Film and production Rémy Masséglia / Lez'Art Création Riders: Margot Moschetti, Lucie Urruty, Mario Collino "Prezzemolo" Holybike Electric bike specialists
Electric bikes are not for the enthusiast sector, they should be strictly for commuting. An electric bike is awesome for a college kid, or anyone in an urban area for a lot of obvious reasons. But no self-respecting cyclist would be caught dead with an electric mountain bike... That's like Michael Phelps showing up with a pair of floaties. All this will do is rob you of the gratification you EARN when you finally reach the summit and bomb the downhill. Besides, a lot of skill is honed and acquired by actually pedaling. Why not just buy a dirt bike for a third the price? Pinkbike, get this shit outta here.
I can see these electric bikes as very useful for people who have some sort of a disability or permanent injury, so that they can't pedal for long (or something similar), but they still want to enjoy a ride with their buddies. E-bikes for them are a blessing.
This may be one good case where it is acceptable. I can't really think of a disability that would fall into this category. A few months back I had gotten to the top of Rocky Knob park here, which is one helluva climb, and while I was resting at the top a guy who was missing the lower half of his left leg went by me. He had a prosthetic attaching his knee to the pedal. He didn't need an e-bike, but maybe some other people do.
would it not be useful for just getting back to the top of a dh trail? Going up hills is great on an xc bike, but going up hills on my dh rig is just not fun.
Finally, I think you guys got it right. If I lived in a city and didn't ride bikes this would be useful espicially in cities with bad parking or narrow roads. However using it as an alternative as a trail riding bike, well quite frankly, it's pretty lame.
I'm with macherschu. Nobody has a problem with shuttling or lift access. How is this different? If you can get the weight if an electic motor down and mount it low it may be the secret weapon to make DH bikes more useful.
You make it seem like it's one or the other. I have both regular bikes and an e-bike I slapped together. I ride them just as much as each other. When I do solo runs on my local trail, I take my e-bike. When I'm riding with others, I ride my regular bike. Though it has a motor, you're still pedaling and, like having gears, you can use it to make things easier or harder. I pedal just as much, either way, but the e-bike just allows me to do the uphills quicker than I would on my normal bike. Also, my e-bike was built on my '05 Kona Stinky which was already a 50lbs pig. It's still a bike and not a motorcycle or a moped. It's allowed to go where bikes are allowed to go for the most part. Here in Southern California, "no motorized vehicles allowed" usually pertains to gas powered vehicles. E-bikes are allowed on buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation. In my personal opinion, I feel that e-bikes fall into their own category separate from motorcycles and bicycles, but this video makes it seem like it's some sort of innovation for normal bikes. I can understand that point of view without agreeing with it. Here in the 90's, when suspension was getting popular on bikes, some viewed it as cheating and others as innovation. Same goes for gears, shifters, disc brakes, etc etc. Again, I don't think e-bikes should be grouped with regular bikes, but I can see how the makers of this video view it as some sort of innovation to biking.
Dont hate it, just imagine yourself at 65 and still wanting to do some DH and not be able to push your bike up the hill. This makes your day........or having gears in the back wheel is cheating?
Finally, a solution to the most annoying and gay part of biking: pedaling.
Now only if someone could come up with a new contraption to solve the problem of having to walk to the fridge, having to squat to take a crap, and having to manually roll around in bed when making love....ah, life would be perfect.
i dont see it as cheating I see it as a separate sport. Mountain bike, motor biking, and ebikeing
If someone wants to go ebiking great. If they want to ride a dirtbike great. Its only "cheating" if he was in a race where it was against the rules. In which case he would obviously be disqualified.
Isnt that interesting? But you cant call it a bicycle if it most clearly has a motor? Perhaps "Holy Motorcycle that looks like a bike but isnt" is a better name for it.
I love electric bikes, but really don't get the video. Why suggest that an electric bike with an old dude is "competing" with fit young riders. It is not a competition, never will be, and this will only further divide the fit young riders from throwing a leg over an electric bike. Both styles of bike are awesome in there own right, for different reasons. But riding an electric bike is never about competing with a non-electric, it is just about enjoying being on two wheels in a different way.
I wonder if many of the comments made here, where the same comments people made 100 years ago when they saw the first motorcycles? There will always be skeptics, heck there are still people riding horses too!
I could understand this used for people with disabilities, injuries, or older mtbers who can't exactly climb the hills. Other than that I don't think this is moral in the community haha
nicely made video, as far as ebikes for recreation, hell yeah, dont hate it until you try it !!! i've got right now, 8 ebikes in my collection, had 12 at one point, all from 500w to 10,000w ... canot be compared to a gasoline burning machine.. EV's are a whole different level of fun.
But everyone else is riding an e-bike is a wuss.
This makes your day........or having gears in the back wheel is cheating?
Cheers
Now only if someone could come up with a new contraption to solve the problem of having to walk to the fridge, having to squat to take a crap, and having to manually roll around in bed when making love....ah, life would be perfect.
If someone wants to go ebiking great. If they want to ride a dirtbike great. Its only "cheating" if he was in a race where it was against the rules. In which case he would obviously be disqualified.