![]() That said, if you can find an outlet, its 48-volt charger is claimed to be able to restore power up to 80% in only two hours. Some serious eMTB riders may be interested in an extra battery (for an eye-watering price) so they could swap out the battery and double their ride times, but that's not an option on the Powerplay, as the integrated battery cannot be removed (which can also be a problem if you don't have a power connection in your bike storage or hotel garage on a weekend away). BH just launched their Atom-X with a 720wh battery, and some bikes like the Focus Jam are starting to appear with secondary battery options to boost power up to, and over 800wh. The huge, 632wh battery is currently the biggest available, with Shimano and Bosch maxing out at 500wh. The difficulty found in climbing this bike is trail based, if you want to shuttle yourself up a road to pin the downhills, then what I'm describing here is almost a moot point, but climbing and descending challenging trails is where the eMTB fun begins. The light front wheel can be remedied slightly by using the Ride-9 adjustment chip on the shock linkage, but there are some disadvantages, namely, lifting the rear of the bike and steepening the steering geometry. It is easy to float the front wheel over obstacles, but much more easy to start to loop out or simply stray off the track. Luckily I have good hip flexibility, but many riders suffer here and will struggle to keep the front wheel on track and the bike on-line. ![]() Both make for a wheelie machine when ascending, which leads to extra fatigue on climbs as the rider must constantly battle to keep the front end down. The downsides of the Powerplay's trail bike geometry are its very short, 426mm chainstays and the slack, by modern standards, seat angle. Rocky's advantage may be short-lived, however, because Bosch and Shimano are also tackling this feature with their latest power modes via free software updates. Also, the quick engagement of the torque sensor means that the Powerplay is the easiest system I have found so far to feed the power in at the right time to keep the back wheel gripping on loose or slippery surfaces. ![]() Momentary pauses to avoid rock or terrain strikes with the pedals and using little quarter cranks here and there to pop over things and to maintain momentum feel very similar to a normal MTB (with the added power, of course). On the positive side, the instant engagement of the motor, combined with a little extra rotation from the chainring after you have stopped pedaling, makes technical climbing very easy and intuitive. The Altitude Powerplay is a trail riding conundrum.
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