How do e-bike riding techniques change?

[Thumper33]

Are there any recommended changes to traditional riding techniques such as cornering, braking, accelerating etc due to the unique characteristics of the e-bike?

I ask the question because I've studied and practiced modern techniques for analog bike XC racing for 8-10 years. I've gotten good (for an amature) at these foundations and proper form for "going fast" on my XC race bike. I've recently decided to get a 22 turbo levo and am re-learning some things that just feel different due to the weight of the bike, and having flat pedals for the first time in a LONG time. Since my feet are free, I find myself tempted to take tight corners more dirt-bike style getting weight forward and putting my leg out front (something that just doesn't make sense with clips). Is this a bad idea?

Are there any changes to technique that e-bike riders would benefit from to re-learn?

 

[Jeffsy29]

Just get out there and book seat time on your e-bike. All basics are the same. Any modern geometry changes are likely to make more of a difference in technique than your motor IMO.

Weight: Adds a LOT of stability on the rough descents (vertically as well as rolling momentum). Corollary...all that momentum requires a lot more brake (and applied earlier) and for me, 20mm upsized F rotors to maintain modulation and power. Tough to make tight lines or last-min changes; I find less turning is better. When your suspension is dialed-in, you feel like it's faster to steamroll everything than go around it. Harder to navigate tight hairpins/tech. And, 53lbs sucks for any bail-out/ walk-a-bike scenarios (or when your RDR gets ripped off 3 miles from where you parked). Orbea Rise would help here.

Motor/Power - I found myself tending to pedal much more often than I would otherwise to take advantage of having a motor and had pedal strikes early on (no longer as much now w/ proper coil and technique). Need to be really careful on wet roots and compromised traction areas - super easy to over-torque conditions; less power is more here. Also easy to over-accelerate out of turns and blow your line if you're over-assisted...I usually back off to next assist level down or down within assist level. Something interesting, I find myself *willing* to brake more and kill momentum (if needed) for traction or whatever, then start up again *because* I have motor-help backup. You're not 'wasting your own energy' by scrubbing speed as it's super easy to get it back. So you can start/stop/start without killing yourself. Gives you a lot of options on rocky/tech bits where you otherwise might not have enough juice to get started again and rollover the next obstacle. You don't *have* to keep momentum as much to make it....it becomes more an option.

 

[Ou812]

The only thing I’ve really changed is my braking habits, these things carry a ton of speed! I found myself overshooting turns until I got used to braking earlier than my analog bikes. The weight can be a factor for some, I’m used to riding motorcross bikes so it’s not that big a deal to me.

 

[MOTO13]

1. Make sure your brakes are set up. You're going to need them. Hell, I've used my brakes going uphill many times if there is a turn or tree to avoid.
2. You don't need to shift gears nearly as much on an e-bike. Get used to a mid-gear and you'll be happy.
3. Do not shift under hard load.
4. You can ride a lot faster on an e-bike. Get used to things coming up on you quicker than on dino-bike. You can ride a lot more aggressively on an e-bike. So for me, bike set up is critical.

 

[Jurassic]

I'm fairly new to ebike riding and initially felt that I had to change techniques quite a lot. This was particularly the case on flowy sections where I'd just pump my bike through it (on a conventional bike) but found that I wasn't able to do this as effectively on the eeb. As time has gone by though I've found I have adjusted and am able to carry speed more effectively on the eeb by just rolling in faster and concentrating on maintaining momentum. My Strava times are all much slower on descents on my ebike than they were on my conventional bike though so I do think the extra weight is a handicap despite what some people would have you believe. At the end of the day though it's just a (very heavy) bike so I don't think you need to rethink everything you've been doing previously, it's more a case of fine tuning a few things.

 

[Mikerb]

The biggest change will be what you ride rather than how. Its difficult to pass any challenging looking climb without giving it a try.....and then you get to ride back down it!

 

[yorkshire89]

There's a bit difference going from a normal bike to an ebike but you pick this up with time. When I've not ridden the ebike for a while the first few trails feel a bit weird until I've got used to it again. My ebike is double the weight of my normal bike though.

Cornering - One of the main things I've noticed is I start leaning the bike over for a turn a little bit earlier, I'm thinking this is just down to all the weight in the downtube and being a bit slower to get the bike leant over. I also found you really need to tip the bike into a corner.
Power - Steep technical climbs become alot of fun, I use the back brake like a clutch to help grip, quite useful for steep switchback climbs where if you put too much power down you can understeer off the trail.
Going down you can use the power to get out out of corners or you can give a little crank without a full pedal rotation to give you a bit of a boost where there isn't room to pedal
Braking - Only thing to change is your braking point, it can take a bit longer to slow down. On steep muddy chutes you can feel like a bit of a passenger sometimes.

They are alot of fun! The extra weight will help the bike feel composed and on certain trails it's a fair bit faster than my usual bike

 

[Richridesmtb]

I went middle ground and got an Orbea rise, so it doesn't feel hugely different. You need to put in more effort to move the bike around, but otherwise it is pretty similar. I have an enduro bike also so the trail of the Rise makes it feel pretty nimble still.

Just be careful of motor overrun, it can make you blow out some corners in tight, twisty trails where you throw in a pedal stroke or two between corners. Despite what others have said, I encourage using your gears still, but I'm on a middle powered bike so it is a bit more crucial than on a full-fat.

 

[Jurassic]

I use my gears just as much as on a normal bike as well albeit I might not be in quite as low a gear but I'm changing gears just as often to try to stay in the cadence sweet spot and I'm on a full fat bike.

 

[Waynemarlow]

You learn to ride uphill routes you wouldn’t even contemplate on your analogue. When you get to the top the only reason to get to the bottom again is to give the uphill another go.

EBikes double your fun factor, uphill is probably as much fun as going down.

 

[RustyMTB]

I found moving from a 27.5 to a 29 much more of a thing than from a normy to an eeb. Just happens that my normy is 27.5 & the eeb is 29. Definitely feel I have to anticipate turning earlier & if I fractionally miss a turning point, there's a degree of wrestling the bike into a corner. otherwise, I've found the added weight beneficial.

These things are reassuringly stable at speed & in the air, maybe not the best for whips & scanid flicks though. Pulling up the anchors early is something that just seemed to come naturally. The downside is I do burn through brake pads at a rate.

 

[RustyIron]

Are there any changes to technique that e-bike riders would benefit from to re-learn?

Not really. It's all the same. Before there were eMTB's, bikes still had different geometries, different weights, and riders with different strengths. Amish skills work on eMTB's, and eMTB skills work on Amish bikes. If you ride one well, you'll ride the other well. If you ride one poorly, you'll be floundering on the other, as well.

 

[NCMike]

Similar to you, I’m more of advanced XC rider on a Spec Camber with 2017 geometry. With 5 rides on my 2022 Spec Turbo Levo (Expert), I‘ve been surprised how much I’ve changed the way I ride. The biggest difference I’ve noticed was with the new geometry. If you’re coming from a newer analog bike with newer geo, it might not be much of a difference, but from my older XC style geo, it makes a big difference. With the Levo, I‘ve had to learn to REALLY lay the bike over to keep speed around the corners. With my Camber, it is easy to just turn the bars and “flick” the bike around a corner. Doing that on the Levo will just wash out the front end. On the Camber, I’ve always ridden with a high seat position to maximize peddling power and rarely lowered my seat with the dropper. On the Levo, I use the dropper constantly as getting the seat lower helps getting the bike leaned over for the corners and gives more room to move around on the bike for all the jumps and rough stuff I want to go through I avoided on the Camber. I’m now riding with a lower seat most of the time because I have the motor and don’t need to worry about maximizing peddling power.
The weight hasn’t been much of an issue like I was afraid of. As others have mentioned, the suspension and weight allow you to just blow through things I wouldn’t want to do with the Camber. I think it’s also just part of the changes I’m making to deal with the geometry changes.
Depending on how much power you choose, your line choices may need to change. I like riding in trail mode, and doing so allows me to carry so much more speed in certain areas that I’m looking for berms, roots, rocks, or what ever I can find to ride or bounce off of to help carry more speed around the corners. It makes the flats and climbs so much more fun!
I rode clipless for the last 20 years, but went with flats on the Levo. It wasn’t as bad as I expected, but I still prefer clipless. To get the advantages of both , I just ordered a set of Crankbrothers Mallet E pedals and shoes. Still clipless, but larger like a flat, and the shoes will allow dabbing the foot when needed and be much better for off-bike walking than XC shoes.

 

[Jurassic]

I've been riding my noneeb the last two days after I snapped the rear mech on the cheater bike. I really miss the motor when climbing (no surprise there) but riding the trails back down is an absolute joy on the conventional bike. It's so light and flickable and much easier to carry speed through tight technical sections (where you can put the bike exactly where you want to). I stand by my previous assertion that it doesn't require a completely different technique as such but I think that the emphasis on how much you use a particular technique in certain areas is a bit different. I'm looking forward to getting the eeb back up and running next week when my new mech arrives to see if I can improve on the areas that I currently see as weak points when riding the eeb. It's definitely interesting and useful to swap backwards and forwards I'd say.

 

[RustyIron]

I’m looking for berms, roots, rocks, or what ever I can find to ride or bounce off of to help carry more speed around the corners. It makes the flats and climbs so much more fun!

That’s funny. Sometimes it seems as if I’m a bulldozer—a very fast bulldozer—plowing over whatever obstacles are in my way. Line selection is for XC riders. To the rest of us, the world is our line.

 

[steve_sordy]

One thing I was sure would have been mentioned by now is changing gear.

If you already have mechanical sympathy then you will be using all the gears (despite the extra torque) and will be in no danger of snapping a chain or otherwise damaging your transmission with clumsy shifts under power. This will also avoid your whole cassette needing changing because just 1 or 2 gears are badly worn.

There is a new feature available to you that only comes with an ebike. Let me describe a scenario that will illustrate:

You are climbing and you really need to shift to an easier gear. Your mechanical sympathy will not allow you to shift under power, but if you back off the power you will lose momentum. I suggest that what you should do is to shift up a mode, from Eco to Trail or Trail to Boost. It's an easy thing to do, takes a fraction of a second and is seamless. Suddenly you have enough power to increase speed sufficient to allow you to make that rear shift you need. Then you can drop back a mode. Some bikes have more modes than just three, so they have more flexibility.

Note: If you are already in your highest mode then you are back to "shifting 101".

 

[Chairman]

One thing I was sure would have been mentioned by now is changing gear.

If you already have mechanical sympathy then you will be using all the gears (despite the extra torque) and will be in no danger of snapping a chain or otherwise damaging your transmission with clumsy shifts under power. This will also avoid your whole cassette needing changing because just 1 or 2 gears are badly worn.

There is a new feature available to you that only comes with an ebike. Let me describe a scenario that will illustrate:

You are climbing and you really need to shift to an easier gear. Your mechanical sympathy will not allow you to shift under power, but if you back off the power you will lose momentum. I suggest that what you should do is to shift up a mode, from Eco to Trail or Trail to Boost. It's an easy thing to do, takes a fraction of a second and is seamless. Suddenly you have enough power to increase speed sufficient to allow you to make that rear shift you need. Then you can drop back a mode. Some bikes have more modes than just three, so they have more flexibility.

Note: If you are already in your highest mode then you are back to "shifting 101".

Exactly. My almost fully retired acoustic bike is a Zerode Taniwha which has a Pinion gearbox. I miss that gearbox. In fact that whole bike is very cool. Just needs a motor so there it sits mostly idle

 

[JP-NZ]

You learn to ride uphill routes you wouldn’t even contemplate on your analogue. When you get to the top the only reason to get to the bottom again is to give the uphill another go.

EBikes double your fun factor, uphill is probably as much fun as going down.

I agree with this, on my rail I'm REALLY enjoying the uphills, more so than the technical rocky downs. Flow trails are great fun too. With the ebike you can just point it uphill and it loves it, endless climbing ability.

Since I got my rail I've completed 200% more distance in 6 weeks than I did in the prior 6 months on my analogue bike. That to me is the real benefit