Cam,
I'm curious how you feel about motorized bicycles vs offroad motorcycles. I've tried a few different models of motorized bicycles, ebikes, eebs, however people prefer to call them. I do not own one, but go for rides with a couple of older people who do from time to time, as well as encountering them fairly often on my local trail systems. Downieville is a prime example, and fortunately for me one of my relatively local trail areas. What I've found is that for the cost of an additional bicycle, and in an area where the trails that allow ebikes are true multi use and often OHV funded trails, I would rather ride a dirtbike. Sure they're noisy and actively burn fuel, but it is a different experience from my bicycle, and gives me the ability to not only ride a few miles from home, but complete 100-200 miles of exploration in a day. Sure a new KTM is more expensive than the average ebike, but most riders find no issues at all with a 10 year old dirtbike, and I can't think of a single moto rider who actively thought about replacing or upgrading a component like brakes or hubs.
I suppose my real question is regarding the differences between the two given access and cost of ownership. Somewhere like Moab or Downieville where many of the trails are multi use, how do you feel about the comparisons. I can see a much greater acceptance of ebikes after a few more generations, and possibly even an aftermarket where aside from replacing batteries, people are much less fussy about how pricey their rear derailleur is, and will contentedly ride an older bike with a motor attached.
April 22, 2020, 5:14 a.m. - Harris
Cam, I'm curious how you feel about motorized bicycles vs offroad motorcycles. I've tried a few different models of motorized bicycles, ebikes, eebs, however people prefer to call them. I do not own one, but go for rides with a couple of older people who do from time to time, as well as encountering them fairly often on my local trail systems. Downieville is a prime example, and fortunately for me one of my relatively local trail areas. What I've found is that for the cost of an additional bicycle, and in an area where the trails that allow ebikes are true multi use and often OHV funded trails, I would rather ride a dirtbike. Sure they're noisy and actively burn fuel, but it is a different experience from my bicycle, and gives me the ability to not only ride a few miles from home, but complete 100-200 miles of exploration in a day. Sure a new KTM is more expensive than the average ebike, but most riders find no issues at all with a 10 year old dirtbike, and I can't think of a single moto rider who actively thought about replacing or upgrading a component like brakes or hubs. I suppose my real question is regarding the differences between the two given access and cost of ownership. Somewhere like Moab or Downieville where many of the trails are multi use, how do you feel about the comparisons. I can see a much greater acceptance of ebikes after a few more generations, and possibly even an aftermarket where aside from replacing batteries, people are much less fussy about how pricey their rear derailleur is, and will contentedly ride an older bike with a motor attached.