Survey Time: Tell IMBA Your Feelings on Electric Mountain Biking and ebikes

It’s far more fun to post your opinions on ebikes in the BR comments section than to take a survey that IMBA could give two craps about your response. Then you can hit the timer and see how long they last before they are deleted if they do not meet the strict posting requirements. Ask me how i know…

Since almost all of my responses on the topic here on BR have been deleted on the topic, we’ll see if this one stands. eBikes have no place on off-road trails that have been designated as bike-only or multi-use trails. Period. If municipalities want to allow them on paved trails and assume that liability, then have it.

I think it is inevitable. I’ve ridden them and with just a bit of pedal assist you can make the ride much more enjoyable for people who have some physical limitations or age just sets in and you can’t make the ride without them. Most people will say just get stronger / fitter but it isn’t possible for everyone to do this and they’d still enjoy some access to the woods. I don’t think it will destroy the trails and they are actually really fun to ride.

As an avid mountain biker I love my “regular” mountain bike. But I do admit that when i rode a Bosch equipped Cube from our demo fleet I giggled the whole time. I am not the fastest guy out there but even with the assist I didn’t beat the top KOM of some of the top riders. What I did do was manage to get double the amount of kilometers in my after work ride with about the same amount of effort. What I am against is a bike on the trails with a throttle. That in my mind is a whole different beast and that is where the line should be drawn. Pedal assist bikes are coming, they are here to stay and i do think they are going to open the world of biking to a whole bunch of new people. These new people are going to spend money and if we can educate them about trail etiquette they are going to be a valuable asset to the cycling world. Does my pride hurt when i get passed, a little but i am a big boy and handle that.

The Rapid growth statement comes from the OEMs and the parts makers who are all happy to see a new segment. When you did not sell any e.bikes 5. Years ago and now you sell 20,000, that’s rapid growth.

The thing that bothers me is none of the OEMs seem to have bothered to ask if e.mtbs are ‘good’ for the sport of mtb in general and what they may mean for trail access in areas where there is already a hot spot between motorized and non motorized users and regulations.

I am also sad too see that Bosch has opened their US office in L.A. And seems to be almost a lobby type force in pushing regulations to allow e.mtbs on non motorized trails.

E.bikes are great for commuting and hauling the kids, but trail access and the people who love mtb as it is now will suffer if e.mtbs are allowed everywhere where ‘normal’ bikes are allowed.

Peace.

Are we really going to allow SkyNet to win? I’m with Connor – Fight the Machines!

Why are e.bikes worse than using a chair lift to take you to the top with your 35 lbs downhill bike with huge suspension and then bombing down the hill like an crazed person? I think with their cost, weight and lack of throttle, the adrenaline junkies are going to avoid them. A more mature and responsible group will use them to be able to cover more miles and get more enjoyment out of their limited recreational time. But I have yet to see one on the trail or ride one myself.

Unfortunately the contact I’ve had with ‘ e bikers’ has been poor. These so machines are bringing folk that wouldn’t normally ride tough trails. Erratic riding and no trail etiquette.

Motor + Bike == Motorbike

Cousin It: surely it’s coincidental that Bosch would open an LA office, then California rewrote its laws.

It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen this level of bought-and-paid-for support in such a small industry. Now I realize where the money is coming from.

Great tech 4 ppl who otherwise would stay indoors and stay tuned on some crappy tv-programme

I live in OC CA and have been blown past by E-bikes on some nasty climbs on the trail. Both times it happen the riders didn’t pass with care and were wreckless in that respect as I’m not a slow climber.

That being said I don’t think they should have the same access as hikers and mountain bikers. There are already trails which they can legally explore. The same ones sport bikes and off-road 4/4 vehicles use. Those which are designed for motor use. The idea e-bikes give access to those of disabilities is a liability statement. Do we want someone who can’t walk very well or has other physical issues on trails designed for human powered access?

E-bikes are low powered motorbikes and should be treated as such, a motorbike!

These things are pure evil.

This seems pretty cut and dry to me: they should be treated as motorized transportation completely separate from mountain bikes.

Thank you IMBA for taking this survey. A clear line needs to be drawn between mountain bikes and Ebikes before trail access is jeopardized. Swift action should be taken to ban Ebikes from all non motorized trails.

I wish they would call Ebikes what they really are: Mopeds!

@Matt: I’m sure Ebikes are fun to ride. Motorbikes are fun to ride! Me personally I prefer mountain biking.

E-bikes, great for commuting and pavement. Ban them on all trails. The parks dept/forest service do not have the man power to check for batteries, or for battery size. They ebikes will only get more powerful and more destructive, and will get all bikes banned.

c’mon, seriously? it’s a marketing survey.

The whole point of this discussion is about trail access. I don’t see much room for debate in classifying e-bikes as ‘motorized’. They have a motor (whether or not it is throttle or pedal-assist is irrelevant), thus are motorized. Secondary effects including who is on these bikes, if they do this or that, erode trails, blah blah is going to be up for subjective debate always…

Regardless, why does it even matter what IMBA thinks? Isn’t this just an issue for city/count/state/landowner decisions?? I mean, this isn’t a federal issue that needs to go to the Supreme Court for a ruling. Particular areas will do as they seem fit – some will classify e-bikes as ‘non-motorized’, some will classify as ‘motorized’ and some will classify in their own category and have areas that are ‘non-motorized, e-bikes allowed.’ Case in point – Moab has already classified these as ‘motorized’ in their jurisdiction, and guess what – they have plenty of trail options for everyone to go around.

Now the big danger is if eBikes bring unwarranted extra attention to certain trails, prompting non-biking landowners / regulators to shut down access to ALL forms of biking. That’s where I’ll lose it.

If someone e-bikes up a mountain on an access road, then kills the electric assist and descends on the single track just like the rest of us do, is that e-bike use? or ….what the hell would you classify that as?

Since e-bikes are motorized, they should not be allowed in areas where other motorized vehicles are not allowed. Done and done.

Also, seriously, I don’t get the point of any e-bike when a perfectly good scooter or dirt bike can be purchased for around the same $. For example this http://powersports.honda.com/2015/crf250l/offroad.aspx is cheaper than this: http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/electric/turbo/turbo-s-ce

how about these
http://www.kingsmotorbikes.com/Engine_Kit1.htm

@ Sully, you gotta earn those downhills 🙂

eBikes of all kinds make sense. The “not on my trail” perspective on e-Bikes are like the hiking organizations that doesn’t want to share with mtbs, or the ski resorts that cant find a way to share with snowboarders, or the skateparks that ban scooters and bmx bikes, etc. Of all groups, cyclist should appreciate what these don’t want to share, “purity of use” type arguments.

If e-bikes are bicycles, by some agreed upon definition, and not underpowered motorcycles, then they should be embraced by biking organizations like IMBA. Otherwise, e-Bike users will just organize separately, just like mtb bikers did not too many years ago. That will just further divide the already fractured voices of the biking communities.

Heck, mtb biking seems to change some every year, who is to say that eMTB’s don’t have a place on trails. Did mtb need 29’ers, 650b, 1x, electronic shifting, carbon fiber DH frames, Red Bull Joy Ride, etc. eMTB will undoubtedly have a place, its just not as clear where yet. Maybe they are not allowed on certain trails, and the “share the trail” signs need an update with eMTB yielding to all others. I live in a hilly area and one of my neighbors gets up the hill on his road e-bike. I don’t see why it would it be so wrong to allow someone to get up the same kind of hill on a trail on an eMTB. I’d even say that my local hiking organization seems to intentionally design new trails that are so steep that only the most fit mtb riders even try, so new riders and kids never even try. eMTB’s could help. You can alway bring out the “environmental impact” arguments that seem to make mtb advocates cower. Our local mtb park gets trashed every summer and that is great, because it means it getting used a lot. Its not a museum.

Banning or severely curtailing eMTB’s use will divide the mtb community. IMBA needs to get ahead of eMTB use cases, reconsider the trail building guidelines perhaps, envision how and when to share, and when not to. They need to be ahead of this, not putting out namby pamby surveys asking you how concerned you are about a new innovation in the mtb world.