Do eBikes belong on the mountain?

[Eldron]

jy gaan VINNIG moet pedal om by te bly ...       

 

Siemens have a prototype from a few years back claiming 5kw/kg!

 

https://newatlas.com/siemens-world-record-electric-motor-aircraft/37048/

[Hairy]

e-bikes are sooooo 1897

 

 

[Janine Oosthuizen]

It's a phase every couch potato is going through. None of them really enjoy being out there. Once a potato, always a potato. But to old folk who's undergone them knee and hip replacements... Kudo's to you! Smash those trials! Come and enjoy it with the rest of us.

[ChrisF]

It's a phase every couch potato is going through. None of them really enjoy being out there. Once a potato, always a potato. But to old folk who's undergone them knee and hip replacements... Kudo's to you! Smash those trials! Come and enjoy it with the rest of us.

 

Welcome Janine !

 

 

At least SOME people DO get of the couch-potato stage ... not many, but some do.  I spent some 20+ years on the couch .... back in the saddle for almost two years now. 

 

Thankfully I can still climb the hills under my own steam - as long as it is not too steep or too long ...    

 

 

I can see myself buying an ebike at some point ... for now I want to see just how far my knees can still get me.

[Pure Savage]

This holiday a saw a lot of Ebikes, plenty at the trail park in the garden route. The guys were polite and normal people afterwards.

 

They did no more damage to the trail or reduced my enjoyment. They also paid their R120 entry per day which will go towards more awesome trails.

 

I took my old man up mountain mania, he had to push the last bit up 15%, I am sure in 4-5 years he would dig an e bike. The awesome time we had the rest of the day climbing passes etc I would not want to miss out on because his war wounds and age limit him.

 

Be lekker. Unless we actually get reports of e bikers ripping up trails at 130km/h and bunny hopping over us mere mortals let’s just let it go...

 

 

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[Patchelicious]

This holiday a saw a lot of Ebikes, plenty at the trail park in the garden route. The guys were polite and normal people afterwards.

 

They did no more damage to the trail or reduced my enjoyment. They also paid their R120 entry per day which will go towards more awesome trails.

 

I took my old man up mountain mania, he had to push the last bit up 15%, I am sure in 4-5 years he would dig an e bike. The awesome time we had the rest of the day climbing passes etc I would not want to miss out on because his war wounds and age limit him.

 

Be lekker. Unless we actually get reports of e bikers ripping up trails at 130km/h and bunny hopping over us mere mortals let’s just let it go...

 

In which race was this?

[EugeneKemp35]

Before having an opinion qualify yourself on the matter.

In the past two years I have done 2800 km on my normal bike and 3200 km on my e-bike.

I am a weekend social rider.

Although I still ride my normal bike due to the restriction of e bikes in some events, I prefer riding my e bike any day of the week. 

[Headshot]

Picture this: You're winching yourself up a jeep track on your rather heavy enduro bike when a sound catches your ear. Tyre noise. You don't turn your head but listen more closely and hear it approaching quicker than any bike could be. The tyre noise is a give away. Its a bakkie making its way up the track. You move to the left to give it space. As it passes you see the reality. A pair of Spaz ebikes with plus sized tyres hitting that hill at close to 3x your speed. True story.

[Bateleur1]

My co-worker that sometimes commutes with me is still laughing at a funny incident we had last summer.  Him and I were commuting to work on our MTBs when we passed an older guy on his e-bike.  We slowly caught up with him and then he stayed in our slip for quite some time until the road turn up to a hill.  As the hill started my co-commuter started taking strain and the ebiker immediatly shot past us with the words "nice to have a motor".  I caught up to him and pass him with the words "nice to be younger". 

[Eldron]

We have some pretty powerful emotorbikes here in Denmark. I often dice old tannies on their eshopperbikes on my 24kg "dutch commuter". They normally win!

 

Humans are pretty pathetic compared to electric motors - it doesn't take much to get whipped by electricity.

 

That said - different story when I'm on my training bikes or racing bikes 

[Bateleur1]

We have some pretty powerful emotorbikes here in Denmark. I often dice old tannies on their eshopperbikes on my 24kg "dutch commuter". They normally win!

 

Humans are pretty pathetic compared to electric motors - it doesn't take much to get whipped by electricity.

 

That said - different story when I'm on my training bikes or racing bikes 

 

In Germany the normal ebikes are limited (by software) to max 250w and 25km/h.  When it hits that the rider must go over it with is own ability.  You can buy stronger / or setup stronger motors but then you need a little license for insurance purposes and the bike is actually classified as a light vehicle.

[Eldron]

In Germany the normal ebikes are limited (by software) to max 250w and 25km/h.  When it hits that the rider must go over it with is own ability.  You can buy stronger / or setup stronger motors but then you need a little license for insurance purposes and the bike is actually classified as a light vehicle.

 

Interesting... I guess similar rules apply here (EU and all that) but experience/dicing tannies has taught me otherwise**

 

**or maybe I am getting old!!!!

[ChrisF]

Been seeing more and more ebikes on our trails.

 

 

We sweat our way ou stairway-to-heaven .... lady on an ebike takes the shortcut and shoots up the vertical section, races past the point where we rest at the bench ..... 500m further she is standing next to her bike, doing her utmost best to ignore any and all asking her if she is okay ....  

 

In contrast we were a group of parents with primary school kids going along slowly .... elderly couple riding ebikes catch up to us, slows way down and we have a nice chat as we all hang back giving the kids space to ride their pace.  NICE couple !  Clearly having ebikes is opening a new world of opportunities for them, and still they are decent humans sharing the trails in a responsible way.

 

 

Day may well come when I buy an ebike ,,,,, until then happy being able to push my own limits under my own steam.

[EugeneKemp35]

Picture this: You're winching yourself up a jeep track on your rather heavy enduro bike when a sound catches your ear. Tyre noise. You don't turn your head but listen more closely and hear it approaching quicker than any bike could be. The tyre noise is a give away. Its a bakkie making its way up the track. You move to the left to give it space. As it passes you see the reality. A pair of Spaz ebikes with plus sized tyres hitting that hill at close to 3x your speed. True story.

As a matter of interest, how much faster than the e-bikes did you go down the mountain, I would hazard a guess 5x.  

[EugeneKemp35]

Been seeing more and more ebikes on our trails.

 

 

We sweat our way ou stairway-to-heaven .... lady on an ebike takes the shortcut and shoots up the vertical section, races past the point where we rest at the bench ..... 500m further she is standing next to her bike, doing her utmost best to ignore any and all asking her if she is okay ....  

 

In contrast we were a group of parents with primary school kids going along slowly .... elderly couple riding ebikes catch up to us, slows way down and we have a nice chat as we all hang back giving the kids space to ride their pace.  NICE couple !  Clearly having ebikes is opening a new world of opportunities for them, and still they are decent humans sharing the trails in a responsible way.

 

 

Day may well come when I buy an ebike ,,,,, until then happy being able to push my own limits under my own steam.

I sure you agree, an a-hole stays one irrespective what he or she rides.

[Yo-Yo]

Went for a spin in Tokai this evening and got lapped by a guy on a Spez' ebike. Had a coil shock on the back and Fox 36 up front. The way he shot up the climb from the bottom of vasbyt was pretty incredible. Honestly by the time I was peddling towards the bottom of AM he was just finishing that run. Had a chat to him briefly and he'd nailed a hell of a lot of loops already in a frankly tiny time on the mountain. Seems he came from a MX background so the weight and different feel was no big deal and seems the stably was incredible. 

 

It made me think different about their uses and not just for old guys who need a bit of help. It seems a good solution to get more rides in. I'm focused on going down mountains and to be honest I'm pretty 'meh' about the slog up to the trail head (heresy I know. Earn your downs blah, blah). If I can nail 3 or 4 sessions on a ride compared to the one loop under my own power then I'd put my hand up and say it's something i'd be interested. With more core brands now having a ebike in their line up and more development happening it's going to be pretty interesting in the next few years. 

It's a bike. With a battery. I can't see what people would be getting angry and indignant about. Ride what you ride.