E-ntense
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yes
That was so sick!! He almost did a manual at the beginning and I'm pretty sure I saw both tires leave the ground a few times (although I think I heard him squeak out a fart from the effort)
Cause believe it or not all you have to do is type "Gee Atherton naked" into the great GOOGLYMOOGLY and those pictures come up.
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fat bikes don't all come at the same premium as e-bikes. i'd be curious to see sales numbers for both segments.Worked for fat bikes?
That looks like Pemberton. I've never seen it quite so wet though, so it's hard to tell. If it is Pembi, then that's a shuttle spot, with one climbing trail to get to the top.
na that's Squamish, and a bunch of not shuttle trails, but probably some shuttleable-ish ones too...and Pemby these days way more people use then climbing trails than shuttle.
hmmm. makes sense with all that moss in the trees. I wonder how that video will impact these developments (which seem to be focused on Squamish?)
Pretty much every e-video I have seen leaves me with the same impression.
Climbing ALMOST looks like it could be fun.
Descending looks like work. It never seems to be fluid, the bike looks like it is always sitting deep in the travel with little pop.
It may feel totally different to ride, but it looks like it would feel like an old-skool 50 pound monster you have to heave around.
Hopefully they will have it all figured out in 15-20 years when I'm 70 odd, by then my feelings may have evolved.
Climbing ALMOST looks like it could be fun.
Descending looks like work. It never seems to be fluid, the bike looks like it is always sitting deep in the travel with little pop.
It may feel totally different to ride, but it looks like it would feel like an old-skool 50 pound monster you have to heave around.
Hopefully they will have it all figured out in 15-20 years when I'm 70 odd, by then my feelings may have evolved.
I'll admit, I've tried an E-bike (Kill list if you must, I accept your scorn) and they do indeed descend exactly how you'd think. Remember when we all rode stupid bikes with 3" Gazzalodis and tried to huck to flat off of everything? Except we couldn't because those stupid pigs couldn't get going fast enough, nor you you manual them well enough to actually launch off a jump. E-bikes are just like that.
Uphill they work, but only kinda and won't let you develop the cardio you need to really boogey going down.
Uphill they work, but only kinda and won't let you develop the cardio you need to really boogey going down.
Allow me to try and explain... And this is from riding one for the past 2 months almost daily rather than watching random riders in videos.
Yes climbing does becomes way more fun. Firstly an Emtb halves climbing time on a ride (or more if you really go for it in full assist)
A lot of the climbs where I ride have banked edges on the steepest switchbacks. on an Emtb these become UPHILL berms. A lot are singletrack and riding them at 13-14mph with way less effort is obviously going to be more fun than riding the same singletrack at 7mph blowing out your arse. Rocky lumpy climbs you need to tiptoe through looking for the best lines for grip and to hold momentum on a normal mtb on an Emtb you can now look at those rocks, roots holes etc. for what can gapped, manualled through or plowed if you so wish. Muddy sloggy momentum sapping sections can be blasted through quickly without leaving you absolutely hanging for the next section of climb.
Descending: The extra weight can make descending more physical. but YOU have the option to ride smooth.
Hopping/manualling a heavier bike obviously takes more effort. So look for natural lips etc to help out. It actually jumps really really well. (tables and whips nicely too)
The extra weight means the bike will give you more grip/stability/momentum and the pump you get from it is phenomenal.
I don't know which videos or which bikes you've witnessed being ridden with excess amounts of sag being ridden. I personally set my 170mm Emtb up with 24% sag on the Lyrik (I was running less fork sag from the beginning but it was becoming harsh on descents of more than 6mins so I've settled there) and 27% rear. compression full open. No tokens and fairly quick rebound. The bike has plenty pop and playfulness...
TBC'd (RM is doing some weird verification thing if I type more words.. must be a Lizard thing)
PT 2
Back to the weight. Mine came with 3C DH casing DHFs and tubes. I found these horrible. far too draggy and heavy (combined with the heavy chassis). eg. for instance the moment you passed the 15mph limit on the assist the bike felt like it was being pedalled through treacIe. fitted a 2.5 DHF and 2.3 SS both exo and tubeless. (a 3lb difference in weight) This had a massive effect on handling making the bike roll faster, easier to break loose/drift, accelerate faster and the suspension felt more supple/playful for the change too.
To put this into perspective the other night I went out for a local XC ride with a mate. We did a loop of 18 miles of undulating singletrack. He's more of a motorcyclist than cyclist and I'm a lot fitter than him so I actually turned the motor OFF for all the climbs. There's absolutely no way I'd have done that had it still been running the 3Cs it came with. (descents were all above the 15mph limit anyway) and I only used the assist for acceleration into a few fun bits and to ride ahead/double back a couple of times to make sure the route was passable (it can get mental with nettles/thorns/fern growth etc. some of the route this time of year)
The bike now weighs 46lb so yes pretty similar to an old skool DH bike weight. but it doesn't handle the same as the weight distribution is different. (I was surprised by this too). Once you get used to this the bike it is almost annoyingly capable. it's faster descending than my 32lb carbon Enduro bike and both my DH bikes except for on properly gnarly rocky DH tracks where the DH bikes have the edge and the derp loses even more. (I'm only talking seconds here BTW).
The other thing about riding this thing so much is my riding habits have changed dramatically. whereas I'd normally ride my hardtail locally in the evenings (it's more XC here). travel 40-90mins or more to meet friends to ride big Enduro style loops or DH at the weekends and ride my roadbike for recovery/Endurance other times. I can now drive down after work (only 20mins from work) and get more DH/derp riding done in 2-3hrs than I would in those all day weekend group rides, ride the Ebike locally for longer at a lower intensity off road than I could the roadbike but still have a lot of fun doing so. Basically my quality of riding per actual riding time has shot up.
it's also absolutely awesome for riding home (uphill) from the pub after a skin full.
I meet younger riders all the time slogging up climbs now and genuinely think to myself I wish I had had this bike when I was 15 years younger.
Back to the weight. Mine came with 3C DH casing DHFs and tubes. I found these horrible. far too draggy and heavy (combined with the heavy chassis). eg. for instance the moment you passed the 15mph limit on the assist the bike felt like it was being pedalled through treacIe. fitted a 2.5 DHF and 2.3 SS both exo and tubeless. (a 3lb difference in weight) This had a massive effect on handling making the bike roll faster, easier to break loose/drift, accelerate faster and the suspension felt more supple/playful for the change too.
To put this into perspective the other night I went out for a local XC ride with a mate. We did a loop of 18 miles of undulating singletrack. He's more of a motorcyclist than cyclist and I'm a lot fitter than him so I actually turned the motor OFF for all the climbs. There's absolutely no way I'd have done that had it still been running the 3Cs it came with. (descents were all above the 15mph limit anyway) and I only used the assist for acceleration into a few fun bits and to ride ahead/double back a couple of times to make sure the route was passable (it can get mental with nettles/thorns/fern growth etc. some of the route this time of year)
The bike now weighs 46lb so yes pretty similar to an old skool DH bike weight. but it doesn't handle the same as the weight distribution is different. (I was surprised by this too). Once you get used to this the bike it is almost annoyingly capable. it's faster descending than my 32lb carbon Enduro bike and both my DH bikes except for on properly gnarly rocky DH tracks where the DH bikes have the edge and the derp loses even more. (I'm only talking seconds here BTW).
The other thing about riding this thing so much is my riding habits have changed dramatically. whereas I'd normally ride my hardtail locally in the evenings (it's more XC here). travel 40-90mins or more to meet friends to ride big Enduro style loops or DH at the weekends and ride my roadbike for recovery/Endurance other times. I can now drive down after work (only 20mins from work) and get more DH/derp riding done in 2-3hrs than I would in those all day weekend group rides, ride the Ebike locally for longer at a lower intensity off road than I could the roadbike but still have a lot of fun doing so. Basically my quality of riding per actual riding time has shot up.
it's also absolutely awesome for riding home (uphill) from the pub after a skin full.
I meet younger riders all the time slogging up climbs now and genuinely think to myself I wish I had had this bike when I was 15 years younger.
Well that's a load of utter bollocks... How long did you try one for? and what tyres did it have?
Manualling mine took a good bit of re-calibration. You need to preload much more, kick harder and the balance point is way higher. almost disconcertingly if like me you ride a lot of BMX/Hardtails and like to manual with the front wheel low.
As for cardio. it's far easier to stay in a particular HR zone on my Emtb and still enjoy the ride than it ever was on any other bike. even on my roadbike.
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Rick sounds right but can’t be sure.
He did some keyboard warrior stuff over at mtbr a few years ago.... dont recall the details.
He did some keyboard warrior stuff over at mtbr a few years ago.... dont recall the details.
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If you look at figures from outside the USA you'll find Ebike sales are huge and the fastest growing bicycle sales segment in lots of Countries. I believe aproaching numbers of normal bike sales in some european Countries. Wouldn't have thought Fatbike sales numbers were huge anywhere.
yea, they're selling like hotcakes, and they climb faster mostly, and in the end they're still motor-bikes.
I'll be the slow guy on the climb. I'm cool with that.
I'll be the slow guy on the climb. I'm cool with that.
Proper electric motorbikes (not pedal-assist pseudo-MTBs) are showing up more and more around here now. They're throttle activated and weigh a bit more than the pedalec types but don't have speed restrictions and have heaps more power. It's going to be a shitstorm for trail access in the long run, but they're pretty cool to see. I wouldn't mind having a spin on one, but I don't know where I'd end up using one except MTB trails. They're not hectic enough for a proper MX track or whatever.
Yeah. I'm gonna continue riding, hiking, skiing, climbing without a motor. If I wanted a motor to do the work for me I'd be on a moto, snowmobile, quad or some other motor vehicle. Call me old fashioned. Lucky most of the fast riders I know have the same sentiment so we'll keep shredding the old fashioned way. Unless of course we want to ride dirt bikes, then we'll just ride dirt bikes.
And @Gary I can't take anything you say about tires or bikes seriously any more:
"hard tire compounds are the best"
"I love my Minion SS for steep muddy stuff"
"my 46lb ebike descends faster than my 32lb trail bike"
Just for reference this is how this dude normally looks on a bike.
He looks like a Joey in comparison on that e-bike.
Dammit, must spread rep
This is what I’m hoping for.
Gotta agree with you here. Most brands seem to be purposely making promotional videos with their Emtbs not being ridden too rowdily and certainly few have any footage of the bikes hucking or jumping anything sizeable.
Take Canyon for an example. Muttiple WC DH champion riding their Emtb in all the promotional videos, and what's he doing on it? riding smooth rock chutes doing the odd kick out in a turn and power wheelying back up?
Not sure if this is because of the target market or if they don't want loads of snapped bikes returning and blowing their reputation in a new market.
they're peddling mediocrity to the mediocre. what more do you expect?
That is what I expect. Doesn't mean some of the actual bikes aren't capable of way above mediocre riding though.
Raise of hands. In all honesty, who here would have the lost the bet that Gary would be our resident e-biker?
That was really bad. You should feel bad.
TBF compared to most I was quite an early adopter to DH too
Such a bunch of fucking luddites here, eh?... Ha haaaaa ah ahhhhaaa
Misquoting people gets old real fast.. harder compounds simply roll faster, take less effort climbing and break free earlier. Whatever tyre/compound you prefer to use for all round riding it is always going to be a compromise of some sort at some point. I just prefer to deal with it quietly.
Way faster riders than the ones you know ride Ebikes
Your moral high ground is massively flawed.
Oh.. And BTW hiking is time spent in the hills when you could have been riding a bike. You don't ever get that back.
I spend a lot of time hiking with my bike. I get that time back on the downhills.
Yeah. I've done plenty of that too. Ebikes can also reduce the length of time spent on the unpleasant part of it.
i finally had a go on one off these abominations (full carbon top spec rocky), and have to say - these things are ridiculously fun, and impressively capable. opens up so many possibilities - self shuttling sans cars, doubling or tripling the number of dh laps per ride, climbing heinous non (typically) ride able routes with (relative) ease. climbing is actually fun - as gary says - carving corners & popping off hits - on the uphill. it's fairly ridiculous. and the weight was significantly less ponderous on the downs than i expected. i had a grin plastered on my face the whole time. without getting into trail access / user conflict issues, i have to say they (can be) pretty damn effective good time implements. still not going to buy one any year soon, but i kinda get the appeal now.
I'm reallty torn about trying one out. I will be in Les Gets for a few days this summer. I'm debating whether to rent an enduro bike, an e-bike, or a DH bike for a day. /fwp
Or..... perhaps it is because it's hard to ride a super heavy trail bike and look good doing it.
Way faster riders than I ride with ride dirt bikes. But they don't show up for a bike ride on their dirt bike and they don't claim they're mountain biking when they go for a lap on the mx bike. It's a different sport go talk about your e moped on an e moped forum.
Are motor vehicles allowed on the trails you e moped on?
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it's seriously not. once you're used to it. The first time I took mine to a local dirt jump I ended up pissing myself laughing at how terrible it felt. a few weeks later when I was more used to the bike I took it to a bike park with a jump line. it takes a slightly different approach to my 32lb trail bike, which in turn is different to my 26lb DJ bike. But it's absolutely possible to make the same shapes on the e-bike once you're used to those differences.
What the fuck are you even talking about now? You've come steaming into an E-bike thread with all sorts of weird prejudices and absolutely fuck all actual experience.
Yes. On lots of them. Especially on the climbs where folk like you seem to get your panties all sucked up your sphincter if one passes you.
My Emtb makes absolutely no difference regarding trail damage/erosion or any impact to any other user in any way to riding my non motor assisted bikes.
I live in Scotland. You clearly understand fuck all about trail use/access here either. So probably STFU. Maybe take some time out in the bong shed you seem a little angry... Bro
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If you're only around for a few days I wouldn't waste your time climbing anything except maybe to get over to another valley (lift assisted) this can be done on a DH bike easily so I'd probably just go with that.
An Emtb battery would be done after 2 climbs of the Plenney/Mont Cherry
Currently posting from the bong shed bro. Nothing better than starting your day off with a coffee and some herb.
I've said before, if you're on trails that allow motor vehicles go for it. It sounds like you're riding your e moped on some trails that aren't for motor vehicles though. Why do you think that it's ok to take your motor vehicle on trails for human powered recreation?
Do what you like bud. Just don't fool yourself into thinking that you're mountain biking when your out on your dirt moped. And don't bother trying to convince me that you can descend/jump/bunny hop worth a damn on a 46lb bike. I've watched plenty of pro riders looking like garbage on e bikes cause they can't move them the way they want. So how bout I don't STFU and you chew ma banger (translated to jibber jabber for your convenience).
PS I've ridden a few e bikes. I can see why people like them. I even enjoyed riding them. Especially blasting up loose hillsides like I was hill climbing a dirt bike. But at the end of the day is just a shitty dirt bike combined with a too heavy mtb. If I wanted to ride around with a motor I'd get a dirt bike. Those are super fun too.
PPS it's not an e bike thread it's a thread making fun of e bikes. Keep up.
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