Do eBikes belong on the mountain?

[DieselnDust]

I wonder what her views are on nylon and polyester?

Willing to research all night and all day

[SwissVan]

If you are climbing a piece of single track, and a rider on an E-bike keeps shouting "track" behind you, will you give way?

Hehe good question

I’d like to think I would react the same as if it was Nino Schurter...

Edited November 6, 2018 by SwissVan

[Zatopek]

I dont know HOW couples rode together before the invention of eBikes. 

Anyway they want... EXCEPT riding circles around the slower one while whistling 

[rorydewet]

Ducati launches an e-bike

 

https://cyclingindustry.news/ducati-launches-new-e-mtb-while-tesla-hints-e-bikes-may-be-on-agenda/

 

is this an e-bike or if it has Ducati name is it a motor bike ?

 

flame vest on

 

       

[Hairy]

Ducati launches an e-bike

 

https://cyclingindustry.news/ducati-launches-new-e-mtb-while-tesla-hints-e-bikes-may-be-on-agenda/

 

is this an e-bike or if it has Ducati name is it a motor bike ?

 

flame vest on

 

       

look ... even the previous gen (and fugly) Giant e-bikes have now managed to get the battery integrated into the frame nicely ... that Ducati is horrendous 

[Dirkitech]

look ... even the previous gen (and fugly) Giant e-bikes have now managed to get the battery integrated into the frame nicely ... that Ducati is horrendous 

ja-sis. Just ugly from proportions and tapering. The turbo levo is much nicer in comparison.

[DieselnDust]

look ... even the previous gen (and fugly) Giant e-bikes have now managed to get the battery integrated into the frame nicely ... that Ducati is horrendous 

 

 

heresy!! Bring the matches, bring the tar.....burn him burn him

[Shebeen]

So page 75 in comments from an article, that must be a record. Maybe not a bad idea to read the now 18month old article itself.

 

What have we learnt?

 

First up - the thread topic is a question, I don't think there's many left who answer it in the negative.

Some people change their minds with new info/reasoning, some take a while and others have got their opinion and won't budge no matter what. Nothing wrong with that, but I don't think any significant new info has really come to light in the last 60 or so pages. Can't really help those who still think they are motorbikes, short of letting them actually ride one.

 

I used to think ebikes where the answer to a question that didn't exist. I saw them in europe, and rode a BH easymotion testbike locally when they were first brought here about 6/7 years back. I changed my view on them, while I don't see one in my arsenal for the next 10-15 years I think they're excellent machines to get more people cycling.

 

Thing is, they're not just coming, they're already here in numbers. Each year they're getting better, cheaper and even prettier. Sure weight of numbers means that they just won't be ignored. Every major manufacturer seems to have them in their lineup. Here's an article from eurobike, the massive tradeshow where ebikes were all over the stands this year.

 

 

What will the e-bike look like in the future? The answer from many manufacturers of e-bike drive systems is “like a bicycle.” What sounds easy is a challenge for the players in the e-bike market, as will also be demonstrated at the Eurobike in Friedrichshafen.

 

Five years is a long time in innovation-driven industries. This becomes clear when one looks back at the history of e-bikes: Although the first e-bikes rolled into bicycle dealerships before the turn of the millennium, the biggest thrust in innovation and thus also what was required for an e-bike boom at the bike shop counter has only been able to be observed in the years after 2010. The pace of innovation will not be slowing down in the coming years either. An important development goal is to bring e-bikes and bicycles closer together again. “An e-bike will increasingly approach a normal bicycle in terms of its appearance. For example, while the luggage rack rechargeable battery was standard in the past, this solution will be seen less and less in the coming years in favor of semi-integrated or fully integrated batteries,” says Michael Wild, Marketing and Press Manager at Shimano distributor Paul Lange.

 

At Bosch, Europe’s market leader among drive manufacturers, the development is estimated to be similar, as Claus Fleischer, Head of Bosch’s E-Bike division, reports: “From our point of view, in 2022 there will be pedelecs which can hardly be distinguished from the traditional bike in form language and design. Drives as well as batteries are more compact and lighter, and so well integrated into the frame design that the e-bike can hardly be distinguished from a bike without an electric drive at first glance. On the other hand, in five years there will still be a large number of pedelec models which are clearly identifiable as such: Because while some people prefer to be on the go with a bike that is puristic and straightforward, others consciously want to be perceived as an e-biker – and thus make a clear statement.”

 

 

I think the ebikes in races issue is going to be a sticky one for some time. As far as I'm concerned, most people are doing the race for the ride aspect, and I don't have a problem with them doing that on a pedal assist bike. The underlying SA macho viewpoint is not going anywhere either and I see this is an unavoidable conflict point as more and more ebikes join races.

 

So ja, I'm done with this circular debate. Hate them all you want, hate the owners of them all you want, hate the those using them in races all you want. At the end of the day, that is someone riding a bicycle. The beauty of cycling really should be embracing all those who do it, from the penny farthing to the downhill bike and all in between.

[Shebeen]

I've engaged in this debate as a non owner of an ebike because I feel they are so badly understood and construed. At the end of the day, unless people actually ride them they won't change their minds. And as is human nature, not everyone will be a convert either.

 

Your declaration that everyone universally agrees with your viewpoint doesn't seem to be holding. It's a little more nuanced than that, with the volume of 75 pages as proof.

 

Eldron, on 08 May 2018 - 2:02 PM, said:

I thought we had already solved this. Emotorbikes are cool on trails but uncool in races

 

 

Eldron, on 21 Aug 2018 - 12:48 PM, said:

Motor versus legs = cheating. 

 

I thought we had solved this? Ebike on trails no worries - ebikes in races is cheating....

 

 

 

 

I thought we had solved this - ebikes are cool anywhere except races against human powered bicycles :-)

 

There's the viewpoint that they are not progress at all, just that humans are becoming too soft and using tools to compensate for it. That's got a bit of merit but is hardly the general case for ebike riders. I think even this guy would have accepted cassettes by now

[Patchelicious]

No, this thread is 75 pages long because people keep coming back and making false defenses for argument that were never put forward.

 

Like your “hate them all you want, hate their owners all you want”

 

FEW people hate eBikes, FEW people hate their owners, but people keep creating this narrative, which then needs to be corrected each time.

[Hairy]

https://youtu.be/9pe0rNieL-Q?list=RD9pe0rNieL-Q

No, this thread is 75 pages long because people keep coming back and making false defenses for argument that were never put forward.

Like your “hate them all you want, hate their owners all you want”

FEW people hate eBikes, FEW people hate their owners, but people keep creating this narrative, which then needs to be corrected each time.

[Thor Buttox]

No, this thread is 75 pages long because people keep coming back and making false defenses for argument that were never put forward.

 

Like your “hate them all you want, hate their owners all you want”

 

FEW people hate eBikes, FEW people hate their owners, but people keep creating this narrative, which then needs to be corrected each time.

This ^^^^^. Over. And over. And over.

[Headshot]

No, this thread is 75 pages long because people keep coming back and making false defenses for argument that were never put forward.

 

Like your “hate them all you want, hate their owners all you want”

 

FEW people hate eBikes, FEW people hate their owners, but people keep creating this narrative, which then needs to be corrected each time.

No come on - I hate them all :-) 

 

I think this thread is long because its fun. Its so easy to get a rise out of an eBike lover and vice versa. 

[Eldron]

I've engaged in this debate as a non owner of an ebike because I feel they are so badly understood and construed. At the end of the day, unless people actually ride them they won't change their minds. And as is human nature, not everyone will be a convert either.

 

Your declaration that everyone universally agrees with your viewpoint doesn't seem to be holding. It's a little more nuanced than that, with the volume of 75 pages as proof.

 

Eldron, on 08 May 2018 - 2:02 PM, said:

 

 

Eldron, on 21 Aug 2018 - 12:48 PM, said:

 

 

 

 

 

There's the viewpoint that they are not progress at all, just that humans are becoming too soft and using tools to compensate for it. That's got a bit of merit but is hardly the general case for ebike riders. I think even this guy would have accepted cassettes by now

 

 

Ahhh where to start:

1) You said I'm done with this debate then the very next post was yours....interesting.

2) "I thought" means exactly that. The fact that I (me) thought (opinion not fact). So I/me has an opinion - not me "declaring that everyone agrees with me". If I thought everybody agreed with me I probably would have said something like "everybody agrees with me". You really gotta stop putting words in people's mouth then having a hissy fit about your own words.

3) You're the one making this a hate/love binary agrument when clearly it's a little more complex. An old man/woman with a dodgy knee using an ebike quite different to someone using an ebike to beat their opponents to win a provincial/national medal.

4) Nice pic but yoou're missing the point - gears/suspension/disc brakes and all the related tech are all still human powered. An ebike does (a huge amount) of the work for you.

 

Ultimately nobody here hates ebikes - they have their time and place. That seems** to be the recurring trend in this thread.

 

**please note I used "seems" which means it is my and only my opinion - I am not speaking for every human on the planet except you.

Edited November 7, 2018 by Eldron

[Eldron]

This ^^^^^. Over. And over. And over.

 

And some ad nauseum from me.

[Thor Buttox]

Ahhh where to start:

1) You said I'm done with this debate then the very next post was yours....interesting.

2) "I thought" means exactly that. The fact that I (me) thought (opinion not fact). So I/me has an opinion - not me "declaring that everyone agrees with me". If I thought everybody agreed with me I probably would have said something like "everybody agrees with me". You really gotta stop putting words in people's mouth then having a hissy fit about your own words.

3) You're the one making this a hate/love binary agrument when clearly it's a little more complex. An old man/woman with a dodgy knee using an ebike quite different to someone using an ebike to beat their opponents to win a provincial/national medal.

4) Nice pic but yoou're missing the point - gears/suspension/disc brakes and all the related tech are all still human powered. An ebike does (a huge amount) of the work for you.

 

Ultimately nobody here hates ebikes - they have their time and place. That seems** to be the recurring trend in this thread.

 

**please note I used "seems" which means it is my and only my opinion - I am not speaking for every human on the planet except you.

Hating EBikes is like hating leprosy. They both exist, if you don't have it you aren't bothered particularly and they both cost an arm and a leg.