We are a group of volunteers looking after the Mach 1,2,3 trails.
We are looking to install a couple of stiles to help ebikes get over locked gates .
Any suggestions for a design
I was thinking of a double stile with a rail to balance the bike over.
Has anyone seen anything similar?
How about an unlocked gate?
Trebuchet ?.
What's the thinking behind this, are they not rights of way?
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How about an unlocked gate?
That’s just crazy talk!
How about getting in shape and picking the bike up.
Its bad enough lifting a standard bike over a gate, let alone an ebike. Not really a good solution for a volunteer group to recommend (but then I'd say that about stiles too!)
The route is by agreement with the landowner - gate can’t be unlocked as it stops motorbikes entering another area of the forest.
Round here a few permissive bridleways have kissing gates - big enough to get through with a bike on its back wheel, but presumably motorbikes are too heavy to do that with.
They use these in a few places round here with an openable gate on the other side, easy enough to get a bike through if a bit awkward.
Yep extra large kissing gates, or regular sized assuming you can wheel your eeeb on its back wheel, surely that can manage that right?
But are special accommodations actually needed for ebikers? I mean if you're having to redesign gates for them specifically it feels a bit like 'special treatment' already, conventional MTBs seldom see much of that...
Needs to be stock proof as well
I don't ride e-bikes, but have to deal with a lot of gates where I ride. For me it comes down to space to be able to lift and place a bike over. Often the gate is too high for easy lifting, and the stile on the side has no space to easily lift. Another issue if there is space, it might be a wire fence that gets damaged.
I would say a mid-height, strong wood area that the bike can be lifted onto, so it can be put down the other side, with space to allow this all to happen. Having some gravel down will help to stop this becoming a bog, and making people look for alternatives making the whole place a mess.
Take a step back and think about why people are using e-bikes
if they're just regular riders who fancy a bit of a bigger day out, then they should be able to lift / manoeuvre the bike over / through the regular stiles
if they're using an ebike becuase of mobility issues, then its not overly likely that anything suggested above would actually be useful.
I could pop a link to this thread up on twitter and tag some disabled riders if you think that mnight help? be prepared for some uncomfortable feedback though
Clearly the answer is massive ramps with a huck to flat
Just a gate that a human can open and close. Or one that closes by itself slowly enough to let someone push a bike through. No lifting involved.
if they’re just regular riders who fancy a bit of a bigger day out, then they should be able to lift / manoeuvre the bike over / through the regular stiles
Vast majority of owners from anecdotal evidence. Not saying that’s a bad thing either. An able bodied person should be able to lift an eBike.
Just a standard self-closing bridle gate? Stiles aren't actually recommended (or funded by organisations such as paths4all) to be put in even on footpaths any more due to inclusion reasons; people with various mobility issues.
Stopping motor bikes is another issue , but sleeper 'traps' either side will put off your average yoof. Or those metal barriers posted up above.
Cattle grid
I know a number of female cyclists who wouldn't manage to lift an ebike over a stile. This risks exclusion and is completely the wrong approach.
I'm not saying I don't see the issue with motorbikes though.
I'd be thinking first about the Equality Act (2010).
My friend rides an ebike and an analogue.
Back issues - with a very weak left leg - means he really struggles with climbing stiles and fences.
Lifting the bike is a secondary issue.
We also have local disabled riders that use quad bikes.
I think you want a narrow gate / stile beside a wider swinging gate for those that can't climb/lift. Not an expert but I have got the local council to remove bollards / barriers from their cycle paths / core paths.
I know a number of female cyclists who wouldn’t manage to lift an ebike over a stile. This risks exclusion and is completely the wrong approach.
To be fair I very much doubt I could lift an eBike over a stile, when I had a fat bike that was hard enough......
^ Not a lady
As a way above, a medium sized metal circle gate, as long as it’s wide enough so you can back wheel push it thru.
Also, a standard stile but with the top of the fence being planked(and solid) and wider(along the fence)than the stile, so you walk up the stile and can lift the bike up onto the top plank at the same time, balance bike on motor then get one leg onto other side and help bike down.
Bear in mind that modern bikes are massively long and have massively wide handlebars, as well as the huge weight of most e bikes.
Ah missed the motorbike bit
Cattle grid with anti motorcycle missiles
Here's me! I've got a ebike (supposedly a lightweeight Fazua one), but I've also got very ****ed shoulders from crashing bikes/snowbards over the decades and probably age related arthritis too! (My left hurts now! And I'm just sat at a desk!)
I 've got a route home with a couple of gates. I really really struggled to lift the frickin thing over - it was bloody painful. One reason why I was glad to get back on the gravel bike, that bugger's light.
but some of you fellas really need to get out of this state of mind that comes across (usually on Facebook tbh) - OTHER PEOPLE AREN'T THE SAME AS YOU.
Gates aren't an issue...just technique 😀
8.10...
on a more serious note kissing gates are the easiest to navigate with an ebike
Take a step back and think about why people are using e-bikes
if they’re just regular riders who fancy a bit of a bigger day out, then they should be able to lift / manoeuvre the bike over / through the regular stiles
if they’re using an ebike becuase of mobility issues, then its not overly likely that anything suggested above would actually be useful.
The latter is why I suggested the openable gate guarded by something that you can't get a motorbike through (unsure how effective what I suggested are at actually doing that though). For me, it's by far the easiest obstacle to get a bike through. Stiles are uncomfortable for me when I'm fresh, when I'm tired they're a problem. I struggle with getting the bike up onto the rear wheel when tired too (I'm way better actually on the bike than off it...).
There are a number of “squeeze” stile designs that will allow bicycles and pedestrians through, but not livestock or motorcycles.
See-saw?
The bike path I was on the other day (Jubilee River) had these sorts of things, they were super easy to navigate with a bike but I'm not sure they'll stop a determined motorcyclist
I would think the most straight forward options are a corale with a gate at one entrance and disqualifier at the other.
Alternatively a disability/pushchair spec kissing gate should give enough space, just remember to fix the hinges so the gate can't be lifted.
Gates aren’t an issue…just technique
I'm going to give that one a go next time I have to hop over a wire fence.
How could it possibly go wrong. 😁
SSS it'll all be fine..
Stiles should be made illegal anywhere that is a public right of way, they are a dangerous and a stupid way of getting over a fence. In the winter/wet they are slippery and with SPD shoes on are a liability (even more so when shouldering a bike).
Had to go over 3 of them this morning on just a short 10 mile ride.
There's some upside down V type styles at Temple Newsem in Leeds. They're for footpaths but I've taken my bike through and it's dead easy if you get the bike on the back wheel. If they was a plank across the top/half way down that was hinged, it would stop sheep getting out as well.
corale with a gate at one entrance and disqualifier at the other
What is this? Do you have a photo?
Needs to be stock proof as well
Ah, sorry, missed this!!
So, stock proof and motorbike proof? That's tricky. Are kissing gates stock proof?
How about a key?
Stiles should be made illegal anywhere that is a public right of way
Round here stiles only exist on footpaths, so not a problem when cycling lawfully.....😎🤣
Round here stiles only exist on footpaths, so not a problem when cycling lawfully
Who the **** cycles lawfully. You wouldn't cycle much off road if that was the approach where I live.
They are still a shit way of getting through a fence even if walking - wet slippery wood, big steps with fence in between to cock leg over etc,..
Just realised I wrote "upside down V". No idea what I was on about, they're just actual V shaped!!
😄
Just realised I wrote “upside down V”. No idea what I was on about,
Sounds like a doorway. Hth.
@shermer75 corale is just a small enclosure at a gate, usually to hold livestock for loading or handling.
Disqualifier is just anything to stop motorbikes getting through like on a lot of the South Wales trails and those metal frames someone posted further up, could even just be posts too close together to get an engine through.
If a kissing gate is significantly weighted one way or sprung to be self closing they are pretty stock proof.
At risk of sounding unlike the card-carrying libtard snowflake I truly am, all the hand-wringing about inclusivity for e-bikes, etc feels off to me. The outdoors, even nicely graded trails, is not inherently inclusive, and some trails or trail features are simply unsuited to some people.
If I'm understanding correctly, this is private property, the landowner seems to have graciously allowed some trail users and wishes to exclude others (motorbikes), and livestock.
Kissing gates always feel like the most bike-friendly solution to me. Pop up on the back wheel, push in, swing the gate, back out. Not perfect, and if you have a bike with gear on it you may have problems, but per above - this doesn't feel to me like a situation that requires solving for every possible bicycle use case.