Interesting New 2015 Electra Moto-Klunker

[Bicycle808]

Nah it's at least a Taiwanese built frame..........I like the old school made in USA frames as much as the next guy, but when it comes to modern build cruisers, Electra makes some fine bikes with superior geometry, go look at one up close and ride one of the basic Cruiser 1's and you will understand....

Regardless of the fact that Trek offers some frames made in Taiwan(ROC) and some lower-end frames made in China (PRC), and that this "Moto" is a disc-equipped bike supposedly retailing for @$500 complete-- arguably "low-end" as far as bike shop bikes go, we've got to realize that Taiwan is AKA the Republic of China, and it's entire political system is embroiled in a long-term controversy, whereby the PRC denies the ROC govt's legitimacy, and considers the ROC one of its territories. Of course, that's more about politics than bikes, but a lot of ppl avoid Chinese products for political reasons. More relevant to bikes: the ROC is currently the bike production capital of Earth, and generally speaking, Taiwanese frames are better than Chinese frames, although I have seen some nice PRC frames as well as some dog ROC frames.... so....

We can go round on round on the China vs Taiwan discussion, but the simple fact remains: Both the ROC and the PRC are pretty far from Waterloo, Wisconsin. Trek is one of the "big 3" marques in the US market, where they vie for dominance with other big names (Specialized, Giant) and roughly 140 other smaller-name production bike manufacturers. And, for decades now, they've been extremely successful. I think, instead of finding ways to gobble up a firm like Electra, they should be figuring out a way to return more bike production to the States. They certainly have the means, if anyone does, and that'd b a huge marketing advantage for them. But they don't need to do it, b/c many consumers continue to believe that Treks are made in America. Most other consumers believe that Taiwan is "close enough; so long as it ain't China". As for me, I'll ride vintage Treks, and I'll ride imported bikes, but I'm not going to ride an imported Trek--- even if (especially if?) it's wearing an Electra badge.

As for test-riding an Electra Cruiser 1- I've ridden similar pedal-forward designs, and I don't like'm. I prefer my pedals to be under my butt, at least til I'm retired, and ready to go full-'bent. I guess I could give it another try with a test ride on an Electra, but I do have a reputation to uphold. What if someone saw me astride something like that?

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Just out of curiosity, those who have ridden a 29er and didn't like it, how tall are you?

Luke.

 

[tonygameboy]

5'10 here

 

[Bicycle808]

Luke, I've owned/ridden some 29ers. I can't really say that I "didn't like it", but I've gone back to 26" for offroad riding, despite the numerous and significant advantages of the 29" wheel.

I sold my Bianchi MUSS 26r and built up a Redline Monocog 29r to replace it. I immediately loved the way the 29" wheels rolled over things more smoothly; it's simple geometry that's way too hard for me to articulate well on a post like this, but the internet is full of articles and discussions from about ten years ago that explain the math eloquently. Also, being on singlespeeds, having the bigger wheel is like having a bigger flywheel; I had the ratios almost identical (48.8 gear-inches on the Bianchi; 48.7 gear-inches on the monocog) so acceleration felt the same, but when coasting on the trail, the 29" wheels held momentum better. Yes, it was noticeable, and I was really skeptical about it prior to actually experiencing it.

What bothered me about the 29" Monocog was the handling; it felt slow and sluggish. The lower BB shell brought a lot of stability into play for straight-line offroad cruising, but the longer wheelbase and other geometric idiosyncrasies made things feel sluggish in technical sections. I figured I'd get used to it and adjust, and I did get a lot better with it, but I missed the feel of a 26" offroad.

To be fair, the Monocog was an early iteration of a 29" mtb, and 29r geometry has come a long way since. (The ETrektra Moto featured in this thread doesn't seem to have benefitted from the geometric advances of 29" bike design, though, but I also suspect it'll be more of a pub bike than a trail bike for most end-users...) Sadly, along with all of the advancements made with 29er geometry has come other "progress" that makes my Luddite blood boil, like tapered headtubes and new BB "standards" and all that other mess. I think inf I ever go back to 29" bikes, I'll prolly pony up the ca$h and go the full custom route.

oh,I'm 5'11" tall and went from an 18" frame 26" to a 17.5" frame 29", if my memory serves. If I did it again, i'd go with the 19" frame Monocog. I was concerned about standover, but the toptube felt short and I used a longer stem to compensate. I think 5'11" is in that grey area, where preference between a 29"r and a 26"r could go either way. Short ppl should avoid 29"rs, in my opi ion, b/c the compromises involved in a small frame with big wheels are too dramatic. Similarly, taller folks are probably better off on the 29"r, for similar reasons. At this point, it looks like the industry is trying to settle on 650b for mtbs, b/c they can get normal geometry, long travel suspension, and the benefits of larger-diameter wheels, all in one package. I get it; I see the advantages, but I guess sentimental attachment to the 26" is something I'll need to deal with for the rest of my riding days.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Thanks for the replies guys, you seem to be confirming what I was thinking for myself, I seem to be more comfortable on a 27.5 or 29er, but I am north of 6'4"...

Luke.

 

[Bicycle808]

Yeah, at 6'5" you'll probably want a 29"r and a large frame size. A buddy of mine is 6'4" and he just ordered a Surly Troll in the largest size.... he got it b/c he had an entire 26" build kit he was transferring to the new frame, but I think the 29" Ogre would otherwise serve his purposes better. But those gigantic frames built around 26" wheels look so hot, in my opinion.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Yeah, at 6'5" you'll probably want a 29"r and a large frame size. A buddy of mine is 6'4" and he just ordered a Surly Troll in the largest size.... he got it b/c he had an entire 26" build kit he was transferring to the new frame, but I think the 29" Ogre would otherwise serve his purposes better. But those gigantic frames built around 26" wheels look so hot, in my opinion.

Big frames and small wheels are cool!

Not always the most practical of beasts though...

Luke.

 

[tonygameboy]

Every time I see those 29'er cruisers at Walmart I just cringe because they look so frickin' huge! Do any of the big cruiser brands even make 29'ers? I know SE Bikes makes one but that's all I've looked into.

 

[Bicycle808]

Big frames and small wheels are cool!

Not always the most practical of beasts though...

Luke.

Awesome bike.... so far. Keep up the good work.

 

[Bicycle808]

Every time I see those 29'er cruisers at Walmart I just cringe because they look so frickin' huge! Do any of the big cruiser brands even make 29'ers? I know SE Bikes makes one but that's all I've looked into.

Felt makes a couple, both based on the same frame. Trek et al has made them in the past. The SE Big Style you mentioned isn't really all that huge; I've seen them side by side with the 26" Rip Style and frame proportions are similar overall. I'm sure there are other 29" cruisers made by well-known firms, but they're kind of escaping me now. FWIW, one can easily run a 29" wheel in most Industrial bike frames, if one were so inclined.... not mine, but check out this Emory:

 

[tonygameboy]

Those are some slick bars!

 

[Bicycle808]

I believe I'll have to build a 29" Worksman with a coaster and maybe a disc front, just b/c I can...

 

[whitefiretiger]

Just out of curiosity, those who have ridden a 29er and didn't like it, how tall are you?

Luke.

I'm 6'1" tall and don't like 29ers.
They are tall in relation to length but as a tall guy they are still short.
I'm running a layback seat post almost at its highest position to have proper seat height on my 29er.
A good chunk of the height on these bikes is the design of how the wheels are mounted to them not that the frame is tall.
If you measure the seat tube from the bb to top most seem to be the same as standard 26" bikes.

As an example both my 29er & 26" have a 19" seat tube.
The ground to top of seat tube heat is 31" on the 29er & 28" on the 26" bike.
The ground to top of head tube is 38" on the 29er & 32" on the 26" bike.
The overall length of the 29er is 72" & 70" on the 26" bike.


In other words more work to swing your leg over but then you still need to jack the seat way up if your tall.

That's been my experience with every 29er I've tried out anyway.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

I'm 6'1" tall and don't like 29ers.
They are tall in relation to length but as a tall guy they are still short.
I'm running a layback seat post almost at its highest position to have proper seat height on my 29er.
A good chunk of the height on these bikes is the design of how the wheels are mounted to them not that the frame is tall.
If you measure the seat tube from the bb to top most seem to be the same as standard 26" bikes.
In other words more work to swing your leg over but then you still need to jack the seat way up if your tall.

That's been my experience with every 29er I've tried out anyway.

Thanks for the reply WFT, guess it just comes down to the individual bike... Sometimes I wonder if bike designers actually even try to get them to fit a "real" person...

Luke.

 

[whitefiretiger]

I don't think they do.
Sadly for us tall guys a large road bike frame is the best bet its just a shame they are so ugly & my back doesn't let me hunch (had one built with high rise bars but it looked even uglier than normal lol.

 

[tonygameboy]

That's the most action my 29'er got haha. My friends at the Discgolf course wanted to ride it backwards.

 

[irideiam]

Felt makes a couple, both based on the same frame. Trek et al has made them in the past. The SE Big Style you mentioned isn't really all that huge; I've seen them side by side with the 26" Rip Style and frame proportions are similar overall. I'm sure there are other 29" cruisers made by well-known firms, but they're kind of escaping me now. FWIW, one can easily run a 29" wheel in most Industrial bike frames, if one were so inclined.... not mine, but check out this Emory:

That Emory is sweet.....

 

[Bob Gray]

Yeah, nothing like some fake, overpriced Chinese "fine wine".... The only thing worse than Electra is the terrible thing that Trek has become... and, now that they're one and the same, well... I guess i'm doomed to deal with these kinda things until they finally sink the Electra name entirely.

I haven't had any bad experiences with Trek and I've had a few decent Chinese bikes, but my Electra Deluxe was about the most overrated turd I have owned. The build quality on it was flat out crap! The chrome appeared to be about a micron thick and spots, corrosion and rust would appear on it even when kept dry. I bunny hopped a curb, missed my landing by a little bit and taco-ed the rim. At the time, I thought that was all, but after truing it as best I could I discovered that the left crank arm had also bent during the landing, badly. I can understand the rim being damaged, but bending a crank? I pulled the kickstand off it and put it on a mountain bike, as it looked like a very nice kickstand. Wrong! The bike was pushed back with some gentle force and the cranks rotating backwards snapped the metal on the hinge mechanism right off.

 

[irideiam]

I haven't had any bad experiences with Trek and I've had a few decent Chinese bikes, but my Electra Deluxe was about the most overrated turd I have owned. The build quality on it was flat out crap! The chrome appeared to be about a micron thick and spots, corrosion and rust would appear on it even when kept dry. I bunny hopped a curb, missed my landing by a little bit and taco-ed the rim. At the time, I thought that was all, but after truing it as best I could I discovered that the left crank arm had also bent during the landing, badly. I can understand the rim being damaged, but bending a crank? I pulled the kickstand off it and put it on a mountain bike, as it looked like a very nice kickstand. Wrong! The bike was pushed back with some gentle force and the cranks rotating backwards snapped the metal on the hinge mechanism right off.

Seriously, you bunny hopped a Electra beach cruiser and didn't expect the rim to bend, come on man, most beach cruisers can't take that, as they are built for cruising and staying on the ground. That's why I own beach cruisers, BMX cruisers, and mountain bikes....different tools for different jobs.....

 

[tonygameboy]

Seriously, you bunny hopped a Electra beach cruiser and didn't expect the rim to bend, come on man, most beach cruisers can't take that, as they are built for cruising and staying on the ground. That's why I own beach cruisers, BMX cruisers, and mountain bikes....different tools for different jobs.....

I'll be using a set of Electra Cruiser rims for my Klunker build I'll report back maybe this weekend.