The Future of UK Trail Biking 2. Another FS e-MTB review.

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After 2.5 days riding a full sus e-MTB along New Zealand’s 300-km Alps to Ocean bike trail (A2O map below), again I wonder if e-MTBs are an answer to trail biking in the UK where there are way more bridleways than byways, let alone the wild expanse of the Scottish Highlands excluded to motos and 4x4s.

Southern Alps to Pacific Ocean. 300km and not one gate!

Many ride the popular A2O on regular bikes, even ultralight, no-sus MTBs. With the decadence of baggage transported daily, I like to think I could have managed this on my Merida Big Trail 500 home bike, but e-assistance was the safe option which deferred fatigue. And to paraphrase Mike Hailwood, ‘the on-off switch works both ways’.

I first tried an e-MTB in Wales in 2022 (video above), seeking to speed up map checking on a new walking guidebook. The Marin was a nice ride, leaving me pedal-tired but not beaten up at the end of the day. But at that time it cost more than a new CRF300L, and I got back thinking I quite like the simplicity of my 15-kilo Merida hardtail.

Now I’m wondering again: could an e-MTB with a day’s range of at least 100km, be my new trail & travel project bike? Even in my prime – and bar a couple of Himalayan trips which were mostly road (below) – I never really had enough grit to explore far off road with my hardtails. Day-ride road and trail loops are my limit.

But add a potential 100km+ of assistance and a suitable e-bike could be a contender. Part of this re-epiphany is I now realise most e-bikes are easily rideable switched off when you don’t need assist. The Marin rental shop advised the Bosch electronics didn’t respond well to this, but every e-bike I’ve tried since runs fine turned off. It’s just a bit heavier. The geef’s Yamaha PW-ST powered Lapierre home bike is an exception; there’s too much motor drag either to ride switched off or to keep accelerating once you hit the assistance limit at 25mph on the flat.

To segue less noticeably from moto to velo, I considered Yamaha’s Moro 07 of a couple of years ago (above). I’ve learned that along with Bosch and Shimano, Yamaha e-bike motors are one of the Big Three used by many brands (including the geef’s Lapierre Overvolt). But although Nick Sanders rode a Yam e-bike across Europe then RTW, it turns out that, unusually for Yamaha, the Moro 07 was a dud and soon slipped out of showrooms and off the radar.

E-biking Alps to Ocean

The A2O trail kicks off by getting choppered over a braided glacial river (below) to the trail head a few miles below the snowy, 3224-m summit of Mount Cook or Aoraki.

From here Day 1 is a 70-km ride along Lake Pukati. We were on Merida Big Tour hardtail rentals (below) but it soon transpired my bike, (with nearly 10,000km on the clock!) was cutting out e-assistance with each bump; the battery connection was probably breaking. I called it in, but though only an hour’s drive away, the shop didn’t offer to come straight out with a replacement. So instead I learned the Big Tour actually had little drag when pedalled switched off. On what few climbs there were, I could re-power up and snatch enough assist before another bump killed the connection.

For a 70-km day, probably half pedalled unassisted and mostly dirt, I came in pretty fresh. Along with the thrill of the setting, I put much of that down to the unusually comfy saddle. It was so good I took a picture and back home, ID’d it as a Serfas Dual Density going from 22 quid on eBay. Just as with motos, if not more so, saddle comfort is vital. A few days earlier I rented a non-e Marin Stinson 2 hybrid in Christchurch. It’s a cool cruiser I’ve eyed up before, but the ‘Marin Comfort’ saddle was agony from the get go.
The Serfas’ lycra cover resembles one of those naff gel seat pads I tried years ago until I realised cycling shorts and even a little creme are a must. Anyway, I hope the Serfas’ comfort translates to my home bike.

A replacement Big Tour was delivered to our motel next morning, but in Large (not XL). Two more amazing days A2O days on that showed up a crappy spring fork with no rebound. By chance Day 3 ended at the bike rental outfit town where, long story short, the helpful woman offered an upgrade to a Sinch Force 4 EQ full sus in XL with just 17 hours/550km on the clock for just a tenner a day. Though it had been a spectacular ride so far, my A2O was about to get even better!

Sinch is a Kiwi bike brand, probably made in Taiwan, and the Force 4 EQ model comes with an 85nm Bosch CX motor, a 625w battery and a claimed weight of 29kg. Good numbers, though weight’s on the high side. In New Zealand e-bikes are assisted up to 32kph (UK is 25kph).

Suspension is Rock Shox 160mm front; 150mm rear. Gearing is Deore XT and the Force 4 comes with a sturdy rack, kick stand, fenders and built-in lights.
The front wheel is 29″; the back 27.5, like the Marin. ‘Mullet’ they call this arrangement – but if they mean like the haircut (left), isn’t that long at the back and short at the front? Maybe I’m over thinking it. Lately there’s talk of 32-inch MTB wheels where ‘safer’ seems to be the impression of most test riders.
Right now Force 4s are going for just NZ$6500 which is under £3000. I settled very comfortably into my EQ, and if I’d had a bit longer to ride it and think about it, I might have bought one right there. Even with a UK tax that’s still a lot of bike for the money.
Sat on the spacious Sinch with a gel seat cover thrown in, I felt right at home. The suspension felt compliant (probably in need of a pump), the display was easy to read, the remote easy to use, it braked confidently it pedalled effortlessly switched off.

Yep, that’s a gel seat cover strap on. Worked great. I rode the last day without it and missed it

The Bosch CX is configured with Eco, [Auto], Sport and Turbo assist levels. The shop advised me to leave it in Auto, but right away I could tell it selected way too juiced up ‘Sport’ mode, even on the flat and with my 95kg. The geef’s Yamaha powered e-MTB back home runs a similar Auto set up and she doesn’t get on with it either.
Had I known about the Bosch Flow App, I might have retuned the Sinch’s power levels. But I didn’t so just switched off when pedalling effort was minimal. On longer inclines I flipped briefly into Eco or even Sport. As with the Marin or any other e-bike I’ve tried, I never saw the need for Turbo and on the Sinch didn’t even try it. The steepest, longest climbs were all doable in Sport.
Also like the Marin, I didn’t notice any power absorbing bounce from the shock, so left it unlocked. Same with the front. I wonder if over the years they’ve sorted out damping and geometry. I just let the air springs do their work, enjoying not needing to brace or stand up for the hits.

Maybe it’s the long suspension travel, but these modern MTBs are more raked out. With the 29 up front and perched on an XL, it makes the Sinch slow to turn tightly until you get the knack with weight distribution, like a moto. There were few naggery single track sections on the A20 but one notable short climb south of Duntroon was a half dozen very short and tight hairpins (left). Even with the saddle dropped, I lacked pedal-assist finesse and balance and only managed to clean a couple. It would have been fun to go back and try again. I like to think the low-saddled Serow would have made short work of this climb, feathering the clutch in first while knowing the ground was in easy reach.

Elsewhere the A2O is technically dead easy, varying from single track and a few quiet roads, farm tracks (above) or bike trails paralleling a road. But Omarama to Kurow (68km; below) included a spectacular and exposed section above Lake Benmore, another of the South Island’s many dammed lakes.

One misstep here would see a long tumble down the steep stony slope into the water. We came across a couple of accidents – one was possibly an ‘Selfie Insta Back Flip’ – a short tumble onto the rocks which left the old rider concussed and confused. And just 500m on a woman had gone off the edge but was luckily caught by a shrub. Soon we heard the drone of a helicopter coming in to take them both to Dunedin hospital where we heard later all ended well. This is not a stage where you’d want to start off in Turbo mode by mistake. Just touch the pedals and an e-bike can shoot ahead quicker than you can catch it.

It’s the trail but you don’t want to do this too often on an e-bike

With the most climbing of the entire route, I used a lot of assistance and got in to Kurow with just 12% in the battery, and some 14km range. Not quite a 100km/day target, but attainable with some riding refinement.

Next day was another 65km to Burnside. This time I was determined to eke things right out. Using about 10-15km of assistance over the day, I came in with 65% battery which would surely exceed 100km range. Target achieved, and at no point did I strain myself, powering up when needed as the trail passed into more agricultural terrain.
Eventually we reached the Pacific coast at Oamaru, the unheralded Steam Punk capital of the southern hemisphere. As we chowed down on a celebratory lunch in the cafe at Holmes Wharf jetty, successive groups of A2O-ers followed us up to the finish line to snap photos (below). Doubtless they’d all enjoyed the A2O as much as we had.

Back home I soon learned the fully accessorised Sinch was in a bike category I’d never heard of: SUV e-bikes; full sus MTB meets cargo/utility. The original definition of ‘Sports Utility Vehicles’ has of course evolved; half the cars in my London backstreet are SUVs. You might describe big adventure bikes as ‘SUV motos’: extravagant but feel-good machines marketed as go-anywhere do-it-alls, but used mainly on the road.
I like to think SUV e-bikes have more genuine potential for exploring; anyone wanting to look flash or rufty tufty will just get a full-sus MTB and an outfit to match. SUV e-bikes also get described as travel or adventure e-bikes with the range, load-carrying ability and all-terrain comfort to cover a full day’s ride to the next recharge. Have a read of this forensic 2025 review of ten SUVs which lays it all on the line. I did, and after going Full Rabbithole online for a couple of days, I came up for air and bought myself one of their choices for this summer’s project ride. More about that soon.

Preview: 2026 Morini 450 Alltrhike (Vettore)

Serow 250: fitting £90 fork emulators

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Serow Index Page

When I think back to my early travels, the idea of doing anything more than just jacking up the shock to carry the load never occurred to me. With suspension, it has to be pretty terrible for you to notice, and for that to happen – or for good suspension to show it’s worth – you need to be either riding pretty fast, or hammering over rough terrain. If you don’t do much of either or don’t have up to a grand to spare (or have good, fully adjustable forks) it’s not worth it. But for under £100 it is possible to improve a non-adjustable fork’s damping action. And my Serow could do with some of that.

Can’t be bothered to read another word, but still curious? Watch the 12-min vid at the bottom

On our H.A.T recce in Morocco last November (left), right off the bat the Serow’s front end was all over the place on stony climbs. Notably worse than other bikes I’d ridden lately. It never bottomed out and the back end wasn’t sagging, so I presumed it was a combination of too stiff front tyre and negligible damping, that inscrutable function which controls spring rebound.
‘Spend a grand plus taxes on a full, US-imported Cogent front and rear Serow set up‘ they said. ‘Night and day or your money back!’ Cogent also do a fork kit with drop in emulator valves, replacement springs plus oil for around $400. I didn’t need a new spring or oil, only valves, just to end up with better, but still unadjustable forks. Next stop were Race Tech Gold Valves for $230 (FEGV 3311). Still quite a lot with import tax and all, and unlike Cogent, you need to drill extra holes in your damper rods (a lot of added work). You’ll find much online chat about the pros and cons of Cogent vs Race Tech emulators. Like here.
Long story short, widely sold in the UK YSS also do a range of emulator valves for just 90 quid (below). They’re not gold, and I’d need to drill the rods but as I needed a new fork seal anyway, it seemed worth a shot to DIY, even though I’d never taken forks apart before.

I’d heard of emulators but wasn’t really sure what they were. Turns out they’re easily fitted valves which enable conventional, archaic damper rod forks to ’emulate’ supposedly superior cartridge forks (Cart-what? For another time).
The valve (above left) is a preload adjustable spring loaded plunger which sits between the fork’s fixed damper rod and the spring (right). As forks compress, oil is pushed through the valve, opening the sprung valve which is otherwise closed. Oil flows through progressively relative to force, compared to static conventional damping rods with just a couple of drilled holes. The vid below made similar Race Tech installation on an XT500 look relatively easy. If only.
You need a set matching the internal diameter of your fork tube. For a Serow it wasn’t possible to find that info online, and guessing from the fork tube outer ø is sketchy (I now know…). The best way to verify your fork tube’s internal ø is to undo a fork cap, lift out the spacer/spring, and measure ID with some verniers. On the Serow fork ID was ~30mm – not my 31mm estimate. The 31s got sent back for exchange but never made it. But by chance I found some next-size-down YSS 29s used on ebay for half price. Weeks passed by for all these fascinating events to work themselves out.

If it was only as easy as the slick vid below with a well lit and superbly equipped workshop and dinky music tinkling in the background. Whip out the springs, tip out the effortlessly unscrewed rod, pop in the new valves and reverse the rest before damping progressively into the sunset. My damper rods didn’t slip out nicely (and wouldn’t have easily dropped back in, either) so the entire fork leg needed to be disassembled.
Unless using drop-in Cogent valves, you need to get your hands on the damper rod because additional holes must be drilled for oil to pass unfettered up to the new emulator valve. A hex bolt at the base of the fork secures the damper rod inside the lower fork. They’re notoriously tricky to remove because it’s like trying to undo a bolt from an unseen uncaptive nut without any means of restraining the nut.

‘Get a rattle gun’ I was advised (left; pneumatic impact driver), to ‘shock’ the allen bolt from the damper rod to which it’s been seized for the last 15 years.
I have an 80-bar compressor tank and found a 25 quid rattler on ebay – ker-ching. But air gun shock therapy wasn’t working. The rod was spinning inside – as you’d expect. A ha, I thought, I will ram a whittled stick in the other end to stop the rod spinning, lock it off with some Moles (below left), then apply rattle. That worked – eventually, but on reassembly it didn’t, so I deployed the ‘broom trick’ I’d seen mentioned online. Same idea: slide it down the fork tube to press against the damper rod top, then pull the trigger. Long arms or step ladder needed. All this seemed a bit less faff than entirely reassembling the fork (as suggested in the vid) to add tension to the rod for removal/refitting.

Much faffing later (have I mentioned faffing yet?) I had the forks in bits by which time I realised I could have fitted the new fork seal myself, not at the LBS.

Emulator ringed alongside damper rod prior to drilling. Fork spring spacer up top

To maintain your fork spring effective length & vpreload (FSEL&P) and not void your insurance, you need to saw off the effective height of the valve’s body – about an inch – from the spacer tubes so it all fits back together again (below). A fairly easy job even I’d find hard to mess up.

Next job was drilling several extra flow holes in the damper rods which normally have just a couple near the bottom. Like much of the Serow, this is 1970s technology, maybe older, but I suppose it worked well enough. Additional holes allow the oil to move up to the sprung emulator valve which controls the variable flow. Another thing I learned: on Serow forks the drilled rods pass through a close-fitting nylon collar at some stage of reassembly, so any protruding burrs left over from the drilling will lock the fork action. Grind the rods smooth to slide through the collar smoothly, then clean off any remaining swarf with solvent.
By now Christmas had come and gone, so had New Year and there were already chocolate eggs in the shops and daffs blooming. But I was getting close and the forks now slid smoothy in and out, like they should. I did the ‘broom trick’ as mentioned above to tighten the rods back onto the fork leg with the air gun, and was so amazed it worked first time, I stopped right there and took the rest of the day off before another cock up kicked me in the nuts.

“Refitting is the reverse sequence to removal.” to quote M Haynes, and amazingly, only one bolt had escaped in the weeks it took to complete a one-day task. But let’s snatch a positive from this elongated fiasco (above ;-): I’d leaned all about damper rod fork internals. Having avoided fork disassembly all these decades, I can now see they’re not so complicated, at least old-style RWU forks. USDs, who knows, but it’s said that, apart from fork seal weepage, they’re more complicated inside but are often higher spec and have adjustment, so emulation maybe not needed.
Amazingly, a simple circlip appears to hold the two parts of a leg together. Undo that and whack the two sections apart like a Christmas cracker to get to the seal or damper rod. Along with rod loosening, refitting a seal without damage and without the correct slide tool is probably the hardest job.
Deciding on fork oil weight and volume/height is another opportunity to tie yourself in knots of self doubt. I found several values online for the ‘XT250’ until I realised just measure the volume of watery, brown swill which poured out of the non-leaky leg – 350cc. On reassembly I poured in just 300cc of fresh 10W, thinking it’d be easier to add more if something felt very off, rather than try and suck some out. The damper and emulator valve is surely be submerged in the oil full time. I think oil volume is more to do with how much air remains in the forks and it’s effect on compression. Less air = more compression.

By the time I reached this climactic peak of enlightenment, the Serow’s previous owner got in touch, enquiring whether I knew anyone with a Serow Touring for sale. Someone must have told her I was a serial bike quickshifter! With Morocco snowed out and me elsewhere this winter, a deal was made and a date was set. I topped up the leaky rear tubeless tyre and took the Serow out for one last ride along Purbeck’s flooded lanes.
The forks felt the same – fine on normal roads, as before. No great surprise. I’d need to find a rocky climb to see if the front responded any better, but right now what few local lanes I knew around here where probably knee-deep in mud or carpets of rotting leaf sludge. On these tyres? I don’t think so.

So I puttered merrily around the Purbeck Hills I usually cycle in the summer and tried to think what could replace the agreeable Serow. As I did so, the sweet aroma of mud thrown up onto the hot pipe took me right back to my earliest days dicking about on Surrey wastelands with ratty trail bikes (left).
What trail bike was as light, low saddled, semi-tubeless, economical, started on the button and came with racks and a screen? Probably my CRF300L a couple of bikes back, but look at the huge amount of spending and work it required to reach that stage. I guess that’s why these old Serows hold their value.

My 3 Innovations for 2026

Quick look: Rhinowalk 48L Saddle Bags

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IN A LINE
Inexpensive basic 500D PVC throwovers with more straps than the gimp in Pulp Fiction.

WHERE TESTED
Nowhere really.

COST & WEIGHT
£110 unused off ebay (from £140 new). 2900g est.

WHAT THEY SAY (shortened)
✔ EXCELLENT WATERPROOF: The motorcycle saddle bag is made of 500D PVC tarpaulin material, which is 100% waterproof and the most stand wear and tear motorcycle material. The roll-up design provides waterproof guarantee while supporting quick opening and closing.
✔ LARGE CAPACITY FOR DAILY NEEDS: Waterproof motorcycle bag is specially designed for those who like to travel by motorcycle, outdoor adventure. 2 side pockets with a total of 24L large capacity to meet your daily needs.
✔ STAND WEAR AND TEAR MATERIAL: Different from ordinary waterproof material, we use PVC tarpaulin as motorcycle bag shell material, which is stand wear and tear and suitable for daily use. High-density PVC resists dust and is easy to clean.

Cheap
Light
Simple
Loads of long strapping
Can mount low and forward with a rack
Inner padding may be OK without a rack

500D PVC is not particularly thick
May not survive heavy loads off road
Understraps for more external gear get in the way
Despite rackless claim, best with a rack in this XL size

REVIEW
Rackless side bags from the well-known soft luggage manufacturers have been a thing for years. It will vary from bike to bike, but without a rack they have to be mounted high, almost on the side of the seat (right), to stop them swinging about into the wheel or bouncing on the pipe.
For better handling on the trail, low and forward is the way I like to do it, like the Kriega OS18 resting on the pillion footpeg on last year’s 450MT. Sadly this rackless innovation went unnoticed in the biking world.

My Serow Touring came stock with light side racks (left). They’re a bit far back (like so many racks) but are just the job to support throwovers which would otherwise swing into the wheel or melt on the pipe. Without a rack you’d need to hang them high on the side of the seat to avoid swinging, but that means a higher mass; less good for handling.
I was eyeing up these Rhinos for a while and got a barely used XL set on ebay, at 24L a side. The rationale being I won’t need any other bags bar a tank bag (though I admit, many bags or pockets makes quick day-access easier). As one reviewer observed, they’re like a pair of giant socks, the upper part rolling down to clip down the sides and over the top

Lashing on was dead easy once you get your head round the mass of long straps. (Better too long than too short.) Over the seat, I removed the unnecessary padding sleeves and cinched them up through a loop in my tail rack with cam and clip plastic buckles I’ve not seen before. At the lower ‘toe’ end, another ridiculously long strap loops through the pillion peg mount, or is long enough to go round the main frame to connect back to a metal cam lock buckle.
As said, at the back my over-seat straps went through the tail rack to stop them sliding forward. But there’s another metal buckle at the ‘back ‘heel’ of each bag to do the same job. Use a loose strap supplied to cross and loop over the tail rack (or whatever you got) from one rear bag’s rear cam buckle to the other.
Instead, I used a knotted offcut from the front strap to lash this rear point to my rack to better support it all Once bouncing loaded up along the trail, the more weight you can take off the over-seat straps the better.

There are also some long straps for lashing more gear on the outside under the bags, like the tripod shown right. But unsupported, I can’t see anything staying there for long (or staying clean) on the trail. Molle webbing would be better, or a pocket. Or just lash on top where it’ll stay put.

The honeycomb padding on the inner surface (left) claims to resist 160°C and looks OK but once splattered with gritty mud will rub on your plastics if you’ve no rack. On the trail I was not expecting to carry more than 10kg in each bag which ought to make them last. But in the end Mosko Moto sent me some of their new Alpine R60s to try so I went with them and resold the Rhinos.

	Morini Alltrhike 450	CF Moto 450 (Ibex)	BMW F450GS 420cc	Honda NX500 471cc, E-Clutch 2026
Price new UK	£5300	£5700	£7000	£7000
Dry/wet weight	190/204kg	183/195kg *verified	167/178kg	187/199kg
Seat height	33″/840mm adj	32.5″/825mm *adj	33″/840mm adj	32.7″/830mm adj
Tank volume	18.5L	17.5L *	14L	17.5L
Engine / power	P-twin 270° 44hp	Same	P-twin 135° 48hp	P-twin 180° 47hp
Service intervals	6000km	4500km	10,000km	12,800km
Pairable nav	Yes	No	Yes?	Yes
Adj seat and screen	Yes	Yes	Option?	No
Connectivity	USB	USB and USB-C	USB-C	Option
Centre stand	Yes	Option	Option?	Option
Wheels	18/21 spoked tubeless	Same	17/19 cast tubeless	17/19 cast tubeless
Suspension	USD KYB 41mm/ 208mm, fully adj Rear KYB 190mm, preload and rebound	Same	Fully adj, USD 43mm and rear. 180mm F&R	USD 41mm, shock preload only. 133/119mm F&R
Brakes	Disc F&R (rear ABS switchable)	Same	Brembo / ByBre Disc F&R with ABS	Dual front discs ABS

Adventure Motorcycling Handbook

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