You really cant ride an EMTB with a non E biking buddy can you?

[AdrianJW]

I ride with acoustic riders that straight up bury Emtbs on climbs, descents and everything in between.

On climbs? Yeah, right.

 

[Stevie p]

Just done west highland way with my levo riding mate it's great when you are bout the same pace my battery lasts less I'm heavier

 

[olde-mtber]

I ride in a group of up to 28 at anyone time most are on e-bikes and about 4 of us standard bikes. We are mostly in our 60s to 70s. We have flat rides to hilly rides we do upto 40ks but some are only 20 odd is. The range of bikes are varied from commuter bikes to e-mtb and everything in between. I'm 69 on a e-mtb and another guy well into his 70s on a standard bike on the flat we are often in the front clocking 26ks at that speed the group gets spread out and we have spots that we stop at to regroup. I also ride with my mates that are not ready for e-bikes and I let them set the pace and I just keep pace with them and they are younger than me like in their 40s. I also during the week when my younger mates are working I also go for solo rides. So I'm riding upto 4 or 5 times a week.

 

[Mtbkski]

If I'm riding with non ebike buddies. I let them lead and set the pace. On hills, I may pass them once they start to peter out, but I just wait for them at the top, which is what they had to do for me when I wasn't on an ebike.

 

[Gary]

On climbs? Yeah, right.

Depends who he rides with.
I also know riders who are faster uphill than most Ebike riders would be in trail mode.
they do actually train rather than sit around eating biscuits though.

 

[cabbynate]

Ok so its my lad bless him, he's 18, its very rare he comes out with me but decided last Sunday he fancied a ride out. 18 miles of torture, most of my ride was with the motor off due to him shouting " Are you in eco" and the other half can we swap ? .

On a side note my other half has a cheap rockrider hard tale EMTB that she hardly ever uses, when she does i spend half the ride with the motor off and the other half with her shouting I'm fitter than her so slow down

Is it even possible to go out on a ride with others and enjoy yourself?
I guess thats why i ride alone, to be honest I'm probably antisocial but I've reached an age where I can justify it to myself.

Is any one else satisfied with riding alone like me or am I just a miserable old sod (52 years and counting )

I ride with a guy that leads on a hardtail Niner. I have trouble keeping up with him! He was a Roddie for years and now mainly rides MTB. He is the exception to the rule at 50 years old. The main reason I got an EMTB was to keep up with him.

 

[AdrianJW]

Depends who he rides with.
I also know riders who are faster uphill than most Ebike riders would be in trail mode.
they do actually train rather than sit around eating biscuits though.

Not on a steep, technical climb they won’t be. And why would ebikes be restricted to trail mode?

 

[Gary]

I didn't say they were.

I think you'd be surprised. You may be able to buy a motor but you can't buy Talent.

 

[Pdoz]

An interesting thought fart borrowing some data from the orbea rise thread

More interesting charts, but who knows how accurate they could be ...



View attachment 42855

Although I'd forget the extra 54Wh from the rider, and just say it's similar to a 500Wh standard system (instead of 540).

So last weekend I spent 3 hours chasing a super fit mate around the local trails. He was riding sprogette 1's 14.5 kg scott 940 analogue , I was chugging around on my 23.8 kg giant full e pro. Call that 9.3 kg bike weight difference and we'll ignore how much more efficient the scott is to pedal.

He's 27 kg lighter than me , so total weight difference of 36.3 kg x 3.6 w / hour = 129.6 w / h ?

Over 25% battery per hour?

I used 30% for the entire day!!!

Frkn analogue cheater

 

[Yoak]

If I have to I use eco or turn it off. It’s just not fun to be at a different pace than the others, so I usually take my analog bike if I ride with people who don’t have an ebike. And it’s not that fun riding in eco. Oh and this time of year I get to cold if I ride with analogs bikers on my e. I wish there was a “neutral” mode, so you could turn your ebike into an analogue when I for some reason are out with people without an ebike

 

[Gary]

borrowing some data from the orbea rise thread

Fairly dubious data

Over 25% battery per hour?

I used 30% for the entire day!!!

You've missed the fact that 3.6W/kg human power to weight was a figure chosen by a bike manufacturer to highlight the efficiency of their new bike and is in no way indicative of you or your mates power to weight ratios.
and you've also missed that a 27kg lighter rider of won't output anywhere near as much wattage for the same w/kg.
and you've also missed that power to weight ratio drops with duration. 3.6w/kg would be pretty high figure for a 3hr ride. nevermind the 4.5 hour ride with 8000ft of ascent bollocks the Orbea chart seems be trying to tell prospective buyers is normal.

Your mate is fitter and lighter than you. end of.
folk need to stop looking for pathetic excuses to justify their motor and just enjoy riding.

 

[Pdoz]

Fairly dubious data


You've missed the fact that 3.6W/kg was a figure chosen by a bike manufacturer to highlight the efficiency of their new bike and is in no way indicative of you or your mates power to weight ratios.
and you've also missed that a 27kg lighter rider of won't output anywhere near as much wattage for the same w/kg.
and you've also missed that power to weight ratio drops with duration. 3.6w/kg would be pretty figure for a 3hr ride. nevermind the 4.5 hour ride with 8000ft of ascent bollocks the Orbea chart seems be trying to tell prospective buyers is normal.

Your mate is fitter and lighter than you. end of.
folk need to stop looking for pathetic excuses to justify their motor and just enjoy riding.

And you missed the thought " fart " bit.

There is no universe where I could punch the physics and physiology hard enough to believe he and I come close to fitness.

But can you at least laugh along at how absurd orbeas data is?

 

[Gary]

And you missed the thought " fart " bit.

No. I smelt the warm shitty fragrance all the way from Bonny Scotland

 

[YorkshireDan]

Depends who he rides with.
I also know riders who are faster uphill than most Ebike riders would be in trail mode.
they do actually train rather than sit around eating biscuits though.

Same here. There’s a lad we ride with round scunny who’s an absolute machine on a bike. You won’t beat him up any climb, even with an ebike. He’ll ride the road bike 200 miles in a day for fun at an average of 23mph. He has raced XC a few times. He’s about 10st wet through

 

[remosito]

Is any one else satisfied with riding alone like me or am I just a miserable old sod (52 years and counting )

I e-bike alone almost exclusively, same as I used to hike alone almost exclusively. It's just the way I enjoy nature the most. Getting out into nature was always the point of hiking, same as it is now for emtbiking....

Nothing wrong with knowing what you like and just doing it exactly that way...

"tender" 47 here btw...

 

[TheRealPoMo]

Yep, I ride alone and pick the quietest times to go to the choice spots to avoid others.
Those tossers in Lycra clagging the roads while they hold hands put me right off group cycling.

 

[miPbiP]

sure you can, turn it right down (Eco, then tuned down) or off.

tho if you have the option, being both on lung bikes or both on e bikes is better.

 

[nineT]

Riding with non-e buddies was easy during the one year with my converted mtb, adding a kit middrive motor.
Because I did not change that very short gearings I used in the last years before converting due to my fading power.
WIth my "new" (4300 km) Altitude Powerplay I need to overtake my buddies in the steep climb sections and wait on top because this bike even in first gear is to fast uphill when riding my preferred cadence.

 

[Rusty]

Spent a lot of yesterday riding with all sorts of riders on non powered bikes with no issue. Hell, with a couple guys I just had to let them go on a long flat bit as I was struggling to pedal through the 32kph limit.
With 3-4 different power levels and 10-12 different gear ratios it is easy to moderate speed.

 

[Mountainebiker]

Going out with non ebike friends is always good for a sociable ride, but a compromise for both parties (though this does depend on where you ride) - they get knackered thinking they need to try and keep up and we do fewer trails than we normally would/and ride up the road instead of the off road singletrack (the off road option is steep and techy and those on non ebikes always push for big sections of it...so generallythey just stick to the tarmac/fireroad option). We have done the towing thing in the past and this has now resulted in all of our non ebike friends getting ebikes! Perfect!

 

[Al Boneta]

On climbs? Yeah, right.

Yeah, some people are athletic. One of my friends who works at Specialized, has a friend ride a Levo so he can pace him on his Epic HT. He smokes the Levo on the flats, climbs and the descents.

 

[smtkelly]

really depends on attitude of those you are riding with. My cousin is big into emtb's in theory we should get along but he's got a different philosophy on why he's riding. I'm pretty sure it would end in a big crash with some one hurt.

I've known my best friend/riding buddy since we were youths (I've just come to realise its my longest most faithful relationship don't tell my wife lol ) all the bravado BS is gone, we both like to go out and ride interesting tech single track within our abilities. He's not so fit, but I'm happy to slowdown as I enjoy the leisurely pace ride more (solo I tend over do it racing myself). Currently he's on a hard tail (cost reasons) and again detuned the ride to better suit his bike for the moment. We have a nice balance he reins me in, I push him on. Were both looking to make the leap to eMTB, I don't think it would be fair if one of us had one and the other didn't it. I wouldnt want to risk one of us becoming demotivated.

I've ridden a few trails with my eldest he's 9yo. I set out ground rules that are fair and tailored the ride to match his fitness last thing I want to do is dissuade him on biking. All the times it went well enough. The rides to me were woefully short and painfully slow but I consider it an investment in a future riding buddy.

 

[steve_sordy]

..........I've ridden a few trails with my eldest he's 9yo. I set out ground rules that are fair and tailored the ride to match his fitness last thing I want to do is dissuade him on biking. All the times it went well enough. The rides to me were woefully short and painfully slow but I consider it an investment in a future riding buddy.

After he showed interest at the age of two, I have encouraged my grandson to ride bikes. I have always supplied him and his sister with the lightest bikes I could afford at the time. Dragging a bike around that is half your weight can't be much fun!
The key to a kid's sustained interest in biking is to ensure that each time they go out riding with you that they always enjoy it.
When my grandson was about 8, we met a guy out with his similarly aged son. They tagged along with us and when we got to a steep bit the boy wouldn't do it. I would have said OK, lets find another way round and found something a bit less steep and then over time worked up to it. Not this bloke, he shouted and screamed at the lad trying to frighten him into tackling the descent. The wretched look on the boy's face was awful to see. I told the guy where to find an easier descent and than I just had to ride away.

Now 13, my grandson is a very good rider and will quite soon be much better than me, and I never ever had to use any kind of coercion to get him to tackle anything. I try to break down a feature that he is refusing into several stages, each of which he usually nails first time. Then we put them together slowly and without any pressure other then the usual "you can do it" encouragement, with big High Fives afterwards. I don't have to do that breakdown thing too often these days as his skill and confidence has grown so much. Sadly for me, rugby has taken over as his main sporting interest at the weekends (doing, not watching), but I'm sure that as soon as he has passes his driving test (17 in the UK) he will be driving me to trail centres. But the key thing is that he still wants to ride with me.