Do eBikes belong on the mountain?

[NicoBoshoff]

Oh no! Not innovation! Not change! My poor Strava KOM's!

Yes they belong. They're in the spirit of true mtb riding anyway. Chill chat and rip it on some ST on the way down with your mates.

Thanks, I've literally never laughed this hard.

[Ratty]

I didn't like the idea of them, but after my OH got one and I see the fun he is having on it because he is able to get to the top of the trails and actually have energy left to enjoy the downhills, I have been converted.  He is loving mountain biking again and is super keen to get out and ride instead of just sitting on the couch.

 

It is great for mates / partners where the one is super fit and the other not as they can ride together.  You still have to pedal so its not like its a free ride to the top, it just makes it a little easier.

 

If it was lighter to pick up, I would seriously consider getting one myself.  Could have so much fun at places like Jonkers, Welvanpas etc where I just don't have the fitness to ride all the trails I want in a day.  However there is no way I could lift one onto my roofracks.

[NicoBoshoff]

I didn't like the idea of them, but after my OH got one and I see the fun he is having on it because he is able to get to the top of the trails and actually have energy left to enjoy the downhills, I have been converted.  He is loving mountain biking again and is super keen to get out and ride instead of just sitting on the couch.

 

It is great for mates / partners where the one is super fit and the other not as they can ride together.  You still have to pedal so its not like its a free ride to the top, it just makes it a little easier.

 

If it was lighter to pick up, I would seriously consider getting one myself.  Could have so much fun at places like Jonkers, Welvanpas etc where I just don't have the fitness to ride all the trails I want in a day.  However there is no way I could lift one onto my roofracks.

Once your other half is fit from getting back into it, will he stay on the e-bike or will he be incentivised to take his riding further on a normal bike?  Or will he just pedal away from you with his new gained fitness on the e-bike and you both ride alone?

 

What's the long game here?

[Shebeen]

I'm 100% behind pedal assist e-bikes being accepted as a mountain bike.

 

BUT, in the transition period we'd really need all e-bike owners to not be a Dwis about it. 

[billygoat0523]

it's fine i guess as long as they don't want to impatiently whirrrrr past me on the climbs.

[carbon29er]

What's next? Motor cycles or motor scooters with engines below a certain capacity or power output? As long as they are silent?  There is very little difference between these two and an e-mountain bike, in my opinion. All 3 are capable of letting the driver go faster both uphill and downhill than they would if it was not for the motor.

 

The former two have been banned on the majority of mixed use trails almost forever, places like the newly opened Constantia greenbelts. It's but a small step for walkers and horse riders to point out that motors are now being used and the fear is that brings the whole access thing tumbling down. After all, people see access by bicycles bringing the new menace.

 

How many of us would not complain if a scrambler started riding "our" MTB single tracks?

 

I think it is very selfish of users to access MTB trails with motors. And that is not because I'm not embracing new technology or progress.

 

Disclaimer: As I am barred from all trails it really does not bother me personally.

[Nick]

Once your other half is fit from getting back into it, will he stay on the e-bike or will he be incentivised to take his riding further on a normal bike?  Or will he just pedal away from you with his new gained fitness on the e-bike and you both ride alone?

 

What's the long game here?

 

I'd suspect that it's to have fun.

[Goodbadugly]

It does not concern me.

Other people can do what they feel like.

I don't do strava.

[lechatnoir]

Gee, if someone else riding a ebike is going to prevent me from having fun wherever I ride, whenever I ride, then MY association with cycling is wrong and needs adjusting...

 

This is MY POV... couldn't care less. They aren't for me. Not today at any rate

[Tatt]

I'm a big fan of them, even although I don't own one.

 

Had my right knee rebuilt twice and heading for my third rebuild... So can definitely see myself getting one of these in a few years time when it packs up for good and the left leg needs a little help doing all the work!

 

Tom

[Hairy]

Ok I will bite.

 

E-Bikes can be overridden, and they do get modified. A rider told me the other day he has his spaz setup to do 45km/h, and it was a very simple software thing to do. This scares me. The rider did note he is not a chop and does not ride up behind people and "force" them to move over.

 

Then I met a guy on a supposed e-bike (It has a throttle option as part of the build) who has it clocking 75km/h, the bike weighs in at 48kgs. He was on the cycle lane, and his business partner had just come past in the road, taking up a whole lane, not wearing a helmet and holding up cars on a dangerous and quick section of road. Let's call him Mr Chop. 

 

Now the guy I was chatting to noted that they have ridden just about most of the popular trails in the greater CT region with these things (These things = to motorbikes I say, due to having a throttle) ...... long conversation later, him being very polite following my jibes at his motorbike, he decides he has to roll. This freaking thing accelerated like no one business.... I recon it could give many motorbikes a go over a short  / medium distance.

 

The last bike I am describing should most certainly not be allowed on the trails, nor on the cycle lanes!

[stefmeister]

e-bikes, and e-cigarettes is all the same and lame AF!

 

Do it if it makes you happy, but don't think for one second it's cool. You wanna blow big clouds of smoke, don't be a pussy and vape. Hit a Camel filter. Same goes for the rest of the e-wankery.

Edited March 6, 2017 by stefmeister

[Hairy]

"Kids. Partners. It’s a similar logic. If your partner or offspring wish to join on a weekend ride, yet are petrified of the discrepancy in endurance between yourselves, why isn’t the e-MTB a great solution? It enables a thoroughly testing training ride for you, without risking the frustration of waiting at the top of each gradient for ten minutes."

 

The counter to this point is, why not just ride at the pace of the slower rider you are taking into the sport vs wanting to race ahead?

[Hairy]

I do need to add, that a proper, non modified e-MTB would and could most certainly be an advantage to an experience rider who has moved on in the years, and can no longer make all those climbs, yet has the years of experience to handle the bike when it points down again.

[Rocket-Boy]

e-bikes, and e-cigarettes is all the same and lame AF!

 

Do it if it makes you happy, but don't think for one second it's cool. You wanna blow big clouds of smoke, don't be a pussy and vape. Hit a Camel filter. Same goes for the rest of the e-wankery.

Except the camel filter is far worse for you than the vape is. 

Im surprised you are using this internet thing, would have expected you would call that some kind of wankery too.

[Pure Savage]

"Kids. Partners. It’s a similar logic. If your partner or offspring wish to join on a weekend ride, yet are petrified of the discrepancy in endurance between yourselves, why isn’t the e-MTB a great solution? It enables a thoroughly testing training ride for you, without risking the frustration of waiting at the top of each gradient for ten minutes."

 

The counter to this point is, why not just ride at the pace of the slower rider you are taking into the sport vs wanting to race ahead?

 

Because the working class dont have time to have both a family ride and a ride for fitness sake.