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greghm's picture

By greghm - Posted on 03 September 2017

During a 45 minute ride at the dam yesterday I was passed by no less than 3 Ebikes!
Ebikes are now being heavily promoted by all the major bike companies so we can expect to see many more on the tracks. They are here to stay.
I was wondering what others think about this trend - good or bad for the sport? It certainly does not require the same fitness level or technical skill set that conventional riding does so I think it dumbs down the sport but it will certainly appeal to many.

sippffo's picture

two cents worth in regard to your comment in regard to technical skills.

I have a few mates that have these eBikes, amazing machines indeed, they do make the climbing aspect much easier in regard to leg tiredness, it feels like your constantly in Granny Gear they have told me.

I am in ore at how they can push these much heavier bikes around these trails, these bike weigh some in excess of 25kg, I for one do not have any intention in purchasing one at this time, but.....
I would like to compare it as being like throwing a 10+kg bag of sand on to our top tube and try and ride like we currently do, I would think that one would have to go back to the basics and learn weight transfer, etc in regard to getting these bikes up and over things that we can easily manual or front wheel lift, without basically thinking at the moment.

The top speed of these bikes is also scary, with some reaching 40+ km/h without trying, that also provides some fun for the short term, but imaging hooking down somewhere, only to find that your now approaching a corner and warp speed and only got some little metal pads to try to stop.

I may be completely wrong in what I am saying, but as you mentioned they are here to stay, and will keep the older rider out on the trail, which in the end is the most important thing.

hawkeye's picture

My view is they are something of a pest on XC trails but shuttling on gravity trails would probably be OK.

That view may change though in the next few months. At the moment I am limited to a strict HR Max under doctor's orders of 120bpm due to near-fatal pulmonary embolism (lung blood clots) week before last. Sad

An offer of an eBike from a friend may get me back out on easy non-tech trails in a few months, although I'm not convinced of the wisdom of that yet as the anti-clotting medication means any offs could have major consequences. Will see what hte doc says. Puzzled

What I'm not so keen on is fully able-bodied riders using them around Manly Dam. We get enough finger wagging from the blue rinse set over things like hot laps as it is.

staffe's picture

Although we've never ridden together I've seen many of your posts. FFS brother stay safe. That is some seriously bad stuff. I went through an episode of DVT from a MTB accident which if it goes bad travels to the lungs. I know the unpleasant feeling of that stuff going on.

I hope for a speedy recovery from that evilness and I'm looking fwd to a ride with you once our heart rate can get back up to 220 bpm Eye-wink

Lach's picture

.. there is pedal-assist, in which the motor does nothing unless you are pedalling and you can select the level of "assist" that you get and, accordingly, the rate at which the battery is run down. In my view they are unlikely to do much more damage to trails than a heavy rider on a DH bike. They can keep people getting some exercise when "normal" cycling is beyond them, and keep people in touch with friends / rello's that ride at a different level. For example, my sister recently was in northern Italy and southern France with her husband who is a pretty serious cyclist and with an eBike she was able to ride up various cols and mtb tracks with him (on a normal bike) with relatively little base fitness.

Then there is the equivalent of electric motor bikes, with throttles and all. They are evil.... Eye-wink

Rich de Pom's picture

I was at H20 once and had to move out of the way when climbing a hill for some large, overweight dude on an ebike which wasn't too much of an issue and then the other week this prick on a very expensive Ebike got the shits with us as we were in the way whilst he was climbing up a section at Mt Narra and may a comment on that we were day dreaming and basically made himself look a bit of dick.
I think the Strava guys would be pretty peeved off when they see their KOMs taken from them but each to their own I suppose.

Rich de Pom's picture

I was at H20 once and had to move out of the way when climbing a hill for some large, overweight dude on an ebike which wasn't too much of an issue and then the other week this prick on a very expensive Ebike got the shits with us as we were in the way whilst he was climbing up a section at Mt Narra and may a comment on that we were day dreaming and basically made himself look a bit of dick.
I think the Strava guys would be pretty peeved off when they see their KOMs taken from them but each to their own I suppose.

Rich de Pom's picture

I was at H20 once and had to move out of the way when climbing a hill for some large, overweight dude on an ebike which wasn't too much of an issue and then the other week this prick on a very expensive Ebike got the shits with us as we were in the way whilst he was climbing up a section at Mt Narra and may a comment on that we were day dreaming and basically made himself look a bit of dick.
I think the Strava guys would be pretty peeved off when they see their KOMs taken from them but each to their own I suppose.

Rich de Pom's picture

I was at H20 once and had to move out of the way when climbing a hill for some large, overweight dude on an ebike which wasn't too much of an issue and then the other week this prick on a very expensive Ebike got the shits with us as we were in the way whilst he was climbing up a section at Mt Narra and may a comment on that we were day dreaming and basically made himself look a bit of dick.
I think the Strava guys would be pretty peeved off when they see their KOMs taken from them but each to their own I suppose.

Lach's picture

.... I know people that are appearing in Strava KOM top 10's with eBikes. Maybe there needs to be a separate category.....

BT's picture

There is a separate category. Riders just need to make sure they tag their rides as eBike rides when uploading.

Lach's picture

... I'll spread the word where it needs to be spread...

azsthj's picture

Bought the better half a Merida e-bike so we can go riding together and to lend to unfit (sorry less fit) mates for weekends away (Daisy you know who I mean). I have ridden it only a short distance and not over anything too technical but I was very impressed – heaps of fun to ride. 160mm of travel, 2.8 tyres and with pedal assist (no throttle) it has a heap of grip and I don’t think it will easily loose traction. Power assist cuts off at 25km / hour so I think the extra speed will only be an issue when climbing. I don’t see the extra weight being an issue as the total weight depends more on rider than bike. Agree with you Sippffo lifting the front wheel over obstacles will require some practice. As the cost and weight come down I think e-bikes will be the future. From some reports I have been reading, power-assisted pedal bikes don’t cause any increased erosion individually but will overall as they are expected to greatly increase the number of users on tracks.

It appears they are permitted in National Parks “NPWS considers power-assisted pedal cycles up to the output of 250 watts, to be bicycles for the purpose of riding on management trails in parks”.
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/parks-r...

Been looking around at websites like Stromlo and Victoria High Country tracks and there don’t appear to be any restrictions on using e-bikes there?

Pants's picture

you dont need to lift the front wheel on them. Just sit down and spin and the motor plows over the rocks. I test rode one around Ghania and it actually made the track fun! I think it took 8 mins to do the whole track

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