syncro profile

@ Adrian Bostock and DancingWithMyself

Great comments/discussion that warrants it's own article. 

Cam?

Andrew - that's a fair statement. At least we can agree on the trail etiquette point, which in the big picture of the trail user community may be the most important point to consider.

I respect your love for pealing under your own power as I have the same/similar philosophy, but like Mike said, who knows what the future will hold. Personally I’d hate to see someone choose not to do something simply because one aspect of it doesn’t work for them.  Getting up the hill under one’s own power is only part of the mtb’ing experience. And to be clear, while that was a poke at you, it was not a malicious one. 

The introduction of e-bikes has not only been a sales/marketing experiment, but a social one as well. My main concern is that the fallout from drawing hard lines in the sand will create difficulties for all trail users further down the path.

The problem with your ebike comparison to a moped is that with a moped the primary mode of propulsion comes from the motor and they can be used without the pedals, whereas with an ebike the primary mode of propulsion comes from the rider and the bike won't move unless it is pedaled. So in talking about an ebike, no matter how much thou doth protest, a moped it is not.

I agree that the increased impact due to more laps ridden on an ebike is a factor. HOWEVER, this statement can't be made without also acknowledging the big increase in mtb participants even before ebikes started to add to the mix. I can't speak for other areas, but there are far more new people riding on bikes in the S2S than there are on ebikes, so much so that the added wear and tear on the trails is primarily coming from new bikers and not ebikers. Whether that holds true in other areas I can't say. 

To your point though, that may change in the future, and you are definitely right that we need to be forward thinking and begin to accommodate for that change now than wait until the fire is raging to deal with it.

I hope so Cam, but as time has gone on and evidenced by your reviews, it seems your love affair with your ebike mistress has grown to the point that she's now your main squeeze and the pedal bike has been relegated to second place. It makes me wonder how long till Ferrentino and Major succumb to the lure of the battery and write a positive review on one. That will be an article that breaks the NSMB servers.

I think the argument can be made that there is a certain level of responsibility on the part of the rider to understand how their bike works and what to do if something happens. That can range from repairing a flat to resetting an e-bike. We should be prepared to deal with the unexpected, even if that means having to walk out.

Reading this I thought that Cam's transition to an ebike rider now seems complete - this does sound like a fun bike though. However, the anti-ebike dislike for the most part is weak and misdirected. What needs to be called out is rider behaviour, (whatever people are riding) and I wish those who dislike ebikes would recognize that. If the goal is to "save mtb'ing" then the anti-ebike energy would probably have more effect if re-directed to things like trail advocacy, maintenance and etiquette instead. On the flippity flip, if ebike people are going to lose the "who's right" debate it will be because they behave like rude pinheads out on the trails. Ride what you want, just don't be a dink while you do.

Edit: just to add some context for anyone who may find this an odd comment right out of the gate, it was initially a general reply to some of the earlier negative comments about e-bikes that are now further down in the replies.

BarryW, if you squint really hard, your argument almost makes some sense. 

Yes.

Posted by: Vikb

In terms of trail access where I live I don't see ebikes getting trails closed per say, but I certainly could see some trails getting set aside exclusively for walkers/runners/dogs. 

With increasing volumes of all types of trail users it seems to make good sense to start designating trails for a particular type of use, whether it be hiking, mtb'ing, ebiking, or directional use.

Posted by: cooperquinn

I do see e-bikes as a real concern for access in some areas, but I'm honestly less concerned about e-bikes creating access challenges than the explosion in mountain biking as a whole, and just people generally being narcissistic, entitled..... nevermind. If you don't have anything nice to say...

It's crazy how so few people want to give this point serious thought.

Posted by: XXX_er

I am obviously an insensitive bastard cuz the cockpit on my last 2 non-custom but dentist-grade expensive bikes has been perfect off the shop floor but I probably don't know what is good for me

I was thinking about it ( on the john ) and I think I can feel more on a long bike

or maybe I feel that i feel more ?

Related...

https://nsmb.com/forum/forum/health-and-fitness-23/topic/the-single-most-important-factor-in-our-health-132998/

Mindfulness.

I believe strongly, this is a big statement, but that virtually all of our problems, whether they are physical, interpersonal, professional, global, are the result indirectly or directly of our mindlessness, which means that by (making) these simple changes, we can produce vast improvements in every aspect of our lives.

In many, many experiments, we put the mind in unusual places and take the measurements from the body. And the results are kind of astounding because what they suggest is that almost everything we think we know (about wellness) is wrong.

~ Ellen Langer

https://news.uchicago.edu/why-secret-health-lies-mind-body-connection

Ahahahahaha - what a great example...

Okay, so mindfulness as we study it is not about meditation. It’s the very simple process of actively noticing new things. Everything is always changing. Everything looks different from different perspectives. Yet we think we know. And when we think we know, we don’t pay any attention. 

Many years ago I went to Paris on my honeymoon and I’m in a restaurant and I’m trying to be ever so sophisticated. And then I saw on the menu there was a mixed grill, and it had among the items, pancreas. And so I was going to order this because now I was a woman of the world. So the dish finally comes and I asked my husband at the time, Which of these was the pancreas?” He pointed to something, I ate everything else. And now was the moment of truth. Could I get myself to eat the pancreas?

I start eating it and I’m getting sick to my stomach. Meanwhile, he starts laughing. I say, “Why are you laughing?” He said, “Because that’s chicken, you ate the pancreas ages ago.” Okay, so it was my mind that was controlling my illness at the time. So all of the experiments we’ve done keep taking you back to the idea that our mindsets have limited us enormously. 

.

Did you hear the same thing? Someone’s digging in them there mountains. Oh that stupid bird. Shhhh, don’t tell anybody.

Posted by: heckler

wrap drives, eh?  

I did miss what FTL stands for though...

Funny thought loser

Haha - maybe!

My original question was that if aliens are here and are watching us, what might they be thinking about us. Are we worthy of contact?

Posted by: switch

And your missing my point.  We have a pretty good understanding about space and time.

Folding space enough to significantly shorten distances would take energies greater than a lot of stars produce in their lifetime.  That's a fair bit give that our sun burns through about 600 million tons of hydrogen every second.

Extraordinary claims for extraordinary evidence.  So far we've had nothing close to evidence that is even worth considering.

No I'm not missing your point, I know exactly what it is. The issue is that I'm talking about something different than you are. I posed a what if question that is not bounded by the realities of our universe as we know them. If there is evidence of some sort of vehicle that can move in a manner that defies physics, or at least defies the capability of any vehicle that we know about, then I think we have to consider the possibility that we simply may not know enough about out universe yet in order to be able to fully explain it. I totally get your point, but that is not what I am addressing.  

Now if you want to talk to me about whether I do believe in the evidence that's been presented so far then that's a different discussion. But as presented, my last few comments are not about that.

Those For’s were great bikes, geo ahead of their time and HT’s that worked really well on the shore.