Do eBikes belong on the mountain?

[Headshot]

pedal assist/ebike, same thing really.

I think people want to call it pedal assist because it describes it better, and reduces the confusion between this and an electric motorbike (plenty of so called experts on this thread guilty of just that) which is a very different beast.

 

 

I know you've got a response to it, but the hypocrisy in your signature is still so funny when you take a hard line on this issue.

 

"There is no debate - ride what the **** you feel like... Skill and fitness trump wheel size 24/7."

Bwah ha ha. Where do I take this "hard line" you complain of? Did you miss the part where I said I'd love a Kenevo ( Thats a non 29er emotorBike by the way)

 

No you see I think people are embarrassed about their motorized bikes and try and down play it  by calling it "pedal assist" not an eBike and saying silly things like its turned down I'm not getting any help at all  - while zooming up a hill humming...

[ChrisF]

Sunday morning, 9 September 2018

 

PERFECT weather

 

Meerendal trails

 

BUSY trails !!

 

Most riders heading up Dorstberg.

 

 

Young inexperienced riders getting caught off guard by the trail, walking ... every rider passing them passing on messages of encouragement.

 

 

Older riders, slightly out of shape after a winter break not being able to ride all the way .... resting or walking short sections.

 

Even a gent that is nursing a ticker, after a previous hart attack, ride until the monitor shouts an alarm .... he walks the rest of the way ....

 

Me nursing bust knees, taking a few stops to catch my breath along the way, BUT cycling all the way 

 

And let's not forget that other half of the riders .. them snakes, them fast racing snakes .... The gents that took the time to encourage the rest of us along the way.  THANKS, it truly IS appreciated !     And a very big thanks to the two snakes that was well rested by the time I finally made it to the top, but who hung around to greet me and congratulate me for making it all the way to the top.

 

 

 

We all got to the top one way or another ,,,,, under our own steam ..... MANY with "valid" reasons to go the "ebike" route .... each happy for their own small victories.

 

I may well buy an ebike one day .... for now I enjoy the challenge of pushing my own limits .... however small my limits may be when compared to those in their prime ....

 

 

 

 

And yet, if the day comes when an ebike is my only way of enjoying these trails .... may the riders welcome like I now show respect and welcome the current crop of ebike riders ....

[Headshot]

Wow...all the hate just make people sound like opinionated, closed minded, jealous old grumps.

Yes, yes they should be allowed everywhere a normal bicycle is.

And yes they should be allowed in races.

And yes again, they obviously should have their own category.

This is not exactly rocket science. Wow.

 

Wow, sound like you need to rocket up some hills on your E MotoBike and klap some opinionated old farts on 26ers. Its a real mood enhancer for the young and otherwise able too I hear. 

[Hairy]

52 and half injured is the real problem...

 

I caught them up at the exit to the forest again - you know where its rocky. The eBike lady was doing okay. She did profess to like the eBike so she could enjoy the downs and have enough energy left to get home. I agree with this sentiment.

 

I am keen on a Kenevo, but not keen on the price of it or any of the other eBikes. 

 

On the subject of pricing - a rather nice KTM 390 naked bike is R75k brand new. That's about R25k less than a Kenevo. 

Correction ... 72K on the road brand new

[Shebeen]

post #997 on this wonderful issue!

 

 

wow that is quite a bit of hardware

 

[SwissVan]

Am I bad if I sniggered to myself and to the dude riding next to me at an E bike rider who lost control on a wet rocky corner and went off the edge during a half marafun this weekend?

 

No ebike riders were hurt, she remounted and passed us about a few km later again.

 

They sure come pass fast on the climbs, heard a few normal riders mumbling as they whirred past

[SwissVan]

Also not allowed on the highway 

 

Last week the police her in Zug stopped this 77 year old lady who thought she could take her E bike onto the highway, they stopped her and lead her off the highway using the emergency lane.

She has been charged and will appear before the local state prosecutor.

 

Unbelievable

 

 

 

[Headshot]

And judging by a recent report in the Uk Mail on Sunday, eBikes are a danger to pedestrians and their riders too...got to love the media in the nanny state UK.

[Chingy182]

Glad to see we made this to 1000 

[SwissVan]

And judging by a recent report in the Uk Mail on Sunday, eBikes are a danger to pedestrians and their riders too...got to love the media in the nanny state UK.

From my experience they are a danger on the footpaths that pedestrians share with cyclists here in switz. Some of them simply ride to fast and when pedestrians see a bicycle they expect it to be slower.

 

Think I even mentioned an accident here somewhere regarding an ebike collision resulting in the death of one rider.... it was on a dead straight path with a narrow footbridge just wide enough for 2 bikes abreast.

[solty]

The new silent killer on the streets, doo-du, doo-du, doo-du

 

https://www.iol.co.za/motoring/bikes/e-bikes-the-new-silent-killers-on-our-streets-17095375

[Chingy182]

The new silent killer on the streets, doo-du, doo-du, doo-du

 

https://www.iol.co.za/motoring/bikes/e-bikes-the-new-silent-killers-on-our-streets-17095375

Agree or Disagree about the whole E-bike thing, but the way this article is written doesn't bode well for public perception of cyclists, in general, sharing the road.

[NickGM]

My take on the whole ebike thing:

 

Using fossil fuels to power transport will, inevitably, come to an end. The supply is finite. Since electricity has the potential (pun intended) to be entirely renewable and largely pollution free, people should embrace electrically powered forms of transport in general. Since bikes are light (and therefore need far less charge than a car, say) they represent a viable option. They also take up less space than a car so it would mean less congestion. So, IMO (of course):

 

1. Resistance (pun also intended) to this new trend of eBikes is environmentally irresponsible. 

2. It's also futile, because they are coming whether you like it or not. There's a market for them.

 

Do they belong on the mountain? There are cons, for sure. Single track could get clogged up by wealthy newbies who have not had to sweat, fall, get up (repeat) like so many of us. But in the context of what I've said already, the more people buy into it, the cheaper it could become and the faster this fairly important technology will progress.

 

Don't get me wrong; when a large, unfit person eDrops me on a hill, I swear under my breath. But eBikes are coming and for the most part, I think its a very good thing. 

[Duane_Bosch]

Behold! Something more dangerous than a E-Bike. An idiot journalist.

 

3 deaths from impacts with cyclists. WOW! Out of a population of how many million? I'm willing to bet that more people choked and died on their coffee reading that retarded article.

[Eldron]

My take on the whole ebike thing:

 

Using fossil fuels to power transport will, inevitably, come to an end. The supply is finite. Since electricity has the potential (pun intended) to be entirely renewable and largely pollution free, people should embrace electrically powered forms of transport in general. Since bikes are light (and therefore need far less charge than a car, say) they represent a viable option. They also take up less space than a car so it would mean less congestion. So, IMO (of course):

 

1. Resistance (pun also intended) to this new trend of eBikes is environmentally irresponsible.

2. It's also futile, because they are coming whether you like it or not. There's a market for them.

 

Do they belong on the mountain? There are cons, for sure. Single track could get clogged up by wealthy newbies who have not had to sweat, fall, get up (repeat) like so many of us. But in the context of what I've said already, the more people buy into it, the cheaper it could become and the faster this fairly important technology will progress.

 

Don't get me wrong; when a large, unfit person eDrops me on a hill, I swear under my breath. But eBikes are coming and for the most part, I think its a very good thing.

We have already got the to "ebikes are cool just not at races" point - I'm pretty sure nobody on thread has any issue with ebikes (apart from jerks like me that will think much less of you if you're an able bodied ebike rider).

[Chingy182]

But in the context of what I've said already, the more people buy into it, the cheaper it could become and the faster this fairly important technology will progress.

 

Makes me think of the first PC my mom bought our household in the early 90's.

If memory serves it was a Pentium 486 with about 8 or 16mb RAM and 60mb hard drive space available after windows was installed. Dropped about R10k on that bad boy.