Should e-bikes be allowed in Cycle Tour and other Races

[DuncanDoughnuts]

I think the only way to settle this argument is to have separate races on separate days .. and to make sure no ones egos are hurt we will have to separate all categories. 

So it will be a week of cycle tour. as you cant have u23 racing with vets, or even men and women in the same race.  as someone's ego will get bruised.

Also we will have to split the expensive bikes from the not so expensive bikes (How dare a 12k pass me)

and at the end of the week all the ebikers can ride together ... Old, young, poor, rich, fit, not so fit, fat, skinny ... cause they don't give a **** and just want to have some fun on such a awesome route.

[lechatnoir]

35 minutes ago, Paul Ruinaard said:

Ja its pussies like you that have destroyed the purity of shifting and the poetry of a firm click in an STI never mind on a downtube shifter. Where will cycling end and how will it land with this pollution of our values?

what's the STI nonsense? proper cyclists take their rear wheel off and swap it round to use the sprocket on the other side... pfft... shifting without stopping! #STInoobs

[Jewbacca]

1 minute ago, lechatnoir said:

what's the STI nonsense? proper cyclists take their rear wheel off and swap it round to use the sprocket on the other side... pfft... shifting without stopping! #STInoobs

If it isn't fixed it's broken!

[DuncanDoughnuts]

7 minutes ago, _David_ said:

Agreed! It is almost as bad as doing Jhb2C on an ebikes.


🤣

haha, cant wait to do that on my ebike .... with battery swaps 

[_David_]

34 minutes ago, Paul Ruinaard said:

Watch this - any battery or EV vehicle is way harsher than what anyone thinks and anticipates . Same as nuclear energy - much cleaner than anything else. 

 

Cool vid, pity they did not cover hand-dug mines in Congo. I don't think most people realise or care what impact the Lithium gold rush is going to have on the planet. Sadly there is no stopping it.

[_David_]

4 minutes ago, DuncanDoughnuts said:

haha, cant wait to do that on my ebike .... with battery swaps 

I have two mates who attempted it on their ebikes they rode with spare battery's, gave up on day 5 because it was too muddy.

[DuncanDoughnuts]

Just now, _David_ said:

I have two mates who attempted it on their ebikes they rode with spare battery's, gave up on day 5 because it was too muddy.

Mud sucks on any bike .... My XC race bike has terrible mud clearance. Would also stop regardless of the bike. but it is worse on a ebike

[RobbyB]

10 minutes ago, DuncanDoughnuts said:

.......or even men and women in the same race.

Hey...the only reason that I race is to follow the hot, fast chicks. Don't spoil my fun!

Oh, and I also do it for my finish time.

[Paul Ruinaard]

9 minutes ago, lechatnoir said:

what's the STI nonsense? proper cyclists take their rear wheel off and swap it round to use the sprocket on the other side... pfft... shifting without stopping! #STInoobs

god forbid - batteries in shifters...... Need to create a new category for these cyclists and have a purist category for all the normal cyclists. I have no idea how they let STI based bike complete with non STI never mind the motorised shifting ones all in the same class. How is this fair. I mean cna you imagine after. along ride how sore the wrist of a non motorised shifter is in comparison and how many more calories he has burned to lift that derailleur up every time he needs to...

 

[_David_]

Just now, DuncanDoughnuts said:

Mud sucks on any bike .... My XC race bike has terrible mud clearance. Would also stop regardless of the bike. but it is worse on a ebike

Ja, they said that they did not want to take the chance of stuffing their bikes up.

[DuncanDoughnuts]

1 minute ago, Paul Ruinaard said:

god forbid - batteries in shifters...... Need to create a new category for these cyclists and have a purist category for all the normal cyclists. I have no idea how they let STI based bike complete with non STI never mind the motorised shifting ones all in the same class. How is this fair. I mean cna you imagine after. along ride how sore the wrist of a non motorised shifter is in comparison and how many more calories he has burned to lift that derailleur up every time he needs to...

 

Perfectly crisp electronic shifting is a unfair advantage , especially shifting under power .... it should be banned.

[AJB76]

14 minutes ago, DuncanDoughnuts said:

I think the only way to settle this argument is to have separate races on separate days .. and to make sure no ones egos are hurt we will have to separate all categories. 

So it will be a week of cycle tour. as you cant have u23 racing with vets, or even men and women in the same race.  as someone's ego will get bruised.

Also we will have to split the expensive bikes from the not so expensive bikes (How dare a 12k pass me)

and at the end of the week all the ebikers can ride together ... Old, young, poor, rich, fit, not so fit, fat, skinny ... cause they don't give a **** and just want to have some fun on such a awesome route.

Separate category for those using compact cranksets too. 

[Paul Ruinaard]

13 minutes ago, DuncanDoughnuts said:

I think the only way to settle this argument is to have separate races on separate days .. and to make sure no ones egos are hurt we will have to separate all categories. 

So it will be a week of cycle tour. as you cant have u23 racing with vets, or even men and women in the same race.  as someone's ego will get bruised.

Also we will have to split the expensive bikes from the not so expensive bikes (How dare a 12k pass me)

and at the end of the week all the ebikers can ride together ... Old, young, poor, rich, fit, not so fit, fat, skinny ... cause they don't give a **** and just want to have some fun on such a awesome route.

FWIW: Having both an ebike and a normal MTB and having ridden the ebike with my fast mates an elite MTBer will crucify you even if you are on an ebike. the amount of extra weight versus the amount of power required to power that big bike at high speeds menas the battery will always drain first. So unless you are willing to tow a raft of batteries behind you the elite level guys will kill you. I have mates who even when i am flat out at 70% can go up short climbs faster than me. And we aren't going slowly. 

[zeerpuD1]

It seems there are a lot of guys that have nothing better to do than moaning and complaining about something that will never be changed. Get use to the idea of e bikes. It’s here to stay. Nobody complained about cars being invented or cell phones so why e bikes. If been riding for over 45 years and am still riding my road bike (normal) as well as my e bike and I love riding both. If you want to “brag” about your time for events turn professional. Nobody cares about your time. 99% of us normal people ride bikes because we love it. We don’t care about Strava or all that nonsense. If e bikes get more people to ride so 👌. Stop complaining, get on your bike and enjoy the ride. Forget about other people, do you own thing or buy yourself an e bike and see how much fun you can have.

 

[DuncanDoughnuts]

2 minutes ago, Paul Ruinaard said:

FWIW: Having both an ebike and a normal MTB and having ridden the ebike with my fast mates an elite MTBer will crucify you even if you are on an ebike. the amount of extra weight versus the amount of power required to power that big bike at high speeds menas the battery will always drain first. So unless you are willing to tow a raft of batteries behind you the elite level guys will kill you. I have mates who even when i am flat out at 70% can go up short climbs faster than me. And we aren't going slowly. 

You need slower mates ..... Mine are  slow and only really get going after 2 beers. In fact there is no way i can even convince them to ride down the glen with me (pre glen fixup) until they have had a few beers at the lawns....

[Spafsack]

I am no racing snake, my wife and i normally do 30 to 40km races. We try hard to come in the top 15 in our age group. When its our group's turn to start, all the e bikes are with us. 99% of the e bike riders are either way over weight or much older, no disrespect please. So you get to the first long climb, you in granny gear, and almost all the e bike riders fly up past you. It kind of deflates a person, my wife especially. On a few of the races i actually saw e bike riders high fiving each other, congratulating each other how they basically came first in the group. One even got podium, before the announcer realized she was on an e bike, promptly informed her and she had to leave so that the first 'real' non e bike rider walked up and took first place.

I honestly dont have issues against e bikes, they get older or over weight peeps into riding, and thats great, but in actual races, not so sure.

At the end of the day its about feeling a sense of accomplishment, i did it!, i made it!, now lets drink beer! I don't get the point of a e bike rider doing races and just using full battery power all the way. Yes i know they also get a work out, but that's just my 2 cents. I think if you had a complete section or group just for them, they will actually work harder and compete like for like. Ultimately its really not the end of the world for me, i will continue to do races whether its with or without them.