One More eBike Debate

Agreed, this is not surfing. I saw this a few wks ago and while it might be a fun pastime for a landlocked state, it should NOT be called surfing, IMO!

 

This morning, I strapped our Roomba on an e-bike, and and as I type this, it is busy doing an out-and-back on Aliso Creek Trail. Whew, I'm a little out of breath. I may have to take a nap this afternoon...

 

Just because I like to play devil's advocate.....


So we established that by going to a "park" and having the structure facilitate all points up to the moment of catching the wave... is not surfing right? I'm guessing that if you ask 100 people what surfing is, 95 would say it's the actual act of riding a wave on a board.

So

Bike parks

you take a lift, hop on , ride downhill.. maybe not completely analogous, but you gotta see the similarities right? So, does spending the day at Snow summit mean I haven't mountain biked that day?

 

According to MOST of the members here, and I do mean members, the answer is NO, you didn't mountain bike! It's sad.

 

I burn as many calories shuttling Mt. Pinos as I do climbing to the top and riding it back down. If I'm on my bike I'm mountain biking!

 

Yes you did.

But it is kinda like @herzalot pointed out.....if all you ever did was ride a chairlift at a bike park, you wouldn’t know how to conduct yourself on regular multi use trails.

While it’s not for me.....I’ll give you guys crap in jest for doing it.

 

Hah! You do have a valid point for sure. That being said as for me I don’t ride corralled parks, I have , but I don’t, I don’t like to be confined. And besides that I pay enough for my addiction, I think what is under my tires should a least be free!

 

It’s actually a very good argument and to be honest, I still think they are surfing at Slater’s park and I think you’re mountain biking at Snow Summit.

 

I consider it half mountain-biking. Just like if you were air-lifted to the top of Everest and climbed down, I would consider it half a summit.

Just kidding I consider it a legitimate sport - just like I consider downhill racing or freeriding a sport (or downhill skiing or snowboarding for that matter). I have seen plenty of downhill biking that I wouldn't have the cajones to attempt. That's why I always say I enjoy "cross-country mountain-biking" which includes ups as well as downs. A lot is personal preference; I need the cardio. Plus I love the endorphine rush of burning 3500 calories on a ride But I don't really get that hung up on the terminology.

 

The question is as hertz pointed out, where is the raw purity? Some don’t like raw purity. I do! Like Moab!

 

I like that too....but that's not surfing either

I might actually give surfing a try if I lived near Slater's park. As somebody who saw JAWS on a full screen in it's heyday and the prime of my body surfing/boogie boarding days, that film was a game changer that still lingers in my mind when I'm in the ocean. That's why I have to ship over my chain mail armor, sword gun and bang stick just to snorkel in Hawaii.

 

I love Parks and Rec soooo much...

 

I agree that the bike park/chairlift analogy is very similar to my wave pool analogy. Take all of the agony out of the sport and just do the fun part. Of course, DH-ing is an amazing workout for your legs, arms and core, and I am guessing wave pool surfing is very taxing on one's legs and core.

DH mt. biking is to mt. biking what Alpine skiing is to skiing. Very few expect a skier to climb up under his own power. There is an entirely separate sport called Cross Country or Nordic skiing.

Then there are the elitists/purists/holier-than-thous who do back country and claim that they and only they have an understanding of skiing in its purest form, since they climb up to ski down, and do so in an uncontrolled environment. (Nose in the air)

Sound familiar?

 

Huh? Did I just get hammered?

 

At least I diverted it off your awesome post and thread!

 

I don’t agree with this statement at all. Mountain biking is mountain biking. Total respect for park riders, actually envious of them. We may talk Sh!t about park exclusive riders but I know it is in jest.

As far as the surf park, I think it’s cool. It’s just a new version of a sport. Why can’t there be surf parks? Call it Park Surfing. But I’ll bet a guy in Kansas is going to dig it.

 

Technology is always changing our games, mostly for the better (disk brakes!)
Park surfing will progress along a divergent path from open water and will be its own discipline. The only thing I think is sad is that this will be the form of surfing that makes it into the Olympics. Look at the amusement park ride/drainage ditches that pass for Olympic whitewater.

 

Excluding existing eMTB and community reception outside of the US, I think the industry is pushing electric augmentation little by little starting with components. Electronic suspension and drivetrain has been around for a while now, but it's only getting better year after year. ebike motors are also getting smaller and more efficient, and battery tech is also improving.

I think we may get to a point where a sub 200W pedal assist motor will fit inside a conventional bottom bracket with regen braking to power/recharge the various electronic suspension and wireless drivetrains. At that point, I feel that those types of enhancements will be looked at no different than a 12 speed cassette.

Nahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I know I'm not alone when I just enjoy the simplicity of hopping on a bike and riding without a care in the world. Sure, ebikes are fun, but range anxiety and the potential for crap to malfunction is like a storm cloud in the distance that's always following you around.

 

This is my biggest concern. We are about 3-5 years off of battery and motor tech being capable of this. That's just right around the corner. There's a good chance that in 1-2 generations there are low or mild assist ebikes that look no different then a regular mountain bike does today. I mean hell, a pinion gearbox bike looks just like an ebike at 5mph +.

I feel like we could easily throw the baby out with the bath water by letting our e-biker friends get hit by the run away train and banned from the parks. I don't want to see them there at this exact moment in time any more then the rest of us do. However I'm very concerned about what the next step is when the layperson (park ranges) can't tell the difference. It seems like the easiest path forward for those people at that point will be to ban all bikes.

Typically I try to avoid conspiracy and fear mongering... but with teh current climate of threats of banning bikes in general, it seems like a possibility.

 

You are damn right about that and I am very thankful. It was getting tough for me to go into the original thread and feel good about it. Thanks for the separation and cleanup.

 

I got passed by two "older" people yesterday while climbing Blackstar... hubby/wife scenario on what appeared to be old tech ebikes. looked home built... as they rode by me they said "we're cheaters on ebikes"... hahaha i said who cares as long as you're having fun!! I tried to yell out "next time to at least bring a tow rope so you can tow my slow fat a$$ up the hill" but i don't think they could hear me over my asthma wheezing.

 

I rode with Craig the Electric Boogaloo again today. Everyone had a good time.

 

Though I have seen quite a few more e-bikes out in the wild, FLoop specifically, I'm still not worried about them being a threat to access. Besides them having an infinite stamina cheat activated, none of them have been jerks.

I still stand by my beliefs that it takes more than slapping a motor on a bike to peel a lazy ass off the couch. The people who ride like jerks already do so on regular bikes.

 

Completely agreed on our side of the fence, but i'm not sure those on the other side see it that way.

 

Oooooh! Hey guys (and gals)! We can still post crap about Ebikes here! EbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeChickennuggetsEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbikeEbike!
And I thought my first amendment was violated! Nope! It’s just moved over a little.

 

Edited

 

Dear @Mikie, I do appreciate your "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil" stance on the e-bike discussion as owner of this site. However, this IS the state of mt biking right now - at least it is in crowded urban areas such as LA, OC and Front Range CO. It is inevitable that even we few, we hearty band of brothers and sisters, we the consistent IMTB membership will probably not be able to avoid talking about the proliferation of the motor bikes and the impact of such proliferation.

Hopefully, we can still maintain high standards of decorum when we do trip over ourselves speaking about motor-cycles.

 

Makes for fun reading and the only problem IMO is that it's provided MTB opponents with the specter of "e" to add to their hatred and arguments. Might have been more productive to determine how to assimilate them once it was evident they were going to be a viable entity.

 

Did you hear about the new line of F-Bikes?

(runs for the exit)

 

I saw this picture posted on a gravel bike forum. Seriously? All that's missing are license plates.