Just another E-bike thread....

[Philpug]

He's holding off for now.

To paraphrase Warren Miller, "If you don't get one this year you will only be one year older when you do"

 

[AmyPJ]

Well, good luck.

I apologise for phrasing it this way, but I see a lot of focus on obstacles to riding, instead of spotting chances to ride and seizing them. The cycling version of looking at trees instead of between them.
( I even have a fairly polished rant about this syndrome, available elsewhere on the forum.)

Side note: If cost is an issue, converting a hardtail to monstercross/gravel spec is very much a thing. And quite often results in bikes that are better descenders and better at washboard, potholes, ruts and sandy surface than all-road bikes twice their price.

Yes, a lot of obstacles for sure. "It's too hot. I'm too tired."

To paraphrase Warren Miller, "If you don't get one this year you will only be one year older when you do"

It's not like he doesn't already own a brand new $7500 bike...the e-bike wouldn't probably arrive until fall anyway. And that's being optimistic (it's able to be ordered, but shows on backorder.)

 

[Rudi Riet]

Side note: If cost is an issue, converting a hardtail to monstercross/gravel spec is very much a thing. And quite often results in bikes that are better descenders and better at washboard, potholes, ruts and sandy surface than all-road bikes twice their price.

That's what I've done with my 1997 Marin Indian Fire Trail: 26" hardtail frame with old-school geometry, so while it's a bit of a handful for modern-day XC riding it's the bee's knees for gravel and monstercross. I swapped out the flat (and narrow by today's standards) bars and long stem for a shorter stem and some Salsa Cowball bars, repurposed some 10-speed Campagnolo Chorus brifters (which can shift 8-speed Shimano drivetrains without any converter cams), and put on less aggressive tires.

I typically don't run the SKS ShockBlade unless it's a muddy ride. The old Answer Manitou fork has a new aftermarket elastomer kit so it works similarly to a Lauf fork. The pedals seen here (the SPD one side, flat cage the other) have been replaced with Shimano XT Trail SPDs.

This bike simply rocks. It's super comfy on gravel and pavement, can handle singletrack with ease, and is really dialed in for long distance riding. The one thing to keep in mind if doing a hardtail-to-gravel conversion is cockpit setup. It's really easy to get wrong given the differences in riding position between flat bars and drops. It works more easily on old-school geometry bikes than new-school with slack angles, to be honest - a good reason to trawl Craigslist, eBay, or a local bike co-op for an old-school hardtail frame.

I rode a 104 mile mixed-surface ride on this bike last weekend and it basically disappeared under me: total comfort and felt totally fresh at the end, even with some technical gravel segments mid-ride (the route ended up being about a 60-40 split of gravel to paved). I've raced it on some more gnarly gravel routes (e.g. ones with rock gardens and embedded babyheads, as well as washout and creek crossings) and it just plain works.

This conversion gave this bike - which had previously been relegated to commuter use only - a whole new life.

 

[scott43]

I was mentioning, washboard dirt is one of the best uses of a suspension fork...

 

[Tom K.]

I was mentioning, washboard dirt is one of the best uses of a suspension fork...

So true. I ride my hardtail mtb with sus fork on "real" gravel rides a lot more than my actual gravel bike, especially if I'm riding solo.

 

[Philpug]

Tahoe based US Ski Team member Lila Lapajia is loving riding an eMTB:

 

[Erik Timmerman]

Well, back to the original post, my wife has decided she does not want to “cheat” with an eBike. I was kinda pushing for a Creo, but she wants to upgrade from her Rocky Mountain Solo to a Kona Libre.

 

[Philpug]

Again back to the origianl post too. We went out with a local Facebook MTB group the other morning. @Andy Mink @Tricia and myself were the only ones with E's we had numerous questions about them and heard a few "I gotta me one of them".

 

[Philpug]

my wife has decided she does not want to “cheat” with an eBike.

who does she feel is she cheating?

 

[scott43]

I like her style....

 

[cantunamunch]

I like her style....

Herself just canceled her Basso Volta order and ordered fenders, RH cranks and Maes parallels for the 650B Raleigh.

The turning point? The test Basso didn't fit the roof rack bike trays that match her Jeep.

sigh *checkstoseeifhasfreshshellac*

 

[Rod9301]

She was thinking of putting an e bike on a roof rack? Good luck with that.

 

[Andy Mink]

She was thinking of putting an e bike on a roof rack? Good luck with that.

That's where you get the rest of your workout! Who's cheating now?

 

[scott43]

That's where you get the rest of your workout! Who's cheating now?

#guns

 

[cantunamunch]

#guns

#removebatteryandtellcabanaboytogettoit
#loada70lbkayakbutcantloadabike?

 

[Doug Briggs]

Well, back to the original post, my wife has decided she does not want to “cheat” with an eBike. I was kinda pushing for a Creo, but she wants to upgrade from her Rocky Mountain Solo to a Kona Libre.

who does she feel is she cheating?

I like her style....

Different strokes for different folks.

I'll say that my current thinking is I will not get an e-bike until I have a) at least used up my current SC 5010c and/or b) can't ride where I live because it is too much for my body/spirit. My rides cover enough mileage and elevation to keep me in shape and are still in the type I and type II fun. I don't need to go farther or ride longer than I do at present.

Around here (Summit County, CO), you can't ride dirt, other than moto trails, on an e-bike. As long as I live here and rules don't change, going 'e' would significantly detract from my riding experience.

Currently, I'm leaning more towards the e-bike as a truck/commuter vehicle than a recreational vehicle. I won't disparage anyone riding an e-bike unless they are on trails where they are prohibited.

I haven't noticed people breaking the rules (riding e-bikes in prohibited areas) around here and virtually all the e-bikes I see are on the rec-paths; some commuters, mostly visitors. Anecdotally, there haven't been any noticeable/reported changes to the incidence of accidents happening because of someone being on an e-bike. Our visitors tend to be experiencing the moment and experience, not paying close attention to their behavior, so I'm happy that the added speed (anecdotally again) they are enjoying hasn't caused noticeable changes in accidents.

Around these parts, the initial concerns I had about people overextending their (and their bike's) capabilities hasn't materialized. I don't know if that would change if e-bikes were permitted on non-moto trails.

 

[cantunamunch]

See, my logic on that issue would be "Hmm, if I had an ebike I could ride the moto trails without huge speed disparity. Enable me now!"

Talking of moto trails, there's a trail that runs from Parry Sound in Ontario, way up north into the woods. If you google map, it shows the trail runs *through* lakes and mud bogs?

Seguin Trl Rd · Parry Sound District, ON, Canada

Parry Sound District, ON, Canada

www.google.com

And no, the map is not wrong:




So, if I thought there was an ebike that could deal with that level of all-day trip... water up above the bottom bracket and all-day running in deep muck ...I'd get it now.

 

[Erik Timmerman]

who does she feel is she cheating?

Mostly herself, but she wants to set a goal of doing some kind of gravel event and as in the OP cheating seems a little fuzzy at those.

 

[4ster]

Around these parts, the initial concerns I had about people overextending their (and their bike's) capabilities hasn't materialized. I don't know if that would change if e-bikes were permitted on non-moto trails.

Word around here is that the biggest increase in ER visits are over 50’s on e-bikes .

Of course my own quest for an e-bike keeps leading me toward the Specialized Kenevo SL Which also happens to come in at about $15K .
The other issue for me is that there are only a couple of trails where it is actually legal to ride an E-bike near me & I only have a roof rack. The fact that I may have to sell my car to afford the bike solves the rack issue .

 

[Doug Briggs]

See, my logic on that issue would be "Hmm, if I had an ebike I could ride the moto trails without huge speed disparity. Enable me now!"

Talking of moto trails, there's a trail that runs from Parry Sound in Ontario, way up north into the woods. If you google map, it shows the trail runs *through* lakes and mud bogs?

Seguin Trl Rd · Parry Sound District, ON, Canada

Parry Sound District, ON, Canada

www.google.com

And no, the map is not wrong:




So, if I thought there was an ebike that could deal with that level of all-day trip... water up above the bottom bracket and all-day running in deep muck ...I'd get it now.

Our moto trails are either single track with 1 foot or more deep trenches or jeep trails with huge erosion issues and generally poor surfaces. Even an e-bike would have problems with traction (loose babyheads, gravel and trenches) and/or being able to be pedaled (trenches). There are a couple of moto trails that I enjoy and that is in the downhill direction.

I can certainly see the cross country type of moto-trail that has a tread that is rideable being enhanced by being on an e-bike. Those don't exist for the most part around here although if I looked for them I probably would find some.