There are no valid arguments, just arguments. This discussion is about mountain bikes with electric motors and, ironically, "motorbikes" don't have motors, they have engines. How could this get any stranger. Good luck naming anything.
Mountain bikes have been banned from public lands for decades following the tireless lobbying of user groups that don't want ANY bikes on trails. They never had a "good" argument, just a loud voice.
Mountain bike groups have lobbied against this voice and have seen a varied degree of success depending on where they are located. This reality of trail access being a challenge continues today, with remote areas in the US recently having been closed for no good reason.
The Sierra Club (I believe) still chooses to oppose bikes, just because...(at least that is what I got out of a few interviews I have seen and read in recent months). They are a potent adversary.
The e-bike problem is unwelcome to those folks who are fighting for mountain bike access because of all of this. Bike manufacturers using images of electric assist mountain bikes in beautiful locations to promote access for those electric assist bicycles without acknowledging this conflict is probably behind a lot of the emotion.
We all want to ride our bikes, in different styles and different environments on different wheel sizes. Personally I have accepted that I ride uphill slowly, and downhill awkwardly, albeit in beautiful places. I really don't care what anyone else rides, just that the ride remains worth the effort.
July 27, 2017, 6:54 p.m. - uberlounge
There are no valid arguments, just arguments. This discussion is about mountain bikes with electric motors and, ironically, "motorbikes" don't have motors, they have engines. How could this get any stranger. Good luck naming anything. Mountain bikes have been banned from public lands for decades following the tireless lobbying of user groups that don't want ANY bikes on trails. They never had a "good" argument, just a loud voice. Mountain bike groups have lobbied against this voice and have seen a varied degree of success depending on where they are located. This reality of trail access being a challenge continues today, with remote areas in the US recently having been closed for no good reason. The Sierra Club (I believe) still chooses to oppose bikes, just because...(at least that is what I got out of a few interviews I have seen and read in recent months). They are a potent adversary. The e-bike problem is unwelcome to those folks who are fighting for mountain bike access because of all of this. Bike manufacturers using images of electric assist mountain bikes in beautiful locations to promote access for those electric assist bicycles without acknowledging this conflict is probably behind a lot of the emotion. We all want to ride our bikes, in different styles and different environments on different wheel sizes. Personally I have accepted that I ride uphill slowly, and downhill awkwardly, albeit in beautiful places. I really don't care what anyone else rides, just that the ride remains worth the effort.