Do eBikes belong on the mountain?

[lechatnoir]

Perhaps he forgot to charge it - or switch it on? 

 

Then there was the story about an eBiker who forced some elderly riders off the single track as he tried to crack his E Assist Strava time at Tokai recently...

 

this is more a case of 'do dwisses belong on the mountain' rather than e-bikes... what a pity for all parties

[Grease_Monkey]

A friend came over from Hong Kong today for a wedding, and we decided to squeeze in a ride, I usually struggle to ride with him coz he is very fit (like very - won Berg and Bush mid week, W2W mid week, 3rd in 36One, and top 50 at the Epic). So I usually push myself int the red when I ride with him, which although nice is a bit of punishent. Anyway, he didn't bring a bike over so he had to hire one - and all that was available was an ebike from Ride Inn. I borrowed my old man's ebike for a day.

 

I just upped the assistance a bit more than he did and we could ride quite comfortably together today. We did Status Quo, Iron Monkey, Plumber, and Firehut - all top to bottom in just over 3 hours. Flipen impressive.

 

An ebike will never ever replace my normal enduro bike, but (one day) I will buy myself something like the new Spez Kenevo with a double crown fork - for a day like today an ebike was just the best tool for the job. Loved it.

Edited November 13, 2019 by Grease_Monkey

[Patchelicious]

So the concept of slowing a little to ride with less fit mates is out the window? Now it’s “I can use what I want to keep up with Sauser”.

 

Lekker, I’ll order some EPO, Clen and HGH so that I can keep up with the Cycle lab A batch ????

 

More seriously, eBikes do make cycling more social, but let’s not for a second pretend that is the reason somebody buys a Super Six with a built in 250w extra.

[Grease_Monkey]

So the concept of slowing a little to ride with less fit mates is out the window? Now it’s “I can use what I want to keep up with Sauser”.

 

Lekker, I’ll order some EPO, Clen and HGH so that I can keep up with the Cycle lab A batch ????

 

More seriously, eBikes do make cycling more social, but let’s not for a second pretend that is the reason somebody buys a Super Six with a built in 250w extra.

Haha no, not at all. The gap between us is just so big that it's not a little bit of slowing down. He has an FTP of 450W (EDIT: I overstated, it's 415W to be exact), me 250. He weighs 80kg, I weigh 105kg.

 

But that's not actually why I think it was so great today. He landed at 12, earliest start we could do was 1:30PM, he could only ride till about 4:30PM - so it was more about the fact that we could do all the nice trails in a very short time span.

 

For me an ebike will be a full on downhill rig that I can shuttle on. I don't see it ever replacing my normal bike - but it is nice for those times you only have a short time - before or after work and doing DH type runs is your flavour....

Edited November 13, 2019 by Grease_Monkey

[Patchelicious]

Haha no, not at all. The gap between us is just so big that it's not a little bit of slowing down. He has an FTP of 450W, me 250. He weighs 80kg, I weigh 105kg.

 

But that's not actually why I think it was so great today. He landed at 12, earliest start we could do was 1:30PM, he could only ride till about 4:30PM - so it was more about the fact that we could do all the nice trails in a very short time span.

So the bakkie is not actually lifted, that’s just the suspension set with a little extra “pre-load” ????

[Grease_Monkey]

On the road ebikes - I don't see the appeal there. But that's just me.

[Grease_Monkey]

So the bakkie is not actually lifted, that’s just the suspension set with a little extra “pre-load” ????

Hahaha pretty much

[Rob22]

A friend came over from Hong Kong today for a wedding, and we decided to squeeze in a ride, I usually struggle to ride with him coz he is very fit (like very - won Berg and Bush mid week, W2W mid week, 3rd in 36One, and top 50 at the Epic). So I usually push myself int the red when I ride with him, which although nice is a bit of punishent. Anyway, he didn't bring a bike over so he had to hire one - and all that was available was an ebike from Ride Inn. I borrowed my old man's ebike for a day.

 

I just upped the assistance a bit more than he did and we could ride quite comfortably together today. We did Status Quo, Iron Monkey, Plumber, and Firehut - all top to bottom in just over 3 hours. Flipen impressive.

 

An ebike will never ever replace my normal enduro bike, but (one day) I will buy myself something like the new Spez Kenevo with a double crown fork - for a day like today an ebike was just the best tool for the job. Loved it.

I think it’s a bit like a golf handicap, a lower handicapper can still enjoy a game of golf with a pro. Without that you would have to be similar skilled to enjoy the game (ride)

[Grease_Monkey]

I think it’s a bit like a golf handicap, a lower handicapper can still enjoy a game of golf with a pro. Without that you would have to be similar skilled to enjoy the game (ride)

Pretty much yes. I'm sure the guy I was riding with was still holding back (alot) but it was nice to know I could at least keep up and still have a conversation.

 

But like I mentioned, biggest upside today was the amount of trails we got to ride in a very short period of time. That loop would usually take me 5 hours and I'd be stuffed.

 

Downside: the extra weight was not ideal on Status Quo, bike was alot to get around somw of those corners. And the crappy Guide brakes did not help at all - but that's got nothing to do with ebikes, those brakes are terrible on any bike.

[Patchelicious]

On the road ebikes - I don't see the appeal there. But that's just me.

That’s because you aren’t a cheat

 

 

#TrumpJrBook

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

On the road ebikes - I don't see the appeal there. But that's just me.

Jeez dude, roadies are just SO much more efficient. Coming back from Tokai yesterday, Cuan and I hitting it reasonably hard on the tar section back to Trail and Tar, roadie comes whizzing past us just soft pedalling. We both just laughed. 

 

But ja. I see a niche for those. The not so fit guys wanting to do a euro tour, and cover more distance. For those steep cols that I know Duane has done, but a bit more and not being as trashed afterwards... 

 

I wouldn't ever buy a roadie e bike, but I'd buy a Kenevo (new gen) tomorrow. If I could. 

[Grease_Monkey]

Jeez dude, roadies are just SO much more efficient. Coming back from Tokai yesterday, Cuan and I hitting it reasonably hard on the tar section back to Trail and Tar, roadie comes whizzing past us just soft pedalling. We both just laughed.

 

But ja. I see a niche for those. The not so fit guys wanting to do a euro tour, and cover more distance. For those steep cols that I know Duane has done, but a bit more and not being as trashed afterwards...

 

I wouldn't ever buy a roadie e bike, but I'd buy a Kenevo (new gen) tomorrow. If I could.

Yeah, blows my mind how much more efficient road bikes are. Even my 13kg steel gravel bike with 45c tyres feels like a breeze to pedal than a lighter XC hardtail!

 

But, as with all things there will always be a niche that wants what bike manufacturers come up with.

 

With you on the new gen Kenevo - if I had an extra 125k lying around that bike would be in my garage tomorrow.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Yeah, blows my mind how much more efficient road bikes are. Even my 13kg steel gravel bike with 45c tyres feels like a breeze to pedal than a lighter XC hardtail!

 

But, as with all things there will always be a niche that wants what bike manufacturers come up with.

 

With you on the new gen Kenevo - if I had an extra 125k lying around that bike would be in my garage tomorrow.

One of the guys I ride with has it. MACHINE. Then you get Mark Hopkins' one that has a 49 on the front in place of the Boxxer. OMF it's gorgeous. 

[Duane_Bosch]

 

But ja. I see a niche for those. The not so fit guys wanting to do a euro tour, and cover more distance. For those steep cols that I know Duane has done, but a bit more and not being as trashed afterwards... 

 

I don't get E roadbikes.

 

I could never have my photo taken at the top of the Tourmalet holding an E Bike. Never. I could never disrespect all the people who have done it on their own stream like that. When the day comes that I can't ride up a big mountain then I'll look to the flatlands.

 

But there's still 4 teeth on the rear to go and 20 margarine bricks of ballast attached to my body that I could ditch. Plus there's this often overlooked method called training.With smart trainers, programs like training peaks and the huge amount of training info available there really are no excuses.

 

Hell. On Rouvy you can even "ride" the actual climb before you get there. I "rode" Sa Calobra the other night and from a difficulty point of view it was pretty much the same as the real thing.

Edited November 14, 2019 by Duane_Bosch

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

I don't get E roadbikes.

 

I could never have my photo taken at the top of the Tourmalet holding an E Bike. Never. I could never disrespect all the people who have done it on their own stream like that. When the day comes that I can't ride up a big mountain then I'll look to the flatlands.

 

But there's still 4 teeth on the rear to go and 20 margarine bricks of ballast attached to my body that I could ditch. Plus there's this often overlooked method called training.With smart trainers, programs like training peaks and the huge amount of training info available there really are no excuses.

 

Hell. On Rouvy you can even "ride" the actual climb before you get there. I "rode" Sa Calobra the other night and from a difficulty point of view it was pretty much the same as the real thing.

Yeah, and there's nothing wrong with that at all. I have the same opinion as you on the roadie ebike, for my personal use. Nee dankie. 

[Jewbacca]

Change the thread.... The mostly unanimous decision after 2000 posts is 'Yes, but not in races'.

 

New Thread topic.... 'Do road E-Bikes deserve to exist?'