I feel like I barely ride my acoustic pivot firebird and ride my ebike all the time. When I swap it feels like I have left half thebfun at home. I reckon mtb in general will be ebikes and acoustic or old school mtbs will be used by a small hard-core group . What's your vibe
Solo rides, yep take the eeb every time. Out with my 10 year old here in Suffolk I'll take the regular bike and if somewhere hilly with her I'll take the eeb and a tow rope. 😀
I know people talk about the price of ebikes but when there's decent spec bikes from the likes of Paul's for £2-3k, that's well in the ballpark of normal bikes you see commonly out and about. I would spend more than a grand on a normal bike now.
“acoustic”
Please don’t.
Acoustic, do you get Xylophone mallets with one of those?
My "vibe" is i ride both.
90% pedal power though.
I think it's inverse to what a lot of folks think when it comes to your local trails.
I live in an area where it's steep up and steep down, so it's a slowish sociable climb and then all the fun is taken care of by gravity.
If all my local stuff was flatish I could see the appeal of an Ebike for more of the time just to try and reproduce the "exciting" bit on flat terrain.
I bought a second hand ebike last year as a way of still riding with long covid.
I love it, but I can't wait until my fitness returns so I can get back on my proper bikes again.
For me it's the silence, the simplicity and the lightweight poppiness that I miss. Plus the ability to easily get it over deer fences!
I totally get why others enjoy Ebikes more though. It's all just big kids playing about on bikes and that's why we love it whatever we ride.
My vibe is WTF is acoustic… do you stick a playing card in the back wheels spokes and shout vroom as you go round making the trails come alive.
My vibe is I can't wait to be healthy/fit enough again to be able to enjoy unassisted (please can we stop with "acoustic") bikes again... There's nothing better than stringing your perfect trail together on a nice light, playful bike that feels just a tiny bit undergunned for the terrain you are riding, and knowing you couldn't have gone any quicker or picked your lines any better.
eBikes have been a game changer in the meantime though. Even for those who haven't had health problems, they have opened up a lot of opportunities and in a lot of cases, allowed people to enjoy climbs rather than just see them as a means to an end.
I can't see myself owning anything beefier than a 120ish travel XC/Trail (I won't use the term downcountry as it fills me with a similar level of ire as acoustic!) without a motor fitted to it in the future... The bigger/heavier/longer travel the bike, the less the weight of a motor and battery impacts on the fun factor IMO, and with modern Enduro eMTB's only posing a 6-7kg weight penalty over their unassisted equivalents rather than a 10-12kg penalty that they once did, the only time I could see me wanting to ride an unassisted Enduro bike again would be if I ever wanted to ride abroad and fly with the bike...
Not ridden me Emtb for 18 months. Pedal power every time for me... Love the simplicity, silence and sense of achievement. That's fun for me!
I'll return to the emtb when my health worsens. And I'd probably use it more if I visited trail centres.
There’s bikes. And e-bikes. I own both. But this ‘acoustic’ ‘analogue’ ‘Amish’ terminology can get in the sea!
I feel like I barely ride my acoustic pivot firebird and ride my ebike all the time. When I swap it feels like I have left half thebfun at home. I reckon mtb in general will be ebikes and acoustic or old school mtbs will be used by a small hard-core group . What's your vibe
“Acoustic”?
When I swap it feels like I have left half thebfun at home
That’s because you’ve lost all your fitness and are relying on an electric motor.
Of course, somebody who lost 5kg from riding e-bikes will be along to correct me on this.
It's two different pastimes like say rugby and soccer. Both football but very different.
I ride my non E bikes more in general. Touring is much better on non E. A gentle pootle is better non E. Lots of climbing to do a bunch of descending then E all the time. Horses for courses
I also like my bikes to be silent . The noise of the ebike is an annoyance
As someone who's predominantly ridden ebikes for the past 5/6 years, I've never let the normal bikes (I couldn't give a flying fig what moniker you give them, it doesn't really matter and it's all good, stop letting it wind you up) disappear from my riding.
Last year when I was really smashing the riding, I added another HT and a gravel bike to my collection - ebike miles were more than matched by 'analogue' miles.
I like the fitness element of normal bikes and will push myself to use them - but I do enjoy using them.
A few health issues and also some over indulgence has recently put me back more on the ebike - and I've just bought another.
That'll take me to two ebikes and four pedally bikes. I intend to use and enjoy all of them this year.
When I am on an ebike though, I tend to use it in the style of a normal bike with a bit of assist and just crank it up when required depending on the terrain.
Bikes, love em
Long travel monster truck ebike
Incoming lighter medium travel blingy ebike
Hardcore HT (29'er)
Old 26" hardcore HT converted to shopping/bikepacking rig
90's HT pub bike
Gravel bike
My vibe is
Why has very e bike rider told me
A) it's still a hard work out (occasionally riding next to me as I ride so hard I can't speak while they are clearly not breaking the slightest sweat)
B) they are not that expensive.
C) they have had x new motors/ batteries/ expensive circuit boards under warranty.
Like vegans 😀
Except for one mate who lost a load of fitness riding his bike, got it chipped, the motor broke and warranty was refused.
The 3 wee blasts I've had have been excellent fun, but I'll stick with my bikes for a bit yet.
Having bought my Rise 2 and a bit years ago, I've ridden it pretty much exclusively.
Had a stint where it was in for a new motor where I rode my HT for a couple of weeks but otherwise, I've been on the ebike.
Having snapped the axle in the back wheel a few weeks ago, I've been back in the HT and it's absolutely killing me. I've lost so much fitness its ridiculous.
I got the bits to fix the ebike last week but haven't actually fitted them. I'm Going to stick to my HT for a bit and see if I can get some fitness back.
I'd forgotten how much fun HTs were. I'd forgotten how much more efficient they are. I've forgotten how hard MTBing can be. I've also realised how much better the HT handles and how terrible RS forks are lol.
From here on, I'll be riding the HT and bike in equal measure.
(I said that when I bought the Rise 2 years ago)
Both E-bikes and full suss way out of my budget so not even an option. All my bikes pretty old and bashed up, triggers brooms.
I got my first ebike in October, having really been out of mountain bikes for some years but still riding road bikes
I love it. Have lost approx 3kg (not 5kg). The fitter I am getting I half wish I had a shorter travel XC full sus with slack geo. There are some scenarios where the emtb and 15mph limit is annoying and the bike feels like it’s working against you, or just the simple weight of the thing getting it over fallen trees, fences etc etc
As I’m getting fitter again I find myself going out on rides and sometimes using the motor in its lowest setting, which I still reckon on a climb is harder than my old XC 100mm (analogue/acoustic) full sus bike due to the weight, tyres and suspension.
It will be interesting once I get back out on the road bike whether my endurance and power has gone up.
Oh and then of course there is the argument with emtb about low power or full fat. It makes no sense to me to strap a motor and battery to a bike and then only get one with limited power
We were at Cwmcarn on Saturday. Not been for a while but made a bet with my riding buddy that we'd see 3-4 ebikes for each of our non Es. Not even close. Saw 3 other non Es over both main trails. The rest were ebikes, lots of big groups as well. Not sure if this is reflected at other trail centers, but it's certainly getting like that at Pedalabikeaway in the FoD. So I think what @jedi says is going to happen is the current state at TCs.
And - while I'm not in the market for an eBike - completely see how they would make a place like Cwmcarn a whole lot of fun with the climbs being a bit more interesting than slogging up a fire-road.
Not for me tho. Not yet. I've just bought another normal trail bike. It does have electronic shifting tho, so it's a slippery slope!
Finally a spicy thread to really put the new forum through it's paces
One thing I've found lately is I care less and less what other people are vibing.
I resisted getting an emtb for probably a couple of years too long. I eventually got one in January 2024 (at age 76). I'd reached the stage when my rides had changed a bit and I was actively trying to avoid losing too much altitude in order not to have to do those long slogs of climbs back up. So somewhat negating the whole reason for mtbing in the first place. I've certainly loved my full fat/full suspension emtb and haven't regretted getting it at all. I do accept that in reality my fitness has probably reduced a little bit but not as much as it would have if I'd cut back riding altogether. It's just nice to get out there and have fun.
I have only ridden one of my non-ebikes about once, maybe twice since I got it.
I have five bikes, 2 e and 3 normal. I haven't ridden the normal bikes in over a year. I have just discovered a problem with my emtb and am so worried about not being able to fix it , I have started pricing up a replacement. I am however 76 so need all the help I can get
Why not just buy a motorcycle all the fun with zero effort? I always think of eBikes as mobility scooters.
I am 71 and still riding bicycles. I have heart problems and the meds make riding slower than it should be, but I am not ready for an eBike yet.
@FunkyDunc you comment about half fat not making sense to you but you'll use your full fat in the lowest setting, isn't that the same thing?No criticism just an observation, I went from full to half because the full fat just felt like a supertanker , my Rise is a good in between for me .
Yeah, nah.
I get it, I really do, people want all the fun without working for it.
But my mind doesn't work like that. You've got to earn your turns.
Enjoy the effort of the climb, the challenge of getting to the top, the burn in your legs and lungs, the work needed.
Then the descent is just that bit better.
But I know I'm in the minority, so the OP could be right, maybe ebikes will be the norm soon. But not for me.
And lets all agree to cut this "acoustic" crap.
When I hit 50, a few of my mates said I should get an E bike. When I broke my leg at 51, a few mates said I should get an E bike. I built a Stanton Switch9er dandy horse with my time while I recovered. Put shorter cranks on and built it light as a recovery tool. Still love it. My other bike is a 2015 TR Scout.
I know there is an E bike in my future but I hope E bikes aren't the future of mtb. I have a 12 year old who's keen as mustard. We had a great day out at Rogate DH on Saturday. He enjoys 'the work' which makes me very proud. We do 20 mile xc rides around our locals. I don't want E bikes to be the norm.
There is something wistfully romantic about having a mode of transport that doesn't require fuel where range anxiety is only pacing your sandwiches or flapjacks.
Sat in the car park at Rogate this weekend and the father and son in the van next to us are packing up because they are 'down to one bar' just seemed a little sad when I remember the endless days of my youth at the BMX track.
E bikes are in for sure, I can't ride anywhere without the distinct whine of a motor coming up behind me on a climb while I wheeze and grimace to the top. I hope they lose their charm over time though and I hope a new generation of purists see them as what the old buggers of an outgoing generation used.
Confession, I have never ridden one. I wont. Had many offers of loaners, but no. Once my boy is so much fitter than me than our rides become him just waiting on me all the time, then I will. But not yet.
Anyway, that's my vibe. You did ask.
P.S. would love to book a session with you for me and the boy this year. I visited you a few years ago and had a great day and think a session would be great for the lads development.
No e-bikes in this house.
I'm definitely outnumbered on the trails now. Everywhere I go it's at least 80:20 mopeds to bicycles.
The names being applied to various types of bike are ridiculous. It should just be bikes and e-bikes.
For all the acoustic / meat bike / peddler / Amish / analogue etc there are the cheat bike / motorbike / moped / mobility scooter jibes that can be made back.
Clearly e-bikes are letting more people into the sport - which is good and bad. Hopefully it leads to more investment in trails as those people are bringing more money into the sport and accordingly spending at cafes / car parks etc at trail centres.
On the flip side riding an ebike you are bringing a little more weight, more aggressive power delivery and more miles in the time you have to ride so causing more erosion of trails. Maybe it’s just because you see more e-bikes more often as they race round laps but there do appear to be a lot of idiots riding them and doing idiot things.
At Cwmcarn particularly I’ve noticed there are a lot of people getting to the top of very big hills due to turbo mode on e-bikes - but they haven’t built up the experience of riding different stuff over years building their fitness so seem to spend quite a lot of time crashing.
I think ultimately it’s horse for courses - some people like the challenge of powering themselves round a challenging loop or having the fitness to session a lot of DH trails including the climb. Some people with plenty of cash will run an ebike and can get in more laps on more fun downhills.
For me right now I’ve had a go on a couple of ebike (one mid power / 1 full power) and it feels like a slightly different sport to me. I can understand why people like them - but it’s not for me yet.
I like putting in the hard yards on bikes on Zwift / my commute so that when I go out on my mtb I can feel that extra surge of power I’ve built for myself in my legs.
I'm definitely outnumbered on the trails now. Everywhere I go it's at least 80:20 mopeds to bicycles.
I think I see more of them because they can overtake. Head to any trail center and even if the car park is full you'll only see 10-20 people in the entire day because you're all going in the same speed and direction. E-bikes change that.
I can't see them becoming normal. I know a few people who have bough them for various reasons in various riding groups but mostly it's just because they're unfit (sometimes through genuine injury, sometimes just excuses, some got injured and used it as an excuse).
Cycling has survived as a sport for over a century despite pretty much the first thing anyone did after the modern "safety" bike was invented was to put an engine in it.
In went out on Sunday for a couple of hours with a slightly too fast group, it was hard work and I ache today.
I've done uplift riding and TBH just found the day lacked something. It was great riding consistently super technical steep trails from top to bottom all day whilst fresh rather than being tired after 3 runs of a trail that was 80% flowy. But after 3-4 runs I just had an itch that I wanted to ride up the next hill over there and see what there was (or do some longer descents that didn't all end in the same car park). Maybe an E-bike would bridge the gap, but I still think I'd prefer to get fit enough to ride 50miles a t a brisk off-road pace than to buy a 50mile battery.
Scrotes, fat lads and the girlfriends of people who like riding bikes - that's the growth market, right? And the first group don't buy them, they just steal them off the other two.
For utility riding my e-bike is now my default mode of transport. If there's a safe enough route and I have the time then I'd much rather be pedaling than driving and the motor just makes the question of effort less of an issue when deciding to go out the door. I truly believe e-bikes have the potential to change the face of how many of us travel.
For leisure riding the effort is a big part of the enjoyment for me. Most of my riding is road/gravel and I'm lucky enough to have the fitness to enjoy that. I'm sure if I were to get into the more technical side of MTB again I'd enjoy what an ebike can bring but just now it's not what I'm after.
There's lots of different reasons for owing an e-bike. Fitness is obviously an issue for a lot of people.
I've literally just bought a big battery e-bike. I didn't really want to. I also own an enduro bike and a downhill bike
I have 2 sons - one aged 15 and one aged 10. Both do a multitude of sports and are both very fit. However, the 15 year old is big into Descending (DH racer) so we will use the e-bike for uplifting him in various places near to us (Bucknell, cwmcarn, bringewood etc) that don't have an uplift service so he can get the max amount of riding out of days there to help him improve. Without the ebike it's a drag for him doing what he enjoys. It's also now £100 plus per day for an uplift for us both at the places that provide that service. We've persevered for a couple of years pushing up but now is the right time for the e-bike. Hopefully it'll still be decent for me to follow him down on a big lump of an e-bike.
The 10 year old really enjoys riding his bike also but realistically a couple of pushups at FOD on the DH trails and he's tired. The ebike will fix that and make his days out better as well. He'll still be riding miles on the flatter terrain with me there to help when needed.
When I'm not riding with the kids I'll be back on my bikes riding what I enjoy.
So for us, we'll have an e-bike to solve a problem we have temporarily.
People seem to assume that most people buy e-bike because they're lazy which isn't always the case.
My own personal take on e-bikes is that I can see the benefits but personally I just don't want one.
The bikes I have cover 95% of the riding I do. On my local trails, yes, I get tired riding multiple climbs to get to the fun stuff but that's just part of it. If I rode somewhere like the Golfie etc. more than once a year then I'd probably have one as rather than slogging to the top and being ruined for the trails I could put more laps in. The friends I ride with all seemed to have ditched their non assisted bikes over the past 12 months which is up to them. Looks like I'm hiring something for our trip away this year as being the only non-ebiker will kind of suck. I'm a bit angry about e-bikes for causing that but I'll get over it!
It's different for everyone, I'm happy with what I've got right now. In the future, that might change
Just more divisions - they're all just bikes at the end of the day.
I only recently added an e-bike to my collection - a mid-power one weighing <5kg more than my normal trail bike. Brilliant for solo rides when I can hammer out more trails (both up and down) in the same time period. Ideal for squeezing in rides between being a dad-taxi for the mini a11ys. Yet to use it on a group ride with other folk on e-bikes and I won't bring it on a group ride where I know everyone else is on non-powered bikes.
90% of my riding still done on non-assisted bikes.
Wish e-bikes were more prevalent years ago when I towed the kids in a bike trailer or had them on a Mac Ride! Motor assistance to negate the extra weight would be brilliant.
My vibe is anyone calling normal bikes "acoustic" can do one. Sorry not sorry.
My vibe is I'm a bit of a masochist and e-bikes don't float my boat at all.
Yep, managed to pick up a cheap Sur Ron and I just use it solo for blapping laps on old forgotten trails, it's brilliant for bedding in lost trails in a very short time.
It used to take weeks of hard graft off the bike to bring those trails back to a reasonable state. Now can be done in a evening while having fun.
It's all 2 wheel fun at the end of the day.
It’s probably 50/50 in our household now. Young family + busy lives means neither of us have the time to just disappear for a whole day every weekend - we would end up never seeing each other.
Cycling was never about ‘suffering, grinding, earning my descents’ etc. That just sounds like a miserable load of old sh*te to me. My riding has always been about the downward biased, so e-bikes have opened up that world considerably.
I can ride locally, or head down the road into S. Wales & ride my normal bike, end up doing 1500-2000m of climbing & be absolutely smoked from it & be no use to anyone for the rest of the day, or I can do that on the ebike, end up enjoying the descents more, in less time, go home & be a functioning human still.
With the way longer travel bikes have evolved, I’m also at the point of struggling to understand what the point of owning one is now, unless it’s got a motor. To the point that the only long travel bikes we have now are e-bikes.
I’m sure they will continue to grow in category, and I’ll happily keep riding, and racing both too, but if I only could have one now, it would be an e-bike.
There are plenty of other, far more time efficient things I can do than ride an MTB for fitness.
Without the ebike it's a drag for him doing what he enjoys.
Poor little fella. It's a miracle that us DH riders survived the 90's, 00's and 10's.
Without the ebike it's a drag for him doing what he enjoys.
Poor little fella. It's a miracle that us DH riders survived the 90's, 00's and 10's.
Not really though is it.
You used what was available at the time and we’re using what’s available to us now. Times change.
Thanks for your response though.
Personally - and I alluded to this above. Anyone that gets in the least bit bothered about what somene else either rides, or indeed calls a particular genre of bike riding needs slapping with a wet fish. And made to ride road bikes for the rest of their lives...
Please can we use the French description.
Electric bikes and muscle bikes isn’t perfect but better describes the difference.
Poor little fella. It's a miracle that us DH riders survived the 90's, 00's and 10's.
This amuses me.
Except for the actual desecending, DHers are universally the laziest riders on the hill and always have been. Moaning about how long it takes to push up or sat on a trailer or in a van smoking your rollups.
Push up track or uplift was always the default.
If ebikes were available back then, you would have all had them.
You want to polish your rose tinted specs and have a look at yourself grandad.
Yep, managed to pick up a cheap Sur Ron and I just use it solo for blapping laps on old forgotten trails, it's brilliant for bedding in lost trails in a very short time.
This thread is about ebikes and normal bikes, not sure why your are bringing electric motorbikes into it. I hope those "old forgotten trails" are on land you own or you have the land owners permission to ride your motorbike on.
lightweight e-mtbs will be kind of jangly, indy guitar like The Smiths
Good point, it was only when I put my girlfriend on a Kona that I knew it was really serious.
Quad bike surely, powered by me quads innit.
See quite a lot of e-bikes on the south downs, they overtake on the ups, but then seem to get overtaken on the top and on the descents. It feels like the e-bikes are a way for mis-matched couples to get out on the bikes together, or non-cyclists to access the downs. It's horses for courses, they're out getting fresh air and so am I.
But like lots of folks up thread I enjoy the feeling of the physical effort, the achievement at the top and the beer at the end. Once i'm 76 like masterdabber I might think about an e-bike
But until then I can't go to Ventoux or the Alps and not cycle up can I, so need to keep my fitness up, and a turbo is a better way of getting/keeping fit than an e-bike i reckon
I've recently bought an ebike. Belt drive, 2 speed, narrow bars, lights, oversized non dropper seatpost, tiny wheels, mudguards and a rack. Folds up as well 😬.
Now, the massive 40nm of assistance can get me above 15.5mph in a couple of revolutions of the cranks and I'm back to riding an overweight, small wheeled, over geared (at times) bike wondering why I'm not riding my gravel bike!
That said I've used it more than my other bikes recently and my intention is to use it more in the future on my commute. The art of the ride is not to breech the assistance speed.
I think it has dulled my enthusiasm to buy an emtb anytime soon which is a good thing.
I bought an ebike end of 2024, about two years after all my mates had made the change. Held out as long as I could.
Key thing for me -
My 'acoustic' (yuk) bike, is sufficiently different to my ebike.
Instead of kidding oneself that I'll ride a mid travel full suspension trail/enduro-ish bike, when I also have a mid travel full suspension trail/enduro-ish bike with a motor... I haven't kept it (unlike said riding mates, whom all never ride them and thus they are simply clothes stands).
What I have kept, is my really light, racy, carbon XC hardtail. Its different enough to the (electric) trail bike that theres little cross over in the type of riding I do on them, and thus, the unpowered bike still gets used.
Instead of kidding oneself that I'll ride a mid travel full suspension trail/enduro-ish bike, when I also have a mid travel full suspension trail/enduro-ish bike with a motor
Yep
As soon as I bought my Kenevo, I sold my Capra. All my non-e bikes are sufficiently different enough to make me want to ride them.
That said, I was recently thinking about buying a mid travel full suspension trail/enduro-ish bike again - I was putting a lot of leg miles in and wanted something other than the HT to go on rocky days in the Peak. Since then, my riding/fitness has died back considerably and I've just bought another ebike....
I reckon mtb in general will be ebikes and acoustic or old school mtbs will be used by a small hard-core group . What's your vibe
I did say a few years back that MTB (the mainstream and media image at least) would be a powered sport soon enough but was half expecting to be proven wrong. Doesn't look like it now if you go to any trail centre or laps spot. MTB culture was always closer to snowboarding than road racing so no suprise. It's a ride culture not a pedal culture.
I've had times of being into the DH runs and doing jumps or the 4x track but that didn't last as long, I missed the 'getting out there' aspect of MTB and started pedalling again to link up a few far-apart runs rather than sessioning one area with the guys who didn't like to pedal. Big loops beats laps for me.
My vibe .. always was and will be a mountain biker, loved the few occasions I have had a good e-MTB to ride yet one won't be in my garage untill I'm unable to push the pedals round. I like getting up hills under my own power (I know I can be out of breath climbing on an e-bike too but it's not the same for me) and there's nothing like a 'no chain' day in summer.
I expect to be one of the niche of day ride pedallers in future, that's ok though.
Personally - and I alluded to this above. Anyone that gets in the least bit bothered about what somene else either rides, or indeed calls a particular genre of bike riding needs slapping with a wet fish. And made to ride road bikes for the rest of their lives...
It sounds like you're bothered about other people being bothered about something. I imagine the wet fish slapping would apply to that too.
All my non-e bikes are sufficiently different enough to make me want to ride them.
One of my pedal bikes is very similar to my Ebike.
I still ride it simply because I like riding bikes.
No need for overcomplicating anything and justifying what you do or don't ride with in depth reasoning.
It's just pissing about in the woods on a toy.
I only know about 5 other people that ride mtb's but none of them ride ebikes. #justsayin...
I get it, I really do, people want all the fun without working for it.
But my mind doesn't work like that. You've got to earn your turns.
Enjoy the effort of the climb, the challenge of getting to the top, the burn in your legs and lungs, the work needed.
Completely agree, and I still do that on an ebike. Llandegla is 30 mins from where I live , so I go fairly regularly.
The first 2.4 mile climb is hateful on a push bike. On an ebike it becomes a challenge and in bits fun getting the corners and braking right uphill to maintain speed. It’s an absolute killer too pushing yourself on an ebike as you invariably go above 15mph
I often max out on my heart rate going up it.
Best bit is that I can then use the motor to recover on some of the other hateful climbs around the red/black loop, do sections multiple times, and do at least x 2 full laps in roughly the same time it takes to do 1 lap on a push bike
Im always knackered when I get back to the car. Even back in the day when doing very amateurish racing I wouldn’t have been able to do the same distance / laps etc.
One of my pedal bikes is very similar to my Ebike.
I still ride it simply because I like riding bikes.
No need for overcomplicating anything and justifying what you do or don't ride with in depth reasoning.
It's just pissing about in the woods on a toy.
Bully for you.
I wasn't setting rules, just broadcasting my personal preference. Is that OK?
Dude what you ride(or anyone else) and why holds no interest to me.
Just using your quote as an example how folks try and justify stuff no one else cares about.
i could have quoted someone else doing the same thing but your post happened to be above and easy to use.🤷♀️
Maybe I'm now in the minority that the fitness/competitive side is a big part of the reason I ride.
So trail and enduro is just one part of my hobby. I also race gravel, road, xc. I couldn't really justify an e bike cost when you can get an xt equipped bike for half the cost. I can't keep up climbing when people have motors at places like Golfie. But I'm close enough. I like the exercise aspect as well. Means the climbing work goes towards general fitness gains.
At places like GT where I can ride my xc bike I have little trouble keeping up with e bikes unless they are in boost modes.
I know a few racers who've purchased e bikes. It Allows them to ride easy on recover days. If I lived I the tweed valley as was climbing those hills everyday I'd probably consider it.
I think there will be a general move over to e bikes. Local MTB club is now the majority ebikes. Trail centres also the majority.
Be interesting to see what this means for the sport. Will it change what where and how we are riding. Will it affect how people get into the sport and learn.
Back when I started your only option at a low price point was a hardtail. You learnt a style of rising to accommodate no rear travel. You could spot people who had only learned on a full suss. I guess ebikes teach different habits and style also.
The first 2.4 mile climb is hateful on a push bike.
It's just a bog standard, steady, non-technical climb and a good opportunity to chat to people and enjoy the endless trees... I have no idea why people who hate climbing bother riding mountain bikes. I like climbs, they give you a chance to chill out and think. Or chat. Or, if you want to, hammer yourself senseless.
My personal experience is that by speeding up climbs, e-mtbs fundamentally change many of the things I enjoy about riding bikes - the rhythm and experience of the ride is different and more frantic. I'm not saying everyone should feel that way or that my experience is in any way more valid than yours, but e-bikes do seem like another facet of our ceaseless drive to make everything as complex and insulated from basics as possible.
Take a relatively simple, human-powered object like a bicycle and strip away the human-powered bit and what you end up with is basically a slightly crap electric motorbike with a 'throttle' that you control with your pedals. I'm not saying it's a bad thing per se, but it's not the same as a conventional mountain bike. I think there's an element of people gaslighting themselves here.
And I do occasionally ride an e-mtb, which is kind of how I know 🙄
I've never ridden an ebike, kind of scared to incase I don't want to go back to a normal one. Tbh riding is the only exercise I do and enjoy, so an ebike probably would be detrimental to my already not ideal fitness. I like the challenge and satisfaction of getting to the top under my own steam.
That said I can definitely see the appeal, if I lived somewhere with proper hills and lots of good descents I reckon I'd love a bigger travel eeb for getting the most runs in without an uplift.
What is an acoustic bike? One with a particular sound quality?
I thought ebikes were acoustic? Especially the ones with Shimano motors. Confused now.
I totally agree with FunkyDunc. I too am usually knackered after a ride on my (full fat) MTB. I don't think I've lost any fitness over the 3 and a bit years I've been riding it (original motor, too!). I can still do the same road rides at the same pace that I have managed for a good few years, so I'm happy. I think the word that some of you are missing is ...... Fun! I'm 70 in a couple of weeks, btw.
Once my extensively fractured pelvis is healed I'll be back on the 'push bike'. Electric, over my dead body, although this accident may yet need a total hip replacement, either soon or in a few years.
I haven't read any posts on this thread but the original one.
It makes me slightly sad that a rider I know is many levels above my own skill and whose posts I have appreciated over the years can only get his pleasure now from artificial aids.
It makes me slightly sad that a rider I know is many levels above my own skill and whose posts I have appreciated over the years can only get his pleasure now from artificial aids
Don't be sad, he's enjoying riding his bike 🤷
I've ridden several ebikes. I still get the feeling battery and motor technology will be much more advanced in a few years. General reliability remains lacking. I'll probably get one at some point, but am in no rush. This would be for winch and plummet fun trails rather than any other riding. I know I'll like one, that's part of the problem. I don't want it to stop me enjoying normal bikes. I'll probably wait until a lot of people I ride with have gotten one. A few have, mostly riders I could keep up with on a normal bike anyway. If not it's no problem to not ride with those people. I can appreciate riding an ebike is still a workout, but it's like weightlifting with half the usual weight. Or riding a road bike for ages and then getting on a mountain bike and finding it a struggle. All else being equal over time some top end strength will be lost. Several ebikers I know have mentioned this as one of the reasons they're going back to non electric.
I'm not a naturally fit person, and loose fitness fairly quickly. At school I sometimes got out of breath just climbing stairs, and could barely run, despite not being asthmatic or overweight. When I started cycling more seriously I put the time, effort and consistency in to get a decent level of fitness, which wasn't easy. Taking the easy option is human nature. Whatever the personal reasons may be, it grates when someone who hasn't or can't put the effort in to elevate their fitness zooms by like I'm going backwards.
The rise of ebikes does have an effect on the rest of us. They are putting significant additional traffic and wear and tear on trails. A number of longstanding local trails have been modified (ruined) to include jumps in locations only really suitable for ebikes, likely even then only illegal derestricted ones. Uphill in some places. Every rider I've spoken to isn't happy about the changes. In recent years a lot of longer trails through my local woods have been replaced with short straight down and straight back up runs to suit battery bikes.
One bike only here, and it's not an e-bike. I've demo'd one before - mate was in the market for one and I took a different model out so he could try both. Had a right laugh. If time and money were no object, I'd absolutely have one as a second bike. However, as it is, I've got limited time to ride and worry that the temptation to favour the e-bike would jeopardise my fitness.
Agree that the numbers of e-bikes are through the roof. At the Golfie, I tend to see large groups of riders from other parts of the UK on short breaks or day trips. E-bikes definitely seem the weapon of choice for that scenario, squeezing out maximum fun and variety.
Also, as a fan of dumb jokes, I quite like the term "acoustic bike".
“Acoustic”?
When I swap it feels like I have left half thebfun at home
That’s because you’ve lost all your fitness and are relying on an electric motor.
Of course, somebody who lost 5kg from riding e-bikes will be along to correct me on this.
The bike doesnt need to be part of any fitness regime. You can go to the gym, take up a sport like Judo or Karate, or anything else for that matter.
But this harking on about how riding an ebike will impact on your fitness, and as such an 'analogue' bike is the only thing you should own is wearing a bit thin.
So run an analogue bike if you wish, and if you are so concerned over the fitness aspect, make sure the bike is a single speed with a big chainring, because you wouldn't want to impact your fitness by having bloody gears fitted.
The bike doesnt need to be part of any fitness regime. You can go to the gym, take up a sport like Judo or Karate, or anything else for that matter.
One of the most common reasons given for buying an ebike is lack of time. You're advocating buying an ebike AND taking out a gym membership (which, incidentally, is pretty much the opposite of FUN!). Okay....
I've been riding bikes all my adult life and MTBs since they first appeared and consider myself a mountain biker, I like big rides in the hills and playing around the woods. Like most I have dabbled in road, gravel etc but now in my 70s I don't have the energy any more to enjoy what I love. Over the past couple of years I have sold my gravel, road and MTBs and got a couple of ebikes, a trail bike and an enduro bike, which span the riding I love. No idea how much longer I will be riding but it's time in my life to concentrate on the stuff I I want to do and my ebikes allow me to keep doing that.
I was a relatively early ebike adopter, I've had it over six years now. I really really like it - it makes a commute far more fun and saves my legs/lungs when I'm feeling tired/ill. When I'm short of time, on full power I can get so much descending done in so little time on the ebike because it's so damn fast uphill. I'm not sure I really like the vibe when doing a ride at full speed like that, it's bit much - feels like there's no time to think...
And it has been great in stupidly windy weather, when it's not safe to be in the woods so you have to be out on the hills in 40mph+ headwinds which are frankly depressing on any bike without a motor. When I wasn't getting on with my old hardtail I did a lot of group rides where I'd switch the power off for all/most of the group part of the ride and use the motor to get me there and home solo faster.
I replaced that hardtail a few years back with one I much prefer - and tried setting it up as a singlespeed to start with. That (still) singlespeed hardtail is now my favourite bike to ride. I haven't taken it to any gnarlier places yet but its been great around Brighton, Friston and the Surrey Hills (my last SH ride everyone else turned up on ebikes whilst I had no rear suspension, gear or motor - it was quite hard but fun and rewarding).
If I had infinite time and energy I'd probably always ride the singlespeed hardtail - I just like how it feels, it's a very satisfying sensory experience being so connected to the ground but still having modern geometry and a big fork for confidence/safety. But as I'm a human (who is apparently middle-aged, to my horror) with a life outside MTBing I love how the ebike helps me when I need help.
Taking the easy option is human nature. Whatever the personal reasons may be, it grates when someone who hasn't or can't put the effort in to elevate their fitness zooms by like I'm going backwards.
An ebike is a force multiplier. You can let it take the strain and lazy boi it, or you can wring its bloody neck and add its capacity to your own and achieve things that you can't with muscle, lungs and heart alone, or anything in between those two extremes.
Comments like the above really just highlight people trying to judge ebike riding from their known un-powered experience, but that's only half of it and they don't realise what they don't know. Most of us who try to explain get accused of being defensive or evangelists, so what to do?
Keep on having a great time and not worry about it, mostly. The curmudgeons and ignorant should probably do the same.
Taking the easy option is human nature. Whatever the personal reasons may be, it grates when someone who hasn't or can't put the effort in to elevate their fitness zooms by like I'm going backwards.
Comments like the above really just highlight people trying to judge ebike riding from their known un-powered experience, but that's only half of it and they don't realise what they don't know. Most of us who try to explain get accused of being defensive or evangelists, so what to do?
As in my post, I have ridden various ebikes. Perhaps you chose to overlook that in order to twist things around. Surely I don't need a receipt of ownership to have experience and formulate an opinion on the subject? (rhetorical question) It appears you missed the point of what I wrote anyway.
It's just a bog standard, steady, non-technical climb
Maybe on a push bike, but on an ebike, certainly the first half becomes a thing of thinking about where to brake going uphill, getting the right line around the corners, and getting the power down without spinning out. All equals more fun 😀
I think all bikes are fun, just some people feel determined to miss out on another layer of fun
I've got one finally because my Partner has one. Chasing her around the lakes and dales wasn't much fun to be honest.
Normal bikes for when I'm riding with the lads or on my own though.
The Ebike is bloody brilliant fun however. I got 30 miles and 5k climbing ride in last year when I hired one for the day. Normal bike would have been half that for the same time.
They are all bikes at the end of the day. CBA with all this partisan BS.
I trust the e bikers stating the foolishness of linking fitness with cycling will be fully embracing the coming integration of their minds with AI neutral networks from the comfort of their own brain suspended in a vat? 😉
'Maybe on a push bike, but on an ebike, certainly the first half becomes a thing of thinking about where to brake going uphill, getting the right line around the corners, and getting the power down without spinning out. All equals more fun'
You might as well just stop messing around trying to pretend it's a bike and buy a motorbike. The difference to a SurRon is entirely arbitrary.
