If I owned the bike I'd probably be more careful about when and where I rode it, as far as moisture is concerned.
As for your riding in winter comments:
It rains in Vancouver. It's generally wet from some time in October to some time in March. Hanging up the bike through the winter is certainly a viable strategy (and one I've taken on certain years), but the trails have existed with people riding on them in winter for a long time. Certainly, trail choice becomes important. I hardly rode any unsanctioned trails on this bike at all, and certainly wasn't hunting for loamers.
Does an e-bike make riding in the wet weather easier or worse? Does an extra 10 pounds of gear and 5 pounds of clothing make it worse? If this wasn't a test bike I'm not sure if I would have ridden it as much as I did. It was a bit easier to throw on an extra layer, but it's not like the degree of sweat generated was all that much less. There was a mental aspect of the suffering being just a bit less (faster to the top, less time in the rain if you choose). But it's not like the trail was over-run with other e-bikers doing the same thing.
At the end of the day, I probably rode 20%-30% more than I would have if I hadn't had this bike. There was a day or two that I talked myself into it...but half of that was also just down to putting some mileage on a test bike. And when I did ride it, I usually rode a bit further than I would have on a regular bike. I don't think that this extra bit of mileage added all that much to my impact on the trails. Not nothing, certainly. Really, this was a factor that made it _slightly_ easier for me to ride through the winter, one day per week. I don't feel guilty about that.
March 10, 2025, 3:48 p.m. - Dave Tolnai
If I owned the bike I'd probably be more careful about when and where I rode it, as far as moisture is concerned. As for your riding in winter comments: It rains in Vancouver. It's generally wet from some time in October to some time in March. Hanging up the bike through the winter is certainly a viable strategy (and one I've taken on certain years), but the trails have existed with people riding on them in winter for a long time. Certainly, trail choice becomes important. I hardly rode any unsanctioned trails on this bike at all, and certainly wasn't hunting for loamers. Does an e-bike make riding in the wet weather easier or worse? Does an extra 10 pounds of gear and 5 pounds of clothing make it worse? If this wasn't a test bike I'm not sure if I would have ridden it as much as I did. It was a bit easier to throw on an extra layer, but it's not like the degree of sweat generated was all that much less. There was a mental aspect of the suffering being just a bit less (faster to the top, less time in the rain if you choose). But it's not like the trail was over-run with other e-bikers doing the same thing. At the end of the day, I probably rode 20%-30% more than I would have if I hadn't had this bike. There was a day or two that I talked myself into it...but half of that was also just down to putting some mileage on a test bike. And when I did ride it, I usually rode a bit further than I would have on a regular bike. I don't think that this extra bit of mileage added all that much to my impact on the trails. Not nothing, certainly. Really, this was a factor that made it _slightly_ easier for me to ride through the winter, one day per week. I don't feel guilty about that.