Posted by: Hepcat
Mostly because can't feather the throttle like you would on a motorcycle, it's an on/off switch through the cranks, which makes traction control difficult. But also because you can't put in a max effort on the cranks as there's a limiter. Your input isn't going straight to the wheel, it's going through a motor which caps input. It's a foreign experience.
I tried a loose section on my son's rental E-mtb that he couldn't clean, I couldn't clean it either and not for lack of trying. When I switched back to my (27.5) mountain bike, I cleaned it on the first try. It wasn't even a difficult section it turned out.
Long non-technical sections like low grade fire roads or paved sections were fantastic on the E-bike, everything trail related wasn't great. That weight is a constant factor too, climbing descending, pushing, it's inescapable.
Massive weight concentrated in one area at the battery is not something we've experienced as mountain bikers. My 45lb freeride bike had the weight distributed evenly and rode well in technical situations, while the E-bike felt like it had a 5kilo lead weight stuck to the frame. Which it did I suppose...
This is exactly my experience when I've tested ebikes. I hated that because I was used to traction and power control that I could manage through body position though I guess if the ebike is your entree into mountain biking you'd just avoid this kind of riding altogether. I didn't like the feeling of my power being processed through the motor first, it felt very indirect and there was a little lag which made technical climbing more difficult than it needed to be.
Last edited by: craw on Aug. 31, 2022, 7:11 a.m., edited 1 time in total.