Reading a thread on MTBR.com and it’s astounding to me how many people are against E-bikes.

“if my mate got one he wouldn’t be welcome on our rides” etc is a common theme here.

Which just totally astounds me. I’d have no issues at all with it, in some ways i’d welcome it as a training opportunity to push myself harder trying to chase them on the hills.

Would it bother you ?

Nope. Turbo a go go for me

not in the slightest, more opportunity to rip the p*ss. unless medical reason then its all good!

Depends if they poke fun at the non-ebikers for not keeping up.

TurnerGuy – Member
Depends if they poke fun at the non-ebikers for not keeping up.

In my circle of friends that’s a given though, in the same way i poke fun at my mate who is 15 years older than me and struggling to keep up “come on fat boy, put some effort in” is common 🙂

As long as they also carry a tow rope…

I don’t think I know anyone who is stupid enough to refuse to ride with an e-bike.

Of course I’d ride. One of our group has been considering one for health reasons, so if it allows him to get out more then I’m all for it.

i ride with my mate who has one, he wouldn’t be riding without it due to health issues so i’m all for it. i don’t however try to keep up with him on steep climbs!

A couple of friends borrowed e-bikes to try out and brought them along for a group ride. They hated it because they got too cold riding at the same speed as real bikes. Never used them again.

I think the hatred in certain areas of the US stems from the potential threat to mtb access for sensitive areas. I don’t know the detail, nor do I know if it’s simply forum people blowing it out of proportion, but it is a regularly stated reason for being against ebikes.

Wouldn’t bother me although as above I wouldn’t be trying to keep up on the climbs!

A ride’s a ride and a mate’s a mate. Bike choice has no bearing on either.

I did a What would you do.. thread, as I was riding with 3 guys all with E-bikes, oh the threads really helpful main suggestion was “get new m8’s”. After a year or so of struggling to keep up, I’ve just bought a one in the sales, and it’s fricken ace. I now understand they have been bloody patient with me, as I went out with a very very fit friend and demolished him without even resorting to the top mode. I love the damned thing (pity it was faulty out of the box & has been with CRC longer than me..) and in these condition it actually makes riding fun. Last nights ‘manual ride’ was bloody awful and no fun in the slightest, so I can’t wait to get it back. That said they’re far from perfect and I won’t be getting rid of my manual bikes, or purely riding the e-bike.

PS: have you seen the new Specialised Kenevo.. that’s one awesome bike
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptObY3SfUUI[/video]
(he swaps onto it 4 minutes in)

Would I ride with them? Yes, of course.
Would I royally take the Michael for them needing to ride a moped on a bike ride (assuming they’re not doing it for underlying health issues)? Similarly, yes, of course.
Would I actually mean the ribbing above? No, but it’s mates and mates get the Michael taken out of them.
Would I (secretly) be using it as an excuse to try and get mega-fit in the hope of keeping up with them? Yes, that’s a given.
And finally, would I plan either long rides so they run out of battery or rides with lots of sections I can do 15mph+ on them? Yes, that as well.

“if my mate got one he wouldn’t be welcome on our rides”

😆 what would they do about it? presumably the haters would all outrun the ebike if he turned upr?
When I ride mine with others, it rather defeats the point of riding with them if I burn off the front so I simply ride at their pace, just putting less effort in.

A couple of mates have taken them out on demos. It’s pretty much compulsory, that when they overtake you, you have to grab a camelback strap to get a tow 😀
They did say, you really need everyone to be on one, otherwise its a bit shit. You fly up hills so much quicker, and your left waiting around.

None of my able bodied riding buddies would ever get one. But if they developed health problems and it was their only way to get out that would be fine. If I could avoid it I wouldn’t ride with an able bodied person riding an ebike on or off road.

Never ridden one, don’t know anyone with one, but are they more likely to rip up trails? I see them as being half way to being a motorbike which obviously ruin trails and are banned from bridleways . That is my only potential objection.

I know they are speed limited, 15mph up a steep trail is probably what a motorbike would do, add on some massive knarly tyre and I’m not sure there’s a massive difference. As I’ve said though, I don’t really know anything about them.

it’s crosshair isn’t it – he’s running scared ! 😀

as madhouse said :

A ride’s a ride and a mate’s a mate. Bike choice has no bearing on either.

At 58 maybe when i get to the point where i can’t climb the local hills.

scaredypants – Member
it’s crosshair isn’t it – he’s running scared !

Hahahahaha i wish

Thread was/is here
http://forums.mtbr.com/california-norcal/if-friend-your-regular-riding-crew-got-ebike-would-you-stop-riding-them-1065640.html

The power, relative to a motorbike, is nothing (I can match the power of a legal ebike using just my legs, just not for as long…) The way that little power is delivered is quite progressive, so there’s actually less roosting than on a normal bike on steep loose stuff.

Of course I would.

It’d be a great opportunity to do some testing Lakes hike-a-bike.

Never ridden one but I’ve done some reading – you can get the same workout as a normal bike but you just go faster which means that if you do loops you can get three circuits in instead of two for example. If you want to sit back and let the motor do the work then you can.

I’d be fine with it in principle. If it become overly competitive due to those on ebikes moaning they were waiting or those on regular bikes moaning about ‘cheats’ then I think the group would probably self-select over time in the same way a mixed ability or mixed fitness group might.

That said, I prefer to ride alone or with at most one or two people so it’s a bit of a non issue for me.

Of course not. It’s just a bike. Americans do really froth over it, but it’s all because they don’t understand the issue properly. They see them as motorbikes, which they’re not anything like at all. And their fear of landowners kicking them off is due to their, and the landowner’s, misunderstanding of how an e-bike works. Same as any objections to them in the UK – it’s people not bothering to research them that’s the issue.

Never ridden one, don’t know anyone with one, but are they more likely to rip up trails? I see them as being half way to being a motorbike which obviously ruin trails and are banned from bridleways .

Torque is absolutely minimal, fractions of a percent of a motorbike. They also deliver power more smoothly than a normal rider (constant effort from the motor, rather than a rider mashing their pedal strokes) so won’t damage the trails more than a normal bike.

100% yes ..
I haven’t got one but have hired a full sus HaiBike for a day & also a fat six ..fantastic fun .
One day I will have one ..probably the fat bike version .
One of our group has just bought one ( Scott) he has done his time fell & scree running in his younger days and on a Scott Spark amongst other bikes and at the age of 73 is getting a little alienated from the group at times ..which you might expect ..so that’s his reason ..
Personally I don’t see age or health as the main factor for buying one ..I was just as knackered on both occasions if not more so ..it all depends on how you ride them ..

Sorry dp

It’s just social media innit, people have to have an opinion, to join in, even if they don’t really think it. I mean why would you not ride with people – unless it’s a small group and you’re the only one with out a motor.

That said, there was a couple of eBikers in the car park the other day and I didn’t feel compelled to say ‘Hello’ like I do with MTBers, so maybe I’m a closet eBikist without knowing it.

Yes no worries. Different story though if they turned up on a singlespeed or rigid or any other weird nonsense.

I’ve nothing against them at all, but my mate has just got one and the way he goes on about it has made me put it in the same category as vegans and crossfit.

A mate of mine has just bought one…we’ll see what happens lol.

I’ve nothing against them at all, but my mate has just got one and the way he goes on about it has made me put it in the same category as vegans and crossfit.

Gave me a lol.

Not that I’ve got anything against those activities. Some of my best friends are vegan, crossfitting e-bikers.

Mrs M has one for health reasons, it’s great on group rides as she acts as a hill climb pacer. It also means she can keep up with me and my faster mates when we’re having a brisk ride (well more really crucify us on anything other than really wiggly singletrack or flat out DH stuff ).

wallop –
I’ve nothing against them at all, but my mate has just got one and the way he goes on about it has made me put it in the same category as vegans and crossfit.

😆 “Oh but you have to try it!”

oldtalent – Member

Yes no worries. Different story though if they turned up on a singlespeed or rigid or any other weird nonsense.

Haha, come to think of it I’ve demoed one and taken it on one of the weekly night rides, but then I’ve also turned up on demo 29ers, SSers, my own CX bike. There might be a theme here…

One of the blokes who rides regularly sometimes brings his ebike. I haven’t noticed the numbers diminishing on those nights.

If I rode with other people then I would ride with an e-bike rider.

As I like climbing, the main benefit to me would be having someone to follow up the hills and improving my times.

If I could avoid it I wouldn’t ride with an able bodied person riding an ebike on or off road.

Me neither. It would annoy me too much if I was putting in effort maintaining some speed and getting out of breath and someone was just chilling next to me on an ebike chatting away.

I’ve had to learn to live with some riding mates riding 29’ers so I’m sure I could learn to live with ebikes too.

29’er ebike though?….. Hmmm… 😉