Why I dislike e-bikes

[doebedoe]

Overall, anything that gets more people on bikes and out of cars, is good!

100%.

But sorta moot in the case of mtb trails / e-mtb. Except for the tiny % that live somewhere where they'd ride an e-mtb to a trail (but not a regular mtb), there's little to no car dependency reduction.

[Shredhead]

Anyplace people shuttle.

[evdog]

Personally I think its an education thing. As far as I can tell the people selling them don't inform the buyers the places they can use them are limited.

There's a definite conflict of interest on the part of shops. If they did a good job of educating their customers where they can't ride their mopeds, they might sell less of them. I don't buy it that moped riders don't know where they're not allowed though. There is pretty good signage in a lot of places now. Point it out to them, and the reply is often "oh no, I'm on a class 1 e-bike. It's allowed here." Uh, no. More often they tell you to fuck off. Ignorant, lying, or don't give a shit - can't say for sure. Wonder if they're that nice to hikers they encounter?

Anyplace people shuttle.

Might work in some areas that have climbing trails... but lots of shuttle spots don't have those. You think moped riders are going to pedal up a long pavement climb to get to a descent? We're already seeing them climbing up descending trails in Socal.

[frorider]

Interesting industry article https://www.bicycleretailer.com/indu...y#.Yoz2pKRlDDs

As for the trend toward emtbs going up trails designed for fast descents, it’s becoming an issue pretty much everywhere based on what other trail associations tell me. Some regions allow posting one way only signs. Tree trimming and other sight line improvements may help.

[jackstraw]

I think ebikes are great. I saw an old guy probably 70+ riding one up a hill (road) the other day and he would never be out there otherwise.

I ride with a group every once in a while where the average age is 60+. All old school hardcore guys who have been building trail since the 80's. One guy just bought an e-bike and he's stoked and I'm stoked for him. He can keep going with his rides that were becoming more difficult. I certainly see myself in that situation at some point...hopefully later than sooner.

Now if you have one and come up behind me on a mtn climb don't expect me to move over for you. Granted I probably won't know you're on one until I do pull off for you, so yeah, just don't be an asshole if you ride one!

[Shredhead]

You think moped riders are going to pedal up a long pavement climb to get to a descent?.

Yes, I think they will. I do and it’s not always pavement. Some are dirt/4wd roads and OHV’s make a lot more noise and kick up a lot more dust.

Hate on them all you want. I guarantee you’ll be on one at some point, unless you check out early.

[alias_rice]

I see mopeds on every trail now. Today I was like 10mi from the trailhead and a family complete with grand parents was asking me for directions. I say these people need to have a map if your motor gets you places you don’t belong.


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This must have been very difficult for you. Hopefully in the last few days you have been able to recover from giving direction to grandparents.


I personally love my moped and ride it 95% of the time. I ride further and more often than I ever did on my regular bike. And so far no issues with other trail users, but I haven’t yet had to ask for directions so stay tuned.

[east or bust]

The amount of people on this forum riding ebikes really shows the average age of this place. NTTAWWT


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[XXX-er]

On a class 1 pedal assist bike railing the berms on an uphill is as much fun as going downhill but besides not having the skills to shred nice juicy berms there are a whole lot of skills the moped riders just don't have, so the trails are too narrow, the turns are too tight, the funky rocks tree roots bridges are too easy to fall off which of course all make the mtnbiking more interesting

so none of the local moped riders have the skills to actualy ride a system built to the whistler bike park standard and i don't think any of them want to

[chicken feathers]

Rode my neighborhood single track last night. First 10 minutes I'm seeing looonnnngggg skid marks leading into every turn...skid marks on the outside of every turn, and some random skid marks thrown in for good measure. My riding partner and I both said it looks like a gaper on a ebike.
Sure enough 30 seconds later we ran into a boomer on a janky looking cabela's ebike. Pretty sure it was one of the class 2 hunting types.
Unless he figured out braking he didn't appear to make it farther than 2 miles from the trailhead.

[jackstraw]

whata pos!!

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Harley....622630.0.html

[evdog]

Let me guess, being a Harley product there is an option to add loudspeakers to replicate straight pipe exhaust noise and blare music over top of that while riding.

[LeeLau]

The amount of people on this forum riding ebikes really shows the average age of this place. NTTAWWT


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Not a surprise. These are forums; boomer resting places after all

[simple]

Ebikers like to use Strava and have some of their own segments. I classify my singletrack dirt bike rides as ebike activities. It makes me laugh when they flag my rides. Fuck them and more so fuck Strava.

[skaredshtles]

<snip> fuck Strava.

True, true...

[powpig]

Got my first mtb, a Jamis Dakota in 87 to help me recover from my 2nd ACL op.
Joined the e crowd last summer, cheaper than new hips.
Rode with my buddy yesterday, being on a Levo enabled him to strap a chainsaw to his pack.
We cleared 8 down trees. You're welcome!

[Clownshoe]

The wife and I bought an Volt valley cruiser style ebike due to cost of gas and being a 1 truck family. Our town (Whistler) is perfect for e commuting with a nice valley trail. We’ve already put over 500 km on it in just a couple of months. The range on one battery charge is amazing. A buddy of mine put studs on his and commuted all winter on it.

It’s definitely easy to be that asshole flying down the valley trail going way too fast. But as others have said, I can go just as fast on my regular bike on the downhill sections. It’s all about not being a jerk when passing people and slowing down to a reasonable pace, regardless of what vehicle you’re riding.

It’s pretty sweet for cruising to the pub for a pint or running to the grocery store.

Definitely a ton of people on Volt ebikes cruising the valley trails around here. I always give a big smile and a little wave when I pass one.

Haters gonna hate I suppose. I don’t really care.

[climberevan]

I'm pretty sure none of us are complaining about people using mopeds for trail maintenance or for commuting and riding around town.

We are complaining about people using motorized vehicles on trails that are clearly designated for non motorized use only.

[Clownshoe]

Yeah I get that. I’ve borrowed a buddies ebike and gone for some trail rides around the S2S. It’s definitely a hoot. I’ve gotten some comments as I’ve passed people, but I’ll take it.

I’ve been passed a bunch on climbs by people on ebikes. It definitely triggers a certain feeling in me, but I chalk it up to a failing in my ego, and keep it in check. In the end, what other people are doing or riding shouldn’t affect me at all. I’ve been getting passed on climbs for decades, so I’m used to it.

As someone who deigns and builds bike trails professionally, I think as long as it doesn’t have a twist throttle on it, I think they should be allowed pretty much everywhere. Jurisdictions are free to make their own judgments, but it seems short sighted to me except for perhaps national parks and other protected wilderness areas.

I really don’t think it’s that big of a deal. Most people in our valley seem pretty cool about it. Good trail etiquette is the key, as it’s always been.

The whole thing seems kind of overblown to me. The people who hate them are really loud about it.

[muted reborn]

I'm pretty sure none of us are complaining about people using mopeds for trail maintenance or for commuting and riding around town.

We are complaining about people using motorized vehicles on trails that are clearly designated for non motorized use only.

Yeah I get that.

But this post clearly shows you do not get it:

The wife and I bought an Volt valley cruiser style ebike due to cost of gas and being a 1 truck family. Our town (Whistler) is perfect for e commuting with a nice valley trail. We’ve already put over 500 km on it in just a couple of months. The range on one battery charge is amazing. A buddy of mine put studs on his and commuted all winter on it.

It’s definitely easy to be that asshole flying down the valley trail going way too fast. But as others have said, I can go just as fast on my regular bike on the downhill sections. It’s all about not being a jerk when passing people and slowing down to a reasonable pace, regardless of what vehicle you’re riding.

It’s pretty sweet for cruising to the pub for a pint or running to the grocery store.

Definitely a ton of people on Volt ebikes cruising the valley trails around here. I always give a big smile and a little wave when I pass one.

Haters gonna hate I suppose. I don’t really care.

I’ve borrowed a buddies ebike and gone for some trail rides around the S2S. It’s definitely a hoot. I’ve gotten some comments as I’ve passed people, but I’ll take it.

I’ve been passed a bunch on climbs by people on ebikes. It definitely triggers a certain feeling in me, but I chalk it up to a failing in my ego, and keep it in check. In the end, what other people are doing or riding shouldn’t affect me at all. I’ve been getting passed on climbs for decades, so I’m used to it.

As someone who deigns and builds bike trails professionally, I think as long as it doesn’t have a twist throttle on it, I think they should be allowed pretty much everywhere. Jurisdictions are free to make their own judgments, but it seems short sighted to me except for perhaps national parks and other protected wilderness areas.

I really don’t think it’s that big of a deal. Most people in our valley seem pretty cool about it. Good trail etiquette is the key, as it’s always been.

The whole thing seems kind of overblown to me. The people who hate them are really loud about it.

To clarify are you building trails for hikers and bikers and the hikers don't care about ebikers? Or are you building trails that are for biking only? Because if you are just building bike trails, of course everyone is cool. If you are seeing hikers get along with mtb ebikers, great, but that doesn't mean that hiker who just waved as an ebiker pass is not going to put up a stink online.

I haven't posted in this thread so I'm not anti ebike, I just want MTB ebikers to stick to legal trails just to not piss of hikers so we don't lose access on certain contested trails here in the states. CA seems much different though maybe? IMO MTB ebikers are going to take over like Uber did in cities that said they were illegal - just show up anyways and make it the norm, and pass laws to make them legal later. When the ebikes look identical to regular mtb bikers that is really going to help them assimilate and take over.

[Clownshoe]

Yeah I guess I wasn’t super clear. I build trails for mountain bikes.

Around here (Squamish/Pemberton/Whistler) most riders don’t care what type of bike you’re riding. There’s a group that are anti ebike, but I think they’re a vocal minority. The trails here are so busy and get so much wear that I don’t think it’s an appreciable difference when you add the extra laps ebikers could get.

Not sure how the hikers feel. Most of our trail network here is used prob 95% by bikers, so hiker conflict isn’t really a thing. I can see why that would be a problem in other areas.

Mostly I’m just surprised at how much people are bothered by it. It reminds me of the anti snowboarding thing from decades past. I guess I can afford to not worry about it too much because we don’t have access problems here.

It’s definitely the future. There’s no stopping it at this point.

I see more of a problem with the damage big organized races like the EWS do to a trail than I am concerned about e bikes.

In the end I’m not really looking to argue about it. Just offering a differing opinion.

[XXX-er]

Yeah I guess I wasn’t super clear. I build trails for mountain bikes.

Around here (Squamish/Pemberton/Whistler) most riders don’t care what type of bike you’re riding. There’s a group that are anti ebike, but I think they’re a vocal minority. The trails here are so busy and get so much wear that I don’t think it’s an appreciable difference when you add the extra laps ebikers could get.

Not sure how the hikers feel. Most of our trail network here is used prob 95% by bikers, so hiker conflict isn’t really a thing. I can see why that would be a problem in other areas.

Mostly I’m just surprised at how much people are bothered by it. It reminds me of the anti snowboarding thing from decades past. I guess I can afford to not worry about it too much because we don’t have access problems here.

It’s definitely the future. There’s no stopping it at this point.

I see more of a problem with the damage big organized races like the EWS do to a trail than I am concerned about e bikes.

In the end I’m not really looking to argue about it. Just offering a differing opinion.

yup defibatley the future especaily as mtn bikers age out, cool to read your input !

how about the North Shore THE birth place of free ride, I looked online at their site and it doesnt look like they have any issues with E bikes ?

up narth it doesnt look like anybody in Terrace, Smithers, Burns lake, PG, Valemont cares cuz there are no trails closed to class 1 e-bikes, I don't know much about more south

IME the hikers are usually old fucks who will hate any thing with 2 wheels, locally they have stopped trail development in " their " area to the south, if they had any foresite they would realize there are not that many bikes of any kind, that together we would have a huge lobby/ get mo money from the BC gov to build infrstructure which the mtn bikers would build and maintain but you know how old fucks are eh

[toast2266]

Mostly I’m just surprised at how much people are bothered by it. It reminds me of the anti snowboarding thing from decades past. I guess I can afford to not worry about it too much because we don’t have access problems here.

I don't really get the hate in Canada where class 1's are allowed in most places.

I get the hate in the U.S., where ebikes aren't allowed in a lot of places but ebikers ride everywhere anyways, which adds a significant level of complexity to trail advocacy discussions.

[XXX-er]

I think "clown shoes" is the name of a cool trail down there in squamish or the narth shore ?

[beaterdit]

Encountered a clueless ebiker riding up our local Salt Lake City designated DH trail, Bobsled. It's probably the most heavily trafficked designated DH trail in the state. Granted the local crusty hikers keep ripping the directional signs off their posts but still. We're both lucky it ended well.

Like others, the issue I encounter is a sizable influx of absolutely clueless riders getting into places they shouldn't be, and having no idea how to act toward other users.