I bought an eBike about 2 years ago. It was a ridiculously good deal for a second bike, so I thought why not? 180mm F/R pretty aggressive "enduro-style" bike. My thought was I could do some self-shuttling with it and ride it on recovery days after bigger pedal rides.
I won't lie...it is SUPER fun to ride. But...I rode it on my local trails and felt kind of weird about it. I cleaned a few climbs that I hadn't before, but honestly, it felt kind of hollow. I didn't really accomplish anything, the motor did it. I also only ever used the lowest setting on the trail. Anything higher and it had WAY too much torque. There is a delay with the Bosch motor and it would take a second to kick in, so trying to do pedal kicks to get up ledges was awkward. I did finally nail the timing, but it took some adapting. And then, the weight. Mine weighs close to 58 lbs. While I could manhandle it and make it work, it was still a lot of bike (reminded me of my old Banshee Scream).
I did start using it to ride to the trail, as I felt driving an eBike there was a bit weird. Kind of missing the point. I didn't feel I lost any fitness riding it, it was still a workout (since I only used the low setting). The more I rode it thought, it just felt...wrong. To me anyways. I didn't get that feeling of "yeah, I did that!" that I get from my non-motorized bikes.
Then, some of the trail networks and preserves around here started to ban them entirely. I do not know what the actual enforcement is, but "No eBike" signs have started to pop up at the trailheads. These are legitimate ones, not the fake stickers some locals started putting up before. Really, there is only one park where it is actually allowed, and I limited my riding to only that one place. I didn't want to be "that guy". Other riders would glare at you, same with hikers. Anyone who says that hikers can't tell the difference is incorrect. Many of them can and while they are annoyed by mountain bikers, they HATE eBikes.
I was also starting to meet the eBike evangelicals. The people who think they are the second coming, much like the whole 29er trend from a few years back. They only ride eBikes, sing their praises constantly, and, from what I can tell, do not adhere to local rules regarding eBike usage. They ride them everywhere, including areas I know are restricted. It got weird.
With all of that happening...my eBike has been gathering dust. I haven't ridden it for a few weeks now. Only pedal bikes and I have been working on doing bigger rides. I bought my Yeti a few weeks ago as well and recently cleaned a climb on it that I had been working on for a long time. That feeling of accomplishment was back! I also knocked out a century on my roadie as well.
This is a whole lot of rambling, but I will just say this: I have nothing against the eBike itself. They are really fun and I could see applicable uses for them. However, much like the whole RAZR/UTV thing, too many irresponsible people are going to use and abuse them and probably ruin it for everyone else. Is that fair? No, it's not. And to the people who are using them responsibly, hopefully, you don't get screwed.
I'm going to sell mine, as I doubt I will use it anymore. It just isn't for me.
