E-MTB isn’t cheating - research finding

[Winryn]

I’ve only had my bike 5 days and after 50 miles and a first proper mountain bike ride up the long mynd this morning I’m already coming to a pretty quick conclusion on it all.

Boost mode, as fun as it was messing around on cycle paths, once on a proper trail it does take a little too much away from real mountain biking imo. It’s too quick, too assisted and leaves me barely able to take in the wonderful scenery which gets me out on the trails.

Trail mode I felt was great for everything, the road section, the technical climbs (which weirdly were my fondest memory of the ride) the boggy slog and the descent. Everything was enhanced in this mode. Made good progress, could still easily reach exhaustion but didn’t find myself being pushed over the limit which usually starts making me think when is it going to be over. Made some wrong turns in the fog but didn’t care as i still had 3 bars remaining ?basically where ever I went, I enjoyed every bit of it. Got back to the van, felt fresh and alive and went home and enjoyed my day as normal.

I felt a little guilty passing riders and walkers, almost rolling past so they couldn’t hear the motor but all I can think right now is when can I get out again.

I already know I’ll never buy another traditional bike. I’ll keep my hard tail for when I take the wife out on nice summers days but for fun there is only one choice

So not cheating, just enhanced

 

[apac]

Having gears on a bike was once seen as cheating by 'purist' cyclists.
Having suspension was also once seen as controversial.

Dropper posts, clip ons, different size wheels.... The list goes on.

 

[Trail-Niels]

What’s as annoying as being labelled a cheat on an EMTB is EBike riders who think they have discovered some sort of utopia that’s just so much better than MTB.

Clearly it’s down to personal preference but I’ll always choose my MTB first. Maybe that will change when I’m old and fat ?

@Jamsxr I totally agree, it’s a matter of personal preferences.
Two years ago I did a Transalp tour on my analogue MTB. We were two parti staying at the same hotels, one was a party of EMTB’ers and our party on analogue MTB’s. There was a clear age difference between the two parties. The analogue party had an aver age around 45 years, whereas the E party was around 35 years.
I don’t think age has anything to do with it, but a matter of adopting technology.
The EMTB wave is here for sure, and some will just hate them. By listening to what the tendency is here in Denmark, it seems like the haters are mainly the XC racers - focusing on Strava times - where the trail and enduro riders are more open minded, as their focus is on playing and having fun on the trails. But it’s just my own perceptio.

 

[Trail-Niels]

So not cheating, just enhanced

I think Specialized had a slogan “same you - just faster”

 

[Rusty]

Having gears on a bike was once seen as cheating by 'purist' cyclists.
Having suspension was also once seen as controversial.

Dropper posts, clip ons, different size wheels.... The list goes on.

Damn - thought I wasn't cheating on my old steed .... until I realized ..
29er wheels
Disk Brakes
SPD Pedals

Crap, I just can't win.

 

[Zimmerframe]

Damn - thought I wasn't cheating on my old steed .... until I realized ..
29er wheels
Disk Brakes
SPD Pedals

Crap, I just can't win.

View attachment 21847

I'm pretty sure having fancy things like pedals, cranks, chain rings, chains and so on would really offend the original "pure" cyclist who would more "paddle" than pedal.

What's with the bent seat tube ? with the brick background it's forming one of those weird optical illusions which are making my eye balls feel like they're falling out sideways. Just stare at it for 30 second .. it hurts !

 

[Trail-Niels]

Damn - thought I wasn't cheating on my old steed .... until I realized ..
29er wheels
Disk Brakes
SPD Pedals

Crap, I just can't win.

View attachment 21847

Nope - this way nobody is ever going to win...

 

[Trail-Niels]

For the purists...

 

[Rusty]

What's with the bent seat tube ?
That is to allow shorter chain stays & keep the wheelbase down.
[QUOTE}with the brick background it's forming one of those weird optical illusions which are making my eye balls feel like they're falling out sideways. Just stare at it for 30 second .. it hurts !

Hell, have pics of most of my bikes there .... have to post them just to give you sore eyeballs.

 

[Beezerk]

Well after yesterday's 20 mile jaunt around County Durham I can confirm my thigh muscles are absolutely destroyed today ?.
It was like a 2 1/2 hour spinning class, just in the pissing rain not a nice cosy gym with Metallica playing ?

 

[MTBGUY65]

no you can't
you won't
there's nothing stopping you taking no break on an mtb either where do folk even get nonsense like this from?
entirely subjective, eh?

Just ride your bike and stop trying to justify its motor.

How long have you been riding mountain bikes kind sir?

 

[pallie]

I felt a little guilty passing riders and walkers, almost rolling past so they couldn’t hear the motor but all I can think right now is when can I get out again.

That's what i also do most of the time. I think i'm just a little bit embarrassed

 

[Beekeeper]

I think arguments about cheating with motors started a very long time ago.
If we trace our evolutionary history back to the start we were just a bunch of random chemicals interacting in a soup.
Then one day by chance a chemical was formed out of this mess that could make copies of itself (DNA).
This DNA then bumped into an oil droplet and we have the beginnings of a cell.

Now here is where the fun starts....
Nothing stays the same in evolution, there is constant change.
Some of the bacteria developed little tails which were powered by “flagella motors” so they could get around more easily.

“But surely that’s cheating” screamed the ancient bacteria at their early adopter friends.

 

[Gary]

How long have you been riding mountain bikes kind sir?

30 years ish my good man.

 

[MTBGUY65]

30 years ish my good man.

35 years here on non-ebikes and e-bikes for the last 4 years and I stand by my statements that you commented on.
Having more fun and just as fit riding now then I ever have in my whole life and hope to continue that through my 70's and 80's. Hope for the same for you!

 

[Gary]

Oh... right. I thought you were asking how long I'd been riding mtbs. I've been riding bikes for 46 years. BMX, roadbikes and sort of homemade geared bikes with wide riser bars before getting my first mtb a few years after I'd first seen one. probably around '91 (don't think I'd even seen an mtb until around 1987 - and they were cxalled ATBs here then)
What mtb did you have in 1984? must've been one of the first I suppose.

This isn't a pissing contest but please explain to me how an Emtb can be ridden further than a standard mtb without multiple batteries? It simply can't.
eg.
There's a guy local to me who does endurance mtb racing, he's completed the west highland way out and back in under 24 hours and won the strathpuffer 24hour race in the north of Scotland (regarded as one of the hardest winter endurance races around) completing more than 240 miles in seriously poor conditions - and it's not exactly flat. and Emtb would be lucky to complete a tenth of that on one battery.

I can't even be bothered going through the other points I made again but no one goes harder on an emtb than an mtb unless they ride it switched off. The rest of what I said is fully valid and I see absolutely no reason how long either of us have been riding bikes is even relevent. it certainly would be cause to disprove any of it.
I get that you're not happy with what I said though. Justifying emtb use with efforts/distance/fun seems quite a common Emtb owner affliction I just don't have. They're just another fun bike to ride.

I suggest just riding whatever bikes make you happiest and not worrying about what anyone else is doing.

 

[MTBGUY65]

Oh... right. I thought you were asking how long I'd been riding mtbs. I've been riding bikes for 46 years. BMX, roadbikes and sort of homemade geared bikes with wide riser bars before getting my first mtb a few years after I'd first seen one. probably around '91 (don't think I'd even seen an mtb until around 1987 - and they were cxalled ATBs here then)
What mtb did you have in 1984? must've been one of the first I suppose.

This isn't a pissing contest but please explain to me how an Emtb can be ridden further than a standard mtb without multiple batteries? It simply can't.
eg.
There's a guy local to me who does endurance mtb racing, he's completed the west highland way out and back in under 24 hours and won the strathpuffer 24hour race in the north of Scotland (regarded as one of the hardest winter endurance races around) completing more than 240 miles in seriously poor conditions - and it's not exactly flat. and Emtb would be lucky to complete a tenth of that on one battery.

I can't even be bothered going through the other points I made again but no one goes harder on an emtb than an mtb unless they ride it switched off. The rest of what I said is fully valid and I see absolutely no reason how long either of us have been riding bikes is even relevent. it certainly would be cause to disprove any of it.
I get that you're not happy with what I said though. Justifying emtb use with efforts/distance/fun seems quite a common Emtb owner affliction I just don't have. They're just another fun bike to ride.

I suggest just riding whatever bikes make you happiest and not worrying about what anyone else is doing.

I definitely agree with your last statement and is very important to keep in mind for all.
I guess it would be a case of comparing apples to apples to have any relevant conclusions to this thread.
I think some people have already commented on when it comes to people accusing Emtbiker's of cheating, who are they cheating?
I was definitely commenting on my own personal experiences which would never be the same as someone else's. Just MOPI!

 

[Gary]

Fair enough... it's great to hear folks are able to ride longer and further because of their Emtbs. but in the grand scheme of things current battery range means it's not actually all that far or long.

Seriously tho. What mtb did you first ride? I'm interested from a nerding POV

I'm not rule bound enough in the first place to give a shit about cheating. especially in a non competitive discipline devoid of rules

 

[MTBGUY65]

Fair enough... it's great to hear folks are able to ride longer and further because of their Emtbs. but in the grand scheme of things current battery range means it's not actually all that far or long.

Seriously tho. What mtb did you first ride? I'm interested from a nerding POV

I'm not rule bound enough in the first place to give a shit about cheating. especially in a non competitive discipline devoid of rules

Well for me to be able to ride for 3 hours with almost 4000 vertical foot rise sure seems far and long for this almost 70 year old. I am sure their are plenty that have more endurance but I think for an average rider that seems like it's pretty far and long IMHO.
One of my first mountain bikes was the Cannondale with the 26" front wheel and 24" rear wheel I forget what the name of it was. I believe that was 1984.

 

[Fivetones]

I’m personally only able to ride emtb these days for health reasons. It’s a god send, it really is.

I’ve been riding bikes since 1973 btw my first mtb was an 89 Raleigh Appalachian (like this, 1989 Raleigh Appalachian | Retrobike , quickly rebuilt into a Saracen Traverse Frame) that I bought in 88. Immediately prior to this my ‘winter road bike’ was ridden cyclocross style through woods. Knobblies and wide bars, nah normal road tyres and drops!

Got my first bmx 82 - mongoose. Way before any burners were around.

 

[Gary]

this is well freaky
my first mtb was a Raleigh apalanchian as well... sorted bike with a DeoreII groupset... I then bought a S/H Cannondale M2000 from the late 80s... an absolute bargain but unfortunately too big for me so swapped it for a more modern muddyfox alu pro

 

[Fivetones]

this is well freaky
my first mtb was a Raleigh apalanchian as well... sorted bike with a DeoreII groupset... I then bought a S/H Cannondale M2000 from the late 80s... an absolute bargain but unfortunately too big for me so swapped it for a more modern muddyfox alu pro

haha! It was well trick on paper that bike. Mine was also too big hence the rebuild. I always perved over the M800 due to the sloping top tube. Would still love one. My old Kona Chute (2001) will do.

I still own all of these btw. I even have a Torker 280x stored. I never sell anything.

 

[Gary]

Dude. I had a Torker freestyler too.

I don't have any of these anymore if I kept all the bikes I've ever had it'd be well into the 200s by now.

 

[Fivetones]

We have similar tastes it seems Gary ?✌?

 

[Zimmerframe]

I never sell anything.

You guys are so similar ... Gary's Scottish, so he's never bought anything !

 

[Gary]

I've given away way more bike stuff than I've ever sold
Quite a few of my bikes were ridden until the frames cracked/broke

The Apalanchian's was in use for at least 10years. Bugan life as an mtb, ended up a street tyre courier bike, in that time it had a full respray, complete rebuild. A massive dent in the top tube and bent rear triangle made it worthless. (or no longer worth throwing any more money at anyway) parts were re-distributed.