I was out gravel grinding yesterday. I was going up a steep rough gravel road when 5 young guys on e-mountain bikes came blowing by me. The last one says “ you don’t have an e-bike, sucks to be you” as he passes. I thought that was a weird thing to say because my whole purpose for being there was to challenge myself rather than just ride a moped.
Apparently it sucks to pedal your bike
ljsmith
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Same with me. The slower crew have been getting E-Bikes and it has pulled the group back to a similar speed which is great. Several of the guys have lung and heart conditions preventing them from riding at higher heart rates. They want to ride hard but can't. The E-bike gets them back in the game. It is a glorious thing seeing those guys loving biking again rather than just being in the hurt locker the whole ride and holding up the group. It's not fun when you are the slowest guy by a step %. You end up riding by yourself for most the ride, then when you finally catch up the rest of the group are refreshed and charge off again yet you haven't rested.
For that reason I get a bit of old man rage at the incredibly selfish individuals advocating to ban E-bikes. That is essentially advocating in banning the people who cant get out into the forest on their own steam due to health reasons.
Well, I wouldn't say nobody wants them, but at least Ford and GM are throttling back the rollout big time - article below. I'd imagine Stellantis is breathing a sign of relief. And I think Akio Toyoda was more right about hybrids even though he was squeezed out as CEO (at least partly) from saying so.
I was actually surprised by GM's Mary Barra statements who has her company "all in" on EVs with no hybrid options anymore.
Either way, I know I can't afford an EV (that still wouldn't work for me and my life)
EVs create profit potholes for major US automakers GM, Ford
The electric vehicle push by Ford and General Motors cut into both companies' profit margins which has the automakers revising some of their EV plans to rein in costs.
www.foxbusiness.com
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Not sure what your point is here. Just because you like two things does not make them the same thing.
Its simple: You are a cyclist when you are riding your bike and an e-biker when you are on your ebike.
And you are a car driver when driving your car and dirt biker when riding a dirt bike.
Or if this is more of an identity thing for you then you are both a cyclist and an eBiker.
I have ridden eBikes on and off-road. Yes they are fun, and yes they “feel” similar in many ways. But they are not the same. One is a motor sport (well at least off road… on-road its transportation for me, not a sport)
This is not intended as an anti-eBike comment, just calling it what it is.
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It really isn't about want or don't want. Moreover, the EV is far from ready for prime time. They fall under hoverbaord and other items that spontaneously combust! Other issues are range and how long it takes to refuel. Then we get to the point of replacing the battery. When it costs up the wazoo! Annnd, we can sweep the environmental damage done by mining and processing of materials to make said EV's under the rug! So much for the tofu and tree hugging going on!Well, I wouldn't say nobody wants them, but at least Ford and GM are throttling back the rollout big time - article below. I'd imagine Stellantis is breathing a sign of relief. And I think Akio Toyoda was more right about hybrids even though he was squeezed out as CEO (at least partly) from saying so.
I was actually surprised by GM's Mary Barra statements who has her company "all in" on EVs with no hybrid options anymore.
Either way, I know I can't afford an EV (that still wouldn't work for me and my life)
EVs create profit potholes for major US automakers GM, Ford
The electric vehicle push by Ford and General Motors cut into both companies' profit margins which has the automakers revising some of their EV plans to rein in costs.
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My external sales pitch: I want to get a lightweight e-bike to equalize the speed between my wife and me a bit so our ride pace is more alike.
My internal sales pitch: I want it so I can smash more laps per outing.
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The post I responded to said “cyclists like to pedal without assist”.
Well Im a cyclist, but still like to pedal with assist.
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Good riddance.
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You buy her the bike that fits you and say that it’s “modern geometry.”
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Some would call that high maintenance.
I call it high priority
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Important to who? You? We'll just have to agree that we have different ideas of what is important, and that's okay. Important to Strava, I suppose. Yeah, I can see the need to properly categorize your ride, at least for the small minority of bike riders that use it. But that's just a circle jerk in the grand scheme of things.
I can see the importance of legal vs illegal bikes on the trails. Are riding a Sur Ron or a dirtbike on mountain bike trails? Get the F outta here. Riding a class 1 e-mtb on trails closed to e-bikes, be prepared for blowback, poacher.
Beyond that, I couldn't care less if you're on an e-mtb or a gravel bike or a single speed or a mountain unicycle or a vintage 26er or a dentist bike or a Walmart special, just so long as you're having fun and not being an ass.
You do you, and I'll do me.
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Your described scenario is great, makes sense, gives me warm fuzzies, etc: old guys still out there doing it. Good for them. I see these guys on my local trails and it doesn't bother me one bit.
But the other side to that is inexperienced 25-year-olds using all that extra power to haul ass. Just two days ago I was riding and two riders were coming uphill faster than I was descending on eBikes. Not because I am slow, but because after 39 years I understand when to cut it loose (good sightlines) and when not to (this particular blind corner).
My first instinct is always to let the climbing riders pass. IMBA, NORBA, all that. And I would have given enough time. But these guys on Lunas were on top of me too quickly. They never waivered, acknowledged me or gave me an inch. I had to bail off the trail.
There are opinions, and there are facts. This incident WOULD NOT have happened with analog bikes. These two dipshits would have been pushing their bikes up the hill.
So beyond all the "is it really a bicycle?" debate, my real question is how do we coexist? How do we govern this new wild west? Your average park ranger can't tell the difference between a class 1 and the class 3 bikes these guys were riding. And that's a problem. Some of the new eBikes are very stealthy in hiding their "e." And that's a problem.
Government is fundamentally lazy. Parks are understaffed. You can bet if a particular entity receives too many complaints from rich folks, AKA hikers and equestrians, regarding those "bikers," they will simply ban bikes.
If you don't think this can happen, Uncle Spokey can tell you stories about the mid '80s when we lost thousands of miles of trails almost overnight.
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I think a lot of people who insist on drawing these hard lines must be on the spectrum.
I refuse to define myself by such narrow categories as "cyclist", or "car guy" or whatever, primarily because I find people who do so are insufferable closed minded twats, and I don't want to be associated with them.
I'm a guy who likes to ride bikes. Mountain bikes, e-bikes, motor-bikes, etc. More generally, if it's got wheels, I probably like it. Skateboards, cars, trucks, scooters, and boy those one wheel things look like a hoot but I have yet to try one out yet.
Relative to e-MTB's, the most appropriate place for their use is on existing MTB trails, because they're nearly identical in size, speed, weight, appearance, handling, sound, and the skills required to ride them. I've ridden them on motorized trails, and in 90% of the cases, it's just the wrong place for them.
I really don't know anyone who's saying that ebikes are the same as traditional bikes, or should be called the same thing, but I keep hearing that argument. Nobody is saying that. What we are saying is that they should be treated the same. Same trail access, same etiquette, etc. Could we stand to make some tweaks to reduce the chances of a negative interaction? Directional trails where needed, etc? Sure. Access doesn't have to be all or nothing.
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I refuse to define myself by such narrow categories as "cyclist", or "car guy" or whatever, primarily because I find people who do so are insufferable closed minded twats, and I don't want to be associated with them.
I'm a guy who likes to ride bikes. Mountain bikes, e-bikes, motor-bikes, etc. More generally, if it's got wheels, I probably like it. Skateboards, cars, trucks, scooters, and boy those one wheel things look like a hoot but I have yet to try one out yet.
Relative to e-MTB's, the most appropriate place for their use is on existing MTB trails, because they're nearly identical in size, speed, weight, appearance, handling, sound, and the skills required to ride them. I've ridden them on motorized trails, and in 90% of the cases, it's just the wrong place for them.
I really don't know anyone who's saying that ebikes are the same as traditional bikes, or should be called the same thing, but I keep hearing that argument. Nobody is saying that. What we are saying is that they should be treated the same. Same trail access, same etiquette, etc. Could we stand to make some tweaks to reduce the chances of a negative interaction? Directional trails where needed, etc? Sure. Access doesn't have to be all or nothing.
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