Do eBikes belong on the mountain?

[Eldron]

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

[Rigardt@Scott]

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

 

But I feel like arguing with someone 

[Patchelicious]

But I feel like arguing with someone 

 

[GLuvsMtb]

I'm not a racing snake by any means - so take this from where it comes - someone that just wants to enjoy races.

 

I am strong technically, I love single track, and I enjoy that aspect of a race. I am not racing for a podium, nor will I ever be. BUT, it is not enjoyable to ride behind someone at snails pace on single track - it's frustrating and kills the experience for me. And no, I don't have an issue waiting for people slightly slower than me.

 

My issue is this - yesterday I managed to get up Helderberg faster than pros who have posted time there - I am 100kg and not particularly fit. e-bikes don't allow the unfit to ride with their families - it puts the unfit and inexperienced in a position to be as fast as professionals and ride in the section of a race where they do not belong - that is dangerous in the worst case, and irritating at the very least because they cause congestion as soon as skill is required, and race past where fitness is required.

 

Saying that people should just enjoy the race and not care about their time is immature - races are there to race - as fast as YOU can. If that means ending up 400th, or 1st - it does not matter. Seeding is there for a reason - you ride with others in the same general level as you allowing the traffic to flow on trails and for everyone to enjoy the ride. E-bikes mess that up completely (see my previous post for the situations I am speaking about) - and for that reason I believe they should not be allowed in races. If you are truly there just to enjoy the scenery and a fun day out with family - please go for it, but why are you doing a race then? You can do that anywhere at any time without holding others up.

 

Oh and races are completely viable without the need for e-bikes, there are 88 stage races every year on our calendar that proves my point. If the demand really is so high from e-bike users for races then surely those races could be organised and there would be support? Or at the very least separate routes at events?

Saved me a post here. To add: let the e bikers organize e bike races and then allow regular bikes as well rather than the other way around.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Eldron]

Saved me a post here. To add: let the e bikers organize e bike races and then allow regular bikes as well rather than the other way around.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Yup. There is a growing "ride not race" trend so more and more rides will be ebike friendly. I still don't understand the logic of wanting to enter a race then motordoping the race. It's kinda banned in racing...

[GP-EB]

I'm not a racing snake by any means - so take this from where it comes - someone that just wants to enjoy races.

 

I am strong technically, I love single track, and I enjoy that aspect of a race. I am not racing for a podium, nor will I ever be. BUT, it is not enjoyable to ride behind someone at snails pace on single track - it's frustrating and kills the experience for me. And no, I don't have an issue waiting for people slightly slower than me.

 

My issue is this - yesterday I managed to get up Helderberg faster than pros who have posted time there - I am 100kg and not particularly fit. e-bikes don't allow the unfit to ride with their families - it puts the unfit and inexperienced in a position to be as fast as professionals and ride in the section of a race where they do not belong - that is dangerous in the worst case, and irritating at the very least because they cause congestion as soon as skill is required, and race past where fitness is required.

 

Saying that people should just enjoy the race and not care about their time is immature - races are there to race - as fast as YOU can. If that means ending up 400th, or 1st - it does not matter. Seeding is there for a reason - you ride with others in the same general level as you allowing the traffic to flow on trails and for everyone to enjoy the ride. E-bikes mess that up completely (see my previous post for the situations I am speaking about) - and for that reason I believe they should not be allowed in races. If you are truly there just to enjoy the scenery and a fun day out with family - please go for it, but why are you doing a race then? You can do that anywhere at any time without holding others up.

 

Oh and races are completely viable without the need for e-bikes, there are 88 stage races every year on our calendar that proves my point. If the demand really is so high from e-bike users for races then surely those races could be organised and there would be support? Or at the very least separate routes at events?

You seem to have a very narrow perspective and experience of e-bikes and MTB racing in general. I have started many mtb races in the middle of the shoot with all kind of level of riders around me just to get to the first single track section with tons of very slow riders in front of me "messing things up" so how you can single out e-bikes as the only culprits, that's just ridicules special with so few e-bikes around. Your scenario can still play it self out in years to come I'm sure, but not right now. When that happens it will become viable to have separate e-bike events. You should be more concerned about roadies with big legs and no technical skills at this time. A qualified opinion is always the best one.

[Eldron]

You seem to have a very narrow perspective and experience of e-bikes and MTB racing in general. I have started many mtb races in the middle of the shoot with all kind of level of riders around me just to get to the first single track section with tons of very slow riders in front of me "messing things up" so how you can single out e-bikes as the only culprits, that's just ridicules special with so few e-bikes around. Your scenario can still play it self out in years to come I'm sure, but not right now. When that happens it will become viable to have separate e-bike events. You should be more concerned about roadies with big legs and no technical skills at this time. A qualified opinion is always the best one.

 

You missed the point... Ebikes allow people with less fitness than you to get to the single track before you. At least people using their own legs deserve to be there.

 

Whilst seeding isn't a perfect measure of skill there is at least a correlation between fitness, experience and tech skills.

 

#justsaynotomotordoping.

[Patchelicious]

You seem to have a very narrow perspective and experience of e-bikes and MTB racing in general. I have started many mtb races in the middle of the shoot with all kind of level of riders around me just to get to the first single track section with tons of very slow riders in front of me "messing things up" so how you can single out e-bikes as the only culprits, that's just ridicules special with so few e-bikes around. Your scenario can still play it self out in years to come I'm sure, but not right now. When that happens it will become viable to have separate e-bike events. You should be more concerned about roadies with big legs and no technical skills at this time. A qualified opinion is always the best one.

An unbiased opinion is even better. Edited May 9, 2018 by Patchelicious

[GP-EB]

Yup. There is a growing "ride not race" trend so more and more rides will be ebike friendly. I still don't understand the logic of wanting to enter a race then motordoping the race. It's kinda banned in racing...

Not if all the motor dopers are in there own class. I also don't understand female mtb racing when they have men cycling with them, pushing and pacing them or the fact that I have never seen a single drug test done at a local mtb race. What about that there are most of the time no marshals checking for people taking short cuts, we have all had that moment of how did this person get back in front of me. I'm cant even stop thinking about two people peddling one bicycle whilst I must pedal by myself. Now what about that rich guy with his 8kg full suspension bike that I have to compete against with my 14kg Gaint, how is that allowed. This is exactely why riding rather than racing is better because then none of this including motor dopers worry you. 

[Npatricio]

I am convinced that ebikes are here to stay... so instead of fighting it, better to find solutions that fit all, for example if ebikes start an event 30m after the last bike group the likelihood of bottlenecks are much lower... definitely I don't think they shouldn't start together ever, but I do think is great for MTB that more people join, ebike will help on that!

[Rigardt@Scott]

You seem to have a very narrow perspective and experience of e-bikes and MTB racing in general. I have started many mtb races in the middle of the shoot with all kind of level of riders around me just to get to the first single track section with tons of very slow riders in front of me "messing things up" so how you can single out e-bikes as the only culprits, that's just ridicules special with so few e-bikes around. Your scenario can still play it self out in years to come I'm sure, but not right now. When that happens it will become viable to have separate e-bike events. You should be more concerned about roadies with big legs and no technical skills at this time. A qualified opinion is always the best one.

You are missing my point completely. And by the way - I've been racing bikes for about 15 years, so I would say I have a fairly qualified and informed opinion. Sure, there are other riders that can "mess things up", but if they do so under their own power it's fair game. Do it with a motor and it's not. Simple as that.

[Rigardt@Scott]

I am convinced that ebikes are here to stay... so instead of fighting it, better to find solutions that fit all, for example if ebikes start an event 30m after the last bike group the likelihood of bottlenecks are much lower... definitely I don't think they shouldn't start together ever, but I do think is great for MTB that more people join, ebike will help on that!

Spot on, they are here to stay. So a solution should be found - yours is actually quite a good suggestion....

[SwissVan]

I am convinced that ebikes are here to stay... so instead of fighting it, better to find solutions that fit all, for example if ebikes start an event 30m after the last bike group the likelihood of bottlenecks are much lower... definitely I don't think they shouldn't start together ever, but I do think is great for MTB that more people join, ebike will help on that!

 

Definitely here... saw some 2016 sales stats for Switzerland awhile ago, wish i had saved them but alas...

 

What i do remember is, numbers sold in 2016:

20'000 E-MTB's (up from 2015)

54'000 E-Trekking / City bikes (up from 2015)

102'000 Regular MTB's (Down from 2015)

 

And another interesting stat....

27.5" bikes sales increased (54'000) of which more were sold than 29" which decreased (30'000) by 10%

[EugeneKemp35]

Spot on, they are here to stay. So a solution should be found - yours is actually quite a good suggestion....

I have done multiple MTB events with some friends on E-Bikes. We have started at the back, in front, in the middle and every which way the organizers could think of and not on a single one of those events we impacted the a normal MTB riders event (if you exclude some ego's that seem to be the biggest problem). We started one event in front where we actually saved the event for the racing snakes by getting to a locked gate on the coarse and phoning the organizers to come open it before they arrived.

[Headshot]

I have done multiple MTB events with some friends on E-Bikes. We have started at the back, in front, in the middle and every which way the organizers could think of and not on a single one of those events we impacted the a normal MTB riders event (if you exclude some ego's that seem to be the biggest problem). We started one event in front where we actually saved the event for the racing snakes by getting to a locked gate on the coarse and phoning the organizers to come open it before they arrived.

Okay, so what I'm taking away from the last sentence is that an eBike makes you faster than a racing snake. How does that feel? :-) 

[Eldron]

I have done multiple MTB events with some friends on E-Bikes. We have started at the back, in front, in the middle and every which way the organizers could think of and not on a single one of those events we impacted the a normal MTB riders event (if you exclude some ego's that seem to be the biggest problem). We started one event in front where we actually saved the event for the racing snakes by getting to a locked gate on the coarse and phoning the organizers to come open it before they arrived.

 

Silly question - why don't you guys ride normal bikes? Do you all have medical conditions?