Bikes Direct enters the eMTB market

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/full-suspension-mountain-bikes/ebikes-hal-eboost-electric-mountain-bikes.htm

It looks like the ebike business is big enough for one of the major discounters to step in. A quick scan of the specs shows a 500wh battery of undetermined voltage and an internal torque sensor for PAS. At $3500 with a warranty they could be quite competitive with the BBSHD conversions currently offered by Luna and other more local builders. They are also 1/2 the price of the other OEM offerings.

Wow! Love it! I'm an old dirt bike guy that moved to e bikes. Then I slowly fell in love with pedal only mountain biking. Now I really want a pas only low power e bike like all the OEMs have. This looks perfect!

Shimano E8000 is a 36V system, rated at 70 Nm (51.6 lb-ft)...