Pedal strikes

[Gary]

To me the most obvious thing is being able to get places you wouldn’t have managed on a regular bike.

I find myself attempting, and a lot of the time succeeding to climb sections that I would normally just have leapt off and pushed up.

Thing is, very few of those climbs will actually not have been done (or be do-able) by a fitter more skilled rider on a normal mtb. All the Ebike is doing is allowing folk with less skill/fitness do what the fitter/stronger/more skilled/experienced rider can. but without the skills you're also going to get more pedal strikes
The feeling of achievement from cleaning a climb like in your pic on a normal mtb will be pretty great. On an Emtb not so much.

 

[OldGoatMTB]

160mm cranks and pair of nylon protectors. They will not stop pedal strikes but at least scratches and gouges on the bottom bit of arms are less obvious.

View attachment 12938

They look good, too!

 

[p3eps]

Thing is, very few of those climbs will actually not have been done (or be do-able) by a fitter more skilled rider on a normal mtb. All the Ebike is doing is allowing folk with less skill/fitness do what the fitter/stronger/more skilled/experienced rider can. but without the skills you're also going to get more pedal strikes
The feeling of achievement from cleaning a climb like in your pic on a normal mtb will be pretty great. On an Emtb not so much.

Totally... I'm sure there are people who can fight their way up that on a normal MTB.
Personally, I'm not skilled / fit enough to do that.
I had the Trek Rail for 3 weeks, and climbed that a couple of times. You could get a bit of a run at it, and keep it going to the top.
On the Levo SL is much harder, but still possible. Still feels like an achievement to get to the top - but its all about getting the right line and avoiding the pedal strikes.
There are worse ones out there than that - it just happened to be one I could find on my phone.

On another note - I've watched the Scottish Enduro there (Pitfichie), and all the riders just chuck their bikes on their shoulders and clamber up it. Probably a waste of time / energy to try and ride up it when being timed?!

 

[Gary]

Only the Stages in Enduro are timed. Transitions between them have time penalties for being late but they're not difficult to make at a leisurely pace.

You're missing my point somewhat. I didn't mean just the climb in your pic. I meant any challenging climb.
There are many climbs I've only ever managed once after numerous tries on Normal bikes. Using an Eeb would undoubtedly make most of them less effort but take away a lot of the sense of achievement and satisfaction