I can see people failing to understand this where their home trails are one way (uphill climb trail followed by downhill). The problem is on 2 way, multi-use singletrack trails with limited sight lines. It's already possible to ride too fast for the trail and other users with leg power (hammering out of corners), but an advanced rider (top 20% of riders) is only able to do it 3 days a week, for maybe 20 minutes per ride before their legs get tired. With an e-bike, any rider can do it 7 days a week for 1hr per ride. If ebikes gain significant traction (pun intended), 2 way trails will be un-rideable.
As far as erosion on 2 way trails, braking power will always cause significantly more erosion than pedal or motor power.
April 22, 2020, 7:31 a.m. - peterk
I can see people failing to understand this where their home trails are one way (uphill climb trail followed by downhill). The problem is on 2 way, multi-use singletrack trails with limited sight lines. It's already possible to ride too fast for the trail and other users with leg power (hammering out of corners), but an advanced rider (top 20% of riders) is only able to do it 3 days a week, for maybe 20 minutes per ride before their legs get tired. With an e-bike, any rider can do it 7 days a week for 1hr per ride. If ebikes gain significant traction (pun intended), 2 way trails will be un-rideable. As far as erosion on 2 way trails, braking power will always cause significantly more erosion than pedal or motor power.