Personally I have no interest in e-bikes. Not one time have I been riding my bicycles and thought my experience would be improved by adding a motor nor have I ever woken up and thought "Damn! I get too much exercise I need less!". I was given a free e-bike \[nice high quality one\] a while back to review. I rode it for the review and gave it away to a friend. I just couldn't really understand what the point was. I can ride all over any reasonable sized city or trail network without a motor and I want more exercise not less. So adding a motor doesn't hold any appeal for me. I also don't think the western world needs more motorized recreation or batteries.
I don't get the "hate" for e-bikes any more than I would the hate for mopeds and motorcycles/scooters. I was a moto rider since I was 17 so I have no dislike for them and I understand why BRAAPPPING is fun. I chose to get rid of my moto when I realized I would rather spend my free time getting as much exercise as I could riding my bicycles and I didn't have enough free time for both.
So I have no interest in e-bike content including racing. I have a lot of concerns about putting motors on trails that have been human powered to this point. But, I don't hate anyone because of what they ride. The industry wants to sell more product at higher pricepoints and there are a group of folks that don't want to put in the effort required to climb to the top of a mountain. I see the appeal on both sides even if I don't share their motivation. When I get asked I'll say I don't want e-bikes on hiking/MTB trails. I'll take the time to go to public meetings and say the same. However, I don't own the land the trails are on \[at least not in any direct way - ie. public gov't lands\] so I'll respect the decisions that get made.
BTW - if you want to see real e-animosity take an electric powered surfboard \[yeah that's a thing\] to a crowded lineup and see what happens when you use the motor to drop in early on a wave because you aren't limited by how fast you can paddle. ;-)
Sept. 5, 2019, 6:13 a.m. - Vik Banerjee
Personally I have no interest in e-bikes. Not one time have I been riding my bicycles and thought my experience would be improved by adding a motor nor have I ever woken up and thought "Damn! I get too much exercise I need less!". I was given a free e-bike \[nice high quality one\] a while back to review. I rode it for the review and gave it away to a friend. I just couldn't really understand what the point was. I can ride all over any reasonable sized city or trail network without a motor and I want more exercise not less. So adding a motor doesn't hold any appeal for me. I also don't think the western world needs more motorized recreation or batteries. I don't get the "hate" for e-bikes any more than I would the hate for mopeds and motorcycles/scooters. I was a moto rider since I was 17 so I have no dislike for them and I understand why BRAAPPPING is fun. I chose to get rid of my moto when I realized I would rather spend my free time getting as much exercise as I could riding my bicycles and I didn't have enough free time for both. So I have no interest in e-bike content including racing. I have a lot of concerns about putting motors on trails that have been human powered to this point. But, I don't hate anyone because of what they ride. The industry wants to sell more product at higher pricepoints and there are a group of folks that don't want to put in the effort required to climb to the top of a mountain. I see the appeal on both sides even if I don't share their motivation. When I get asked I'll say I don't want e-bikes on hiking/MTB trails. I'll take the time to go to public meetings and say the same. However, I don't own the land the trails are on \[at least not in any direct way - ie. public gov't lands\] so I'll respect the decisions that get made. BTW - if you want to see real e-animosity take an electric powered surfboard \[yeah that's a thing\] to a crowded lineup and see what happens when you use the motor to drop in early on a wave because you aren't limited by how fast you can paddle. ;-)