Bosch Domination?

[Gary]

Hill lost 55 seconds on the first power stage to the brose and Bosch in 1st and 2nd place

 

[Gary]

While he was still playing Reece absolutely schooled Hill (on the actual downhills where motor differences wouldn't really matter)

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Sam Hill said on Insta he sucked at the power stages. But yeah he smashed a lot of the other DH stages once Reece was out.

 

[Gary]

Sam was such a massive inspiration to most downhillers of our generation. What he had achieved in mtb gravity racing has been unbelievable and its been hard to watch his demise this year. His dominance in EWS had to come to an end at some point though. His determination to train hard at the end if an already long successful DH career to then dominate EWS for back to back years shows true strength. Personally I think he's done now as far as winning on a world level and I kinda hope he goes out graciously to spend more time with his family. Possibly taking on a role similar to Peaty's at Santa cruz rather than attempting to re-invent himself as a E-Enduro racer.
Until organisers drop climbing stages in E-Enduro stage racing it's nothing more than an embarrassing farce. Seeing the entire field push 50lb+ Ebikes up greasy hills is more "its a knockout" than mtb
By all means hold a separate hill climb stage that doesn't affect the overall Enduro result.

You down in the valley this weekend Rob?

 

[Mountainebiker]

Why would you drop the climbing stages? If you do, then you just have EWS with a motor (although the liaisons are very different). As long as they have a good element of technicality and are not just steep (which just favours the lightest rider) then the power stages reflect a big part of what ebiking is about for a lot of riders.

 

[Mountainebiker]

Seeing the entire field push 50lb+ Ebikes up greasy hills is more "its a knockout" than mtb

Did anyone clear it?

 

[Mteam]

Why would you drop the climbing stages? If you do, then you just have EWS with a motor (although the liaisons are very different). As long as they have a good element of technicality and are not just steep (which just favours the lightest rider) then the power stages reflect a big part of what ebiking is about for a lot of riders.

Is ebiking really about climbing for a lot of riders?

Genuinely interested, not trolling, it's not what I'm interested in, I just use an ebike to get more descents in.

 

[Doomanic]

Is ebiking really about climbing for a lot of riders?

Only as a tool to get the top of the hill. Technical climbing doesn't interest me in the slightest.

 

[Pivot]

Is ebiking really about climbing for a lot of riders?

Genuinely interested, not trolling, it's not what I'm interested in, I just use an ebike to get more descents in.

I enjoy climbing up as much as hurling down the hill. It is a vastly different experience and gives me diff type of exercise.

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

I really like technical climbing sections. Also like to try climbing steep loam climbs where you have ridiculous grip but would not make it on a regular pedal bike due to the angles being very steep.

I agree about the uphill stuff needing to be refined in competition though. At the tweed love Bosch EMTB Challenge they had some technical ‘no dab’ sections that really put an Ebike to good use. These were short, 50-100 metre sections where it was more about skill than power.

But when it opened up to just simple climbs but steep, lighter riders (one guy I was riding with had very little experience but was much lighter than me) absolutely blasted past me on the long climbing stages.

I think that the power stages should be some kind of point system, rather than timed, or even just add time penalties for the technical ‘trials’ time short sections of a rider dabs.

As it is lighter riders (sub 70KG) on Bosch or a Brose have a massive advantage (as Gary mentioned).

 

[Mountainebiker]

I think that the power stages should be some kind of point system, rather than timed, or even just add time penalties for the technical ‘trials’ time short sections of a rider dabs.

Yeah. Something like that could work.

In last year's Pietra Ligure EWS E, they had one super steep dusty power stage and one that was not so steep but with a rocky gully and a few must-make rocky lines. I think the latter was much better for a competition as it required a higher level of technical skill & line choice Vs rider weight (and probably motor influence) and although you still needed a pretty high level of technical skill for the steeper stage, the lighter riders had a much bigger advantage in speed.

 

[Mountainebiker]

I enjoy climbing up as much as hurling down the hill. It is a vastly different experience and gives me diff type of exercise.

Yep!

 

[Gary]

I actually really like technical climbs. They tap into my inner nerd as a technical climb has a similar level of planning ahead, searching for grip/braking points, line choice, memorising the track, concentration and execution to a technical descent.
I think I've been riding Ebikes for nearly 4 years now and I genuinely still haven't actually climbed anything on an Ebike I haven't previously on a normal bike.
There are plenty technical climbs I've only ever cleaned once on a normal bike though. and once ticked off in my head I'm happy to push up and often won't even bother attempting them again. Knowing it's doable on a normal bike tends to make it a lot less challenging on an Eeb. So although I do still ride the odd technical climb on an Ebike it doesn't have the same reward.

My most used bike for most of the 00s was a 100mm DJ bike with a massive seatpost and QR and semi-slick tyres. If you want a real challenge try technical climbing or descending on something like that I used to think nothing of doing big days up and down the trails around inners/Thornie/Yair etc. on that bike.

I think that the power stages should be some kind of point system, rather than timed, or even just add time penalties for the technical ‘trials’ time short sections of a rider dabs.

IMO they should be an optional side show at events rather than interfere with the overall at all in a multi stage GRAVITY Enduro race.

 

[Coolcmsc]

Will we see other manufacturers start to pull out of motor production in a similar scenario to Nokia, Blackberry, Palm etc.

Agreed. But maybe it’s even more true when you think about the motors in phones as being the computer chip manufacturers and there were never many of those and now just a few? In which case, Nokia and the rest would equate to the failed frame manufacturers.

 

[Slowroller]

I can't think of much that would be more boring to watch in an enduro than a hillclimb, ebike or not, technical or not. Will it be scored like trials? Or just treated like CX, where it's often just faster to get off and run? A climb in an XC race is dramatic because it's a way to make time and position on your opponents for the following descent, there's excitement to that.

 

[flash]

The long power stages don't make much sense to me. If you put a foot down at the bottom you can't get going again and have to run the whole thing, costing minutes. Shorter uphills inside the stages would be better. An off would be a few seconds, not minutes. I see it would be difficult designing different stages to the EWS. Or like Rob said time penalties for a dab on a powerstage.

Gordon