I wanted to have a look at the rules for the e-bike races to see how they are limiting the motor power. All I’ve found so far is that the motors are limited to 250W continuous output. Seems a bit open to interpretation to me. Is there a limit for the peak power which is probably more relevant than continuous?

1. No cheating.
2. Hang on a mo…
3. …isn’t this ‘cheating’ by default?
4. We need a committee

Riders have to be at least 2 stone overweight, must have a medical condition, or provide evidence that they have never ridden offroad (unless they are the only rider in the world who rides their ebike with the power off).

None of the above is true 🤪

Dunno about the rules, but I’m looking forward to seeing Geex in rainbow stripes.

Riders must constantly go on about how many ‘bars’ they have left.

Riders must insist that they are putting the same effort in, but just going further.

They can only recharge the battery by connectging it to a Watt bike and spinning themselves 🙂

Wasn’t it covered on Pinkbike a few years ago?

Looked like an even worse-for-tv version of XC racing as it made the climbs boring too.

Must have full face helmets even though most of the riding, ah sorry motoring is up hill

They called it e-gravity rather than GravitE, which tells you enough about the planning that went into it surely?

But in all honesty why are you interested in the rules? I’m assuming you’re not the one person who isn’t employed by WES that watches so are you planning on competing or is it just so you can give your self an aneurysm frothing about it?

All riders must exceed 1ppm (pie per mile)

But in all honesty why are you interested in the rules?

Why is anyone interested in the rules of any sport? It will let me know what I’m watching for one thing.

The only rule I’ve found so far is that the motor power can’t exceed 250W continuous power. That’s a fairly meaningless rule because all it means is that if you run it at 251W for long enough it will eventually overheat.

Are there any limits on peak power, torque, total watt hours during the race (actually, limiting the total watt hours would probably be the easiest way of keeping races fair)?

Anyway, it seems like no one knows what the rules are or if there even are any.

I hear talk of limited future for emtb’s post 2020

I hear talk of limited future for emtb’s post 2020

We’ve got a live one here.

It’s an odd one really.

If the power is properly standardised, then apart from suspension design and weight….It’s all about rider skill and fitness….which makes the motor a moot point??

Perhaps utilising power should be a strategy in some way? So the rider has to conserve power or risk doing the last miles with no assist or such?

Perhaps utilising power should be a strategy in some way?

That’s how I would do it. It would level the playing field for the riders somewhat but still give the manufacturers room to optimise their motors and batteries which should eventually benefit consumers.

Riders must constantly smile and/or shriek about how much fun they’re having.

^^ smiling and fun are purely down to wheel size obviously.😁

Perhaps utilising power should be a strategy in some way?

I know that when a certain Verbier resident entered an Ebike enduro he rode most of the transitions with it turned off so he could ride the stages in turbo.
The only rule they had at that event was no battery swaps.
He’s obvs not as thin/fast/skillful as some people on here though as he sometimes rides an ebike…

Why do people always bash on ebikes and their riders? Fear of something you dont or cant understand? Genuinely i think you should try it at least once before turning into a keyboard warrior and knocking people that ride them any and every time theres a thread about ebikes posted.

FWIW I am an ebike rider. I am 6’2″. 92-93kg of very well built, very fit, man muscle 😀 Resting heart rate around 39-40bpm and 41 years of age. I would really love to see some of you lot in your biking gear. I’d be willing to bet theres a few spare tyres there and not a lot of oil paintings.

Ebikes have their place in this world. Accept it. Move on. Build a bridge.

It would appear that Ebikes also have a side effect of completely draining ones sense of humour.

Uh oh! I’ve had a beer (whilst watching the penultimate cx race of the season. Rectavit final round on GCN YouTube channel – cracking race, really cracking)

We/I hate emtbs’s because they suck the sheer simple joy out of a basic machine composed of levers and bearings powered by the body. They’ve added complexity and unnecessary waste/environmental damage to a perfectly functional machine. Bike racing works just fine; Man/woman trains, gets really fit, races bike, its awesome! Adding a motor is simply daft/stupid/flippin ridiculous (pick your favourite).

Posted by a fairly slim, fit 45 yr old (16th place at 2018 XC Nat Champs btw, yeah baby! Still dining off that one although I had a serious home advantage and the field was pretty small), who went out on his singlespeed this morning for 4 hrs. Man it was slow going and I only traveled a handful of miles but that was ok as that is what the conditions dictated. Don’t need a motor to add extra miles, it was just fine as it was.

Just broken my drinking and posting rule. Steve, hope you’ve enjoyed my rant, its been a while.

I do have a sense of humour. It’s just boring listening to the exact same jokes/baiting that’s been getting posted for the last 3-4 years maybe since ebikes became more mainstream 🤷 I’m not trying to single anyone out or bump my gums but if you’re not interested in a topic except to make fun of people because they are interested then why bother posting in the thread? Go look for something that does genuinely interest you. I’m sure you’ll feel far more fulfilled as a result.

PS I’m entered in an Enduro tomorrow in Fort Bill in the ebike category! Can’t wait! I’m sure I’ll be smashing past some ebike haters who’ll be hating the fact they’re not on ebikes as I skoosh it past them in the freezing cold. Better get a big snowboarding jacket and salopettes on seeing as I’ll not be doing any work at all and the bike does everything for me 👍

if you’re not interested in a topic except to make fun of people because they are interested then why bother posting in the thread? Go look for something that does genuinely interest you.

Exactly. 👍

It would appear that Ebikes also have a side effect of completely draining ones sense of humour.

And your sense of humour includes posting a picture of a place that a small child might find amusing because its a play on a racist name.
You have me splitting my sides…
Hope that ban hammer hit you in your scrawny baws.

I love my ebike but ebike racing seems a bit weird unless the timed sections are 99% downhill where having power makes little difference.

I love my ebike but ebike racing seems a bit weird unless the timed sections are 99% downhill where having power makes little difference.

I’d like to see it with super-tough technical climbs where judicious/skilful use of the motor is required to get up it but at the same time long enough that you cant just run the entire thing in turbo mode. Or mandatory cut-outs per lap.

Ebikes have their place in this world.

Of course they do. Commuting and shopping.

Why do people always bash on ebikes and their riders?

In this case, it seems a bit ridiculous to allow them in races. It’s not clear how the technical side of things will be policed. Having a 250 watt limit on sustained power seems to leave a loophole that peak power can exceed that. If you allow that in XC races, then it will turn into a contest of who can program the system to use the available battery capacity most effectively – where do you use the peak power and where do you turn off the assistance to conserve the battery? Plus, if you don’t have standardized batteries, it will turn into a technology race based on who has the most money to spend on the best/lightest battery systems.

Everyone has same motor/battery so it will be used strategically to help win the race I suppose.

As long as the races are long enough that the battery doesn’t last for the whole race and you would need to use it strategically that is.

In this case, it seems a bit ridiculous to allow them in races

This is the way the bike industry is heading so its about marketing.

They might introduce a weight limit (on the bike 😉🚲) to stop people cheating and hiding extra batteries in the frame

Plus, if you don’t have standardized batteries, it will turn into a technology race based on who has the most money to spend on the best/lightest battery systems.

Which will lead to better kit for customers, no?

It’s possible, just possible that e-bike races are a promotional tool to sell more e-bikes. A daft idea I know, but . . .

I think there were similar arguments about allowing variable gearing in bike races about 120 years ago…. 🙂

Having read the rules you can have any battery you like. But you have to have it for the whole race. So big battery means heavy bike

I read max continuous output of 250W as basically meaning thats the limit. It might be written like that as I think you would have a power input spike as the motor starts under load. So once it’s up and running it can’t exceed 250w

Rules as pedal assist to 25 km/h and a start mode with power to 6 km/h without pedaling

I assume these are the normal rules for an e bike. So at a race what they do is check your are using an unmodified commercial power train

.

it will turn into a technology race based on who has the most money to spend 

Like most other motorsports then.

So at a race what they do is check your are using an unmodified commercial power train

Unless there’s a homologation system requiring a specified number of identical bikes sold, all a sponsor has to do is advertise a race-spec bike for sale at a ridiculous price that nobody will ever pay, then they are free to race whatever they like. Motorsport always comes back to having lots of money and being clever enough to find loopholes in the rules.

Riders must constantly go on about how many ‘bars’ they have left.

OK but there has to be agreement that a twix only counts as one bar…