Going from ebike to a normal bike

[Krisj]

Had a good day at Leeds Urban Bike Park yesterday until my mate bailed and snap his shoulder.
To get him back to the van I let him jump on my Levo and I jumped on his brand new carbon trek remedy ( WTF it felt like the brakes were on ) I couldn’t believe how hard it seemed to pedal even on the tarmac it felt awful.
I was thinking of getting myself another jump bike for the summer but now I don’t think I will bother.
Does any else find this when going from ebike to normal.

 

[lmartins]

I've just start riding my spectral: on and I'm thinking I will eventually buy another non ebike too.
They are really different riding experiences and I don't want get to the point where I just ride ebikes. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I believe you should try not to be too much dependent on the motor.

Maybe I will change my mind on this, I don't know.

 

[bissona]

I swap between eMTB and analogue commuter bike every day, and the commuter hack feels like hard work! That said, I forget about it after a few metres... until I hit a head wind!

 

[steve_sordy]

When I had the charger problems, I went back to my clockwork bike and all I remember was how light it was! I really don't remember missing the pedal assist at all. Well, not until about ten miles in and my knees started to ache (which is why I got the emtb)! Then I missed the power of "e"!

 

[2unfit2ride]

I mainly ride in eco or Trail set to low on the app, at one particular muddy point on todays ride the system came up with an error on the display & it didn't work, took me a while to notice it wasn't working, namely when I got above 15 mph & I didn't notice the normal motor cut off.
I hope I will continue to ride analogue bikes for years to come, maybe as my main ride if I can get my fitness back.

 

[StuckintheSpokes]

Looking at getting a decent clockwork hardtail to increase my fitness even more and I’m tempted by the lower weight, too. Can’t make up my mind on what exactly to get. This isn’t really a forum for clockworks, so I’ll ask elsewhere.

 

[Thunderer]

I rode my clockwork bike today, it was fine ( mind it was flat and no wind !!)

 

[Gary]

I was thinking of getting myself another jump bike for the summer but now I don’t think I will bother.

sadface

I love mine.
But I still love all my regular bikes. They're totally different from my vitus and just feel so much purer (if you get me?) to ride.
Did a 12mile XC ride on Saturday morning with my GF on these awesome wee things

This wee DJ bike has a 150mm Dropper, DHF/HR tyres and a 11-36 cassette so is a little more versatile than a standard DJ build.

This one's a 4X, an inch longer in reach and really light. it's running a road cassette and street/DJ tyres so has to be ridden strongly (if you get me?). Despite having a 250mm Dropper I rode it stood up pretty much the whole ride. Didn't even hit a single jump but was still way more fun to ride than my Ebike would have been.

 

[lmartins]

But I still love all my regular bikes. They're totally different from my vitus and just feel so much purer (if you get me?) to ride.

Yup, after just one weekend with my ebike that's how I felt too.

 

[Gary]

@Krisj healing vibes to your mate.

 

[Couchy]

I only rode my normal bike with my 5 year old daughter, we manage 5 - 10 miles easily enough. I much prefer the speed of the ebike though. I wasn’t a regular mtb’r before the ebike but I can see a normal bike in the future for bike parks with an uplift ?

 

[Krisj]

sadface

I love mine.
But I still love all my regular bikes. They're totally different from my vitus and just feel so much purer (if you get me?) to ride.
Did a 12mile XC ride on Saturday morning with my GF on these awesome wee things
View attachment 10743
This wee DJ bike has a 150mm Dropper, DHF/HR tyres and a 11-36 cassette so is a little more versatile than a standard DJ build.
View attachment 10745
This one's a 4X, an inch longer in reach and really light. it's running a road cassette and street/DJ tyres so has to be ridden strongly (if you get me?). Despite having a 250mm Dropper I rode it stood up pretty much the whole ride. Didn't even hit a single jump but was still way more fun to ride than my Ebike would have been.

After having a good think about what you’ve said a jump bike or purely downhill rig is not going to be out of the question in the future both these bikes are point down hill and nail.
Xc is a defo no no I’m far too lazy and unfit for slogging around xc tracks that’s going to be left to the E-bike.
Cheers for the wake up call dude ??

 

[Lad]

After six months of "new ebike toy" period when my regular MTB haven't seen much action I'm back on it.

Personally I'm having more fun on the trails on lightweight, sharp handling regular bike. Of course missing the epowah boost on the steep climbs, but it is only a small part of the ride.

The only thing that could potentially replace my regular bike altogether would be Focus Raven2 - but it is not available in Oz and I wouldn't be keen to have no local support on Fazua system.

 

[Ross1137]

my normal bike sits in the other room from my levo with 2 flat tyres...............

 

[The Flying Dutchman]

I ride 50:50 emtb:mtb and enjoy them equally

Its a pure feeling riding the ol analog. I like the quiet, the light snappy feeling and sense of reward after a long uphill slog..... and no stress about battery life or possible failures.

Riding my analog improves my emtb riding and vice versa. I'm more conscious of gear selection/timing and energy conservation / "flow". Being able to do more runs on my emtb improves my downhill by trying different lines and not being completely feckt and riding like a nana.

 

[Wiltshire Warrior]

The cheeky upstarts hanging on the rep of the True Raven

 

[Quantock Explorer]

I went out on my normal bike the other weekend. It was a totally different experience. Initially it felt like I'd jumped on a child's bike.
It was totally different in every way. It's twenty years old and so the geometry is incomparable. There were sections of my regular ride that I had to get off and walk, rather than fall off time and time again. Great fun though.

 

[Al Boneta]

I ride 50:50 emtb:mtb and enjoy them equally

Its a pure feeling riding the ol analog. I like the quiet, the light snappy feeling and sense of reward after a long uphill slog..... and no stress about battery life or possible failures.

Riding my analog improves my emtb riding and vice versa. I'm more conscious of gear selection/timing and energy conservation / "flow". Being able to do more runs on my emtb improves my downhill by trying different lines and not being completely feckt and riding like a nana.

This right here should be engraved on a plaque

 

[Blakey]

Y

Your 5 year old daughter already rides 5-10 miles?

My 5 year old son regularly rode 18km during lock down - on quiet tarmac roads (no cars) with a bit of off road thrown in. Mind you he did learn to ride when he was 3 years old.

(gets off proud-daddy soap box).

 

[carlbiker]

Had a good day at Leeds Urban Bike Park yesterday until my mate bailed and snap his shoulder.
To get him back to the van I let him jump on my Levo and I jumped on his brand new carbon trek remedy ( WTF it felt like the brakes were on ) I couldn’t believe how hard it seemed to pedal even on the tarmac it felt awful.
I was thinking of getting myself another jump bike for the summer but now I don’t think I will bother.
Does any else find this when going from ebike to normal.

Hey I was up there today had a great time!

 

[steve_sordy]

.........Your 5 year old daughter already rides 5-10 miles?

Bit of a brag here on behalf of my grandson.
My grandson has been riding since he was 2 years old! Seriously! He was riding down steep slopes and rolling off steps bigger than his wheel diameter. He was riding around 7-mile mtb trails with me from the age of 5 and doing stuff that alarmed his Mum and Dad from the age of 6. The picture below on his 20" rigid (Islabike) was taken shortly after he was 7 when he was doing 10-mile trails. It was the best picture I could find as it never occurred to me to keep a proper record. He just wanted to jump the bike and tackle steep stuff.

Shortly after his 8th birthday I took him for his first proper lesson, as I wanted to gauge his skillset. The guy was a coach for two triathletes for the upcoming Olympics and coach for his own cycling club. He told me that he was the best 8-year old he had ever seen and he included his own son in that judgment. He tried to recruit him for his XC racing team but my grandson wasn't interested in that one bit. When he was 9 I took him to Cannock Chase for a lesson by Chase Skills. The coach was a bit cautious to start with until I urged him to be more adventurous and that the boy had already been doing the 14-mile red trail there (Dog and Monkey). This was on a 24" rigid bike (Hoy Bonaly). The coach ended up taking him off-piste to places upon which I had to concentrate just to keep up! Eventually he ran out of skill and fell off at speed on a narrow turn, with a two-foot drop onto roots, blooding his knee. But after a few manfully held back tears, he leaped back on and was away. The coach said that he had been reluctant to take on anyone less than 16 years old, but my grandson had ridden stuff that many of his clients struggle with at best. He said that he was the best under-16 rider he had come across and that he had great potential. I took him to Bike Park Wales a few times and I started to run out of skill to challenge him.

Good so far. But then he discovered rugby and being cool. So his biking days with me were restricted to school holidays. He was diagnosed with diabetes type 1 when he was 11 (his younger sister the same year) and although it didn't stop him riding, it did slow him down quite a bit for a while. He is 13 now, and diabetes no longer stops him from doing anything. He has a Ragley Marley 1.0 (I keep his sister and him in bikes) and he now wheelies everywhere with his mates. Over the Covid-19 lockdown he became seriously unfit because his parents wouldn't let him and his sister out of the house without them going with, and they are not riders.

As lockdown relaxed, I was able to ride with him again and he was shocked at having lost his bike legs. (I was shocked at his weight gain). He is recovering his fitness, aided by his Rugby coach and walking to school and back everyday with his heavy bag. I doubt that he will recover his former effortless bike skills until he is really motivated. He has been riding for as long as he can remember and although he enjoys riding his bike, it no longer excites him like Rugby does (he is in the front row). It will be puberty and girls that will distract him next! Ah well, as long as he's happy!

My long term plan is that by the time he gets to 18, he will be driving me to the trails!

 

[elyhim]

My emtb's made my acoustic bike riding faster. I rarely ride my regular bike anymore (except with wife and kids) though because of the new SL which seems to combine the best of both worlds.

 

[Fingerpuk]

I’ve gone eMTB to normal bike. EMTB got me out riding and got my fitness up to the point where I’m now riding a normal bike and I love it. Lighter, faster (apart from the ride up), less maintenance, no range anxiety, no worry about motor failures and water, and it goes on the roof of my car.

 

[mak]

Given the opportunity I regularly turn off the motor for a climb, not an obscenely ridiculous unachievable climb but a regular ball buster, especially if there's another non motor mtb in front of me. Strangely enough its not pleasant but I enjoy the achievement . It also lets me never become complacent about how much power these things kick out even on eco.
I have a fear that if I make life to easy on my EMTB I will get bored of it and not feel the buzz when the powers turned up.

 

[R120]

I find that the rides Ido on my EMTB are pretty different to the rides I do on a normal MTB - the biggest difference for me is you are reminded how sh!t an mtb with sticky heavy tires ride on the road without a motor to FFWD the experience!

On an EMTB I will get myself up to the highest point, hit all the trails on the way down, then head up top again, whereas on an MTB I will ride more of a flowing XC type ride which doesn't drop or gain so much elevation once I have got myself up high, and tend to avoid hitting trails lower own the hill until I am on my way back.

 

[Patchinko]

I’ve gone eMTB to normal bike. EMTB got me out riding and got my fitness up to the point where I’m now riding a normal bike and I love it. Lighter, faster (apart from the ride up), less maintenance, no range anxiety, no worry about motor failures and water, and it goes on the roof of my car.

Same with me, the emtb got me right back into riding and improved my fitness, now looking to upgrade my old 26" hard tail peddle bike to a 29 full sus in the new year. Thinking of cube 120 race.
I'll still be using the hybrid in the really hilly areas though.

 

[Deleted member 7464]

Main thing I've noticed about my ebike compared to my analogue bikes is how unfit my ebike has made me??. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy my levo but it's not a patch on my sworks enduro. The hills maybe an awful lot harder to climb on the enduro but the ride everywhere else is just so much more fun on the enduro plus it gives me a greater feeling of achievement at the end of a ride. If I had to keep just one of them the enduro would win hands down ??

 

[R120]

The biggest thing an EMTB gives me is time - to enjoy myself on my normal bike I need a whole day out, on an emtb I can cram in a lot of riding in 2hours, and hit all my favourite local trails - for that reason alone I will always have an emtb.

 

[Webby1805]

Yeah i ride in eco all the time ,had to work in the city centre which would have cost me about £300 in parking fees , so decided to throw my old but still new hardtail in the back park up and cycle for two miles jesus it was torture.

 

[steve_sordy]

EMTB has enabled me to keep riding with enjoyment. I tried my previous analogue bike after a few months and that was the decider, I sold my much loved Whyte T130C RS shortly afterwards. No going back!.