Viewing 30 posts - 41 through 70 (of 70 total)
  • E-Bikes and that HiBike on the STW News
  • thepurist
    Full Member

    At the moment they cost around 30 times more than the typical unfit non-cyclist considers reasonable for a bike, so the trails aren’t going to be invaded by a long stretch. If someone really wants to use one to get off road and can afford it then that’s fine with me – their money, their choice.

    But in the medium to long term I can see a potential issue as battery & motor technology develops to the point where an electronic motocross bike becomes properly viable – that then throws up some issues with access, Rights of Way etc and how do you distinguish between an electric pushbike and an electric motorbike? The issue there would be the potential for larger more powerful bikes to be used on trails that aren’t suitable, causing problems (damage and access) for the legitimate users.

    stumpy01
    Full Member

    boltonjon – Member

    However, i’d happily lay a bet that 85% of people who buy them, and charge past you on a climb in a trail centre, will be wealthy & unfit people too lazy to get fit to take advantage of our beloved sport

    And that bothers you because? They have an e-bike and they overtake you at a trail centre…….and then what? You don’t lose. It’s not a race. You just carry on riding your bike and they carry on riding theirs.

    Only issue I could potentially see is whether they would cause more trail erosion than a normal bike & rider due to extra weight(probably not?) and/or torque output/characteristcs of an electric motor….?

    On a wider scale away from mountain bikes, I think they are a great idea. People who perhaps live too far away to consider commuting by bike everyday (say 20 miles?) would now perhaps consider cycling into work & get a bit fitter than they otherwise would have done and it would be one more car off the road and less polluting and…..and……

    ocrider
    Full Member

    Are you also the same people who don’t like being overtaken by someone with a more powerful car than yours?

    Which would be a great analogy if we were using the same method of propulsion 🙄

    I’ve not got much against them providing the line between them and electric motos doesn’t blur much, although I’d still prefer them to petrol ones on the same trails as me, if it’s any consolation (an existant problem where I ride)

    maxtorque
    Full Member

    I think the biggest issue is that the legal status of machines like this hasn’t really caught up with the technology. At the moment, they fit into the “as long as it only goes x mph and has y power” it’s a normal bike segment. However, land access and rights of way is still trying to catch up with the growth and capability of normal human powered mountain bikes. I think it is safe to say, that had modern MTBs been around when the highways & byways laws were passed, bikes would probably have been classed as “foot powered” and been allowed on countryside footpaths, giving 3 separated segments, people powered, horse powered, and machine powered(motorbikes/cars etc).

    But these new Ebikes don’t really sit in any of those cateogories. They are really motorbikes, but look like MTBs, and ok, they have (easily bypassable) speed and power limits. Large lobbying groups, like the ramblers, already carry a lot of sway with governing bodies, and we really don’t want them to have any more ammunition to use against bikes as shared access right inevitably get even more contentious.

    Currently, those Ebikes are just too expensive i think for a massive uptake, but that will almost certainly change. Can you imagine the Dail Mail style headlines when the first walker is knocked down by an Ebike? (even if the fact it was an Ebike has absolutely nothing to do with the incident….) Watching a documentary on access issues in the Peaks showed that motorbikes are a massive bone of contention, even on byways, where the NIMBYS wanted sole access.

    It’s certainly a tricky issue, and we can’t stop it now, these bikes exist, so we are going to have to deal with the issues as they arise!

    tpbiker
    Free Member

    Sometimes I ride to get fit and push myself. For that I use my xc bike and roadie. I also have a bigger ‘enduro bike’ which I gain absolutely no enjoyment going upjhill on, and which if somehow I could get to the top of the hill without peddling I would.

    Andy-R
    Full Member

    I can’t really put my finger on what I don’t like about the whole idea but I think it’s the same as someone else said previously about it blurring the line between push bikes and motor bikes.
    Where, and how do, you make a distinction between one of these all singing, all dancing E-bikes (which in my opinion look pretty gopping anyway)and an electric trials bike (which is infinitely nicer and looks like a trials bike).
    So yes, I know it’s all about power output and top speed but at the end of the day to me an E bike is still a motor cycle (it has a motor?)and, if you want to ride around on a motorcycle, then get a trials bike or an enduro bike and accept that you’ll be subject (maybe) to more restrictions of access than you have on a push bike.

    In the past I’ve been both a trials rider and enduro rider but the reasons that I now prefer riding bicycles are that I can ride places that I couldn’t do on something with a engine, the satisfaction that I get from doing it under my own steam and because there’s so much bad publicity around here about the damage done by enduro bikes, resulting in more even more access restrictions.

    You’d think an old bastard like me in his 60’s would be one of the people who’d most like the E-bike idea – poor old soul, now he won’t have to sweat and struggle up some climb but if I haven’t worked to get up there I can’t see much satisfaction in the descent – which I enjoy as much as the next man.

    When I can’t ride a bicycle I’ll get one of these –

    alpin
    Free Member

    i’m 70/30 against them. i think that they detract from the sport and make a mockery of those that do put the effort in.

    thepodge – Member

    My Mrs is considering one, then she can pull the kiddy trailer & keep up with me. she is neither disabled or lazy, she just has different muscles in different areas (she’s an awesome swimmer).

    I could of course pull the kiddy trailer but where’s the fun in that… well actually there is loads of fun in that but as a family unit we’d not travel as far.

    i think i would question exactly how far you’d get when pulling a trailer.

    And, by the number of £5K+ superbikes you see being ridden badly at any trail centres already – this is a market which is only going to grow & grow

    i think this is the problem.

    people have the money and they want the experience, but are unwilling to put in the effort.

    i can understand the idea of someone a little older, or someone commuting a fair distance of buying one. the ones i don’t get are those that are in their 30s, 40s or 50s and are racing along the trails. see this quite a bit here in Munich (kinda affluent). i usually make a point of drafting them and shouting “e-bike!” at them.

    in summer mate and i were in the train heading south and there was a guy in there with an ebike. he was about mid 30s. we asked politely him if he had any health problems (he didn’t) and what made him buy an e-bike. my mate made him feel small.

    i know of one guy that has a 35km commute. he sold his car and bought a powerful e-bike which he now uses to get to work. he should, according to German law register it as a moped, but hasn’t. his commute takes a little longer than it did with the car, but he says he has got fitter. he also rides MTB and i can in his situation see the point. we do, however, still take the piss.

    perhaps if those who were riding them had flag or armband that, with some sort of coding, gave the reason for riding one….

    piss yellow for the old
    orange for the disabled/injured
    black for the lazy bastards/too much cash

    that might actually work here in Germany given the history. (even now blind people wear an armband)

    ^^funny because it says “eye witness”… who said ze germans have no humour?

    andyrm
    Free Member

    chipped ebikes

    Now we’re talking!!! I’m reckoning Chris Porter would be an early tinkerer given his track record for tweaking everything to maximise speed.

    Wonder how fast you could make one go without losing range/reliability?

    End of the day it’s all just fun on 2 wheels, live and let live.

    tpbiker
    Free Member

    For all the people that think anyone on an ebike should be scorned because they are too lazy to use a real bike….

    Does that mean when I pass you at full pelt up a hill whilst you are stopping for a cake and to get your breath back that its ok for me to belittle you as you clearly aren’t as fit as me, and as such you’ve not put the effort in and are clearly lazy?

    If people are out having fun and its not causing you an issue then who gives a **** what they are riding.

    my mate made him feel small.

    your mate is clearly an asshat

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    I can see the appeal, but I’m against them on principal that they’re motorbikes, and IMO there’s a perfectly fit for purpouse set of rules for governing motorbikes.

    Lump them together with mobility scooters and licence them both like mopeds. That is if either stood a chance of passing an IVA test.

    bikebouy
    Free Member

    I get mails form Leftfield Bikes, these guys import one of the lekky bikes we speak of here though I can’t name it.. They have quite happily ridden it up Snowdonia and invariably back down again. So my question would be was it better uphill or down? You know, in that the weight/bulk of these bikes shirley would detract from the flickability we have with non lekky bikes.
    Anywhoo’s I’d deffo have a go on one and take it around my curcit just to see what it was like..

    Northwind
    Full Member

    The MBR review the other month commented on that- basically saying it’s has an effect similiar to turning climbs into flats so they’re not just easier to get up, they’re totally different to ride and much more fun. I hadn’t considered that tbh.

    boltonjon
    Full Member

    Does that mean when I pass you at full pelt up a hill whilst you are stopping for a cake and to get your breath back that its ok for me to belittle you as you clearly aren’t as fit as me, and as such you’ve not put the effort in and are clearly lazy

    Nope, because at least i’m trying

    bikebouy
    Free Member

    ^^ swoons 😉

    Pawsy_Bear
    Free Member

    Got overtaken by one on the trails, there very fast on hills and trails. I could see when I’m very old they would be a great way to still enjoy MTB

    roverpig
    Full Member

    I had a quick look at the Scottish Outdoor Access code. The bit that grants me access to pretty much anywhere I would want to ride my bike seems to come under the right to responsible access for “more active pursuits like horse riding, cycling…”.

    There is also a specific exclusion for “any form of motorised recreation or passage (except by people with a disability using a vehicle or vessel adapted for their use)”

    gazc
    Free Member

    niche end of a niche market for those who couldn’t give a monkeys how its propelled or are less fortunate than the i’m fitter/younger/more sneerful than you brigade – looks quite fun to me although illegal on roads in the uk with the e bike speed/power restriction

    [video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=eYDNGksgSGw[/video]

    ton
    Full Member

    as someone who has ridden one offroad for a year or so, I can confirm that they are a bonus uphill, as in, they help you, but are not much faster.
    they are however a inderance downhill. the added weight of the battery, motor and rider had me wondering if the bike was up to descending at speed. my haibike proved it was not up to it.. 😳

    Andy-R
    Full Member

    andyrm – Member

    End of the day it’s all just fun on 2 wheels, live and let live.

    So is riding enduro bikes – plenty of people around here whinge about those though

    Pawsy_Bear – Member
    Got overtaken by one on the trails, there very fast on hills and trails. I could see when I’m very old they would be a great way to still enjoy MTB

    More like enjoy off-road motorcycling surely?

    alpin
    Free Member

    Does that mean when I pass you at full pelt up a hill whilst you are stopping for a cake and to get your breath back that its ok for me to belittle you as you clearly aren’t as fit as me, and as such you’ve not put the effort in and are clearly lazy?

    If people are out having fun and its not causing you an issue then who gives a **** what they are riding.

    my mate made him feel small.

    your mate is clearly an asshat [/quote]

    yeah you can belittle me for eating cake, but i got to the cafe under my own steam , be that with pedalling or pushing.

    and you are right, he is an asshat, but tbf, the guy didn’t really have what any of us thought was a worthy response.

    and notice the guy in the video having his friend help get the bike out of the car….
    would like to see the portly people putting the bikes on top of their 5 series/A6…

    thinking about it, would two of these bike exceed most of the bike carriers?

    ton
    Full Member

    a standard haibike is completely nothing whatsoever like riding a motorbike.
    not in the slightest at all ever ever ever.

    alpin
    Free Member

    and let’s be fair…. the Hai Bike isn’t that far away from this:

    [video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzsHFka92X8[/video]

    however, i think that the e-rockit is a great idea, especially for those living in or near town where average speeds are lower.

    i saw one in Frankfurt back in September. looked good.

    tomhoward
    Full Member

    Quick question, are these bikes like motorbikes in that you twist a throttle/press a button/whatever and you go, without any input, or are they pedal assist where you still have to pedal, the motor justs gives a bit of extra encouragement?

    ton
    Full Member

    haibike are pedal assist.
    which you have to errr pedal just like a normal bike, and steer, brake and stuff, just like a normal bike….but a bit different.

    andyrm
    Free Member

    So is riding enduro bikes – plenty of people around here whinge about those though

    That they do!! 🙂

    tomhoward
    Full Member

    Thought so, in that case they are ace. Had a go on a trek hybrid last year, great fun on the road and I imagine would be supermegaepicfun off road. Imagine making those long dull fireroad climbs disappear!

    As soon as one becomes available under say 35lbs, 150mm travel, I’ll struggle to say no to one tbh.

    boltonjon
    Full Member

    Wow – judging by a review of the feedback, it seems that the STW massive are either:-

    1) Very open minded to new technology
    2) Very thoughtful about people with disabilities
    3) Very much looking forward to making going uphill much easier

    🙂

    jameso
    Full Member

    But, how many well off, middle class, overweight and unfit people are going to spend £5K to get ‘into biking’ (whilst never getting fit…)

    If you CBA pedalling and prefer to be on a 25kg+ leccy bike, it’s unlikely you’ll want to risk getting dirty and muddy either? Or if you do you’ll be at a centre/bike park. They can’t go that far anyway so if you can pedal 8-10 miles from a carpark you’ll not see one.
    In reality these bikes will end up on road or bike paths and hopefully replace cars rather than be used as MTBs, I hope.
    If they do go off-road it’ll be funny to see a new round of Strava KOM holders )

    alpin
    Free Member

    the thing is, those that do like gettig muddy and will spend upwards of 5k on a bike and judging by some of the comments people will buy these bikes for trail riding.

    as a form of transport to replace the car they are a good thing. on the trails less so, IMO….

    jameso
    Full Member

    They may do, but moving a bike that heavy about all the time will be as tiring as pedalling a 26lb 5k non-leccy bike I reckon. And far less fun apart from the odd braaaaarp moment, which will be so quiet that it won’t be much fun either )

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