was nearly hit by a cretin doing about 30 on a chipped ebike walking back from the pub, this is not going to end well for any cyclist

Wouldn’t some say having all that weight low down enhance handling though?😏😁

Swings and roundabouts dear. Apparently if you’re a weak whingebag who’s never even ridden an Ebike in all that low down weight means “you just can’t play with the trail, pump and make gaps in the same way.”

Other than the extra weight of the battery/motor they actually handle exactly like a non-ebike.
and that extra weight just means you have to pre-load more to overcome it when lifting the wheels. You can still hop, jump, pump, manual, nollie, scrub, whip, change direction in the air or just supertweak the **** out of them. but… Shhhhhhhh…. don’t tell anyone.

Makes going uphill fun. Stealth MX bikes are even more fun, don’t deny yourself!

Shhhhhhhhh…

GW has an ebike and he has all the mad skilz…

@nobeerinthefridge  Kepple maybe but further up there aint no-one riding that ..still you must get my point that some of the best rides involve a shoulder and not many people are going to want to hump a 50lb dead weight are they

Aye, I love a hike a bike,  but in the grand scheme of things, we’re not even a small percentage of Mtbers.

Lots of my MTB mates wouldnt ever contemplate taking their bike somewhere that involves pushing or carrying.

Then they are simply missing out 😉

Then they are simply missing ou

Depends where you live though. I imagine in Wales/Scotland there’s plenty of Hike a Bike locations, but in West Berks i can’t think of anywhere i cannot realistically ride to that i’d actually want to reach. Sure we’ve had the odd moment when you get off and push as your trail has disappeared in a random forest, but apart from that, why would you ?

You can still hike a bike with them as most have the powered walk function now. As long as the trail is wide enough to have the bike along side and you can lift the front wheel. you will get over most obstacles.  Throwing them over gates and high styles is less fun, and anywhere that is so steep that you need to strap bikes to backs to use both hands to climb up would be downright uncomfortable , but there’s not many like that in the uk.

Big group of E-bikes in Swinley yesterday, we ended up doing a chunk of the red at roughly the same time as they would stop and wait for each other after each section and I was on a short leash. You would struggle to find a more  polite / respectful group of MTBers on the occasions they needed to pass me, given my limited interactions with them.

Most ebikers I have encountered seem to remember what it was like to be the guy being passed on the trail so give you plenty of time to pick a suitable passing spot. Perhaps I’ve just been lucky so far.

You can still hike a bike with them as most have the powered walk function now

I don’t think of pushing as hike a bike, hike a bike is carrying your bike, nothing to do with needing hands to climb. Think the steps on Dollywaggon pike, it’s easier to carry your bike than it is to push it. That’s when the extra weight of an e-bike would be an arse.

It’s not even due to the levels of tech, I tend to just prefer carring my bike when it gets seriously steep and loose underfoot. Kinda questions the need for push assist, anything that’s smooth enough to have to push up, surely you could pedal on an e-bike?.

So in short

ebikes are BAD because they make pedalling up hills EASIER.

Ebikes are BAD because they make carrying up hills HARDER

Is that about right 😂👍

Geex- so in your opinion, it’s not passive aggressive to suggest that people have “fragile egos” if they’re frustrated that e-bikes are making the Strava leaderboards pointless, but it IS passive aggressive for me to challenge that by making the opposite argument? 🤔

Dollywaggon pike.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Dollywaggon+pike

In the Lakes then… Only 250+ miles from me 🙂

ebikes are BAD because they make pedalling up hills EASIER.

Ebikes are BAD because they make carrying up hills HARDER

No, it’s because people are having fun that they haven’t earned. The moral balance of the universe is thrown off, baby kittens have died for less.

Last time I looked you didn’t have to fill out a health questionnaire before you bought an ebike.

As for the younger ones getting them, why not, they probably enjoy riding more DH trails so getting an ebike makes sense to them, or maybe that was the case but now they enjoy riding longer XC rides because they don’t spend half of the ride hating all the uphill climbing?, thing is, we all enjoy different aspects of days in the saddle, for all you know they may go the gym three times a week and also ride a normal bike in-between.

Swings and roundabouts dear. Apparently if you’re a weak whingebag who’s never even ridden an Ebike in all that low down weight means “you just can’t play with the trail, pump and make gaps in the same way.”

Ha, I made that comment, life long hench 90kg (some of that mass may be fat) BMXer who has gone out on a few proper rides on ebikes.

Consensus between mates of similar disposition have come to the same conclusion, different kind of fun though.

Did I have loads of fun on an ebke? Definitely. Would it scratch all my itches? No.

I’d definitely have an ebike, great fun. Would I only have an ebike, no way.

I blame ebikes for ruining the babymaker renovation at swinely, so many braking bumps already, kenevo rider, not even putting saddle down, turbo pedals everywhere followed immediately by hard dirty braking, so much flow. I saw one ebiker behaving in this manner, so must be all ebikers.

In the Lakes then… Only 250+ miles from me

Not our fault you live in the arse end of nowhere! 🙂

In interest of balance Nealglover, I’m pro ebike, I’d bloody love one!.

I don’t care what people are riding, it’s a personal choice, but I do think some kind of etiquette should be established on trails. I’ve had Ebikers suddenly appearing from nowhere on a narrow climb and then buzzing my back tyre to get past. As the number of Ebikes increases, if no etiquette is established, human-powered bikers will become second class citizens having to pull over on climbs every 2 minutes.

but I do think some kind of etiquette should be established on trails.

Agreed, although this has nothing to do with ebikes and everything to do with people in general.

Vicky – what you met was dickheads. Sounds like they’d have been dickheads Ebikes or not. just less likely to catch someone so quickly on a climb.

What makes folk think you can’t carry/hike-a-bike a 17lb heavier bike?

Lots of folks backpacks weigh about 10lb+. Riding an Eeb means I never carry a backpack (just a small tools/tube pack on the bike) and rarely ever need to carry water. I’ve pushed and carried mine up lots of stuff that couldn’t be ridden.

gone out on a few proper rides on ebikes.

Consensus between mates of similar disposition have come to the same conclusion,

Yeah. It definitely takes a few rides to get your head round the slight difference in timing and increased pre-load effort required to make them behave like a normal bike. But trust me they can be ridden just as  “playfully with the trail, pumped and can make gaps in the same way.” Stylishly too infact.
That extra pre-load isn’t difficult for a decent/strong rider to achieve. infact it’s quite subtle once you’re used to it.

They’re not all the same, the heaviest ones (the kenvos/Devinci AC/XT etc. with dual plys) ride like like pigs IMO if you’re a playful rider. as they get below the 48lb mark they liven up markedly. over 51lb they start to oink and squeal. Heavy/Plus tyres spec’d on many from new make them handle like shit too.

The trade off with weight is a more nimble/light bike Vs a much more stable bike. Same with sizing. longer being more stable, shorter being more nimble. same with wheel/tyre weight.

Mine is 47lb and If I remove my battery it reduces the weight to 41lb (sort of still an acceptible weight for a DH bike). I’ve ridden it a fair bit with no battery just to see how it felt and it changes the ride characteristics a lot. Because I’m now really used to the extra weight of the bike I actually prefer it with the battery fitted in all situations except carrying it. I actually ride mine switched off a lot (about 40 XC miles while switched off last week. When riding anywhere with a slight uphill gradient with other riders who aren’t on Ebikes it’s taking the piss even using eco.

When I ride my non assisted mtbs they always feel far too light for the first few minutes. (26lb hardtail to 31lb Endurobike to 35lb DH bikes). Until I tune back into their handling.

anything that’s smooth enough to have to push up, surely you could pedal on an e-bike?.

Not really. eg. It’s useful for the soggy push up to the top of No Social/Feeding the pony which is pointless trying to ride even in boost. Although I mainly use it for changing gear while stood still. – hold the front brake, push the bars forwards to lift the rear wheel, engage walk mode and shift through the gears as the bike turns the cranks.

Kinda questions the need for push assist, anything that’s smooth enough to have to push up, surely you could pedal on an e-bike?.

Not really. Walk mode gets my cargo bike up flights of steps easily. And the bike is 2 metres long and 70lbs (before you start loading it up)

Not really any question about the need for it personally 👍

Someone link this properly as I’m on tablet.

They are for the weak!

wouls have been interesting to see the downhill or flat speeds as well.

Looks like some dont need to walk

Agreed TJ.

In my limited experience it’s not hard to drop ebikes on flat tarmac or fireroad, even riding a heavy enduro bike, but undulating trails can be a bit tortoise-and-hare – and downhill it comes down to rider skill really.

For someone with my lack of skill the ebike was harder work downhill.  Mines a kit and has been on several frames – but going from a sub 25lb bike to a 45lb+ bike really made a huge difference on rough twisty stuff.  I have the kit on the light bike now so need to see how that rides but I don’t think I have the ability to ride it as fast with all the extra weight on the bike

was nearly hit by a cretin doing about 30 on a chipped ebike walking back from the pub, this is not going to end well for any cyclist

So what were the long lasting effects for cyclists in general when that guy on an illegal fixie with no brakes killed a woman crossing the road ?

Nothing at all possibly?

Don’t see how another numpty on another illegal bike would be any different, you may need to explain.

Isn’t the law being reviewed, or has been reviewed over the guy on the fixie?

I remember back in the day how we used to rant over full suspension.

Isn’t the law being reviewed, or has been reviewed over the guy on the fixie?

In what way though.

And will it it “not end well for any cyclist”

Negative impact for all of us a result ? Probably not 👍

They are for the weak!

I agree.
2 months of descending/jumping/hopping/manualling a 50lb Ebike and you’ll have a way stronger core and upper body.
Don’t ditch the old bikes though or your sprinting power and endurance will suffer.

I’m not anti-ebike. Ride what you like, it’s all good and I can see the advantages, but man, that extreme climb video is annoying. Presumably it was designed to wind people up or something. Referring to standard bikes as “old fashioned” bikes and all that stuff about Ebikes and old fashioned bikes being like a word processor to a typewriter. That’s just clickbait right? But leaving that aside, I was curious about Ebikes before watching the video but now I’m left thinking, what’s the point again? So you can ride a bike with a motor up slopes that you couldn’t get up under your own steam. Fair enough. You could presumably  get up even steeper slopes with an even more powerful motor and more sticky tyres. And yes (referring to the earlier video), if you give me an extra few hundred watts of power I could beat a champion cyclist up a climb (especially if I made them do it twice), but so what?

As as I say, I’m not against the concept, but I’m not sure the propaganda is doing their cause much good.

I remember back in the day how we used to rant over full suspension.

I remember when it was front suspension, then disk brakes, full suspension, dropper posts, with riser bars, short stems, and tubeless tyres mixed up in there too. Goddamn skill compensators all of them, takes all the challenge out of it.

And will it it “not end well for any cyclist”

Negative impact for all of us a result ? Probably not

It’s certainly a big distraction those in the advocacy community could have done without, but you guys are having a bit of a pointless argument really (yes I know this is STW).

We’ve already had an e-bike related death….

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/sep/14/e-bike-crash-death-prompts-debate-over-safety-on-uk-roads

The reactionary press did try to whip up a storm but it’s not got the same traction as the Briggs case… yet.