2016 French Enduro Series: Round One, Raon l’Etape - Race Day

 Yeah exactly. If it was introduced as part of a disability category I could get behind it. Like this it just makes no sense other than bike companies want some official sounding "wins" to help sell bikes. oh, wait...

 Whats the point of riding bikes at all? Why not just hike rhe trails? Sound familiar? Have heard this from people who do not ride bikes.
Ride what you want and let others do the same.

 There's nothing really to get. You race bikes to sell them. You make a bike, it has a motor, you race that sh*t. People see it, and they buy.

 The bike industry is doing it again. Spends a bucket load of money in R&D for a product that no one wants and then tries to shove it on everyone's faces as a cool innovation.
I can understand that older people and people with disabilities might need them for recreation - but seeing races like this is just another nail in the coffin for my trust in any new product at all being produced as another money making gimmick!

 @Ricardo-Sa: all my riding buddies have tried the levo and all were stoked on it. It's no gimmick and my next bike will be pedal assist.

 @d-man: Fair enough. You ride whatever you want! I have tried one. Lots of fun, but not for racing. That is just silly. Its the same than going for a 10 K run and take a horse for some shoe assist...

 @Ricardo-Sa: why not race them? They have Separate catagories. Your comparison of using a horse in a 10k run is apples and oranges, ebikes still need to be pedaled and It still takes effort.
An ebike allows you to keep more momentum going up hill, with less effort which increases the fun factor.
All of you are liars who say you enjoy the suffering of climbing. I suffer the climbs because I have to, not because i enjoy it.
In the 35 +years Ive been riding and racing bicycles i have never heard someone say wow that was the best climb ever lets do it again. ....

 @d-man: I am indifferent in regards to e-bike racing. I don't want an e-bike, I don't care to race them, but I don't care if people do. Why should that make me angry? With that said, I have to take issue with the climbing comment. I enjoy it. I enjoy the cardio fitness aspect of a long tedious climb and I feel reward when they are completed. Where I live there are also technical short punchy climbs that can be as fun as a ripping descent. I also know that I am nowhere close to the only one who feels that way. I don't consider climbing "suffering" even though they can be tough. I am always a better rider for it. What's my honest opinion of e-bikes? You aren't a trail rider if you ride one, you ride e-bikes. Keep them away from me.

 @d-man: This is not about the fun factor. It is about using a power assisted vehicle for a race. I could even understand it if there was a category for people with disability or over a certain age like 60 (although I know a few cyclists over that age that would kick my but on any non-powered bike).
It is not also about whomever wants to ride them - it's ok - it doesn't rock my boat - it is not really what I would choose to do myself (personally makes me lose a bit of respect for a healthy young 'trail rider' on an ebike- you have to earn your descents!). It sounds almost like getting a credit card - buy the climbs you can't do on an E-bike...
And Enduro races on E-bike? Really? Have you ever done one of those? - The fitness involved is enormous and is part of the whole 'All mountain experience'.
I am very tolerant of everyone being in whatever bikes they want - I'm not snob about it but I can also tell you that if I ever get shouted out of the way by a guy on an E-bike trying to get a KOM on strava, he might be rolling down the hill on the opposite direction!

 @Ricardo-Sa: the earn your turn arguement is a joke. I guess you could say that about every person who skis at a resort? Do you climb the stairs in office building or take the elevator?
And the credit card thing, so i want to drop some time off my climbs so i buy a full carbon bike weighing under 25lbs. Or i can buy an ebike..... same deal buying performance right?
Do you yell at regular bikers passing you? Sounds like jealousy all around from you people who argue against ebikes.

 @d-man: I already told you I don't really care what people ride. I don't know why you need to attack me and accusing me of jealousy. I have plenty bikes and if I needed an e-bike I would have no issues.

You are totally missing the point here. Which is E-bikes on races. There is a massive industry pushing for it to happen so it will happen - magazines and online reviewers will rave about the benefits of E-bikes and how many people they will bring to the hills. (Can you only imagine the pleasure that will be..)

I don't ski - but maybe you could have a word with cross country skiers for their opinion.
And yes, I climb stairs whenever I can. I try to avoid laziness whenever I can in all aspects of my life.

And just to add a final point - performance? really - you migt be missing the point of MTB completely if that is your line of thought. Maybe you should get a car instead and drive on the roads - much better performance and cheaper on parts!

 @d-man: You are so out of touch. DH skiing, like Dh biking, is a different story. But with that said, I'm not strapping a motor to my Dh bike either, there is a chair lift, that would be kind of silly and lame. If you want to "drop time off your climbs" and still want to call yourself a cyclist? Ride your bicycle, and get faster. You want an e-bike? That's cool too - but you are mistaken if you think everyone secretly hates pedaling. I love it. Sounds like you are maybe a bit lazy?

 @DARKSTAR63: ya I'm lazy, been riding /racing bicycles and moto for over 35 years, Ski tour 20+ days a year, build trail, ride horses....

Out of touch.... nope just know what is fun and ebikes are the most fun I've had on a bicycle.

The issue I have is all the haters talking crap about how bad ebikes are. Funny because much of the same crap was said about 29ers when they first came out.

Pretty easy to get all you na sayers wound up

 @d-man: not wound. Glad you enjoy e-bikes and all those other things. I'm passionate about bicycles, and part of what I love about them is lost with an e-bike. While I'm sure I would enjoy trying one out, I would never consider them an evolution of the bicycle. It's not like new wheel sizes and standards it's an electric motor literally assisting you down the trail. I am a car and motorcycle guy too, and have had plenty of fun romping through the woods on motorized vehicles. For me, bikes aren't that. Is there room for those worlds to collide and spawn something like e-bikes ? Of course, and there are people like yourself who will gravitate toward them. But you started out stating that people are "lying" if they claim to enjoy pedaling themselves up a hill. I maintain that simply isn't true. That's all I'm saying, they aren't better - they are something different.

 @DARKSTAR63: The liar comment was in sarcasm, many of the climbs in bc can be a grueling 60+minutes to gain 1000m . My point is let people ride what want. Why worry about the maybe this or maybe that scenarios.

 @d-man: Ok well yea, if you weren't serious ... Haha I don't do climbs like that here in the Northeast U.S, if you have 1000 vert to climb there is a chair lift, and I have my big bike. I still wouldn't ride an e-bike. I find them soulless.... Agree to disagree. Cheers.

 So I'm not the only one who noticed that ...

 what does that mean?

 Thanks for the memories! 3615 ULLA

 I saw some e-bikes on a local lift assisted dh trail yesterday... The guys were just riding their e-bike down the dh track without pedaling and i still don't get it. I mean why would anyone use an ugly and heavy e-Haibike as a dh bike ? I guess their brains were electrically-assisted too

 @zede: do you pedal down the dh track? Maybe they pedaled up?
Pretty quick to judge others who are doing something different.

 I wanted to lose some weight and get in shape. So I decided to peddle my own @$$ up the hills. It was absolutely brutal for the first 6 months or so, but it was worth it. Getting an E-bike to get in shape is like putting a trolling motor on a kayak and saying you are out paddling for the exercise.

 @d-man: they were taking the lift up
And yes i pedal on a dh track; im not gwin so quite often i dont carry well speed in the corners, therefore i have to pedal

 Nope, he enjoys his ebike, rides it a lot at home.

 Actors have scientology, mtbiker have e-bikes.

 The ebikes aren't in the same category for the racing, so it's not exactly head-to-head. And yeah, after 25km/h the motor no longer assists you - and it only really helps when you can keep the pedala spinning, they don't really help at all in the tight stuff.

 If people wanna ride e-bikes, let them, just like people who wanna ride Fatbikes on 29ers even. I'm not up for letting 450cc dirt bikes loose on MTB trails but I am comfortable with 500 watt silent electric motors helping people enjoy their rides more. I'm glad the Frenchies are open minded about these things, bring on the electric assist category for the Tour de France!

 @integralnz: The Euro e-bikes are only half that power, 250W.

 @mattwragg: Half the power.... just as stupid

 @mattwragg: 250 watts "nominal power", ie average useage. Max power is around 500 Watts

 @mattwragg: 250w now. Then next year brand B tries to outdo Brand A with their 500w bike then 1000w, then solar assist. Once you let motorcycles on the trails you will end up with motocross not mopeds. Nico's bike already needs brush guards...

 @GOrtho: Nico has brush guards on his non E-bike too. He's just that rapid.

 @ibiscycles: So you have police on the trails checking the wattage? Never seen an officer on my trails, but I don't live in Marin.

 @GOrtho Nope - EU law is very strict on that, any more and it's a moto, there will be no creeping in that respect.

As for the brush guards, have you seen his EWS race bike recently - he runs them on that too, so that's a non-argument, I'm afraid.

 @ibiscycles: Exactly, the assistance from the motor stops beyond 25kph

 @GOrtho: and China might attack the USA with its undercover army its been slowly moving in diguised as accountants. Better hide in the bomb shelter......

 @GOrtho: you can't, that's EU regulation. Above 250w you are in the motorcycle legislation (mandatory insurance, lights, licence plate and helmet...)

 @mattwragg: Maybe is just me being Spanish (we have very little regard for non enforced regulations) but here is not technical inspection for bikes (at least here in Spain) so you can modify your power output an nobody will notice. And with the current heat about access to lots of trails I'm really worried about this new trend.

Anyway for me this is marketing bullshit it has an engine is not a bike, I don't mind if you call it pedal assist or just put a throttle on it. Maybe I can understand its use in people with a condition or past their 50s but if the battery goes away or you have an engine failure you will be stuck in the middle of nowhere with a 20+ kg bike and a condition so not so sure about that either.

 @GOrtho: It's not really about the likelihood of being caught by a policeman (which obviously is about zero) it's mainly if illegal eBikes are involved in incidents of some kind, eg an accident involving injury, damaged property or livestock problems

 e-Bikes where?