The first round of the new E-EDR World Cup series kicks off alongside the third round of the Enduro World Cup at Pietra Ligure in the Finale Outdoor Region.
My goodness... The amount of closed-mindedness here is astonishing.
It's a different format of racing. Some people enjoy the experience of an e-bike more than a non-ebike. They're both still PLENTY of fun. And the point of it is to race... in a different format. With different equipment. That very equipment is open to any competitor, so there is still going to be extremely tight competitive margins systemically & across the board. End of day, you still need to pilot any bike down a hill fast, and that's always going to require skill and fitness when you're at the top level.
As an aside, have many of you even tried an e-bike before? If you haven't, then hold the "sell more bikes" comments. They still require immense fitness and will exhaust you. Except, the distance you will go can be farther... That's about it. I've owned both and love both.
All up, you guys should be stoked for anyone who wants to ride any sort of bike on a trail. It's people's own individual decisions to choose what they want to have fun riding on. Have a couple shrooms, chill out, & open your minds! Life's too short to be narrow minded.
@kbrock: The shrooms would make you realize that batteries are finite waste modules fueled by planet-killing carbon-based electricity generation. That said, I don't trip on it. I do all kinds of polluting myself but my body can still make a bike go up a hill all by itself.
@ponyboy24: Try one, and you'll see that you are wrong on both counts. I like them because I don't have any friends to shuttle with (I didn't have friends before the ebike) and I also don't drive to the trailhead anymore. Somewhere along the line I got old(ish) and broken so am happy I can now get back out to the top of the trail in a reasonable amount of time without having to call EMS. I am envious of those that can ride up under their own power and still have a ton of energy for the descent. I would trade my ebike in to recoup that.
@ponyboy24: not to "ride" one but to race one it does. Battery is not "restricted", mileage depends on usage. Motor power is restricted, two different things.
@suspended-flesh: guess what? Ebikes also require rider input to go up a hill also. I charge my battery from hydro power dos that make you feel better? You have a phone with a battery? I guess you don't like battery cars either?
@d-man: Yes, I have demo'd the tanks at the Sea Otter a few times. Once you go electric you are riding a computer which will require expensive updates or become a brick. That is also why I despise battery cars. Once they no longer support the latest $5000 OS update, they are E-waste. As someone who has worked in IT for 30+ years I have had my fill of that paradigm. My 23 year old ICE vehicle is much less carbon-intensive than a brand new vEhicle. I also enjoy poking the bEar.
Racing Ebikes will absolutely use every drop of energy just like racing a flesh-powered bike (the flesh is powered by electricity too). I have heard from pro DH racers that the Ebike XC race at the SOC a few years back was the hardest thing they'd ever done and they were mostly sucking a lung and all anaerobic at the finish. Not saying it's a free ride by any stretch.
@suspended-flesh: The shrooms would also then make you realize that eventually we'll reach the point of recursive application of EV technology to mine more lithium and make more batteries. Along with nuclear power. Carbon intensive is supposed to be transitory.
Also, that's great and all that you can do that, but EV bikes still kick ass. The two aren't mutually exclusive.
Hold the door, they were on canyons? according to the inter webs the most powerful Ebike always will win regardless of the pilot. Anyone on a rocky should have already had one foot in the winners circle. We must be in a paradox.
Too easy to cheat with e-bikes, I bet the winner had different motor software to everyone else, he's not had the best track record for keeping within the rules.
@FoesKnows: equipment and set up has an effect on all bicycle racing disciplines. Try and race an Enduro or trail bike in a DH race and see what the outcome is. Ebike motors are all very similar in battery wattage and motor output. Management of the battery is key in ebike racing also.
@d-man: Truf, its hard for many to wrap their minds around it, but if you ride an Ebike flat out at race pace you’ll have actually felt like your racing. Especially for a long duration. That being said, if you’re just keeping a leisurely pace up the hill the bike will get you there almost effortlessly.
I can sort of understand e-bikes for some users, but I 100% don’t get the point of World Cup e enduro. Apart from the obvious sell bikes, why. It has no competitive point.
They're racing each other, like any other Enduro. The only difference is they have to choose when to use their allotted 'power'...
Give your head a wobble...
@MysticMCyclist: ok. So why not have a 7-speed enduro category. Or a 160-170 only enduro. Or a lightweight, midweight, and high power enduro category. It’s all arbitrary. Create some new race format that makes sense if you insist.
But my big question is, why isn’t there e-XC World Cup, or e-downhill World Cup. Are those somehow more sacrosanct?
It's a different format of racing. Some people enjoy the experience of an e-bike more than a non-ebike. They're both still PLENTY of fun. And the point of it is to race... in a different format. With different equipment. That very equipment is open to any competitor, so there is still going to be extremely tight competitive margins systemically & across the board. End of day, you still need to pilot any bike down a hill fast, and that's always going to require skill and fitness when you're at the top level.
As an aside, have many of you even tried an e-bike before? If you haven't, then hold the "sell more bikes" comments. They still require immense fitness and will exhaust you. Except, the distance you will go can be farther... That's about it. I've owned both and love both.
All up, you guys should be stoked for anyone who wants to ride any sort of bike on a trail. It's people's own individual decisions to choose what they want to have fun riding on. Have a couple shrooms, chill out, & open your minds! Life's too short to be narrow minded.
Also people don't use them to 'ride more'. You can't ride more when your ride duration/distance is battery restricted.
Battery is not "restricted", mileage depends on usage.
Motor power is restricted, two different things.
I charge my battery from hydro power dos that make you feel better? You have a phone with a battery? I guess you don't like battery cars either?
Also, that's great and all that you can do that, but EV bikes still kick ass. The two aren't mutually exclusive.
Ebike motors are all very similar in battery wattage and motor output. Management of the battery is key in ebike racing also.
But my big question is, why isn’t there e-XC World Cup, or e-downhill World Cup. Are those somehow more sacrosanct?