Originally Posted by
grinch
I was trying to use trail use advocacy history and relate it to these ebikes. The powers that be initially started with a “no” or only on fireroads. Then the sport grew and the fines started then the rogue trail builders and riders said a big fu to the man. Only then did the powers that be sit down with the “reasonable” mtb advocates(despite the powers that be initial stance of “no” to reasonable discussion). The advocates wouldn’t be at the table without the rogues. You can’t be just handing out fines and eventually locking people up for recreating outdoors . Especially when you consider the minimal environmental effect relative to a lot of other pastimes(4 wheeling, moto, rv’s etc etc etc). They realized mountain biking wasn’t going anywhere and they better sit down at the table and find a place for them that works for everyone. Same with enduro moto, they’d be on mtb trails unless you give them a spot to recreate. You can’t just say no. They’re not going away. Same with imba and their initial no steep trail stance. That shit isn’t going to work. People want steep, so boom we now have rock armour and other trail building techniques. I’m not rushing out to buy an e bike but they look fun af and ,more importantly, they aren’t going anywhere . You can’t tell a guy on his 7” travel 8” rotored whiz bang ebike that he has to stay on rail trails. Shit isn’t going to fly. They’re fun af and a healthy pursuit. Whether or not you want to use one is irrelovent but they want to be on mtb like trails and they will be in a short period of time. At the bike shows they’ve gone from one bike at the back of their displays thT just show fancy tech to being front row centre and dominating the bike shows. All other western countries have seen sales go from single digit % sales to more than 50% of bike sales in a year or 2. Off-road ebike riding is going to put pressure on trail decision making. That’s life. Existing mtb riders are going to try it, ebike commuters are going to venture off road, others are going to jump right in to off road e biking. It’s seems more positive than negative. I don’t know where they’ll fit in but make no mistaken they’re here to stay and it’s going to grow fast initially. You can waste energy staving off the imminent growth and off road usage or figure the rules. The rules are going to have to make sense though. Fines and locking people up are a waste of resources for a healthy beneficial activity that could be added fun.