[Closed] E-bike riders

We waited at one point to give them a head start - set off down a section without catching them - but then they were sat chatting at the bottom so we carried on. Unless you are saying we had to wait for them to finish their chat each time and letting them go first?

They seemed to want to stop and compare helmets or something after every up / down section

so when did they hold you up?

We've now reached page three and I feel we need to up the stakes...

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After the first time this had happened.

This story encapsulates the problem for me, and why I don't personally see the need for these kinds of thing in mountain biking.

Maybe for some people who wouldn't otherwise be able to go riding there's a need.

But surely, for most people, there are natural trails to be found somewhere local..

Also, I'm guessing a bike approaching 50lbs is a bit of a handful on the way down which I don't much fancy.

yeah - you've not ridden an e-bike have you.

They seemed to want to stop and compare helmets or something after every up / down section

So, they're on a social ride with mates and fancy a chat. probably having more fun than you were too.

If you're so concerned with going on a ride and it not being ruined by people on e-bikes, having a chat, having more fun than you, being faster up a hill and going down or whatever, then go and enter an XC race...

[i]then go and enter an XC race...[/i]

Yeah, never get held up in XC races!

Generally people fitter and better at climbing are also likely to be better downhill too in fairness.

Generally people fitter and better at climbing are also likely to be better downhill too in fairness

If the said downhill is a fireroad pedal.

Generally people fitter and better at climbing are also likely to be better downhill too in fairness.

I love riding uphill and am pretty quick. I overtake most people on mountain bikes with ease when going uphill.

However, I ride a fixed gear drop bar bike so am probably the slowest person you could meet when going back down a technical downhill.

We're picking some slightly obscure things here - I can't say I've ever encountered anyone at a trail centre on a fixed gear drop bike (would you enjoy jumps and drop offs etc on that?).

I was having plenty of fun thanks - riding with a mate I don't see that often and where we were is quite fun for a quick blast around (without being amazing). Would have been better without some fat numpty practically riding over you on the way uphill then slowing you down in the fun downhill bits!

I can't say I've ever encountered anyone at a trail centre on a fixed gear drop bike (would you enjoy jumps and drop offs etc on that?).

I have chasing a friend on his it was a real blast especially when we passed skinny whippets taking up the trail with their FS bikes

Generally people fitter and better at climbing are also likely to be better downhill too in fairness.

To be fair there is probably some truth in this. Most people here would probably thrash me on the downs, whilst I'd (used to have) thrashed them on the uphill. But compared to most people riding bikes, even most people riding bikes at trail centres I'm not that slow - I've rarely had somebody catch up with me on singletrack. Sure there are some roadies on mountain bikes, but they're fairly rare.

Same here - I tend to ride mostly Welsh trail centres and don't often have any issues catching too many people or holding people up - either up or downhill.

At Cwmcarn I'll occasionally catch someone or get caught on the way up but that's it. Think I've been overtaken by one ebiker there, but because the uphill is so big I didn't see them again after that. So not an issue.

 

Generally people fitter and better at climbing are also likely to be better downhill too in fairness.

I once checked some of the quickest trail centre laps on Strava, almost inevitably top 20 laps were top twenty on the downhill segments as well as the ups. You'll find odd exceptions but that was very much the trend.

yeah - you've not ridden an e-bike have you.

And you're probably not that good at jumping.

They're shit on descents in the same way that 50lb downhill bikes from 2004 are shit. And they don't have 200mm of travel generally to make up for it.

To note, had my first run in with an e-biker hooning round a blind bend on a shared use fire road in Wharncliffe. No helmet, tracksuit bottoms, motor audibly going full gas.

They aren't doing the image of cyclists any favours.

They're shit on descents in the same way that 50lb downhill bikes from 2004 are shit.

Which ebikes have you ridden then?

Wouldn't matter if it was an e or any other bike .." hooning around the corner "
And I'm assuming you didn't actually stop to discuss wether the motor was de-restricted..so let's just assume that it wasn't.
That being the case the fact that the motor stops working at 15.5 mph ..I quite regularly top that speed without the benefit of a motor when the bike is pointing down ..so what point are you trying to make ?
Is it that you took offence at what the rider was wearing ..tracksuit bottoms & no helmet ..oh the shame !

As others have said, why not just have a drink and wait 5 or 10 minutes for them to clear off and enjoy your ride?

Maybe not an e-bike but I am sure all of us have been stuck behind somebody on the ups or downs only to be passed by them later on.

Dont look that slow down hill to me.

[url] https://www.pinkbike.com/news/coastal-crew-skeptical-video.html [/url]

The guys in Finale last week were flying downhill on the Turbo Levo Kenevo

I think the problem here and with a lot of ebike threads is some kind of perceived superiority by the haters.

Bike riding is not just for the self proclaimed elite, no one has to prove they are x fitness or y mentality.

Bike riding is not just for the self proclaimed elite, no one has to prove they are x fitness or y mentality.

As long as they prove they've 'earned' their boutique bike, right? 😉

couple of points about what gets ignored in the ebike threads
point 1:
what if an ebike isnt your only bike, and its not the bike you use all the time, but use it for a different and a differently enjoyable experience.
i have a turbo levo, a liteville 301, a mega am and a fat bike.
i ride twice a week with my mates, on the liteville. at weekends i might go on the ebike for a longer and further ride. and on sundays i ride as well.
point 2:
i had a few offs in the last two years, and its nearly always at the end of the day or at the end of a ride, i find i dont feel as knackered or as wasted on the e-bike towards the end of a ride, which is generally a good thing

An ebike [i]and[/i] a boutique bike?

You sir, are a menace to trail centre warriors everywhere.

Lester - what if an ebike isnt your only bike

my point was that everyone seems to presume that if you are on an ebike its because you have copped out, are lazy and want to "cheat", or restricted health wise. im just saying that isnt necessarily why someone is on an e bike.

Yeah sorry, I agree with you.

My vague point being it could be taken that you were justifying your credentials because you also had a normal bike as well as an ebike.

It shouldn't matter if you only have an ebike.

An amendment to 'operation wind up trail centre warriors' mentioned above. Would it piss people off more if I rode past them with the motor off?

OP sounds like every XC race I used to do.

everyone seems to presume that if you are on an ebike its because you have copped out, are lazy and want to "cheat", or restricted health wise. im just saying that isnt necessarily why someone is on an e bike.

I thought the general consensus had come around to it's because "they're fun".

I think it has but there are still some ranty people about.

The e-bike threads certainly seem to keep pulling in a crowd of regulars both for and against. Same as the the 1x and wheel size threads of old. I would think if everyone that has contributed to multiple e-bike threads, thought 'You know what, I'm just going to let this one go', these threads wouldn't be the multi page throbber fest's that they are now.

That being the case the fact that the motor stops working at 15.5 mph .

You mean the ones that haven't been chipped.

Anyway, my point is - ramblers and horse riders already hate you, your motors aren't going to do anything to improve that. In fact, they're only going to worsen relations between the different trail users.

You mean the ones that haven't been chipped.

This may come as a shock, are you sat down?

Not all ebikes have been chipped/derestricted/have 100kw motors.

I know, right?!

My vague point being it could be taken that you were justifying your credentials because you also had a normal bike as well as an ebike.

i have an e bike as well as having normal bikes 🙂

I thought the general consensus had come around to it's because "they're fun".

they are indeed great fun, they keep the trail flowing for me and extra fun miles every week

As this article points out, blasting around in pristine snow on a snowmobile is fun - that doesn't mean to say that you should go out and do it.

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/do-we-really-need-e-bikes-opinion-2017.html

^^^^^ I find it hard to disagree with any of that article.

As far as trail wear and goes, I don't see any reason why e-bikes would cause any more damage than a regular bike, except for one thing - remember the point about being able to do more laps in the same amount of time? Well, that's double or triple the amount of use on that particular trail, which means that maintenance is going to be required sooner than it would have had only non-motorized bikes been used. It's not as strong of a sticking point as the potential for user conflicts and losing trail access altogether, but it's something to bear in mind nonetheless.

This seems the most pertinent point relative to my local woods. Some nice downhill trails, the use of which is managed by having to cycle/push back to the top. For most 3/4 runs is all you'd fancy given the effort required. Up and down all day until your battery runs out will make them less sustainable.
Saying that Emtb's are here now, and I wouldn't call for a ban, I just wish they'd never been invented 🙁

Yeah, I hope the E-MTB crowd get involved with trail building. Unfortunately, they don't tend to appear to be the types that would do so - because one of the main excuses for them, is that they don't have enough time to A) Get properly fit and B) spend all day shuttling up and down mini-DH tracks.

Tom ...ramblers & horseriders don't like mountain bikers full stop.( although attitudes have visibly relaxed over the last few years)
You should have been riding 20 years or so ago prior to trail centres being born ...if you wanted to see real hatred & hostility ..
I don't have an ebike ..could well fall into the bracket of someone who could or should ..but I'm not ready to give up on my " normal " bike ..just yet.
I've previously hired both a full sus Haibike and also a Fatsix and apart from anything else they allowed me to get further on technical climbs than I ever would on my own bike ( Whyte T130RS)..and left me totally knackered at the end of the day more so than my own ..the reason being that I was pushing myself AND the bike as hard as I could .
I will have an ebike one day ...they are terrific fun ..but my reasoning is to extend the amount of time I can keep riding ..and who wouldn't want to do that ?
Edit ..just seen your comment regarding trail building ..was there every session for the first five years at Kielder ..and still do an occasional shift ( but had to scale back due to knee problems ) ..you really shouldn't tar everyone with the same brush..it's pretty ignorant

You should have been riding 20 years or so ago prior to trail centres being born ...if you wanted to see real hatred & hostility ..

I was.

I don't want to see a return to that, as soon as some kid gets hit by an e-mtb or some granny gets killed at a level crossing, the story will end up in the Daily Wail and walkers and horsey riders will cotton on to what they actually are - and then the vitriol will come when they realise "motorbikes" have been using the trails with them.

As this article points out, blasting around in pristine snow on a snowmobile is fun - that doesn't mean to say that you should go out and do it.

Oh you [b]absolutely[/b] should.
It’s awesome.
I used to go to work on one every day and it was ****ing ace.

Tom ..well my apologies as I ( wrongly ) made the assumption that due to your user name the 1987 part referred to the year you were born ..which would have put you at 10 years old ..
You see how wrong it is to make assumptions .. 😳

I was riding Coed-Y-Brenin when I was about 6, before there were any properly marked trails there. 😀

I wasn't born in 87, but I'm roughly that old 😛

E-Bikes are cool, I admit - I'm just overly fearful of the Brexit voting, cyclist hating public. I do kind of want the new Commencal Meta Power thing, in a dirty....shouldn't be thinking about it kind of way. 😆

😆

Oh you absolutely should.

Like riding an ebike, it's fun, but can bring serious ire upon you if not done responsibly. There's plenty of spots here in BC that have heli skiing operations on them and snowmobiles can essentially write off a huge amount of terrain which costs the business money and pisses off the customers. There's also spots which are designated for non-motorized traffic only and that riding there will definitely put you in the bad books. Like everything, a smallish number of users acting responsibly doesnt cause any issues, but if everyone does it, or people act like dicks....