Bike Build Story Thok Mig Dream Kit - You Can Win It! Velomotion

Bike Build Story + Raffle: The "Thok MIG Dream Kit" as a Shimano Dream Build. Here you can find out everything about the installed components and why they were selected. We present the finished bike. Exciting, not only for everyone who wants to build an individual E-MTB!

We built a custom e-mountain bike and that's going to be raffled off after the test. You can find the link to the raffle at the bottom. E-bikes are mostly standard bikes, i.e. more “off the peg”. Not so in this case! What we installed, why we chose these parts, and what we thought about it, you can find out in the following article.

The frame as the heart - The Thok MIG Dream Kit

With every bike, the focus is first and foremost on the frame. It largely determines the area of application and also which parts make sense. It was not by chance that we chose a Thok. The manufacturer is one of the very few to offer its frames as a kit for individual assembly. It usually works like this: You look for a Thok dealer who gets the frameset and keeps an eye on it so that a functioning complete bike is created. After all, an e-bike, actually we should be talking about a pedelec, is a product that has to comply with DIN standards and the so-called "Machinery Directive". The manufacturer even has to have speed pedelecs, i.e. fast e-bikes, homologated. The homologation, the approval procedure for the market approval of new motor vehicle types, systems and components, is otherwise more familiar from cars and motorcycles. Fortunately, our setup doesn't get that complicated. However, Thok is aware of the responsibility for its own product and makes clear specifications, which incidentally also make sense. It's about tire clearances and brake disc sizes, for example.

Of course, we followed the guidelines and took them into account accordingly. Some parts came with the frame kit. In part, they result from the structural conditions and can be traced back to the decisions that Thok made during development. Other parts are simply part of the package that the customer receives with the Thok MIG Dream Kit. These would theoretically be changeable.

So let's start with the frame: It's an aluminum frame from the 6061 T4 or 6061 T6 series. It is common practice to name aluminum alloys without anyone being able to make much better sense of it. I cannot replace a metallurgy course here, but I would like to point out that one of the advantages of this type of aluminum is that it can be processed in a particularly versatile way. And that happens for the Thok MIG frame too. milled parts, forged parts and tubes are used. The latter are partly butted, i.e. they have varying wall thicknesses, and are partly hydro-formed. Hydroforming is the deformation of tubes or profiles using hydraulic pressure in a mould. The rear end is sprung, using a proven four-bar linkage system. The rear wheel moves on a virtual wheel elevation path that is determined by four pivot points. 140 millimeters of spring travel are available.

There is of course a Boost thru axle at the rear and a post mount for the brake caliper, so no brake adapter is needed. The seat tube is continuous, so there is a decent seat post adjustment range and the control of the telescopic post is easy to move. The headset has ZS, i.e. zero stack, integrated bearing shells for a conical steerer tube, i.e. tapered.thok relies on a shimno EP8 motor for the MIG, for which there is of course the right mount in the frame. Thok doesn't hide the battery in the down tube, but puts it under the down tube, well protected by plenty of impact-resistant plastic. I really like that. This not only allows the bike to have a low center of gravity, it is also very easy to get to to change the battery. Apart from that, the "standard battery" is much cheaper to get than any special solutions. Visually it is certainly unusual, but it is technically implemented really well. The closure of the battery cover is known from motorsport and is a hidden reference to part of the Thok team, which has already sniffed petrol at Ducati. The carbon protection under the engine is also reminiscent of racing, really nicely solved.

Lots of parts included - Thok MIG Dream Kit

In addition to the frame, battery and motor, the kit comes with various other components. On the one hand there is the Öhlins chassis, which we will go into separately. But the headset, cranks and chain ring from FSA, a thru-axle, a seat clamp, a stem, the motor controller and the display are also included. A chain guide, handlebar grips and a saddle are also included in the package.

Complete Shimano Spec - Thok MIG Build

The motor comes from Shimano, it is the well-known and proven EP8. Since Shimano repeatedly emphasizes that all of its own components are optimally matched to each other, and because the whole thing then seems coherent, we decided on a complete Shimano drive train. The engine itself does not need to be explained in detail, you can find everything you need to know here:

https://www.velomotion.de/magazin/2022/02/e-mtb-motoren-2022-shimano-ep8-2/

For a "bling bling effect" we screwed a chic XTR rear derailleur to the thok. The rear derailleur top model makes the bike even more individual and also exudes a noble feeling. Of course it shifts 12 gears with a wide range of gear ratios, we rely on 10-51 teeth. A Deore Casette and an SLX chain were available, which, thanks to the XT shifter, do their job very reliably. It's nice to see that this component mix is also going really well, but if you ask for a recommendation, then we always recommend sorting parts from a group. The delivery situation is also gradually improving and fewer compromises have to be made.

A spider and a chain ring came with the frame set. Since Thok relies on FSA. We installed the parts and did not order extra Shimano parts. There is no reason to complain, we can't find any noticeable difference in terms of function. So we have a powerful engine, very easy to dose and reliable, and a great gear system with 12 gears, spread wide to be prepared for all eventualities. What is of course missing is a counterpart that will bring us to a safe stop. The structure should be highly functional and so a real "no bullshit decision" was made: Shimano XT four-piston brakes were fitted to the bike. One of the colleagues even rides the parts on a DH bike and is really happy. The parts are very reliable, not too heavy, the brakes are really good and don't completely break the budget. The fact that the shift lever can be mounted on the right brake lever without an extra clamp via the I-Spec standard is a plus.

Our bike pushes properly, it shifts gears and brakes... However, movement only comes into play when we put it on wheels. Here, too, we were able to reach into the shelves at Shimano. The XT wheels, more precisely the WH-M8120 Wheels, have a rim width of 30 and are available individually or as a mullet set. Of course there are Boost axles, a MicroSpline freewheel and Centerlock mounts for the brake discs.

We built the wheels tubeless. A tubeless rim tape and a tubeless valve are included with the wheels. The rims are welded. Classic J-bend spokes are used, which are robust and easy to swap. To save weight, Shimano relies on butted spokes with 2,0 - 1,8 - 2,0 millimeters. The cone bearings typical of Shimano are also durable and easy to maintain.

Öhlins, Pro, Michelin and goodies - the last parts for the Thok MIG Dream Kit

A real eye-catcher on the Mig is its Öhlins chassis. It comes with the frame set directly from Thok and consists of an RXT 36 M2 29 fork with 150 millimeters of travel and the 140 millimeter rear end is controlled by a TTX1 shock absorber. We could talk a lot about the chassis now, but we'll save that for the test.

It gets exciting when it comes to choosing tires. After all, the tires on which the bike rolls determine the driving characteristics to a large extent. A lot of rotating mass creates smoothness, but costs manoeuvrability. Since we tend to keep the e-mountain bike on an obstacle rather than circling around it, we decided on very robust tires that promise not only good grip but also very good puncture protection. The Michelin Wild Enduro with a width of 2.4 fits well on an E-All-Mountain. 29 inches at the front and 27,5 inches at the rear. Michelin really makes a difference here and not only changes the profile, depending on the use at the front or rear, the carcass and rubber compound are also different. The tires each weigh just over a kilo, which is still reasonable and strengthens the impression that flat spots will not have to be repaired too often.

The stem was. Supplied with the bike, it clamps a Pro brand handlebar, which is quite wide and made of carbon. The latter not only helps to keep envious looks from the style police at the ice cream parlour, no, it also saves some weight. The width of the handlebars, a full 800 millimeters, ensures that the Thok is easy to control.

But Thok goes one better! Who doesn't know it, at every event someone asks: "Do you have stickers?" Thok is no slouch! There's a whole goodie box for the bike, containing stickers, of course, but also a mug, a multi-tool, a drinking bottle with holder, a key ring and a spare derailleur hanger.

If you want more information about the Thok frame kit for self-assembly, there are also different color variants and the Enduro TK01, you will find it here: www.thokbikes.com