Bought my first EMTB yesterday!

[Matt382]

Matt here from the Bass Lake riding area of California. Through the nightmare of 2020 and as a professional firefighter in a large city, I really wanted to avoid the ER as a patient. I found myself nearly exclusively riding my mtb(2017 stumpy), leaving the KTM parked. This is still not a safe sport by any means, but the time spent at high speed is much less. I find myself really enjoying the simplicity of riding my mtb over the dirt bike. Not being all wrapped up in gear and just lifting the bike into the truck, it's just great.

There are a few routes that just kick my butt, climbing that is, and not getting any younger. And you all seem like such a nice group So, I took the plunge! Picked up a 2021 Trek Rail 7. 10 hours of driving later, it is home. Looking forward to getting in some more laps on our local trails. Also exploring much deeper into the woods, trails that I've only ever ridden my dirt bike on.

 

[Tonybro]

You're going to enjoy that! All the gain, less of the pain!

 

[Gyre]

Good stuff and welcome! I really didn't expect dirt bike riders who weren't already mountain bikers to come to Class 1 eMTBs but it looks like at least some are making the jump.

 

[steve_sordy]

Once you realise the carrying capacity of an emtb, you will soon be starting a forest fire fighters' division!

 

[Nicho]

Matt here from the Bass Lake riding area of California. Through the nightmare of 2020 and as a professional firefighter in a large city, I really wanted to avoid the ER as a patient. I found myself nearly exclusively riding my mtb(2017 stumpy), leaving the KTM parked. This is still not a safe sport by any means, but the time spent at high speed is much less. I find myself really enjoying the simplicity of riding my mtb over the dirt bike. Not being all wrapped up in gear and just lifting the bike into the truck, it's just great.

There are a few routes that just kick my butt, climbing that is, and not getting any younger. And you all seem like such a nice group So, I took the plunge! Picked up a 2021 Trek Rail 7. 10 hours of driving later, it is home. Looking forward to getting in some more laps on our local trails. Also exploring much deeper into the woods, trails that I've only ever ridden my dirt bike on.

You'll be on fire whizzing up the hills!

 

[Third-Reef]

i come from a moto background also. On my previous MTB a TREK fuel ex 9.7 I was starting to feel comfortable with braking into turns and laying it over in berms but could never get the comfort level that i have on my 2002 CR 250. i just purchased a 2021 RAIL 9.7 and it has really given me more confidence. The level of grip, suspension and consistent braking have gotten me back closer to the moto level. With the emtb i can use power to balance through the berms, even uphill. Still working on jumping on the EMTB, i have cleared some table tops and a few gaps. But no 50-100 footers like on the 250.

 

[Matt382]

i come from a moto background also. On my previous MTB a TREK fuel ex 9.7 I was starting to feel comfortable with braking into turns and laying it over in berms but could never get the comfort level that i have on my 2002 CR 250. i just purchased a 2021 RAIL 9.7 and it has really given me more confidence. The level of grip, suspension and consistent braking have gotten me back closer to the moto level. With the emtb i can use power to balance through the berms, even uphill. Still working on jumping on the EMTB, i have cleared some table tops and a few gaps. But no 50-100 footers like on the 250.

I didn't start riding a dirt bike seriously until in my mid thirties, and I never got the guts up to jump much at all. Got decently fast in technical enduro, as that is the terrain in my backyard. The house backs up to hundreds of acres of national forest and I installed miles of "private" single track. My practice race loop took a full hour to do one lap at race pace. Sadly, the massive bark beetle pine kill-off that occurred a few years back ruined the trails. It just became too much work to keep it all open. I was riding more with a chainsaw than just riding. I still maintain a nice 15 minute lap for the boys to train on, and to maintain a presence in the area to ward off the pot farmers

Did my first ride on the bike yesterday. Put in about 20 miles. Literally flew up stuff that would normally be hike-a-bike. Nearly cleaned a technical jeep trail. Had to wait at the top for about 20 minutes for my son and friends that pushed their bikes up. It's tough to try and hide the shit-eating grin when you are ready to go and they are about to pass out. Felt it would have been mean to ride back to the bottom, just to get to ride it up again, haha.

 

[Nicho]

Felt it would have been mean to ride back to the bottom, just to get to ride it up again

It would have been totally justified, you were testing your bike to see what it would do.
Besides, it would have been very mean of your son and friends to make you wait until you had cooled down too much!

 

[Matt382]

It would have been totally justified, you were testing your bike to see what it would do.
Besides, it would have been very mean of your son and friends to make you wait until you had cooled down too much!

That climb was enough of a test for me to want to try flats again. The two dismounts I had were due to being clipped in and not being able to dab. I'm also wanting to have different pedal placement on the downhills... like more midfoot to heel. I don't even know if that is proper, but being on the balls of your feet feels a little wrong on a steep descent. Flats arriving in a few days and a new pair of 5.10s Edit to say that on a dirt bike you are constantly moving between the ball of your feet on the pegs vs the cradle formed by the heel of the boot and your foot arch. It's more static than I am used to with the feet locked in with clipless pedals. I may go back, but I at least gotta try.

 

[Gyre]

Flats and clips are both good - it's just a matter of trading off a little pedaling efficiency on one hand for one or two tenths of a second dab speed on the other. You can run the cleat slightly behind the ball of your foot as long as you're comfortable with it.

 

[grimmprincess]

I find myself really enjoying the simplicity of riding my mtb over the dirt bike.

Same here, I find myself riding the E-MTB way more than my motorbike these days. It's better fun if I'm honest with myself.

 

[Rusty]

Still working on jumping on the EMTB, i have cleared some table tops and a few gaps. But no 50-100 footers like on the 250.

As a former Pro racer I would like to bring it to your attention ....... no matter how hard you pedal it will not bring the front up when coming short on a double .............. just sayin

 

[Schnipps]

I didn't start riding a dirt bike seriously until in my mid thirties, and I never got the guts up to jump much at all. Got decently fast in technical enduro, as that is the terrain in my backyard. The house backs up to hundreds of acres of national forest and I installed miles of "private" single track. My practice race loop took a full hour to do one lap at race pace. Sadly, the massive bark beetle pine kill-off that occurred a few years back ruined the trails. It just became too much work to keep it all open. I was riding more with a chainsaw than just riding. I still maintain a nice 15 minute lap for the boys to train on, and to maintain a presence in the area to ward off the pot farmers

Did my first ride on the bike yesterday. Put in about 20 miles. Literally flew up stuff that would normally be hike-a-bike. Nearly cleaned a technical jeep trail. Had to wait at the top for about 20 minutes for my son and friends that pushed their bikes up. It's tough to try and hide the shit-eating grin when you are ready to go and they are about to pass out. Felt it would have been mean to ride back to the bottom, just to get to ride it up again, haha.

your home location sounds amazing, pics for us please!! who would only dream of living near that!

 

[Matt382]

your home location sounds amazing, pics for us please!! who would only dream of living near that!

Bass Lake Trails

Fun spot on it's own or as part of a larger trip including Yosemite.

 

[Third-Reef]

Flats or clipless, i wanted both. I started out with flats as there is no need for the increased pedaling efficiency with clipless. But i noticed how the heavier bike seemed to sort of separate from me when i was launching off the odd bits. There is a technique of front heel down and back hell up that the DH guys use to stay connected to the bike. i just went back to clipless combo and seem to have my mojo back. I had a great run down a desert fire road yesterday where i felt in tune and connected to this new bike for the first time. Told the wife i was launching off some rocks in the trail, her comment was why don't you ride around them. i didn't have good answer.

 

[RustyIron]

Matt here from the Bass Lake riding area of California.

Hey, Matt.
Glad to see a post from another citizen of our state. I know there's a lot of trails in Bass Lake, but have no idea which are good for MTB. I'm from SoCal. Lots of fun areas here. Did your 10 hour jaunt bring you down this way? The Rail 7 looks like a nice bike.

P.S.
Keep the clipless!

 

[Matt382]

Hey, Matt.
Glad to see a post from another citizen of our state. I know there's a lot of trails in Bass Lake, but have no idea which are good for MTB. I'm from SoCal. Lots of fun areas here. Did your 10 hour jaunt bring you down this way? The Rail 7 looks like a nice bike.

P.S.
Keep the clipless!

I could have gone north or south but chose to go north. Almost always a better option for me as far as traffic.

Trailforks Bass Lake

These are the trails I recommend:

- Goat Mountain is awesome. It ends next to the Forks restaurant. It's a popular hiking trail on weekends in the summer, so be prepared for foot traffic. My preferred route would be to park at the Forks, ride up Road 426 to the first dirt road on your left. Take that and the first, immediate trail on your right. That dead ends into Hidden Meadow Road. Continue on Hidden Meadow Road until that returns to a single track trail. The trail ends at Road 223. Pedal up 223 to the Goat Mountain road. This is also the point where you would shuttle to if you want. Fair warning, no e-bikes allowed

- 007 for fast flowy pure downhill. Most people only do the bottom 2 sections, but there are 3 more sections if you care to keep pedaling up the fire road. You can shuttle this ride fully, but it's an easy, constant graded fire road. Beware of motos on the trail. This is technically not a legal trail for anybody, but it is an area favorite. The Forest Supervisor has taken a look the other way approach for the time being.

- Willow Creek. Beautiful, technical trail that parallels Willow Creek. Also a popular hiking trail. Stay out of the fast moving water in the falls areas. Somebody dies every year there unfortunately. This one is the best shuttle. Drive 2.4 miles up Beasore Road from Road 274 to a dirt road on your left. The trail is just down the road.

- Chepo Saddle, Mary Jane, Willow Creek. Park at the Government center next to the fire station on Road 274. It's a clockwise route and the longest listed at 13 miles. Chepo Saddle has a brutal climb but a joy on the E-bike. The jeep trail section before Willow Creek is also pretty fun on the E-bike, but hike-a-bike for analogs.

- There is also Skyfall and Blind Squirrel if you want to do black diamond trails. I have only ever done them on my dirt bike but look forward to doing them on the e-bike.

 

[RustyIron]

Fair warning, no e-bikes allowed

 

[Zed]

That climb was enough of a test for me to want to try flats again. The two dismounts I had were due to being clipped in and not being able to dab. I'm also wanting to have different pedal placement on the downhills... like more midfoot to heel. I don't even know if that is proper, but being on the balls of your feet feels a little wrong on a steep descent. Flats arriving in a few days and a new pair of 5.10s Edit to say that on a dirt bike you are constantly moving between the ball of your feet on the pegs vs the cradle formed by the heel of the boot and your foot arch. It's more static than I am used to with the feet locked in with clipless pedals. I may go back, but I at least gotta try.

Ebike = Flats
Each to their own, but I just can't understand clipping in on an eMtb

 

[rod9301]

That climb was enough of a test for me to want to try flats again. The two dismounts I had were due to being clipped in and not being able to dab. I'm also wanting to have different pedal placement on the downhills... like more midfoot to heel. I don't even know if that is proper, but being on the balls of your feet feels a little wrong on a steep descent. Flats arriving in a few days and a new pair of 5.10s Edit to say that on a dirt bike you are constantly moving between the ball of your feet on the pegs vs the cradle formed by the heel of the boot and your foot arch. It's more static than I am used to with the feet locked in with clipless pedals. I may go back, but I at least gotta try.

Absolutely, you want the weight supported under the arch, not under the back of the foot.
This goes for climbing and descending.

 

[HORSPWR]

Ebike = Flats
Each to their own, but I just can't understand clipping in on an eMtb

Me too, I've had a few get offs and close calls that happened in milliseconds with flats, clipped in and I'd be in a whole other world of pain.

 

[RustyIron]

Yeah... no.
Clipless pedals for the win.
It's a skill just like any other.

 

[Zed]

Clipless pedals for the win.

Tell that to Sam Hill

Nah, in all fairness, I suppose in some ways I could entertain clipless on an eMtb more than on a regular bike, simply because getting hung up while pedalling up gnar is less likely with the motor and long travel. I did have a couple of upsetting falls doing that on clipless years ago back when I used to use them.

But for me, I just don't feel like pushing myself as much on clipless. I ride more conservatively, less sideways and I'm apprehensive about getting significantly airborne. That's why I run flats.

Definitely there is an edge for clipless when I'm pedalling long hauls - efficiency wise - but that's irrelevant to me on an eMtb.

Of course flats have the poster boy Sam, three time consecutive EWS champ on flats, so it's very hard to argue there's a technical benefit to clipless. I'm not saying they're worse, but I am saying they're not better - depending on what someone's used to.

Except on hardtails! Clipless are much better for going fast over rough on hardtails! That I will concede, it's my experience too. On a full suspension bike, the suspensions' job is filling the gap between the underneath of your foot and the ground - with bike. No need to clip in.

It's all just what you're comfortable with, of course.

 

[The Hodge]

It's all just what you're comfortable with, of course.

Is the right answer...
I've never ridden flats ..and never will..?

 

[Gyre]

If you’re going to cite Sam Hill in EWS, what about the UCI DH World Cup pros? Last I heard most of the top riders in that series use clipless.

 

[Zed]

If you’re going to cite Sam Hill in EWS, what about the UCI DH World Cup pros? Last I heard most of the top riders in that series use clipless.

I think you missed this bit in bold:

Of course flats have the poster boy Sam, three time consecutive EWS champ on flats, so it's very hard to argue there's a technical benefit to clipless. I'm not saying they're worse, but I am saying they're not better - depending on what someone's used to.

A huge number of riders use clipless. It's another thing for the market to push. And it's seen as a rite of passage for newbs, so a lot of riders end up getting used to them. Like I said, I'm not saying clipless is worse, I'm saying it's not better, IMO, like many will suggest.

 

[Gyre]

I think you missed this bit in bold:

I use both so I don’t particularly have a dog in the fight. It’s just that Sam Hill comes up frequently in the flats/clipless debates but for some reason the UCI DH pros get left out.