Do eBikes belong on the mountain?

[IceCreamMan]

Garmin now recognise it , so I guess they do belong. 

[Headshot]

4 hours ago, DuncanDoughnuts said:

I cant decide what is worse .... Using a ebike to ride top the top of the downhill and blast down ... Or taking part in shuttle days to blast down ... a

are they not the same evil ?

We know you are an unbiased eBike rider, ne? The evil of an eBike as opposed to a shuttle is the relatively small cost involved with a shuttle which enables mere mortals to have more fun without spending as much as a decent car on a mere bicycle. So there Doughnut! 🙂 

[DuncanDoughnuts]

11 minutes ago, Headshot said:

We know you are an unbiased eBike rider, ne? The evil of an eBike as opposed to a shuttle is the relatively small cost involved with a shuttle which enables mere mortals to have more fun without spending as much as a decent car on a mere bicycle. So there Doughnut! 🙂 

Busted ...

Edited January 20, 2022 by DuncanDoughnuts

[StBH]

I was in Moab, two years ago. They were forbidden everywhere. I don’t know if it’s still the case but it was then. What do I think? Yes there will be more folks going up the mountain but I can’t see it becoming a problem. Those who aren’t fit who could hike, which they don’t, I can’t see those folks buying an E Mountainbike. Like mentioned in the article, we will see some older folks and some whom are ‘restricted’ return to the mountain. I personally welcome them. 

[stefmeister]

17 hours ago, DuncanDoughnuts said:

i think the real topic should be 

Do eBikes have more fun on the mountain?

Of course, who doesn't like to go fast? There really isn't any need to justify ebikes with hypothetical health/age related issues. 

[rorydewet]

The days of people been maligned for riding e-bikes are long over.

They are here to stay and people who cast aspersions on fitness, lazy etc are narrow minded in my view.

Having more people with bums in saddles on the trails can only be good for all riders in terms of promoting the sport and paying into trail building funds etc.

I have long ago accepted e-bikes.

This thread has seen its day.

if people have issues around how some e-bikers ride well that s another thread and in my view the same can be said for normal riders. 

[DuncanDoughnuts]

56 minutes ago, stefmeister said:

Of course, who doesn't like to go fast? There really isn't any need to justify ebikes with hypothetical health/age related issues. 

"There really isn't any need to justify ebikes with hypothetical health/age related issues. " Best quote of the thread 👍

[The Ouzo]

Not a mountain but .....

 

Riding along this morning and 2 gents on MTB bikes come flying past. Nothing unusual. But they keep looking back.

Next thing this lady on an eMTB slowly creeps past me. When I notice its an eBike I check my speed, 33km/h. Ok this explains why she is creeping past. It is a slight incline. As it flattens out I realise she is not really extending the gap so I speed up to ride next to her and  start chatting. My opening remark was along the lines of "it gets hard when you hit that speed limit" 

Turns out her is limited to 30 something km/h and she is supposed to be riding with the 2 guys up ahead. But they are doing intervals, she can keep up on the hills but as soon as they hit the flats or descents she is working really hard. And this was evident, we were doing around 35km/h and she was working very hard to maintain that pace.

[rorydewet]

2 minutes ago, ouzo said:

Not a mountain but .....

 

Riding along this morning and 2 gents on MTB bikes come flying past. Nothing unusual. But they keep looking back.

Next thing this lady on an eMTB slowly creeps past me. When I notice its an eBike I check my speed, 33km/h. Ok this explains why she is creeping past. It is a slight incline. As it flattens out I realise she is not really extending the gap so I speed up to ride next to her and  start chatting. My opening remark was along the lines of "it gets hard when you hit that speed limit" 

Turns out her is limited to 30 something km/h and she is supposed to be riding with the 2 guys up ahead. But they are doing intervals, she can keep up on the hills but as soon as they hit the flats or descents she is working really hard. And this was evident, we were doing around 35km/h and she was working very hard to maintain that pace.

She missed a trick. You can have your e-bike chipped (fixed) so that the motor still works above the limit.

So she can still keep up if she wanted to.

[ChrisF]

1 hour ago, ouzo said:

Not a mountain but .....

 

Riding along this morning and 2 gents on MTB bikes come flying past. Nothing unusual. But they keep looking back.

Next thing this lady on an eMTB slowly creeps past me. When I notice its an eBike I check my speed, 33km/h. Ok this explains why she is creeping past. It is a slight incline. As it flattens out I realise she is not really extending the gap so I speed up to ride next to her and  start chatting. My opening remark was along the lines of "it gets hard when you hit that speed limit" 

Turns out her is limited to 30 something km/h and she is supposed to be riding with the 2 guys up ahead. But they are doing intervals, she can keep up on the hills but as soon as they hit the flats or descents she is working really hard. And this was evident, we were doing around 35km/h and she was working very hard to maintain that pace.

 

Sounds like my typical ride along Bottelary road .... slight inclines I just hang with the roadies.  When the climbs start I move forward and tow the line .... but man o man, when we get to that drop after the circle they leave me for dead ..... 

 

Damn good workout.

[JJDT]

The same happens with me and the wife on her e-bike, climbs she looses me, but as soon as the road starts to get flat and building some speed it is my turn to loose her. The benefit is on the climbs where I normally struggle I see it as a challenge these days to see if I can catch her or just trying to stay with her. It is a win win situation for both of us seeing that she tries to stay with me on flats.

 

[ChrisF]

Had to laugh yesterday .... AFTER recovering from a bit of heat stroke .... 

 

We did the full out-loop of the Black route of Hemel and Aarde trails.  The 32km out-section gives you a good work out, but the 30+ temperature of the latter half of that section had us running out of water ....

 

We were VERY happy to spot this Oasis at the turning point -

 

In a slightly fragile state we skipped a couple of the Black-loops on the return run, heading back to Plaaskombuis for a late lunch.

 

These were the rides of the day -

 

Clearly the "Blue Beast" is my e-bike .... NOT so clearly, the new Scott has a large B area - NOT an ebike !  The larger area houses the build in rear shock.

 

 

As we stop at Plaaskombuis, the gent at the next table decides to rip us about "riding ebikes are cheating,,, he can do these trails with one leg ..."  I brushed it off with a smile .... after two years I am getting used to these types....

 

 

NOPE ... now he let's rip at my much younger friend ... "NO, you youngsters really should not be riding ebikes .... I will ride these trails with one leg !!"

 

 

Once we got re-hydrated we had a good laugh about this gent .... maybe he needs to check what is an ebike before speaking .... 

Edited January 30, 2022 by ChrisF

[aquaratza]

I did a ride yesterday with friends at Oak Valley, but someone new joined us (I didn't know who they were before hand).

I was questioning whether I should take my non-eBike (Stumpy) or my Levo SL, eventually I decided on the Levo SL. I always worry that people will give me a hard time about the eBike or feel put out by it.

For reference my SL does up to 240w output (vs a "full" Levo which can do up to 580w).

Turned out the "wild card" rider was extremely strong and kept challenging me to races haha. We had a great time.

I used 14% of the internal 320Wh battery over 2 hours, so around 23 Wh average per hour.

Edited January 30, 2022 by aquaratza

[City Cycling Athletic Club]

fantastic , you can hang in there with the best climbers, but what skills do you have going down a hill?

[W Smith]

6 hours ago, Andy Arnesan said:

fantastic , you can hang in there with the best climbers, but what skills do you have going down a hill?

Who cares? 

[Rocket-Boy]

25 minutes ago, W Smith said:

Who cares? 

The people stuck behind you...