In reply... I would not have originally responded but as it involved my son and questions about him being "able-bodied" I felt compelled to respond. I don’t understand why one has to be disabled or aged or frail to ride an e-Bike? My guess is many of the commentators on here have either never ridden one or at best did a parking lot test in full Turbo mode and based all their experience on that single ride. As to the “hate” for e-Bikes my only conclusion is it seems to effect the egos of that XC holy grail of MTB's the CLIMBING. e-Bikes are a game changer. They are also a totally different discipline of riding. They bring disparate levels of fitness closer, leaving only skill and talent NOT FITNESS as the deciding factor in riding. In answer to my personal situation….. I had an e-Bike first. I bought one because I wanted one! My wife then got one as she preferred it to her analogue bike (safer, more stable, better brakes, more suspension on the downs, more comfort and so on.) It was natural for my son when he was physically big enough to move onto one as well. The biggest positive in us both being on e-Bikes is we are mostly EQUAL in speed across a given trail. I cannot out climb him on the ups and certainly can no longer ride away from him on the downs. This is a huge change from our normal analogue bikes where the average speed across a trail is slower and he obviously physically could not do the climbs. In saying that I could not ride with him on my analogue bike and stay with him either. I don’t really get why the financial/cost aspect has any relevance to e-Bikes and kids? As was mentioned already I would agree is rather around personal circumstances and how you raise your children and your values. I have seen many kids cruising around on R50-R60K analogue bikes and some even dropping them down derailleur side……the horror of that!!!! For me this has given my son and I a common interest (a rarity nowadays) that we both do together. This involves from deciding where we riding, what jumps or trails we going to ride today. To loading the bikes, to the buzz in the car on the way there, to kitting up, to shooting the breeze together AS LIKE MINDED MATES and not as father and son! And the joy my son (and me as the proud Dad) gets when he clears gap jumps or blitzes a new PB ranking him in the top end of e-Bike Strava. In this X-Box Fortnite Nanny Helicopter Parenting day and age my son is out there often doing 2-3 hr rides (Full Hoogies, Upper Contermans, Mont Marie, etc) with well over 1000m of climbing and controlling the descents. Honing his skills and building his mental fortitude to keep it shiny side up all at age eight. For us it’s about being riding buddies and as he calls it…”Dad’s Wingman” this is priceless and quite frankly can’t be quantified in a monetary value and doesn’t rightly deserve being questioned by anybody!
