[Closed] i've (finally) bought an ebike - where to ride it?

When I borrowed one once I rode the Gap in Brecon, it was great, makes the boring bits fun and the scenery and descents were just as good as they would have been if it had taken me twice as long to get there.

I know you said "not trail centres" but when I finally get one, I fancy Cannop, BPW, Cwmcarn/RiscaBP will be where I'll be heading.

Snowdon, zip up the Llanberis path and down the Ranger/Telegraph back into Llanberis.

anywhere where there is no hike a bike , or lots of stiles/gates to lift over.

Up and down snowdon used about 50% of a 625wh battery

I can get about 5000ft of climbing over 30 miles out of a 625wh battery withnot too much use of eco mode.

battery usage depends a lot on how much power you ask the motor to put out, ie how fast you go, how much you weigh, and how steep the hills are.

I'd ride all my local routes the wrong way round.

Cannock it would appear, right up the chuff of a 10 year old having fannied about for ages at the start of each and every section.

Everywhere you ride just now...

Snowdon, zip up the Llanberis path and down the Ranger/Telegraph back into Llanberis.

First post that's made we want to borrow an ebike for the day.

I like mine for the type of riding where you might want an uplift, as in, you're focussed on the downhill trails.

Not a big fan of them for trail rides. Something is missing for me. Maybe the feeling of physical achievement,I don't know. The constant frikkin whirring gets to me a bit too 😂

I find It gets harder to choose your neeb out of the shed than your eeb unfortunately so I make a concerted effort to ride my unassisted bikes where I can.
Human nature though innit.

But as above, ride it wherever you normally would and you'll soon get to know what you like about it and what sort of range you can get.

Everywhere! I was particularly surprised at how much my Levo improves the boring bits of mud-plugging bridleway etc riding - and if there's a stile or six you get a head to toe workout too.

Cannock it would appear, right up the chuff of a 10 year old having fannied about for ages at the start of each and every section.

If I'd known it was you I'd have dinged my bell

If I’d known it was you I’d have dinged my bell

If I'd known it was you I'd have let you ding mine. 😂

I particularly like climbs that, owing to the steepness/technicality I only ever consider as descents on a normal bike.
This is not just me being old, by the way - a lot of them I couldn’t clean even when I was a racing whippet 35 years ago...

Yeah, new previously unconquerable climbs are fun. Opens a whole other world of route choice you may not have considered in on a neeb.

As above they really shine for uplift substitution. I also find them great at hilly trail centres as blasting up the climbs at speed is almost as fun as going down.

Trail rides are good provided you chuck in as much climb/descend as possible in a compressed timeframe.

For all day trail rides cross country where there is no rush, I do still prefer neeb though. More sense of achievement and they handle better.

Kelvin

First post that’s made we want to borrow an ebike for the day.

Bah, just borrow/hire one.

because ...

Not a big fan of them for trail rides. Something is missing for me. Maybe the feeling of physical achievement,I don’t know.

and applies to @maxtorque
It's a bit give and take. Boring stuff becomes interesting but you also lose that sense of achievement. (You can always turn the motor off though)

You can also do stuff you wouldn't usually .. I'm 3 rides in (or 2 if you count a safe bike) after my brother gave me his old one as a surprise for XMAS (that was delayed due to Covid so only got it Friday). I've been having knee problems won't go away so worth a try and it works

Anyway .. I did a night ride last night (after putting proper brakes and suspension on it) and went again today. My mum just wanted an hours walk in the Forest with the dog... I dropped her went a zoomed through a 6-7 mile loop to the 1/2 way (Hope line at Gisburn) then did 5 runs down it then zoomed back to meet my mum and was 3 mins early... if I'd realised I could have just got a full loop in.... but anyway, I could session the part that was fun .. then the alarm went off on the phone and I got back in 15 mins. I'd barely have got 1/2 way round and back (with a good knee) and I'd probably have got to the hill at the bottom of the line and skipped it given time limitations so it was really good to just be able to session the line and hill.

Usually the climb is a satisfying climb but on the ebike it was quite fun at 15mph over gnarly stuff..

I'll also be trying places where I'd like to explore but often don't because it involves a lot of potentially wasted time when I get home from my Mums.

I'm not selling the other bikes ... the knee is fine going downhill so bike parks with uplift or push-up I'll take the HT or Enduro anyway but it was pretty cool

I'd start off with places you have always thought to do a part but didn't know if it was worth it.. other than unrelenting flat stuff the eBike makes plenty of stuff fun. I think just different stuff.

I personally can't decide if it's really MTB or not ... but it certainly can be fun.

If it's like my local area you just need to find another 9 like minded ebikers who dodge in and around the families and dogs aroundthe visitor centre and playgrounds of the beauty spots whilst wearing all the kit known to mtbers

But please don't and don't ruin it for others by being that noticible. Is it possible to tread lightly and leave minimal trace on an e-bike?

I personally can’t decide if it’s really MTB or not … but it certainly can be fun.

I treat it as almost a whole different discipline - not as different as a trials bike is, but sort of halfway between.
As a friend of mine said - like m/cycle trials back in the old days.
I like trying to get up (and down) rocky stream beds and stuff like that. Like Chris Akrigg, only older and more shit....

I deffinately want to be subtle and the tread lightly! Luckily, being self-employed means i can get out in the week for the more, er, contentious trails, which ime, pretty much means having them to yourself 🙂

I need to kinda learn where my battery will and won't take me, and i'll need to get a car charger / 240v inverter i guess to enable a bit of cheeky away from home charging etc?

I like the idea of doing something like Snowdon, which i've done many times on a neeb, but adding in another loop, something i'd always be a bit wary of without the adding leg boosting of an eeb 😉

Fancy a Cadair / Dolgellau back country loop out, as this was hard work on my neeb a few years ago but fun

I've really enjoyed riding my ebike at cwmcarn. The climbs there are pretty soul destroying on a normal bike, but I can get both marked DH trails done and some off piste and still have some battery left for the end of the main trail back to the car park.

If/ when I get one grenoside and ambergate are high on my list.

Hard climbs with some mega technical DH.

I ride mine at Golfie/Inners which are my locals. I use it for smashing out laps when I don't have much time.

If I boost absolutely everywhere I get about 30km/1300m by which point I am smashed anyway! These are all winch and plummet trails.

I know you said no trail centres but the place I see most e-bike owners is Dalby - more of them there than anywhere else I ride. Only on the boring trail centre stuff though, hardly ever see them on the off-piste. If Dalby is anything to go by too, you'll need a pair of Adidas trackies to ride in too.

I'd never heard the terms neeb and eeb!

Andy-R

I treat it as almost a whole different discipline – not as different as a trials bike is, but sort of halfway between.

That's sort of how I'm starting to think of it.
It's no different or less even to taking a DJ to a jump track (really a big BMX) but somehow it feels a bit less MTB to me (though its early days) despite the being able to go through forests and mountains which is "MTB" for me.

I like the idea of doing something like Snowdon, which i’ve done many times on a neeb, but adding in another loop, something i’d always be a bit wary of without the adding leg boosting of an eeb 😉

Fancy a Cadair / Dolgellau back country loop out, as this was hard work on my neeb a few years ago but fun

My initial impressions are to explore places you wouldn't have but keep thinking of.
Places you debate if the climb is worth it or if you'd have the time?

That's just me though 😉

I'm planning on a trip to Glentress as I usually end up booking uplift at Inners just because I want to make best use of the time and spending 9/10 of a day on fireroad climbs on a LT Enduro isn't my fav thing... be different if I lived there but as a place I have limited time it feels different?

I think you're overthinking this. I ride exactly where I used to except where I would have to carry the bike and/or heave it over a stile (although that's OK if you're not on your own). I haven't knowingly pissed anyone off yet. It makes the climbs fun.

@Stevextc.
GT or any of the off piste trails in the Tweed Valley are a blast on an eeb.
Drop us a PM if you want showing round when you come up.

I also have my first ebike (hopefully) arriving soon and my hope is it allows me longer rides in our local hills (Lowthers, Galloways, etc). This riding tends to be following fence lines, grassy quad tracks, sheep trails across open moorland (as per pic) and with most of the hills being 6-700m I am regularly reduced to walking on sustained climbs.

I have one of the Rise alloys coming so hoping the weight is OK to lift over obstacles.

singlespeedstu

GT or any of the off piste trails in the Tweed Valley are a blast on an eeb.
Drop us a PM if you want showing round when you come up.

That would be stonking... A mate has an eBike and I kept telling him I'd be up at Glentress like a shot if I had one. I did the Epic in 19 and despite uplifts still remember lots of climbs so when I went back I just tend to stick with the uplift to make best use of the time. Now I got an eBike its top of my list...

It's only 2 1/2 hrs from my Mums but 7+ hours from home so I'll combine it with visiting my mum.

Yep just shout up when you're ready.

Long Mynd
Malvern Hills
The Wrekin