@captainclunkz – I’ve ridden them. They don’t “rely on pedal power” – you only have to spin the pedals and they whizz up pretty much anything.
They’re great fun, but stop lying to yourself – they’re motorbikes plain and simple – it’s just the motor is electric, not petrol. It’s still a fekking motor.
They enable my unfit (zero exercise and carrying long-term injuries) and obese sister to ride around the hills of the lake district at a rate a fit me I can’t remotely keep up with on my lightweight Ti hardtail.
They’re bikes with motors. Don’t really care if you’re horribly offended by that – but after riding them, and riding with “non-riders” using them it’s clear and obvious that it’s the “motor” part, not the “bike” part that’s the big feature.
@Gravalar – yep. Completely understand the *economic* reasons for ebike inclusion everywhere. Normal MTB users are absolutely the market manufacturers want to sell to and they’ve got a ready-made sales platform in MTB enthusiast forums, websites and pages etc.
The reason they’re the “growth” area is because people who would never bother trying MTB because it’s hard, physically hard, like the fact that the motor makes it easy for them.
Fair enough for them. But I dislike the lying about the fact that it’s not *all about the motor* – because the very fact that that’s where the “explosive” growth is, and the only thing different about them IS the motor puts paid to that lie.
