Now I understand eBikes (and why that's ok)

[KJMUNC]

I recently picked up a MTB after a very long hiatus and have been exploring the trails near our new house in San Diego. Most of my prior MTB experience was in Georgia, where we had wooded trails with lots of technical obstacles but the terrain was generally pretty gentle. Fast forward 15 years and now I'm experiencing the terrain of Rancho Penasquitos

The first couple of rides I saw a large proportion (30-40%) of people riding e-assist MTBs and thought "what wimps!"......but yesterday really opened my eyes. Basically the PQ area consists of a ton of trails off the tops of a mesa ....but then you gotta get back to the top, which often requires some really nasty steep climbing. I'm generally not afraid of a good climb, but multiple times I had to stop and walk when my Garmin read 20%+......not even a 32x51t drivetrain helped on the steepest parts where the trail was really rocky. During one section on "Cardiac Hill", a guy on an eMTB came up from behind with a friendly "cheater coming by" -- which made me laugh as I was cursing and flogging myself to the top.

When I looked back at my stats from the ride: 17mi, 2kft of climbing, there were times I was perfectly fine cruising up a climb but others where I just wanted to get to the top so I could rip down another downhill. I figure I could easily double the amount of downhill time on my ride if I had an e-assist MTB, so now I get why so many people have them....they're not out there for the experience of climbing or riding the flats (which as a roadie I just accept), they're trying to maximize the time they have to go downhill.

I'm not going to turn in my MTB and buy an e-assist bike yet, but now I get why so many people have (as my sore knees today remind me!)

[jimcav]

I broke my ankle almost 2 weeks ago (tomorrow is day 14). I started using my wife's e-mtb just to get outside in the neighborhood on a flat loop--wouldn't be possible without the "e". Too heavy to enjoy for mtb in my opinion, I'd need e-assist on nearly all the time for trails here (except when going downhill).

When I'm healed up in another month hopefully, if you ever want to ride trails up here in north county, let me know

Jim

[charliedid]

Outdoor recreation.

Have fun.

[joosttx]

Originally Posted by charliedid

Outdoor recreation.

Have fun.

This. I love ebikes.

[R3awak3n]

+1. What ever gets people out there and having fun

[dan_hudson]

I think your perspective on eMTB has a lot to do with local conditions. If your trails are shared (e.g. foot traffic, horses) and oversubscribed, eMTBs might become a bad thing for wheel access. Will be too hard for staff to casually tell the difference between bike types. If conflicts do increase, will be easier to limit bike access - perhaps no wknds between Memorial Day + Labor Day in places not San Diego?

Me? I'm in the pessimistic camp. Bikes are just so good these days, definitely lowers the bar of entry and pedal assist lowers it that much more. Don't think it will be about speed, just more people being able to do more miles in a visit means more interactions so more opportunities for bad ones.

Hope I'm wrong!

[William]

Originally Posted by KJMUNC

When I looked back at my stats from the ride: 17mi, 2kft of climbing, there were times I was perfectly fine cruising up a climb but others where I just wanted to get to the top so I could rip down another downhill. I figure I could easily double the amount of downhill time on my ride if I had an e-assist MTB, so now I get why so many people have them....they're not out there for the experience of climbing or riding the flats (which as a roadie I just accept), they're trying to maximize the time they have to go downhill.

I'm not going to turn in my MTB and buy an e-assist bike yet, but now I get why so many people have (as my sore knees today remind me!)

Danny Mac agrees with you!!





W.

[EB]

Nothing against e-mtb. I see them as expanding the sport which inevitably will continue its development.

There is a big problem with access and advocacy, however. For example, in Marin, which already has extremely challenging cyclist access issues with trails, and terrible politics around the issue, e-mtbs are technically banned almost everywhere, even places acoustic bikes are allowed like MMWD fire roads. This is generally not being enforced - or it’s being selectively enforced, such as at the new Ponti Ridge trail in Marinwood.

Soquel Demo Forest is another example - CalFire bans E-MTB, yet they are currently everywhere at Demo.

e-mtbs are everywhere and growing in number daily, but “banned” most places - yet bans are not enforced. This is not a stable situation and I’m worried it will ultimately be bad for all cyclists.

[johnnylarue]

Originally Posted by Eli Bingham

Nothing against e-mtb. I see them as expanding the sport which inevitably will continue its development.

There is a big problem with access and advocacy, however. For example, in Marin, which already has extremely challenging cyclist access issues with trails, and terrible politics around the issue, e-mtbs are technically banned almost everywhere, even places acoustic bikes are allowed like MMWD fire roads. This is generally not being enforced - or it’s being selectively enforced, such as at the new Ponti Ridge trail in Marinwood.

Soquel Demo Forest is another example - CalFire bans E-MTB, yet they are currently everywhere at Demo.

e-mtbs are everywhere and growing in number daily, but “banned” most places - yet bans are not enforced. This is not a stable situation and I’m worried it will ultimately be bad for all cyclists.

Remind me again what the rationalizations for banning e-mtbs would be?

[Jaybee]

I can't speak to trail access issues in California, but we have plenty of user conflict issues here on the Front Range. Speaking only from personal experience, a lot of what I was worried about as e-bikes gained popularity has not come to pass, yet. I, like many here, thought they would lower the skills entry barrier for some of the steeper, rougher stuff around here such that we'd see a bunch of people over their head, riding out of control, and generally creating a bad name for mountain bikers in general. In practice, it seems like the e-bike riders are in one of two categories - pretty good riders just trying to maximize their time on the descent or people who wouldn't otherwise be biking at all puttering around on beginner trails. Getting more people who love biking can only be good when it comes time to assess who is using these trails and what the priorities should be. I don't think it's increased negative interactions with hikers and everyone I've encountered has been polite and even self-deprecating about their e-assist.

[Dude]

I really think people should reserve judgement until they ride one. I’ve had so much fun on mine. So much more than I imagined; they really are a game changer.

[Spinner]

I rented a Cannondale e-mtb in Crested Butte on a 2019 family vacation because I'd never been on one and I was riding with my 27-year-old son who is a beast. It was a blast and allowed us to ride together.

Based on the above, at some point I can see one in my stable. You can still get as much of a workout as you want

[KJMUNC]

Originally Posted by Jaybee

I can't speak to trail access issues in California, but we have plenty of user conflict issues here on the Front Range. Speaking only from personal experience, a lot of what I was worried about as e-bikes gained popularity has not come to pass, yet. I, like many here, thought they would lower the skills entry barrier for some of the steeper, rougher stuff around here such that we'd see a bunch of people over their head, riding out of control, and generally creating a bad name for mountain bikers in general. In practice, it seems like the e-bike riders are in one of two categories - pretty good riders just trying to maximize their time on the descent or people who wouldn't otherwise be biking at all puttering around on beginner trails. Getting more people who love biking can only be good when it comes time to assess who is using these trails and what the priorities should be. I don't think it's increased negative interactions with hikers and everyone I've encountered has been polite and even self-deprecating about their e-assist.

Yeah, this is pretty much my experience too.....I haven't seen a bunch of newbies doing stupid stuff and ignoring rules. If anything it's the opposite....experienced folks riding like jerks because they're going faster and act like those on regular old bikes are just in their way. FWIW, that behavior isn't limited to eMTBs....I saw a lot of the same on gravel bikes in the Santa Monica mountains and occasionally on the road too.

agree with all the comments about getting more people out on bikes. My guess is the vast majority of people buying them are sticking to fire roads and it's a relatively small percentage who are really using them to crank more reps on legit trail/DH stuff.

[jimcav]

On my last trip to Utah, I went to the hurricane ridge area 3 days in a row. On the eastern tougher part at the end of goosebumps and on uphills like dead ringer the e bikers outnumbered reg mtn 2 to 1 during my rides and they were all middle aged into 60s experienced riders. That might just be that area which is a bit of a destination ride area

[joosttx]

I have come across eMTB’ers that didn’t know how to handle a bike or ride a trail. One 250+ fella with his 60lb plus bike almost mowed my son over when the ebiker rounded a blinded corner on the inside. He locked his brakes and my son (an experienced 10 year old) dodged him before the dude came to a complete stop 4ft past my son. Ugh. But with that’s said I think they are a good thing.