Why This eBiker Hates Mountain Bikes! Can We Change His Mind?
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- čas přidán 20. 05. 2024
- It's well-known that there is some pushback from the mountain biking community towards eMTBs, but does this apply the other way? Neil Donoghue has asked Steve Jones from @embn to help answer this. Although Steve is now an eBiker through and through, this wasn't always the case. With 40 years in the (non-assisted) saddle does Steve's love for eBikes outway that of MTBs? Or has riding only eBikes for 9 years caused him to hate non-motorised MTBs?
⏱ Timestamps ⏱
0:00 - Welcome To Another GMBN Video!
0:55 - Who Is Steve Jones?
2:13 - Getting Into The ‘Nitty Gritty’ Of MTB
4:06 - Exhibit ‘B’
6:55 - ‘I’m Actually Having A Good Time’
8:00 - Steve’s Final Thoughts
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Do you ride a mountain bike or an electric mountain bike? Let us know in the comments! 👇
i personally ride both, if i want to ride a simple ride then i take the analog bike with no worries about battery life and such. if i want to do a mountain trail with climbing and hours and hours of descending and ascending with lots of km to cover then i take the e bike because it makes the climbing part fun and easier and like Steve says it allows you to have options open to farther distances that you would never see or do or experience and do way more laps then a regular bike.
Both, love them both but I prefer normal bikes for fun, easier to jump jibb and maneuver, and ebikes for long rides with the boys and shuttle dowhhill
Ride both, best of both worlds!
Both... why does it have to be mutually exclusive.
E bikes are banned by law on many trails because they are “motorized off road vehicles.” I ride a normal bike
Been mtb'ing since '89, got an ebike 2 years ago, never going back because ebike is way more fun for me
Seeing where Steve is coming from, i wish there were more free riding like that instead of the focus on bikeparks, big jumps and tricks.
This is what I keep hoping too. I don't understand why almost all of the content focuses on bike parks
Couldn't agree more. I love going out for all-day 30, 40, 50 mile rides in the middle of no where on my Giant Reign.
My XC trails have more rocks, roots and tech bits than the downhill parks we see in this channel.
If I'm watching people like Sam Pilgrim or Matt Jones, I know to expect smooth trails and big jumps. But even they tackle proper mountain bike trails every now and then.
Here, I see way too much bike park jumps, not enough techy trails.
@@arnarn4112 because jumps and tricks look kewl on social media... plodding up a byway, less so?
@@jmo2752 Yep, that's probably it. But personally I like to watch content that I can relate to and learn from. Thus, I would like to see technical trail riding content.
And I'm a guy who used to have (and truly enjoyed) an eMTB but is back on a regular one again. What I love about a regular one is just the simplicity, my weird(?) fascination for pure mechanics (same for breaks and shifters - I love them mechanical), the weight distribution, no motor noise at all, and just the clean design. But I do understand the thrill of extra power. :)
Having both is great, because it stops you getting stale and it always reminds you how good each of them really are. It makes the MTB feel even lighter and more nimble but you appreciate the power and stability of the emtb more too.
I know me, if I had an e-bike my level of fitness would diminish quickly…that being said…I completely agree that most MTB videos are downhill bike park videos and have nothing to do with what mountain biking is to me.
Your fitness doesn't have to diminish if you don't want it to - you can select how much (if any) assistance you get with an eMTB... If you want more of a workout, just dial it back (and extend your range) - you only need to use 'Turbo' for the kind of climbs/hazards you couldn't make on a regular bike. What an eMTB does offer is the ability to ride further and up steeper terrain than you might be able to on a non-assisted bike, it doesn't have to be all about speed.
It doesn’t diminish because you do more laps…
That's what many mountain bikers don't get. With an ebike you can put in the same effort as with a normal bike. The difference is elevation gain and/or distance and/or speed.
There will always be a stigma attached to them as being the easy way out of actually putting in the effort in. Yeah, they are definitely fun and I love mine, but it really is almost a different sport compared to riding a conventional bike. It is great how it opens the world of cycling to others though. Yes you can stay fit on them, but let's face it, most people just stick them in "turbo" most of the time.
As simple as this.
To be fair, while newer riders (to mountain biking in general) might well stick them in Turbo for an hour or two until their battery is dead - don't discount the fact that a lot of people are buying eMTBs for more than just a quick razz around, and even those who did initially may well soon find that having a decent battery range opens up a lot more riding opportunities (both distance and elevation change) than they had before.
That's the thing though right... if you're a DH rider you WANT the easiest, fastest, way to the top. If I could skip it all together I would... with or without an ebike. It's all what you're into.
When you can do more laps in the same time using an e-bike to speed up the transport and uphill parts of the day - not riding, but going to the place you start riding i.e. the top - then you obviously get better value out of the day... do 6 laps instead of 3 or 4 before the posh burger and beer...
Most mountain bikes have never seen a mountain!
Most e-bikes have never seen a mountain
@@TheKeirsunishimine has😂
My MTB has seen the summit of the highest mountain of Australia, riding up from the lowest place on
@@lostintransit5822 I'm glad to hear it
weird statement
I ride XC with a group of older e-bikers. I’m still on an analog bike and have no intention of going to an E-bike. I actually enjoy the challenge of matching the pace of the group regardless of how gassed I get at times. I can still do a 12 mile XC ride without a break at 63. 😅
Having ridden emtb's a fiar number of times, i can say pretty definitively i have no interest in them. They're heavy and I don't like the way they ride. They're just not fun mountain bikes in my opinion.
An ebike for a commuter bike seems great. But for MTB, i have absolutely zero interest.
I understand your view but e-mountain bikes have a specific purpose that suits many, many riders, including myself who have little interest in the confinements of the manufactured trails or giving myself a heart attack trying to climb to the tops of trails to end up being too knackered to ride down them again. I'm not anti-trail/bike park but I don't like being put through a high speed obstacle course or race to within an inch of my life down a track as it's just not my style.
The people who want to test their limits of skill and face the risk of a nasty injury are entitled to carry on doing that but I just want to ride something that let's me enjoy the experience of riding the untamed landscape and to enjoy the view while doing it.
Great video this one! 👍
Fitness on MTB vs eMTB… The never ending discussion (aka flats vs clipless), my personal experience is that I ride more on eMTB and my fitness improved. I’m not fat & lazy nor olympic athlete, just average Joe with so many hours a week to ride. Very good and honest video!
Same. I can go hard for an hour and do 12 laps of my current favorite loop or just three. My fitness definitely improved after getting my eMTB last July simply because I went out and rode every chance I got. Which led to improving my skills faster. Which led to riding harder. Etc., etc. etc.
I remember my turning point when i went exploring a new hillside in the local area and i saw a lookout tower and the climb was steep and since i was on my fuel exe i managed to go up. i'd never have thought of doing that on my acoustic mtb. it opened up my mind for further exploration.
I really think e-bikes are great.Just not for me, because they limit the most important aspect of mountain biking - freedom. What is a mountain bike good for if I can't just hop onto it and ride. The same actually goes for electric derailleurs and dropper posts. I want my bike as analogue as possible.
I ride a mountain bike but only because I can’t afford an e-bike. Love watching these two together, great chemistry. My two favourite presenters.
I love my eBike....gets me 25ish miles and 3-4K feet of climbing in 2 ish hours...and still have loads of power left to get me back to my Truck!
I have two EMTBs (kenevo and levo) and a Scott Genius 900 (carbon turned) normal MTB ,each has their merits ,I ride more miles on the Scott ...but for big days with techy climbs and massive elevation (3500-6000 foot) the Ebikes make the ride more fun....and fun is why I ride...fitness is a by product
Man I miss Dirt Magazine
so glat you guys put the music you use in the description
Love how E bikes are more of a workout but no one wants to do the same elevation and distance on the Analog as E bike because Analog is too hard 😂
Love how the industry spins this to sell e bikes
They are not more of a workout over the same distance and terrain (well unless you switch them off, then it's like pedalling a 50lb downhill rig) - the point is, because you're not killing yourself on the first big climb, you can ride further and for longer - so at the end of your respective rides you've used as much energy/burnt the same number of calories as each other - you've just ridden much further and climbed more elevation on the eMTB.
I understand where Jonesy is coming from talking about bike parks as being separate from the roots of mountain biking, quite literally riding over roots in the woods. And while I understand his point and also agree with him I don't think you can look at it that way when you realize that even in the United States which is a vast amount of area I could very easily write out by hand a list of every single Bike Park but I couldn't even write out by hand every Trail area in the Northeast where I live because there's just too many. And while I understand that a lot of the videos that are put on the internet are taken at bike parks mainly because it's way easier to film in a contained environment most of us only get a couple of bike park days a year if we're lucky and the other 90% of our riding miles are in the woods. I think it's a case of the image of mountain biking not really matching its reality The same way that motoring shows will show you cars in beautiful locations friving at 10 10ths and yet most of those cars after their purchased in real life will never do any of those things
Steve, I dont have anything against an E Bike, and i get your points. An E Bike is a tool that allows you to do the things you like to do. As with any biker, we have to consider our skill, endurance and type of riding, then pick a tool for the job. An E Biker needs less skill and endurance to get further away from the trail head. However the E Bike industry needs to stop using that a sales point!!! Skill, Fitness and Experience first!!! Then plan a trip and pick a tool for the job.If that tool is an E Bike, OK. It seems that many pick a tool (E Bike), buy a map and go completely unaware of the skill or experience needed on a long trail. That needs to change!
The second point that e bikers need to learn is trail rules. On long hard, rooty and rocky climbs, dont ring at an "Analog" biker that is at his limit and trying to send a section of trail. Also, dont ignore 4 riders waiting to drop in and just go to the front and ride down the trail a a snails pace.
E Bikes are the future and they are good development. Like Steve said, it allows guys with less fitness but good skill and experience to still get way out in nature. Thats a good thing, but please respect nature and others that choose a normal bike or choose to hike.
I don't get the entire ebike vs non-ebike argument, I ride and enjoy both.
As long as it is class 1 or jus EU spec 100% agree
The question is which one do you buy first.
I don’t think there’s any arguing going on at all, lots of comments, lots of rationalizations…but no arguments.
On a regular mtb uphill is a slog and the downhill is your reward, but with an emtb you find yourself looking at a technical uphill and thinking I wonder if I can get up that? The uphill is great fun and you still get the downhill reward. I love the challenge of a techy emtb climb... its got elements of trials riding and skill. That's more rewarding to me personally than fitness based goals of getting up an easy hill in a certain time or factors like heart rate etc.
I agree with Steve. I stared riding on the welsh hills before trail centres and find them a bit “boutique”. They do provide a great facility to practice skills though.
Steve says young riders think of trail centres as the go to for MTBs, whereas emtbs let you get out to the proper wilds.... So in other words Steve is saying the exact same thing.... Eg. To ride the proper natural trails you need an emtb.
I'm 56yrs old and ride proper natural mountain trails on a HT and a FS MTB, emtbs have a limited range due to the battery... So in actual fact (fitness allowing) an MTB lets you do more miles than an emtb on natural trails and experience a true epic MTB ride.
You can adjust your power level and/or put the same amount of effort into pedaling an e-bike except your result is just more speed from it. Don't see the problem there. You're hitting everything faster (jumps, over roots, rocks, etc) so your upper body is getting more of a workout too.
If you get out and ride, ebike or MTB, still enjoying the outdoors, getting exercise and great for your mental health.
I totally agree on Steve‘s point that mountainbiking hase moved too much towards built trails. When I started in the early 90s it was about riding into the woods, following unknown paths and see where you come out. On the other hand we might romanticise it a bit. I do not miss stopping every 10 meters to pull sticks out of the wheels and rear mech at all.
Theres pros and cons for both imo. I love my acoustic for park and shuttled rides. The lighter weight just makes things much more enjoyable. I also love how fit i get when i ride my acoustic. The ebike is fun for group rides, riding a trail multiple times and stuff.
They're all just bikes at the end of the day, just different components. I have the same respect for somebody that's out there enjoying the sport, however they do it, whatever bike or tech they are doing it on.
He is just trying to say he "hate" bikes without a E infront🤣
Great video! Should of been longer, Steve seemed to be going quite deep into the subject!👍🏻
What kind of bike kickstand/portable stand you're using in the video?
It sounds like e-bikes are just to cater for the new generation of people who are unfit and can't handle going up hill for more than 1km. It's nice that they allow older people or people with medical issues a bit more freedom. I'll buy one when I'm 50
Cool you go ahead and climb you little heart out and make sure you tell everyone how much of an Olympic athlete you are... and stay out of the bike parks! Don't want that "easy way out" to the top... of course.
@@_Jake.From.Statefarm_ umad
I ride a normal bike and my mate rides a ebike before I would have to wait on the climbs but now I don't and we actually get in longer rides
I've been riding mountain bikes since the late 80s and getting out in the wild is the best thing. I now ride an ebike and it's opened my riding up even more . I love that I can use less energy climbing which saves more energy for the downhill
I have 2 emtb’s (yt decoy, husqvarna ) and a regular analog specialized stumpy. I just love my emtb’s for quick rides after work (don’t have much energy left). But also like the analog bike when with my kids, as we need to ride slower. Definitely agree with Steve, riding up steep sections that are almost impossible is great fun, but the light and lively analog is fun going downhill… just not up 😂
I don't ride an ebike but I think the biggest thing is that they bridge the fitness gap between the serious mountain bikers ( by serious I mean make the time and effort to train and ride lots) and the guys who love riding but don't get to as often.
I do a lot of training and ride 3 times a week most weeks, several of my ebiker friends get to ride once a week or less and they want to have fun, not be absolutely cooked halfway on a ride
I ride both, but have sold my emtb because it was not as much fun for me as the mtb. I think Steve addresses this in his latest video, but where I see the divergence in this video is the lack of climb trails that are being built in Mountain biking. When a climb is interesting regardless of power type, mountain biking becomes more enjoyable, but we have become so focused on just getting up quickly that we (as a community) have stopped building good climb trails that make getting back to the top interesting.
MTB bike 150 both ends for my forest epics.
I totally agree with Steve though, eMTB has benefits for day epics and long climbs.👍
I totally agree that MTB should be mainly on rough natural trails. I visited my first bike park last week. It didn't seem like anything but BMXing. It seems like good training and fun if you like tricks, but should be considered a totally different discipline or a very distant sub genre of mountain biking.
This chap was right that kids are growing up with no concept of actual mountains being involved in MTB. However, that doesn't mean that physically fit people have an excuse to ride with a motor. Wait until you're old I think.
Yeah, too many of the MTB media concentrate solely on Bike Parks and only doing tricks, sending it, etc
A day out riding in the trails/ hills, riding what basically is XC, seems to have gone out of fashion......
If i'm at a bike park , I'm on my MTB, if I go ride the local trails and the climbs are not too bad, I'm on my MTB, if the climbs are bad, I'm probably on my E-MTB, and instead of getting one climb and one ride down, I get 3, probably amounting to the same workout put in, but amounting to triple the fun.
@@exorder2005 It's an excellent point.
@@exorder2005 yes, this is the crux of the whole ‘argument’... The binary nature of social media comments encourages everyone to pick a side, and can only ever have one bike at a time - when practically speaking, most [enthusiastic] mountain-bikers already have more than one bike anyway... So instead of spending all your money on one 'super bike', why not split that between an eMTB and a regular MTB, and give yourself the choice as conditions dictate?
@@jmo2752 agreed, I have a Canyon Spectral AL 6, which I got on sale for 2500 Euros, and my next purchase was an YT Decoy MX Core 1 E-MTB which was on sale for 3.7k, haven't changed a thing on them, you don't need the high end stuff unless you're riding like the pros and pushing 20 foot jumps
I was sea fishing mostyn till 3 am got home 4am food and beer❤😂😂😂👍 this great channel is keeping me awake, and my dog, misses in in work 😂😂😂😂
I'm sad about my YT decoy I bought in October last year. It took me all the joy riding my normal bikes away. The plan was to have an alternative to my KTM Hardenduro. 😢
I have both, I prefer normal bikes for fun and ebikes for long rides, and sure when time is of the essence the ebike is better, but sluggish and heavy, I am not a tall or heavy rider so maybe a light ebike might be better suited for me. I ride Enduro downhill and occasionally trials.
Im quite yoing (almost in mid 40) but working as construction carpenter for 20 years most of it abroad so long hours each day in various climates and whether i do feel that in 2-3 years i will need an emtb bike also i do wait for manufacturers to decide in general for one charging standard.
I'm 47 and perfectly fit. However, the ebike means we can do an epic ride all day in the peak District EVERY week. They still keep you extremely fit as you can just go faster, harder and steeper. They're not a cop out. I'm probably fitter now than when I had my last acoustic bike.
I have both. If it's downhill with a lift, or green trails, Pivot Switchblade. But most of my local trails include some great downhill rides. But I need my YT Decoy to get back up. So the Decoy has about 700 miles on it and the Switchblade has less than 200.
Do you think you would be riding as much if you only had the Pivot? 🤔
@@gmbn No. Sometimes when I’m wimping out, I go ahead and ride the e-bike. By the time I get on the trail, I end up riding with the power off just to push myself. Then I realize that I could have ridden a bike that’s 10 lbs lighter. The e-bike gives me an extra boost of confidence.
100% with Steve on this one! I've rode mtb for past 30 years this year I took the dive and got an emtb with Gen 4 bosch fair to say my mtb won't be used again, unless start doing DH again but getting to old for that I'm nearly 40 so that's a no for DH nowadays won't go back to smashing bones they won't heal as quick now haha
Fair enough! Glad you're still riding regardless of what the bike is :)
I'll ride an E-MTB when I'm too old or too injured to ride a regular bike. Now I'm 50 and had knee ops, but the regular MTB helps rehab and keeps me slim. If you're not overweight or don't smoke it seems a cop out to be making things so easy. Not hating, I think it's great that unfit people can get out and get a start. Just a bit of effort should be encouraged.
Ebikes are not for handicapped people who are not able to ride a "normal bike" anymore if you have skills and strength you can ride uphill on Ebikes on trails where normal bikes are capable to ride on downhill, and that's a fact.
As a smoker I firmly believe it's extra important to do a lot of cardio and stay in good shape to somewhat counter the effects of smoking.
@@nicolapellegrino1072 Cope is strong with this one. There's no shame in riding a motorbike. But call it a motorbike, not a bicycle. Stop pretending like you're cycling, you're using an engine to power your bike.
By this logic mx/enduro should be a piece of cake because you don't even need to pedal. I've found you need to be extremely fit to ride one well, same with an ebike
I find to ride an EMTB in a similar fashion as a non e-bike you actually have to be more fit and strong to throw around the weight.
2.54 I watched an old ebike video of Steve and a Girl from Specialized on her SL to His full powered emtb the other day of this bit of hill climbing it didn't go well for the light weight motor with heavier person
I’ve both. E-bike is fun but can get boring. Non assisted MTB can be more challenging in comparison and thus more rewarding. The e-bike has allowed me to progress quicker but it’ll never give me the same sense that “I” conquered the mountain. E-bike is like eating empty calories and analog is like eating a gourmet meal.
I have to agree with the comment about hardpack / paved surfaces - it's much more BMX than mountain side - and for a good portion of probably all mountain bikers this IS mountain biking. I've overheard some people describing some such sections as 'boring', but to them I'd say get out on the wild bridleways and moors instead, stop wasting time on the 'boring' paved trails. There's a reason I don't ride the majority of the black sections (and then complain that they're too rocky). People should ride what's fun and challenging for them and the bike they ride. At my local trails I'm generally of the opinion that the XC-style red is not really a challenge for modern eMTBs for the average strong rider, and it almost feels like they could be an adult riding a kid's skill area 'just because they can do it faster'.
Definitely a thought Iv had by that all the bike parks are great but man made and the adventure of epic trails is just a a good but what mountain biking is all about!
It depends what you want out of your bike, I like the fitness I get from a normal bike, I need the excercise. Not keen on e-bikes as they make going up better but I feel going down feels worse on an ebike, and thats the bit Im there for. Following ebikes I have to slow down in wierd places as they have to account for more weight and momentum, great at riding up, but not as good at riding down. Although the SL bikes are feeling more like a normal bike, they are mmore tempting but I can fix everything on my bike myself, I cant on an ebike. The best thing about e-bikes is you can get to places I wouldnt bother on a normal bike, cwmcarn for example those loops are great on an e-bike too much for my little legs normally. Still think the negatives outweight the positives for me and thats disregarding price...
I agree with Steve to a large degree. In my experience, even MTB parks do not offer a harmonious experience on an acoustic bike. Like a grueling XC climb for 45 min to do a high-stakes jump line back to the bottom. Long suspension, slack bike, wearing protective gear is just an abysmally miserable experience on the way up. Once you reach the top, your body is all out of wack because the muscles used for the climb are not the same group used for descent; you feel drained and exhausted but the body parts you must now engage at 100% are stiff and cold. No matter! You only risk serious injury or death... Dropping!
Some parks are better than others. And carrying extra 20lbs on the jump line isn't ideal. But eMTB do fix many obvious problems with this hobby
Curious but do you get the same amount of exercise with an e bike compared to a normal bike? Also I do find more 45-60+ seem to have e bikes so is it just an easier option for people who maybe less able and also it tends to be the same people in those brackets that can afford an e bike I’m in my 30’s and unless I got it on finance I certainly couldn’t afford one.
Yeah it's more cardio than strength training.. It's akin to long distance running vs sprinting... like anything though.. you can get off and push up a climb if you don't want to get stronger climbing.. it's no different on an Emtb.. You can leave it in boost and go slow and make it to the top on a fire road no problem... but if you're any good at riding, you wont.
@@_Jake.From.Statefarm_ thank you. I do kinda of enjoy the climb as long as it doesn’t go on too long lol
@@Jqteadventures1659 No worries. There are a lot of great things about them though. You'll get way better at riding downhill as you'll get more practice. You'll ride more often, and you'll ride longer. You can also learn to climb some pretty crazy things and get to some awesome locations. Honestly, best thing ever invented imo.
You can still go epic on a mountain bike. It just won't make you TicTok famous.
I agree that mtb is becoming very bmx in sime areas now with mtb seemingly being made for bmx tracks tather than exploring off road rides. As much as i love to see the skill of these riders there was once a film made called "bmx bandits" same stufff more or less.
Watching the video, you might get the impression that MTB is all about going downhill - in fact it is much more fun and satisfying to go uphill 😁
I love both but definitely ride the ebike more and feel more comfortable on massive jumps on it
A good question I wish you would address is: What’s the real environmental impact of e-bike battery mineral resourcing? What’s the carbon footprint of production and are those at the mineral sourcing stage safely employed and paid a good wage?
get lost..
The answer is: Less of an impact than it took to create the device you typed that question on...
52 years old and riding a non motorized bike . On my hard tail mostly . Enjoy the fitness and simplicity and the challenge of climbing an almost unclimbable trail . I find on an e-bike it’s heavy , hard to throw around and I loose the feel of the trail as it just plows through and over everything. Don’t hate e-bikers, just not my thing and unfortunately don’t ride with a lot of my old friends due to their switch to the ease of ascent.
What hardtail have you got? That's a shame, you could always get a tow rope and use them as a free uplift service 🤔
I prefer an unassisted climb , keeps my 52 year old body fit and love the slower pace to reset my mind and body . Zen in the woods . Riding a Ragley BigAl 29 , 150mm Yari fork. Started on hard tail north shore as a young man , then full suspension for years then found a love for hard tails again now living and riding north of Whistler B.C. Need to thank Blake’s awesome vids getting me back on the hard tail . Really enjoying this channel!!!
Thanks
All the arguments made for choosing an e bike we do on normal mountain bikes anyway.....
It's just matter of correct bike for the application. Where application is type of riding you enjoy combined with your fitness/strength. XC bike is not much fun on DH track and DH bike is not much fun on XC loop. I wouldn't bother with the range of gears I have on my bike and dropper post if I had the fitness/stregth to dance the uphills out of the saddle. If motor makes it more fun for you go for it.
I don't have any emotinal attachment to the term "mountain biking", but if we're going to limit it to natural surfaces, we better come up with some more practical name for "BMXing on mountain bikes" because that rolls out of the tongue about as good as model name of average Ibanez guitar.
I just can't afford to spend the bags needed for a decent EMTB, I generally buy used in the £750-£1500 range, currently on a Whyte s120 CR. I do get a bit jelly though walking up a climb and the EMTB crew go sailing by up the hill, I can see the appeal.
😂Like to feel the burn, its gives me a buzz👌49yrs young😂hopefully will be still riding in to my 60s, if not will get a motorbike instead👍😎
You still get a burn... You're just riding up gnarlier stuff instead of walking it.. Watch guys try and do the power stages in the E-EDR they are gassed by the time they get to the top lol.
What was the bike he was using? Didn't pick that up from watching...
Ebikes ok but the problem is "nothing counts" on them if u get my drift
Mtb till i get old or injured. Too much training and fitness involved in my regiment. I think they are cool. I like the ebike enduro racing
I remember when Jonesy was a Dirt mag editor, those were the real days of MTB!!
The 1.23 track, with Hill for example, epic! When Jonesy was hardcore, not old soft and bitter!🤣
E-Biking just means you are getting old Jonesy, just FACT..Dont worry I want one, but I will still have my steel hardtail and I'm in my 50s! Steel will always be real mate!
What annoys me about e-bikes, is like digger built trails it opened up access to people without skills to ride such trails!
I regularly see riders crash or take out other riders on pleb trails that a kid dropping training wheel for the first time could ride!
As someone who has guided riders and wants to see the sport grow, properly, its not about the most expensive rig, or just e bikes vs steam bike or having one or the other, its about skill training, trail awareness, trail etiquette, almost a forgotten subject in society as more and more entitled people especially on E-Bikes increases!
Its about basic skills , fitness to grade + distance of trail, trail awareness, rider awareness, just because the bike can do the trail and can power the distance, doesn't meant the rider can! E-Bikers don't take responsibility for themselves or the bikes they are on! Not all but most.
This is the same problem exaggerated 10 fold from the venerable hardtail to really good full suspension bikes that started to enter the mass market by the late 2000s by OEMS, then add the 27.5 and 29er it created even more dumbed down riders with a lower skill level, but faster bike capability and more trail access beyond the skills, these didn't get better, the bikes did.
E-Bikes have taken that to a new level! 100 fold.
Maybe e-Bikes should have a chip that can recognize skills and cant be unlocked, just like online game, where you have to reach certain levels of competency before certain kWs can be reached!
Like the hardtail could without any tech!
Natural selection and nature sorted out the plebs from good riders and pros on a hardtail. Now we have opened Pandora's box and apart from a smart chip, because humans are more stupid that ever, there is no closing the lid.
My POV and experience with both sides!
On which model of CANYON did Steve Jones ride in this episode?
I've only ever ridden hardtail analogue bikes. Been riding regularly as an adult for around 18 years (I'm 36) and I've decided to take the plunge on an Ebike. Can't see a drawback - first experience of full suspension, carbon frame, high quality components, easier everyday commuting use AND I don't have to be in great shape all year round to enjoy it. Fitness has never been part of why I ride my bike, these days I don't ride in the middle of Winter in the UK as it's a truly miserable experience, so my use is from March through to October. Each year it takes a little longer to get back in shape in Spring and it really diminishes my enjoyment. I don't subscribe to the point of view that says Ebikes are for old farts who can't do what they used to be able to, nor do I believe they're a cop-out for less skilled riders. They look like a great fun and totally different experience to what I've become used to, and how can that be a bad thing?
I agree with steve, why struggle to go up hill. Ebikes makes the up and down hills more fun
EMTB also allows people that mite struggle to keep up with there mates on MTB’s then everyone is having the same amount of fun
I have a pair of boots and tennis shoes and I wear them both. It’s ok to like two different things that do the same thing.
Great answer!
If I have to pay thousands of dollars for a bike it can't be limited to 28 mph. No excuses.
It's not limited to 28mph*, that is when the assistance stops - you can go as fast [downhill] as you could on any other bike.
*note that a Class-1 pedal-assist bike (which is what the vast majority of manufacturers sell) has the assistance limited to 20mph in the US, and 15.5mph in the UK/EU - it's Class-3 bikes which are limited to 28mph you are talking about, and those are typically not allowed on bicycle trails, but are designed primarily to be the 'e' equivalent of a moped.
@@jmo2752 the motor is limited to 28 mph and that's honestly pathetic
At the end of the day if you want a powered MTB then buy one! Having what is a motorised bicycle that's legal to ride on trails with pedal bikes is all they are..
Last week I’ve been riding in a trail center and 90% of the people were on e-bikes. If I would only consider the adult it would even be more. I literally was the only adult on a regular hardtail. My take away from that day: Riding e-bikes on the trail and smoking in the car park got me smh. (Not a e-bike hater at all)
E-bikes are great, but they are a step up, a huge step up, in cost. They are out of reach of most MTB-ers, and that is already a spendy crowd.
E-bikes aren't bikes, they're mopeds.
That's odd. If I turn it off.. It's a regular fking bike! What a concept.
Ebike in eco -2 is v similar to a pedal bike. Ride that for 2hours. Then when faced with a giant hill, turbooooooo 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻 then downhill time. And repeat.
Love all bike i feel, anything on 2 wheels 🤷♂️
Get an enduro if you want the fun and exercise, and get an Ebike if you like fun and uhh... fun. I guess
Sounds like steve jones needs a mid power Ebike 🤔🤔 maybe even only use eco and trail . No turbo .
I have been riding a regular enduro bike for quite a while and just recently switched to a emtb. Its scary to see how dumb some people are here, thinking you cant get a good workout from an emtb. Certainly it depends on who and how you ride it, but for me where i live where the ”mountains” are quite steep, i get exhausted after maybe 2 or 3 climbs = 1,5-2 hours riding a regular bike. Now i get 10+ climbs and at least twice as much riding time, my heart rate is up and im exhausted by the end of the ride. Its like saying long distace runners are lazy compared to sprinters.
Yes, this is the main difference... most people who criticise eMTBs are coming at it from a point of ignorance, or fail to consider where [other] people are riding...
Sure, if you live in the UK where typically you only ever have few hundred feet of elevation change, then if you're fit, a regular bike is usually fine - for typically a couple of hours riding at least... But equally if you're surround by 2000+ft climbs just to get to the top of the downhills, then you'll soon appreciate the benefit of having some 'e' to assist you up those actual mountains.
Less is not more in this case. 3x more fun 3x more speed 3x more elev. etc.What very few people mention is, that you get a full body workout tossing around an 23 kg bike and lets face it, a lot of mtb-ers are pu..ys and not muscular or masculine at all. You can get out an do big things on an emtb what would be impossible on an analog...
Been mtbing for over 2 decades now and still haven't been to a ''bike park''....The wilderness does it for me...Ha!!
Poor Neal.. bet he was hoping the day to come to an end…
E-bikers really want to convince us that they are working hard 😂
Maybe not their legs as much because on the climbs, but they work way harder going down on a 50+lbs emtb. Upper body and core gets a huge work out compared to a ~30lbs trail bike.
And haters really want to convince everyone they are special because they like to slog up a climb. Special little snowflakes that want us to believe they are world class athletes.
@@_Jake.From.Statefarm_ People have to think they are good at something and it matters 😉
I would buy a good canyon e bike....but they are so expensive...
You could build one for a quarter the price, and Three times the Watts.
@@EvolveOutdoors what would you prefer? And where?
@@escape1318 i bought mine used for less than the price of a regular mtb. guy was 60 and had used it so little the pedals were even in mint condition, just saying if you look long and hard you can find some amazing stuff
Man these comments are so petty it’s hilarious. 😂 🤣
Ebikes are double the fun!!!
The issue about e-bikes is that people are naturally lazy and greedy at the same time :
- lazy so once you try an e bike, you’ll be using it even though you’ll be perfectly fine using a normal mtb. If you do, then you’re polluting for no reason.
-greedy, so now you won’t only do your normal mtb tour you would do on your regular bike, now you would do it 2 or 3 times. Ultimately overcrowding the trails and get us kick out of natural trails. Then we will indeed all ride only in bike parks…
So yeah e-bikes are supposed to be great for my dad that do not have the fitness anymore to ride with me in the French alps. But I fear it’ll will ruin everything, just for our greed for « free » downhills on a MTB.
I personally don't love MTBs, I'm not a bike park guy, he said something I love which is cultures trails and only blacks get rough but they get insane. We have lost some of the best bits of biking so I rarely ride a bike park now as they have zero what I enjoy riding.
Acoustic till the end!!!
When people say acoustic bikes it makes me wanna spew up 🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@megane230f1 hahah same here, I'm just gonna keep using "bike"
I think i will stick with what i have, and buy a car with the E-MTB cash.
I am a 15 year old mountain biker and have been for a while and i recently got my first e bike, i dont use it because i am lazy or because i have too much money then sence or just to fit in with other e bikers. I use a e bike as a normal bike that on a rainy afternoon, either after school or on the weekend where i only have a hour or two to go to trails that are miles away and to get in many laps that would never be possible on a standard mtb.
I think e bikes shouldent be thought of a varient to mountian bikes but rather a good change. Its just like wireless deraliers, some people hate it and some love it but it has its place and was made for a reason but dousent change the sport as a whole.
TIL a bike with a motor is not a motorbike 😂
Climbing is so dull, boring and slow on a regular MTB, but an Ebike still allows you to do all of what you can on a regular bike, only youre flying to the top of the hill. And if people think you cant get a sweat on with an ebike, clearly not rode one properly.
Keep your own engine running as long as you can. in your old age you'll be glad of it. You don't need the lithium to have fun on a bike. The planet doesn't need degradable e-power where it's non-essential.
EMTBs got me back on 2 wheels since my motorcycle accident and would have never happen on an acoustic MTB !!!