Pinkbike had the guts to come out against ebikes.
Cam at NSMB has no problem putting out an article which was basically an ebikes ad.
Lets see what other industry whores sell the trails out.
My god you are tiresome. It didn't take any guts at all to come out against ebikes. It's about as gutsy as government coming out against taxes. But thanks for calling me an industry whore. That's classy.
Do you have any idea how this business works? There is no upside to me 'promoting' ebikes. We aren't going after ebike ad dollars and none have been offered. It's a complete red herring that would only be presented by someone who knows nothing about this business.
If anything it was likely detrimental to our business to point out the community's hypocrisy and to review an ebike. But I feel strongly that we need to know a little about these things if we are going to deal with them and make rational recommendations about if, where and when they should be ridden.
Here are some facts.
Yes I wrote a review.
Yes I told the truth about how the bike works.
NO - I am not an advocate for e mountain bikes - assist or otherwise.
NO - I do no think we should advocate for their use on all trails. I think there are many reasons why we should be very careful about our position. Like Digger's point about them being able to climb singletrack, user conflicts, inexperienced riders getting in over their heads - and mostly the reaction that land managers might have. There are many concerns that I have, but also a few that I think are overblown.
Mostly though I think our current attitude reflects poorly on our sport or our community. We sound a lot like hikers did - and often still do - when talking about us. Blanket statements, fear, elitism, misinformation, hatred. It's like we're Fox News.
A certain local rider posted on FB last night, while I was speaking at the nsmba AGM, and literally put words in my mouth. He cherry picked words I did use and spun them to suit his interpretation of my opinion.
I said - "if we are going to justify banning ebikes because they will put more wear and tear on trails, should we also ban shuttling?" That became "he also said that riding an ebike is no different that shuttling."
I said "there are times when mountain bikers get so irrational about this that we sound a little like Mike Vandeman." That became "Cam's opinion is that anyone who opposes e bikes is the equivalent of Mike Vandeman."
This person also, for reasons that aren't completely clear but I that suppose relate to inflicting maximum damage, presented me as speaking for nsmb.com - when I was quite obviously there as a member of the community and nothing else.
Essentially while I was making a point about us being ignorant and close-minded about an issue he was proving my point by deciding what I was going to say before I said it - and then maliciously transmitting that on Facebook.
To his credit he posted a retraction after we spoke, which showed the sort of character that I had come to expect from this person over the fifteen years I have known him. Unfortunately the damage was already done and many people won't have seen his retraction.
What is someone like Monica Craver or Mike Vandeman going to say when they hear us echoing their exact complaints about another user group, that to the general public doesn't look any different than us? The fact that so many of us are blind to this hypocrisy is shocking.
And it's very likely to be detrimental to our cause.
Flame on and and be sure to misinterpret everything I've said. That'll show the world how worthy of respect we are as a community.
