or misjudged fuel range can leave you very far from help, and in terrain that isn’t always friendly for a typical bike. Coupling the extended range (up to 130 miles), speed, and carrying capacity of electric assist with a fat bike platform gives you all the security you need.

In that same role, an electric fat bike gives you better access to remote campsites. Using one, you could keep going when the two-track ends and the singletrack begins, hauling your camping gear with you out onto a remote beach or similar. If your truck or van is equipped with solar panels or an upgraded electrical system, you could even charge an electric bike on the go.

Those are admittedly some pretty specific use cases. Especially when you consider that this Bulls costs $5,299, and that trail access in the United States for e-MTBs is a still-developing patchwork of confusing regulations. But in those applications, this is probably the best bike for the job. And that’s a first.

If you’re simply looking for two-wheeled, all-terrain transportation, an electric fat bike may actually be the best bike for the job. Period.

The post Need Two-Wheeled, All-Terrain Transportation? Get an E-Fat Bike. appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

We all take pictures of our dogs. For most of us, these shots aren’t exactly an assured path to monetary success. But for Denver-based Kelly Lund, they’re bringing something that’s starting to look a lot like fame and fortune. The 30-year-old just quit his day job to become a full-time social media manager for his pet and best friend, Loki the Wolfdog.

The pair’s story starts on a snowy day in 2012. An experienced dog lover, Kelly decided that a wolf hybrid could deliver the kind of challenge-to-reward metrics he was looking for in his next companion. A small family breeder in Utah had was he was looking for. Loki is a low-content wolf dog. Simply put, he’s mostly malamute and husky, but at least one of his ancestors only a generation or two back was a wolf.

Malamutes and huskies make notoriously difficult pets. They’re working dogs, bred to pull sleds and hunt seal and bear in the Arctic. Stubborn, high energy, and extremely intelligent, malamutes are mischievous and capable of holding grudges, and they’ll play dominance games if they lack strong leadership. Dogs like this can frustrate even experienced dog owners. Add in a wolf ancestor and you have your hands full. But tame a beast like this and you will be rewarded with a true best friend. “Loki’s an animal that can tell what you’re thinking and knows how you’re feeling,” says Lund. “You have to be able to do the same for him.”

Lund immediately started taking pictures of his new companion and posting them on Instagram. Dog pics soon threatened to take over his account, so Lund made Loki his own account. It was an immediate hit. Started in 2013, gathered 50,000 followers in its first year. Companies wanted in: early on, local dog food brand contacted Lund to offer Loki all the food he needed in exchange for the occasional post.

Loki’s stardom wasn’t planned. Lund says he wasn’t trying to commercialize Loki or do anything more than share the good times he was having with his dog. He wasn’t playing the hashtag game and didn’t pay for followers. But sometime in the summer of 2015, one of his photos of Loki got more than 10,000 likes, and the account suddenly accrued 500,000 followers.

How? Lund attributes his success to the connection he shares with Loki, which is obvious in his photos. That he has natural talent as a photographer (even without formal training) doesn’t hurt, nor does Loki’s photogenic appearance. Living in Denver with an athletic owner, Loki is more active than most dogs. A good-looking dog that shares a strong connection with an active owner who can take a decent picture? I guess that’s just a recipe for social media success.

Soon called and set up a partnership. Lund liked the company’s idea of funding pet adoptions, so later that year, he put together a Loki calendar and used the proceeds to help a young girl adopt a service dog. At that point, Instagram wasn’t making Lund much more than a little extra money, but that was helping him enjoy a little more time outside with Loki than he could previously.

By the end of 2015, Loki had nearly a million followers. A friend called and told Lund he should quit his job, but he had reservations about taking that plunge. Working for the City of Denver as an outdoor recreation coordinator, he had both security and work he enjoyed.

But with the added attention, more offers for part-time creative work started to flow in. Mercedes cast the pair in a commercial, likely netting them a five-figure sum. (Lund couldn’t release specific figures because of NDAs with the brands.) He started struggling to balance his day job with the work that his now-famous wolf dog was bringing in. This September, GoPro asked the pair to attend the launch of its new Hero 5 camera in Squaw Valley, California. That company doesn’t pay Lund, but it funds trips and creates networking opportunities with athletes, photographers, and other creative types. Squaw Valley is a 16-hour drive from Denver. To make it work, Lund took a day off work and drove through the night. Then he turned around and drove straight home after the event. The next day at work, he was predictably exhausted. It was the last straw.

In November, three days after his 30th birthday, Lund quit his job and became a full-time parent to his famous pet.

Earlier this month, Google paid him to shoot a short video promoting an Android Wear watch. Travel time, logistics, and filming took place over a long weekend, but Lund earned the equivalent of two months’ salary at his old job. The video was viewed 300,000 times. A few months ago, Eddie Bauer asked him to speak. The terms were simple: 15 minutes of talking, plus a 45-minute Q&A session, and the company paid him enough to cover his bills for a couple weeks.

Lund just inked a deal with another automaker. He couldn’t share the terms but did say the deal includes a brand-new truck. In January, Lund has a two-week shoot scheduled for Wisconsin’s tourism board. It’s safe to say he’ll earn more doing that than he would have working for Denver for two weeks.

Lund tells us he’s been able to make deals netting $10 per thousand followers per post. With 1.3 million followers, he’s making $13,000 for a photo. Not all of Lund’s posts are commercialized, and not all are that lucrative, but that’s still a rate no professional photographer would scoff at.

He’s only a a month or so into his new career, but Lund is estimating he’ll earn “almost six figures” in his first year. Much more than he used to make working for the city.

While this may sound idyllic, the future’s uncertain. Lund knows that like all models, Loki will eventually fall out of fashion and that his dog’s time chasing snowboards and running alongside snowmobiles can’t last forever. So he’s busy coming up with a plan for the future. Lund and a business partner with a background in e-commerce are . That’s a start. He’s also working on a dog-centric children’s book and plans to write one for adults on how to own and live with challenging dogs.

Now that he isn’t working 40 to 50 hours a week in an office, Lund is also using his newfound freedom to improve his skills as a photographer. He’s the first to admit he lacks the technical skill of a professional, and he shoots most of his photos on a $400 Sony A6000 running a $1,000 16-70mm lens. Most pros would consider this hobbyist gear.

But mostly, Lund is just enjoying spending time with his best friend. He’s as surprised by his success as anyone: “A while back, I saw a dog meme that said, ‘Do what you love and success will follow.’ The punch line was, ‘So, I sat on my couch, ate pizza, and took selfies with my dog
I’m still waiting for the money to roll in.’ Turned out that actually worked for me.”

The post How Loki the Wolfdog Became an Instagram Star appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

“I’ll never ride an electric mountain bike.” Those words have been spoken by every devout cyclist at least once. Pedal-assist bikes are blasphemy, a divergence from the gospel of bike. But unless you believe there is a special circle of hell devoted to deviants from the two-wheeled faith, what do you have to lose by trying one?

What Is It? 

The is an electric, pedal-assist mountain bike based on the șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű-favorite Stumpjumper 6Fattie. There’s other models in Specialized’s electric Turbo Levo family, including a hardtail, and versions with fancier group sets. 

This particular model has 135mm of rear travel, three-inch tires, a slack 66.5-degree head tube, and a SRAM 1×11 drivetrain. So it’s a trail bike at heart. Just one with electric benefits. 

The removable 460 Wh battery is hidden in the downtube, and the custom-built-for-Specialized Brose motor is integrated around the bottom bracket, and develops 250 watts of power. A torque sensor detects when you’re applying pressure to the pedals, and provides assistance when you need it. Aside from the glowing green LEDs indicating charge levels and output settings, there is little indicating this Turbo is anything but a typical mountain bike. 

Who’s It For? 

Me: I had a total of seven knee surgeries over 14 months, and man, my fitness took a beating. Getting back on a bike was both liberating and frustrating. I just can’t go as fast, or as far, as I used to. But, you don’t have to fall victim to a flesh-eating bacterial infection during routine a ACL reconstruction to find the idea of an electric mountain bike appealing. 

You: A new parent. A busy career type. Someone who ended up prioritizing a new relationship over working out, and now your partner is dropping you on climbs. Basically anyone who just wants to go out and rip on an occasional trail ride, but can’t dedicate the time required by a consistent training program. 

Your friends: We all have friends we wish wanted to pedal up hills with us. Many of who might be capable of leaving us in their dust on descents. These are young and old riders; riders lacking the fitness, time, motivation, or who just aren’t interested in climbing alone, at the back of the pack. You’ve done everything to get them back out riding with your regular crew, but pride and reluctance to hold the group back is keeping them away. 

The N+1 cyclist: Where N is the number of bikes you currently own, and N+1 is the number you’d like to have. No bike is perfect for everything; add this one to the stable. 

Design

All models of the Turbo Levo use a frame made from M5 aluminum alloy, with the motor and removable battery integrated inside. The frame and fork use 148mm (rear) and 110mm (front) spacing. Specialized 6Fattie Purgatory (front) and Ground Control (rear) 3-inch wide tires are laced to 38mm Roval Traverse rims. Rear stays and pivots are beefed up to handle the additional weight (48.5 lbs) and torque, and bridges are added to the stays, over the non-motorized Stumpjumper. The front fork is a RockShox Yari XC with a 15mm thru-axle. The 135mm rear travel is provided by a custom Fox Float Performance DPS shock with automatic sag adjust. 

The Brose motor puts out 250 watts nominally, and can peak up to a max of 460 watts. That’s around half what the  develops, but that bike’s much-larger motor sits in the rear hub, which would massively compromise performance on a full-suspension mountain bike like this one. Spend up to the Expert or S-Works spec Turbo Levo and you get a motor that can peak up to 530 watts. 

Using It

It’s important to note that because this is an electric bike, not all trails are legally accessible. You’ll need to check with the federal, state, or local land management agency in charge of the trails you want to ride to see if it’s possible. You may also face some resistance from holier-than-though cyclist types. Those guys are best avoided anyway, and the glowing LEDs on the down tube should at least help you identify them quicker. 

The electric motor operates in three presets—Eco, Trail, and Max—or you can find infinite adjustment via the Specialized Mission Control smartphone app (Android or iOS). That app is super handy, allowing you to program your ride into a map, and calculate the max power level you can use, while still making it home without a dead battery. 

The battery can be fully charged in 3.5 hours on a standard 110 volt home socket. Run times obviously vary depending on terrain and how much assist you’re asking for; the battery easily lasted through a six-hour ride on a single charge. 

Riding It

Despite the weight, this is a remarkably well-balanced trail bike that performs on both climbs and descents. We tested over several days alongside a normal 27.5 trail bike, and moved back and forth between riders to get an understanding of just how the bike effected our relative speeds, both up and downhill. 

Since the pedal assist doesn’t engage while coasting, climbing is where this bike really shines. We tested the bike on southern California’s fire roads, undulating traverses, and on some very steep, rocky, loose, and technical trails—the kind of stuff even the most skilled and fit riders would normally find themselves hiking up—and on the Turbo Levo we were able to ride all of it, and have a blast doing so. 

Power delivery is smooth and easy to predict, once you get the hang of it. We’re not sure if integration is better on the Turbo road bike, or if the slow, technical nature of trail riding just highlights some quirks. The motor shuts off less than a second after you stop pedaling, and the onset of power delivery is momentarily delayed once you begin pedaling. And this did mean we had to adapt our riding style a little bit to deal with that slight lag. 

When riding a normal bike through creek crossings and rock gardens, I typically stop pedaling often to avoid pedal strikes and to maneuver the bike. This approach is not compatible with the Turbo Levo’s weight. On it, continual pedaling was necessary, but the big tires and well-damped suspension enabled me to roll over obstacles I’d typically try to avoid, with the motor helping me power over them smoothly. To make this constant pedaling possible without pedal strikes, the bottom bracket is moved higher and Specialized has spec’d 170mm cranks that are a tad shorter than normal. 

On long fire road ascents, it was a breeze to cut ride times by 30 percent, and on the steepest, loosest single track, where we’d have been walking a normal bike, we were able to spin at a comfortable 4 to 6 mph. 

Descents on such a heavy bike are less fun. Getting the rear wheel off the ground on short notice, or whipping it around turns is very hard. I like to use my rear tire and brakes to steer—locking the brakes in tight corners at speed, then letting off and pedaling out. On very loose and exposed trails, using that approach on the Turbo Levo doesn't work, once the rear starts to loose traction, it’s just all over. Perhaps this could be combated with lower rear tire pressures; we were running 20 PSI. 

In the air, the additional weight is also very noticeable. Tail whips are out of the question. 

But what you lose in maneuverability due to the weight, you make up with stability. All that extra weight is centered around the bottom bracket, practically gluing the rubber to the ground. Downhill as well as up, you ride the Turbo Levo very differently than you do a regular trail bike, but that’s mostly a good thing once you’re adapted. 

We found flat pedals much preferable to clip-ins, which enabled us to corner the Turbo Levo like a dirt bike. Take your inside foot off the pedal and hang it over the apex, balancing the bike through corners. 

Flats also help with shoe choices. Once you have to put a foot down, or come across a downed tree or other unrideable terrain, you’ll need to walk or carry a very heavy bike. You don’t want to be doing that in a pair of Sidi Dominators. 

Likes

• Best electric mountain bike out there
• Stiff frame, good geometry, solid components
• $5,500 is surprisingly reasonable for such an advanced bike
• This is a very good looking bike
• Smooth and effective power delivery with great supporting software
• Simple and intuitive to use; you don’t need to read the owner’s manual
• Removable battery
• Integrated Ant+ power and speed sensors
• Bottle cage with integrated multi-tool
• Electric assist and battery eliminate need for top-tier components, mid-level works just fine when you’re not counting grams

Dislikes

• Trail access may be problematic
• Durability and DIY maintenance may be questionable
• Walking it, carrying it, and just moving it in and out of the house or onto and off of a car become real chores
• This dropper post is a fiddly nightmare, it releases on descents and collapses on climbs

Should You Buy One?

This probably can’t be your only bike. Laws limit where you can ride it, and the bike is practically worthless without a charge; you’ll never sneak in a quick evening ride if you forget to plug it in that morning. And aside from one class at the Sea Otter Classic, you won’t be able to race an electric mountain bike, yet. 

But if you’re coming back from injury, looking to ride more miles in a shorter period of time, or just ride further without getting exhausted, then the Turbo Levo is just amazing. This bike is the great equalizer. Some may see that as a negative, lowering the sport’s barrier to entry, but we think more people on bikes can only be a good thing. It will make returning to mountain biking after the birth of a child, an injury, or a stressful period at work much easier. Life happens, the electric assist bikes like this Turbo Levo will help more people ride more often. 

The Turbo Levo would also make a great addition for any four-wheeled explorer. Once you reach the limits of your van or 4×4, just hop on this thing and keep rolling; it’ll carry you further, easier, than a traditional mountain bike could. Get an inverter and charge the bike while you drive. 

Finally, if you’ve been waiting for the electric mountain bike to come of age, we’re happy to report that just happened. The combination of the 27.5+ platform with long-lasting batteries, and the remarkably smooth and elegant motor, all integrated into one sharp-looking design, and augmented by user-friendly software has finally delivered a slick, no-compromises product that you’ll want to own. I know we do, the entire IndefinitelyWild team is fighting over who gets to borrow it next.

The post This Electric Mountain Bike Will Make You a Believer appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

Despite what glossy magazines () might say, you don’t need to spend a fortune to go on amazing, long-distance off-road adventures. As proof, we built a vehicle that’s as capable as anything out there and that’s peerlessly reliable—for less than $10,000.

Overlanding is sort of like backpacking, but in a vehicle. You carry only what you need, and you need to know how to use all that equipment as you log big miles on backcountry roads. This puts some huge demands on your vehicle: You need a mix of capability, reliability, and usability.

First, we’ll break down what makes a good overland vehicle. Then we’ll show you how we built our own and put that vehicle to the test across Baja, Death Valley, and Tahoe, among other spots. Finally, we’ll show you how to get into serious overland travel yourself—for very little money. 

What Makes a Good Overlander?

Cost

If you’re like us, a normal person on a normal budget, then cost will likely be your biggest priority when shopping. There are two expenses to consider: cost of acquisition, and cost to maintain and repair. These are often bimodal—often the more expensive a vehicle is to purchase, the less expensive it will be to maintain and repair.

Engine

Durability, horsepower, fuel economy, and prevalence (in the area through which you plan to travel) should drive your decision. You’ll want your engine to max out at least two of those factors. Engines like the 22RE found in our 1987 Toyota 4Runner can be found everywhere and almost never break down. They’re also slow. Not everyone wants to go slow. 

¶Ù°ùŸ±±č±đłÙ°ùČčŸ±ČÔÌę

Solid axles and manual transmissions are the default choice, but the stories of failure in independent front suspension (IFS) vehicles or automatic transmissions are overblown. When well maintained, they’ll give you a much improved ride and an easier off-road drive. 

Open differentials are going to be a problem off-road. Find yourself on ice, snow, loose gravel, or with a wheel in the air, and you’ll be using that shovel you carry in your trunk. At a minimum, you’ll want a limited-slip differential (LSD) on the rear axle. If you can find—or afford—it, spring for a vehicle with electronic or air locking differentials. You’ll want one on the rear first. 

Suspension

Lifts are nice to have, but most of the vehicles considered for overland travel have adequate clearance for just about anything you’ll encounter. But if you’ll be schlepping heavy cargo, the stock suspensions likely won't be adequate. Prioritize the ability to handle this weight when upgrading your suspension—or don’t overtax stock equipment. 

Aftermarket Support

This will dictate how easily and at what cost you can upgrade your vehicle. From lockers to lifts to bumpers to stereos, all this gear will be easier to acquire if the vehicle was or is popular in the United States. That’s a good thing for both your vehicle’s capability and your wallet. At the very least, you’ll want a thriving owner’s forum full of knowledgeable users. They’ll save you money and headaches. 

Accessories

When traveling in the middle of nowhere, you’ll need to carry water, shelter, and food. If you’ve ever car-camped, you’ll know how to do this: you don’t need to go fancier than a tent, a cooler, and a few bottles of water. You’ll also need to carry extra fuel, a quality air compressor, a puncture repair kit, a full-sized spare, a quality jack, a shovel, and vehicle recovery gear. You need to be prepared to do basic repairs and have the ability to get your vehicle out of most sticky situations. 

Our Build and What You Need to Buy

Vehicle

We started with a stock 1987 Toyota 4Runner with 167,000 miles on the odometer that we purchased for $3,200. If you want to do the same, the best advice we can offer is to look for one with a manual transmission, manual windows and locks, and a previous owner who took good care of it. Why? The automatics in these trucks don’t work well. They are heavy, inefficient, unreliable, and remove control in technical off-road terrain. Also remember that this is a 30-year-old vehicle: electric motors, switches, and wires don’t last forever. 

While Toyota 4Runners and pickups from this era are some of the most reliable trucks ever made, proper maintenance of the factory equipment throughout the vehicle’s life is still important. At the very least, try to find one that hasn’t been abused. 

The holy grail is the 1985 model year. It has both a solid front axle and fuel injection. It offers the additional off-road performance of the earlier trucks combined with the low-hassle nature of fuel injection.

Below, we detail the modifications we made to our truck. This general approach will apply to any vehicle you might want to outfit. 

Wheels

Sixteen-inch wheels from a 2008 Tacoma, which cost $200 on Craigslist. This size gives you a more modern tire choice than the 15-inch wheels that came stock. Research your bolt pattern and offset, and either find wheels with the correct dimensions or plan on finding an adapter kit. If you’re lucky, you might even find a set of wheels with nearly new OE all-terrain tires still on them. 

Tires

(265/75-16), which cost $1,100 for five. Once you’re moving, tires are the most important component of any vehicle. They’re the only part that touches the road, so everything else—brakes, suspension, motor—can only ever be as good as your tires. After 15,000 miles on these, we’re confident saying they’re worth the investment. They’re the best all-round expedition and daily driver tires you can put on a truck. Off-road, in loose terrain (mud, snow, sand), they’re absolutely unstoppable, but they also ride well and are silent on the road. No other tire we know of does both so well. Going this large meant we needed to add tension to the torsion bars and fit 1.5-inch wheel spacers ($94), but the result is a wider, stabler ride.  

Suspension

I added new leaf springs and nitrogen shocks from  to support the additional weight of cargo and improve handling and ride. That upgrade cost $400, plus a few hours in the driveway. We opted for heavy-duty springs to compensate for the weight of heavy-duty bumpers, fuel, the hi-lift, and other odds and ends. Toyota 4Runners are notorious for saggy rear ends: The rear springs are the same as the pickup but have to support the fiberglass top and heavier, glassed tailgate. 

Differentials and Gearing

The 22RE is bulletproof but notoriously underpowered. With tires a full four inches bigger than factory spec and an additional 500 pounds of weight, stock gearing wasn’t an option. We took the opportunity to install a new differential—a —and opted for the more affordable limited slip rather than . An LSD sends power to the wheel with traction, working automatically to help you drive out of obstacles. It’s not quite as capable as the locking alternative, but it is easier to use and cheaper. This cost a total of $1,900 with labor, because we had a pro do it, but do your own wrenching and you’ll save a grand. 

Bumpers

People love custom steel bumpers because they look cool. If you’re on a budget, do the rear first. You’ll need it to haul your extra fuel, full-size spare, and hi-lift jack. You also get a solid recovery point. Our rear bumper was spendy: $1,300 for fab, shipping, and some frame reinforcements that were necessary when it showed up with the wrong spacing. If you have the budget for a front bumper and want a great experience and product, order from in Fort Collins, Colorado. Ours cost $700 shipped, complete with winch mount. 

Winch

Spending $400 gets you enough winching power to hang your vehicle vertically. We purchased this on Amazon, complete with a 10,000-pound capacity and a safer, stretch-free synthetic cable. 

Maintenance

We went ahead and replaced the radiator, water pump, alternator, belts, and battery—$500 is worth it for peace of mind. 

Other Essential Accessories

• Ìę($60)
• Ìę($120)
• Ìę($30)
• Ìę($15)
• Ìę($35)
• Ìę($20)
• Ìę($30)

What’s the grand total for a vehicle that has safely and reliably carried us through Baja, Death Valley, the Mojave Desert, Anza Borrego, Tahoe, and Colorado’s San Juan Mountains and will get us to Patagonia later this year and all the highways in between? $9,984. You don’t need a brand new SUV to do this stuff. 

The post How to Build the Ultimate Overland șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Vehicle—For Less Than $10,000 appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.