The FIM E-Xbike "World Cup" Race in Imola 2019 saw racers take on the MXGP track at the ‘Autodromo Enzo and Dino Ferrari’ with eMTBs. There were two classes of bikes, the EXBGP (45km/h limit) and the EXB2 (25km/h limit). Anze Svetek won the EXBGP class, and Mattia Arduino won the EXB2 class.
If eMTB racing is going to be a thing (and the jury is still out on that one), it can't be this...
The proper race format for e-bikes should be septuagenarians fulfilling their grocery lists and getting the contents back to the assisted living facility before the afternoon pill schedule.
@scott-townes: This is accurate. I've seen Ebikes at nearly every destination in the PNW over the last couple years, and I can't once think of anybody riding one that demonstrated even a journeyman/weekend warrior amount of skill. If I were to imagine them racing it would look just like the folks in this video.
@Rucker10: Those are the ones you see... What you aren't seeing is that there is a growing underground movement of capable and fit riders who are riding them, "cough", other places
@Rucker10: Remy Metaillier and Yoann Barelli have been seen riding ebikes on Whistler trails and both expound the benefits of them (not wholly just because they are paid to) - I am thinking they are more than weekend warriors.
@Hyakian: No doubt. More and more older pros are starting to get into the e-bike thing. Mark Weir was just on singletracks talking about how much he rides his e-bike... the same Mark Weir who did 1 million feet of climbing in a year (without an e-bike).
@paulskibum: I would love an e-bike to shuttle myself on the long DH trails around here, however the market is still mainly aimed towards gapers with lots of money to spend.
@paulskibum: I didn't think to count pro's shilling their brands (as I'm sure they're contractually obligated to do.) So yes, in that regard I would be wrong.
@thinkbike: This proves the stupidity of those who think they should be classified as motorcycles. If you ran a mountain bike or a bmx race on this course it would even be more laughable. It should be an enduro course with some technical climbing and some DH.
Whose idea was this?! YOU'RE FIRED! I'd rather be waterboarded. Is a helmet even necessary? Certainly not a full face. Wait. Are those chest protectors?!
@Hogfly: Mark Weir survived a heart attack that would have killed most people twice over, if an e bike is keeping him out on the trails that's fantastic. I suspect legends who fought off a choke hold from the reaper aren't the main market for e bikes though.
@paulskibum: The difference is that for those guys its one bike in a quiver. To have the best tool for the job (Limited time while raising family etc.) But doesn't replace their traditional bikes. The marketing behind e-bikes is "one bike to rule them all" Thanks Sauron but MTB doesn't need it
@BicycleHub: I have an ebike and it isn’t my main bike. I have a hardtail that’s my main bike I ride the majority (70ish%) of the time. I think for younger guys it is one bike in a quiver. Even if it’s a small quiver like mine. If I could only have one bike it wouldn’t be an ebike.
This thread is ebarrassing. First of, Pinkbike, which should be promoting the sport, posts a thread trashing it. If you dont want to promote it because you dont support it, then dont trash it. If you dont support it but want to criticize it, at least be constructive about it. But now look at all these responses. You rolled the ball of trolling, now everyone feel like they just need to bash the sport. If you have had a more constructive-critizism attitude towards it in a more positive way, maybe people would react a bit differently. And you guys, seriously, bashing on ebikes is getting old already. Just like 29ers and e-cars, these things are here to stay. The fact that they created a whole event around it and a lot of people participated is a proof of that. Now, was an mx track a good idea? Hell no, these things are not motorcycles and shouldnt be treated like one, in that respective this event could have been much improved. But a joke-making thread on one of the most respected websites on the whole mtb industry was just plain unnecessary, unprofessional and embarrassing...
@pperini: the article just says "it's embarrassing", which it is indeed. There is some tension between motorcyclists and mtbikers for a reason, access to trails is treated differently. In the case of ebike races organized by motocross federations, it seems they did not get it. The other problem is the monopoly of UCI over organizing cycling competitions, which should be forbidden by law according to the European Commission caselaw in other sports.
@pperini: what is embarassing is the average skillset of people riding e-bike. Last sunday i went hiking on the patscherkofel with my pregnant gf who is also recovering from an ankle injury so we had to hike on a fireroad. We got passed by dozens of e-bikes on the way up and also saw them going down. Only two were not sitting on the saddle on the way down, all were braking constantly with both brakes. 2 were going down with their feet off the pedals!
On the way up, a lady that apparently had a terrible balance managed to hit two persons because the 1.5m gap between them was not enough for her to pass. A guy used his bell because half the fireroad was not enough for him to pass me.
This crap is embarassing. People that are too weak to carry their bike, to pedal their bike and to unskilled to ride in the middle of people shouldnt be allowed to ride 20kg motorbikes at 25km/h in the middle of other people. There is a reason you need a driving licence for mopeds, motorbikes, cars etc
@zede: Well, there are all kinds of people riding e-bikes, including some very fit and skilled riders (I know a few of them in Switzerland). Sure e-bike have lowered the barrier. Unexperienced people used to find out that cycling is hard and would give up before they have a chance to be a hazzard in the trails. It is no longer the case.
I guess past the discovery of a new product most of them will give up. If they are not comfortable descending a mountain, they will have no fun and will give up quickly. I think we are just in that kind of period where a product is getting trendy, mainstream and selling like mad and thus a wee bit more affordable*. Once everybody will have its own e-mtb, most will collecting dust for years while experienced riders will continue riding them.
*seriously in most LBS I visited this year it is easier to find an e-MTB in the 1500-4500€ range than a FS trail bike. LBS only seems to stock crappy entry level hardtails or dentist specced full suspension trail bikes. You have to go online to find a proper trail bike in a decent price range.
@scott-townes: i bought a Kenevo for self shuttling as the people using them on the local tracks were doing 3 runs to my 1 with my DH bike or Enduro. it has made a massive difference to what riding i can get in in the time i have and it's got almost as much travel as my Tues. The market for them is embarassing though. i left the Kenevo group on FB because people were all fannying about with 3 mudguards at a time and not actually riding. but genuinely its a hell of a bike to ride.
@bowski123: opinion? Thats exactly my point. Pinkbike is an institution, not a person...as an instituition with high level of influence in the given industry you dont just "say your opinion" just because you have one...unlike us regular people their "opinion" has an influence and i believe that making constructive critizism about this event would have had a much more professional impact in the communication compared to simply calling it embarrassing and period. But they chose to behave like most people commenting here which is just simply childish...we can all have a constructive discussions on how emtbs are not motorbikes and why the mx track was probably the worst idea ever etc etc. But this pointless bashing thats going on here is just plain stupid...
We are seeing more and more people use them on Enduro pre-ride days that don't offer ample shuttling. We just did an absolutely vicious Enduro with a ton of climbing. Shuttles were unable to run on pre-ride day due to poor road conditions from rainfall. As such, the people on e-bikes who pre-rode had a significant advantage in being less fatigued on race day than those who pre-rode on normal bikes.
@opignonlibre: i have also seen skilled riders on e-bikes but they were riding on single trails. On fireroads on the other hand, it is really scary.
Regarding the price, the fact LBS have no problem selling ebikes for 3000-4000€ just shows that ebikes are considered as motorbikes by ebikers. They have issues justifying spending 4K€ for a regular bike, but for an e-bike it's ok for them.
Also LBS have no problem for reducing the price of an ebike of 10% or more (i have heard a guy discussing the price of specialized ebike and it was going in the good way). Now when i tried discussing the price of a DH bike two years ago they looked at me like I was offending them. I wonder if the margins they make are way better on ebikes.
@thinkbike: Did you watch the vid? I've never seen a more perfect example of them not being motorbikes and, in fact, being pretty much just pedal bikes.
It is an embarrassment though. No arguments there.
@Rucker10: You haven't met the right people then. True that many are newbies or Kooks if you're being unkind but there are dude who rip. I have few friends that ride e-bikes that will downright embarrass a good 90% of the people on this forum on any kind of bike.
@Dustfarter: Doesn’t make him wrong either. Also - I don’t believe you. I have yet to see one person who actually spent his or her own money on an ebike “rip.” I see lots of hacks with overpriced motorized bikes making fools of themselves.
@scott-townes: Going downhill it corners pretty damn well, obviously it takes a lot more bossing around than the Tues but compared to downhill bikes in the early 00's it's not that much heavier to ride than say an old muddyfox rock'n'roll with monster t's and gazoloddi tyres. it's hard work on tight uphill singletrack and especially on the technical bits but if you were to use it to self shuttle up the fire road and rip down it's fantastic.
@zede: Totally agree. It’s the same everywhere you find these things. With the exception of some sponsored pros or really experienced older riders, the majority of e bike riders seem to be complete and utter “Joeys”. That’s not to say that we weren’t all clueless noobs at one time. Gotta start somewhere, and the learning curve is steep for this sport. However getting the idea that because you can now get a bike that’s easy to pedal uphill now allows anyone to try MTB riding.... nope doesn’t work that way. None of us started out (and I started very late in life) with 50-60lb bike that can easily hit 25mph and transport you effortlessly to double black D trailheads. It’s a complete recipe for disaster on so many levels. You really do have to “earn your turns” in this sport. Being able to pay for a top end e-bike doesn’t make you a rider. Money doesn’t buy bike handling skill. Sweat, effort, training, orthopedic injuries, and experience does.
@remymetailler: do you know how much damage the production of batteries do to the environment. Single use plastic is peanuts compare to that. Seems a little hypocritical.
My friend is currently trying to buy an eBike, but can't get one cuz they are so hot the models using popular Bosch and Shimano units are sold out everywhere.
Okay, let's be fair...
eMTB have a market. I work in a bike shop and see some die-hard customers that live for biking. One of our customers recently had a triple bypass surgery and he can't let his heart rate go up for the foreseeable future. He got an eMTB to allow him to get out the trails without risking his heart. In such a case, an eMTB is perfect for a true biking fanatic who just wants to ride.
I don't like beating on eMTB because I do truly believe they have a market that has value. However, that video was the single worst display of biking prowess I have ever seen.
AFAIK, working in a shop that carries Specialized, the margin on the Turbo Levo is almost the same as Enduro/Stumpjumper. Something to consider - the more expensive the bike, the smaller the margin is. Cheap hybrids actually have huge margins, while expensive, S-Works models have much smaller margins. E-bikes naturally end up being in the upper price range due to the fact that they have a motor on them, and tend to land themselves in smaller profit margins.
So how does your customer with a bypass surgery does to reduce his heart rate downhill (between the adrenalin and the intense effort of going down, the HR goes up very fast) ? If I had heart condition that doesn't go well with high HR, I would not be able to climb or to go down (unless we are taking about going down on a fireroad ?).
@zede: He doesn't descend very hard. I can ride down the sketchiest stuff and my heart rate isn't going to go up unless I'm working physically to go fast.
@Gambit14: Red herring... Profit margin and actual profit are different. A 40% profit margin on a $5000 bike is still quiet a bit more than a 60% profit margin on a $500 bike.
This reminds me of one of the first ever mountain bike races i remember seeing (1980's) in Southern California, it was hosted in a stadium on a Super Cross format track. Also painful to watch...
The human-powered MTB disciples hath created an event, to be a raced hither and with batteries. And so it was a showeth of shit forthwith. And the disciples laughed at whosoever rideth with batteries, as they earned their turneths to the top of Zion.
@EuanBisset145: English doesn't have a Académie française, or other centralized defining body. So, taken straight from the colloquial, a bicycle with a motor in it is a motorcycle.
I wonder why we don’t have a French body to define the English language haha
In all seriousness though moped would be more correct but even then a moped has a throttle and the pedalling/motor portions work separately unlike electric bikes which offer assistance and only when pedalling. So it seems e bikes do not fit into any of the aforementioned categories hence why they are called Electric bicycles.
@EuanBisset145: the dictionary definition and the legal definition could be different in different countries or states. In the UK the vehicle meets a legal test. Motor vehicle- a mechanically propelled vehicle intended or adapted for use on a road. Electric Pedal assisted cycles are excluded from this as exempt along with mobility scooters and lawnmowers - think council. An electric scooter would not be as its sole power comes from the electric. Mopeds with pedals have to be registered before 1977 (think chicken chaser). Its interesting that ebikes are excluded. Consider that a ‘road’ is a highway that the public has access to and includes pavements, hedges adjacent, etc. Road should be taken to mean an actual road be that tarmac, unmetalled or a county rd. There you have it. In the US it may be different. Ebikes are legal in the UK on both the road and as exempt as a MV, can leave the carriage way as a bike or horse could. Still dont fully agree with them.
Getting an eMTB now because apparently anybody can race at an international level. Watch out Tracey and Troy, Australia has a new luminary on the World Cup circuit
@kleinblake: Hilarious in the interviews how they all emphasized how hard racing a bicycle with a motor was. Although I do have some respect for the woman who finished even though her motor wasn't working for part of the race.
No way is this a legitimate sport, looked like the chunky guy who won obviously had a stronger bike. The sponsors of this should be embarrassed and ditch it but they probably are obligated to stick it out for the year. Will be interesting to watch this off road moped abortion racing series. Most elaborate podium ever when they don't even have podiums for world cup DH anymore.
Having said all that at least they had ruts to deal with and it's probably fun to race, especially if you have the strongest motor.
Reminds of when the crossfit games held a crit and I watched the live stream. Some of the worst bikehandling, strategy, and crashes I had ever seen. It was entertaing in a sad sense.
Or the time they just randomly decided they are gohna have a cyclocross race but noone of those people were even remotly interested in riding a bike. It's like "oh well has the word cross in it, must be part of this discipline".
@Arepiscopo: Allow me to introduce you to the wonderful world of shitting on Crossfit by Infinite Elgintensity: youtu.be/bDwkJtObamo?t=183 ("cyclocross" carnage)
@blcpdx: Oh god... Someone tagged 45:55 and it's so bad to try and listen to. She doesn't even understand what she is trying to explain to the audience.
@dhridernz: absolutely spot on comment... However, still cannot understand the hate, reminds of the 26" vs 29" or Snowboard vs Ski debates. Anyhow, I am an advocate and there is a way to make this a better race, we've been doing it for several years now. On top of that, I still race my regular bike as well, more action all the way around...
"What do I do for fun? Babe I race E-Bikes. You know what that means? Means I put my life on the line every time I throw a leg over the saddle Sweetheart. These tracks will eat you up and spit you out. The name's Chet Platinum, can I buy you a drink?"
I've never watched motocross before, and I have to say that I am initially underwhelmed, though keen to keep watching to see if it improves once I understand what's going on a bit more. This is the sport that Gwin crossed over from to dominate downhill? Damn, they must be more skilful than they look.
yea motocross is the same track but wayyy different. this was a snooze. motocross is exciting. all those rollers these guys are going over the moto guys are jumping 60+ feet on.
I checked out a bit of this not knowing what to expect. As soon as I watched 30 sec of this I had to look over my shoulders to make sure that no one saw that I was watching it...I also then put my hood up too.
Oh and it's exactly what I expected...
Did I follow that correctly - the girl who was filmed pushing her bike up the face of a jump ended up on the top spot of the podium, alone; having clearly raced in a category of 1?
Watching a beached oil tanker rust away would be more exciting than this. Accidentally flushing a $100 down the toilet would not be as disappointing as this. Doing a crossword puzzle had more surprises than this. Watching 2 bums fight over a shopping cart would be more worthy of recording. If a tree fell in the forest and there was someone there to hear it...that would be more newsworthy. If the Kardashians posted something on social media about what they are wearing, that would be more interesting. When an elephant takes a dump at a parade, that has more action. The guy walking behind the elephant cleaning up the mess has more to say than these riders.
well, given now in Italy all the bikers became ebikers, I guess it's a faithful representation of the italian biking landscape, no? And Italian eloquence in english at 59:30 (I'm Italian)
@keru: visto che sei italiano ti rispondo in italiano. Noi ci scherziamo ma in Italia la e-bike diventerà un problema nei prossimi anni, sopratutto nelle zone alpine ad alto tasso turistico.
You're telling me this goes on for 1 FREAKIN HOUR, 2 MINUTES, AND 37 SECONDS?! The only people who watched the whole thing did because they died just after they pressed play.
Endurance Team racing over great distances and long amounts of time, allowing teams to cover ridiculous amounts of ground and have lots of opportunity for "expedition" type adventure while racing.
@expat: Right? I'm not a huge fan of e-bikes, but I think this format has some potential. Of course, they're limited a bit in how far they can range by access to backup batteries, but still...
also could get into some interesting strategies with how much "assist" one uses for the e-bike if you started making rules around when they can replace batteries. One guy can go further than the others before he "pits" because he doesn't use as much juice while the other one goes faster but has to pit sooner.
@Svinyard: Isn't that part of the point of making it an endurance race - battery life maintenance - you want o run out of juice at the top of the last decent and not before.
You can race ebikes in any format, you just have to design the courses such that the total length is 2-3 times the distance the biggest allowable battery would last on maximum pedal assist, and feature sections that penalize heavier ebikes.
That way, you have to take into account strategy and match the rider skill with the particular bike configuration.
@Hogfly: yes, yes... as some of those concepts you speak about are actually being used today in some emtb races especially one's that I have been a part of...
Yeah, this makes so much more sense and takes advantage of the unique capabilities eMTBs offer. Riding eMTBs around a MX track is ridiculous and why FIM should stick to actual motorsports and leave biking to those who understand it.
There's a guy on my local Strava who has KOMs on a few climbs and proudly has "member of X eMTB racing team" in his profile. I always wondered what that it looked like, as I can't really take him seriously.
For some reason this is even worse than I imagined.
Haha exactly. The guy winning has the idea - "hey eMTB guys I have an eMX can I play too?" - "yea sure so long as you 'dial it back' to fit within our 'regulations' ".
When I was a kid, all I wanted was a dirtbike. However, all we could afford was a BMX bike. I did everything to make it and myself look like a dirt bike. One time I took my BMX to the local motocross track and quickly found out that my BMX was not a dirtbike. It was a horrible experience.
This reminded me of that.
I am confused? was the leader on a electric motorcycle? seems he had acceleration without pedaling. To me all the bikes should be the same and are only pedal assist but you have to pedal. Also the track format was not exciting lol... this might be entertaining on a WC XC course as its tighter and more technical. IDK how the announcer got into this lol... and who were the racers? seems like random people from the crowd as most verse bikers would be able to make all the climbs on the jumps.
A couple of random thoughts: 1. Someone needs to watch enough of this to figure out what place Marco Melandri finished and see that it get recorded on his Wikipedia page. 2. I think Niki Makk is my new hero.
Shaming the woman for struggling with the pic is a cheap move it must be said. Use a pic of whatever the fuck that due was riding that had acceleration even when he wasn't pedaling .
- a dude winning while sitting down and just flying at double the speed of anyone else, and they run over and cart his bike off for inspection before he can even start celebrating
- someone who works for production (sounds like shes an event planner?) notices that no women entered and hops in to claim the title
Who thought it would be a good idea to hold this on a motocross track? Have the organizers ever ridden a bicycle before? Did no one test this format before it went live?
Soooooooooo many questions. That was 5 minutes of my life i'm never going to get back.
Agreed!!! My 5 year old son just did a BMX race on his full suspention bike for crankworx (mostly because his age limited his allowance into other races). Hes new to mountainbiking obviously... If you were to put these races side by side... you wouldnt be able to tell the differance. I want to reiterate... hes 5 years old.
Back in the day circa 1998 I took my Cannondale Super V zzyzx forked MTB to a local MX race so I could ride it around the track during 'track walk'. There was a step down I was pretty sure I could clear as it was mid way down a steep decline. The track was freshly disced so it was really soft (by MTB standards) however I tried anyway. As I hit the lip the front end just sank and I got thrown OTB and landed full scorpion face plant in front of the entire pit knocking myself out and having to be attended to by the Ambulance crew. I wasn't able to race MX that day, and became the joke of the pits for awhile. lol Sorry for bring MTB into disrepute. haha
The Onion (a satirical news media company) is now talking about suing Ebike manufactures for stealing all their headlines about Ebikes. A Specialized Ebike PR person said, "...as always we want to get out and stay ahead of the curve where we can!"
Side Note: RIVETING Commentary! Get those guys a medal and a scratch and sniff!
I've raced motocross for many, many years. I like my analog bikes and I love my ebikes, ebikes are NOT motocross bikes. The same track in its intended glory: www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6Qqj9uWIUE
Does the UCI sanction any E-Bike races? Because if they don't, and its purely FIM, that means a world body is recognizing that these bikes are "Motor Bikes" and not bicycles or pedal assist bicycles. And that can open up a real can of worms when its comes to trail use and other usage things as well IMHO.
And upon the plains of Imola the Beast revealed itself for what it was. Man could no longer deny what their own eyes saw. The Beast writhed across the ground and as it did men closed their eyes & covered their ears for the noise was most annoying & the sight of the Beast prostituting itself in the mud caused some to vomit excessively. Others saw the Beast & thoughts of greed & deceit filled their minds. They fell on their knees before the beast and suckled at it's bloated downtube, full of exploitation, marketing & needlessly ever changing standards. After what seemed like an eternity of torture and pain of both mind and soul, man realised his folly... But the Beast was in the World. Revolutions 27:5
I'm gonna get downvoted to f*cking hell for this. The bike market is down overall, and ebikes are up. They are here, and more to come. I would love to see (specifically in the US) local trail stewards get their heads out of the sand and commence earnest and thoughtful policy towards mtb ebikes. Here's my thinking: ebikes are here and increasing. Like it or not the market always wins (think legal pot). I'd love to see a local trail steward/group address this elephant in the room. Trail access depends on it. Otherwise you have a bunch of conflict on the trails, when meeting reality head-on might be a better long run tack.
the market doesn't always win. mountain bikes have been a thing for 3 decades and the access battles continue in some places. EMTB will only make the battle harder.
Wow! Not many World Cup sports I watch and think "I could win that" but man, WTF?! Were the competitors chosen whilst they were in Evans Cycles buying their eBikes 'cos none of them look like they've ridden much!
Ok I’m not opposed to an ebike, even though I never rode one. Was everyone else bar the leader stuck in first gear? The winning bike rider seemed like he was pedaling to just remind the spectators it had a crank. It kinda reminded me of a town back-in the UK? Swarms of people on the streets, and that one elderly, in a formula1 mobility scooter racing to get nowhere.
f*ck tonne of comments; some good, some bad. Either way that was some amatuer f*ckery that shouldn't be allowed to happen. However you feel about E-bikes, that abortion makes a mockery of our sport.
So hoped that this would turn into today's "Friday Fail" but couldn't watch much past the start, if we're expected to take E bikes seriously this is not gonna do it for me. Best thing would be an attitude adjustment to all who purchase one, almost 100% that I come across on the trails have real issues, so maybe its not just the E bike that's giving them a bad name?
Perfect! If we're going to have e-bike racing keep it with the dirt bikes (FIM) where it belongs. Sure it looks ridiculous but it's a ridiculous concept to begin with.
I have to admit that it makes it painfully obvious that indeed, E-bikes are not motorcycles. Not at least at this power level.
That dirt is thick and chunky, that's why it looked super slow.
If they have a motor they are motorbikes, or motorcycles. Pedal-assisted motorbikes, an age-old category before someone started calling them motor-assisted bycicles. But a bycicle by definition has no motor!
What an insult. Take enduro gravity style bikes, put them on what is basically a boring flat XC course at mountain bike speeds... on an MX course. No idea at all.
Ebikes have their place. I've been riding a Kenevo since 2017. It's a bike with inbuilt shuttle or a range extender to get more gravity trails in than I would have time for otherwise between a job and time with family.
In the early 1980's Charlotte Motor Speedway (NASCAR) decided it would be a good idea to promote the up and coming sport of BMX racing and held an exhibition race just before the big yearly 600 mile stock car race. They held it in the infield grass (3"-4" deep to slow down race cars if they slid off the track) with no start hill and 2' to 3' wooden ramps that had no backside at all. 8 to 15 year old kids slogged around this thing on 20" BMX bikes and most couldn't hold enough speed to even wheelie drop the first jump or two. This is what this video reminded me of. I am not really pro or anti e-bike but someone has to be smart enough to at least put it in the correct venue.
Watching XC eliminator is more interesting than that....
Watching the IXS junior DH cup is buttloads more interesting...
fuck watching my sister at roller derby is more interesting than that
The Qulbix guy clearly had a full powered electric motorcycle while the others had pedal assist bikes. He peddled like 4 times and suddenly he's magically hauling ass up a hill past everyone. Dude looks like he's laughing to himself on the podium, like "I cun't believe I shust git away with that".
exactly what we've expected from this Race Format...this is pure bullshit.
I do think E Bikes are a cool thing and a proper E Bike Race Format can be really good and interisting but this is just useless as fuck...i wonder if these Riders think they are real Bikers...huch sorry not sorry..
I couldn’t make it through the first 30 seconds. If anything it shows how “safe” and slow emtbs are. I honestly think they should be legalized everywhere except private land where the managers don’t want them. I own one and it’s super fun to ride quick laps on before work. I’m pretty fit and definitely don’t need one, but they are super fun, just don’t sign me up for this fu***** race.
I like the location.... There has to be some changes though.... MINIMUM speed in the 30-35km/hr range. Limit the MAX speed to 60-65 km/hr, must have and use pedals to propel the bike. Run the damn thing BEFORE the motocross guys tear the track to pieces. Motocross-level protection is optional, but helmet w/neck protection, goggles, hand, shin/knee and elbow guards are not. The bikes _can_ be fun... make it look like it. Does NOT have to be street-legal bike and in fact...probably shouldn't be street-legal.
Why was the guy in front (fluro yellow and black 'bike') riding what seemed to be a mini-motorbike with a throttle whilst everyone else seemed to be riding e-bikes? It seemed to ride completely differently to the other machines. What a circus.
I tried watching with the race commentary on mute while listening to the significantly more energetic Warner / Page commentary from Danny Hart’s 2011 Worlds run in Champery and it was still terrible.
Ebikes=tennis racquet that helps you serve the ball at 170mph.
You still have hit the ball.
Think about my comparasion. Then re-think getting an Ebike.
Human powered bikes are ridden by awesome people you have all types of physical challenges. Just pedal. Find your speed, your pace, your fun and you satisfaction. Don't get a motor. Cheers,
My god..... what did i just watch.....I know nothing about this event and I'm happy for that. But.....what was the idea of this event? Is someone taking the piss?? I love bikes ....... but ,,,,,,, .......
I'm going to just go back to watching something more entertaining....like Sharknado 63.
I'm all for eBikes....but this was neither the time nor the place.
I really thought this was a joke at first...I was waiting for the punch line where everyone starts laughing or something...then I checked the date and alas it is not April 1st...what is the world coming to...
I was expecting them to release some lions or charging bulls into the course at a random moment to spice things up; then I fell asleep it was so dull hahaha
Even cyclocross rides are cringing at the patheticness, full face helmets for plodding around this, that girl that can't get up the hump, did her battery run out??, or just shit... Lol..
This was retarted..!!!! Same everything as in the MXGP’s, even the commentator....... I bet the MXGP organization is trying to make even more cash than they already have with this bullshit. They are a bunch of dirty thieves anyways!
I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm pro eBike and this absolutely, conclusively proves that they are absolutely NOT motorcycles. Look, they can barely get around an MX track.
I remember @RichardCunningham reporting a XC race in the late 90s MountainBikeAction doing the same format, just before a motoX race in a stadium.The crowd threw beercans at the racers...
What the f*ck is this utter shit? (said by a man who’s been riding an ebike 95% of the time since the end of last year but is currently riding steep rocky gnarly trails on a 150mm unassisted hardtail).
That was just painful to watch. like Im all for e bike if it gets someone out there that would not normally be able but not this this needs to go away for ever and be forgotten
I think I just threw up.... Totally re-affirms how much I hate those things. (I think they have there place, such as a true rider who physically can not pedal a normal bike, but otherwise whats the point? L A Z Y)
Embarrassing. I only watched the first lap! Why not put them on an XC course? It'll be like watching XCC on an XCO course (for the faster class anyway)
Once again, while this is hilarious and great content... I think that it would be worthwhile to actually highlight e-bike formats that show promise, like the E-Tour du Mont Blanc. Uphill, downhill, hike-a-bike, all in the CHamonix region over multiple days with a team who carries their own extra batteries and self-supports with limited aid stations.
Let's add some hurdles, a sand pit and steps to have them run up for true excitement....oh wait, that's just cyclecross. This just looks like every cyclecross I've ever seen.
You know it's bad, like real bad when somewhere out there some 'hardcore' e-bike dude (who has long since sworn off ever riding an 'analogue' mtb), is furiously masturbating off to this.
Not sure whats worse , watching roadies ride , or people riding e-bikes , kinda feels the same actually as they both cheat while riding the one uses drugs the other a battery , i rather stick to pedal power
This is just painful to watch. It’s just like a bad accident where you know you’re not supposed to look at it but just had to....painful, just plain painful.
Ebike racing could be a Mega where they start at the bottom and race up and then down again. That could be cool to watch and ride. Needs big mountains though.
Pam: Say that I'm lying or say I have the job. Make a definitive statement, Gabe. Gabe: Statements of such nature, while they have their place, are overused in a competitive business environment. Pam: Great.
These "athletes" should be f*cking embarrassed.....as should the organizers. At least nobody showed up to watch and WHY THE f*ck are they wearing full face helmets????
Here's another video that shows the highlights. Looks like a pretty awesome format to me (even though I'm not a huge fan of e-bikes). www.youtube.com/watch?v=REVNtsLdON0
Add them to the EWS, but in their own class and have limits like pedal assist only (no throttles), max of 600kwh battery and 250w motors. To add to this, make it a class for people with some disabilities & retired racers.
Lighten up ludites get your heads out of your angry arses Looks like a bit of fun to me and riding on a mxgp track Do you D H rollers hate ALL other sports ?
Dude, it doesn’t take s Luddite to see that spectacle for what it was: Fking ludicrous.
My wife rides a Pivot ebike, she watched that video and couldn’t stop laughing, then I told her it wasn’t a parody and she started laughing even harder.
I think E-Enduro could be a really cool concept that would get experienced riders out. Having battery capacity thrown into the mix of variables and things to think about in that type of race sounds fun and interesting.
I think E-bikes have their place. This is not a good way to demonstrate that. I am expressing my distaste toward the race format, concept, and execution.
Doesnt make them right though!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=phtfV4jUMQE
The marketing behind e-bikes is "one bike to rule them all"
Thanks Sauron but MTB doesn't need it
.
We got passed by dozens of e-bikes on the way up and also saw them going down.
Only two were not sitting on the saddle on the way down, all were braking constantly with both brakes. 2 were going down with their feet off the pedals!
On the way up, a lady that apparently had a terrible balance managed to hit two persons because the 1.5m gap between them was not enough for her to pass. A guy used his bell because half the fireroad was not enough for him to pass me.
This crap is embarassing. People that are too weak to carry their bike, to pedal their bike and to unskilled to ride in the middle of people shouldnt be allowed to ride 20kg motorbikes at 25km/h in the middle of other people.
There is a reason you need a driving licence for mopeds, motorbikes, cars etc
I guess past the discovery of a new product most of them will give up. If they are not comfortable descending a mountain, they will have no fun and will give up quickly. I think we are just in that kind of period where a product is getting trendy, mainstream and selling like mad and thus a wee bit more affordable*. Once everybody will have its own e-mtb, most will collecting dust for years while experienced riders will continue riding them.
*seriously in most LBS I visited this year it is easier to find an e-MTB in the 1500-4500€ range than a FS trail bike. LBS only seems to stock crappy entry level hardtails or dentist specced full suspension trail bikes. You have to go online to find a proper trail bike in a decent price range.
The market for them is embarassing though. i left the Kenevo group on FB because people were all fannying about with 3 mudguards at a time and not actually riding. but genuinely its a hell of a bike to ride.
Regarding the price, the fact LBS have no problem selling ebikes for 3000-4000€ just shows that ebikes are considered as motorbikes by ebikers. They have issues justifying spending 4K€ for a regular bike, but for an e-bike it's ok for them.
Also LBS have no problem for reducing the price of an ebike of 10% or more (i have heard a guy discussing the price of specialized ebike and it was going in the good way). Now when i tried discussing the price of a DH bike two years ago they looked at me like I was offending them. I wonder if the margins they make are way better on ebikes.
It is an embarrassment though. No arguments there.
AFAIK, working in a shop that carries Specialized, the margin on the Turbo Levo is almost the same as Enduro/Stumpjumper. Something to consider - the more expensive the bike, the smaller the margin is. Cheap hybrids actually have huge margins, while expensive, S-Works models have much smaller margins. E-bikes naturally end up being in the upper price range due to the fact that they have a motor on them, and tend to land themselves in smaller profit margins.
So how does your customer with a bypass surgery does to reduce his heart rate downhill (between the adrenalin and the intense effort of going down, the HR goes up very fast) ?
If I had heart condition that doesn't go well with high HR, I would not be able to climb or to go down (unless we are taking about going down on a fireroad ?).
The human-powered MTB disciples hath created an event, to be a raced hither and with batteries.
And so it was a showeth of shit forthwith.
And the disciples laughed at whosoever rideth with batteries, as they earned their turneths to the top of Zion.
motorcycle /ˈməʊtəsʌɪk(ə)l/
noun
a two-wheeled vehicle that is powered by a motor and has no pedals.
In all seriousness though moped would be more correct but even then a moped has a throttle and the pedalling/motor portions work separately unlike electric bikes which offer assistance and only when pedalling.
So it seems e bikes do not fit into any of the aforementioned categories hence why they are called Electric bicycles.
Moped - 1950s from Swedish, from (trampcykel med) mo(tor och) ped(aler) ‘pedal cycle with motor and pedals’.
aka - a low-power, lightweight motorized bicycle.
In the UK the vehicle meets a legal test.
Motor vehicle- a mechanically propelled vehicle intended or adapted for use on a road.
Electric Pedal assisted cycles are excluded from this as exempt along with mobility scooters and lawnmowers - think council. An electric scooter would not be as its sole power comes from the electric.
Mopeds with pedals have to be registered before 1977 (think chicken chaser).
Its interesting that ebikes are excluded. Consider that a ‘road’ is a highway that the public has access to and includes pavements, hedges adjacent, etc. Road should be taken to mean an actual road be that tarmac, unmetalled or a county rd.
There you have it. In the US it may be different. Ebikes are legal in the UK on both the road and as exempt as a MV, can leave the carriage way as a bike or horse could.
Still dont fully agree with them.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGr0oifJMEI
No way is this a legitimate sport, looked like the chunky guy who won obviously had a stronger bike. The sponsors of this should be embarrassed and ditch it but they probably are obligated to stick it out for the year. Will be interesting to watch this off road moped abortion racing series. Most elaborate podium ever when they don't even have podiums for world cup DH anymore.
Having said all that at least they had ruts to deal with and it's probably fun to race, especially if you have the strongest motor.
This is not racing.
It’s easy if you run a one horse race.
Still, I don’t suppose it matters if there’s no one competing against you.
Accidentally flushing a $100 down the toilet would not be as disappointing as this.
Doing a crossword puzzle had more surprises than this.
Watching 2 bums fight over a shopping cart would be more worthy of recording.
If a tree fell in the forest and there was someone there to hear it...that would be more newsworthy.
If the Kardashians posted something on social media about what they are wearing, that would be more interesting.
When an elephant takes a dump at a parade, that has more action.
The guy walking behind the elephant cleaning up the mess has more to say than these riders.
Okay, I'm done.
(I'm Italian)
Although, this might be the best format for ebikes. Something super boring and lame.
Also, why are riders taking the outside line? You're going like 15mph, you can just follow the inside line every time.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrie0HuhRwg
Endurance Team racing over great distances and long amounts of time, allowing teams to cover ridiculous amounts of ground and have lots of opportunity for "expedition" type adventure while racing.
also could get into some interesting strategies with how much "assist" one uses for the e-bike if you started making rules around when they can replace batteries. One guy can go further than the others before he "pits" because he doesn't use as much juice while the other one goes faster but has to pit sooner.
I always wondered what that it looked like, as I can't really take him seriously.
For some reason this is even worse than I imagined.
My Kid could have raced this and he is six.
- "hey eMTB guys I have an eMX can I play too?"
- "yea sure so long as you 'dial it back' to fit within our 'regulations' ".
m.pinkbike.com/news/video-myles-rockwell-takes-his-beer-cooler-for-a-shred.html
A couple of random thoughts:
1. Someone needs to watch enough of this to figure out what place Marco Melandri finished and see that it get recorded on his Wikipedia page.
2. I think Niki Makk is my new hero.
Not a single jump happened during the entire race since they're meant for MOTOCROSS BIKES and meant for high speed.
Also, of course the dude with the custom ebike (lime green bike). You can see he's not even pedaling but he's absolutely hauling.
- a dude winning while sitting down and just flying at double the speed of anyone else, and they run over and cart his bike off for inspection before he can even start celebrating
- someone who works for production (sounds like shes an event planner?) notices that no women entered and hops in to claim the title
Soooooooooo many questions. That was 5 minutes of my life i'm never going to get back.
I want to reiterate... hes 5 years old.
Sorry for bring MTB into disrepute. haha
Side Note: RIVETING Commentary! Get those guys a medal and a scratch and sniff!
Also, they hate us more than we hate them. And there willl be more of them.
Revolutions 27:5
(que horrible esa competencia y que vergüenza debió pasar el ganador con esa supuesta bicicleta que mas bien era motocicleta electrica)
lol that's feraking awful. And anyone that's ever ridden a bike shoulda seen that a mile away.
like riding a road bike at the Indy Raceway... fak
Seriously which of this riders lined up thinking, 'Yea, this seems like good fun!"
You still have hit the ball.
Think about my comparasion. Then re-think getting an Ebike.
Human powered bikes are ridden by awesome people you have all types of physical challenges.
Just pedal. Find your speed, your pace, your fun and you satisfaction.
Don't get a motor.
Cheers,
Is someone taking the piss??
I love bikes ....... but ,,,,,,, .......
That was so ridiculous that I’d assume it was a joke ... except it wasn’t.
Well, that certainly cooked that goose ????
I think the AMA idea of running the ebikes with the off road/ here scramble series seems like a better idea... It couldn't be worse...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fekPNnRj_CU
Did she win or lose?
Chest protectors and full face helmets?
Who the hell put this together?
What the actual f##k was that?
Someone at the FIM just reinvented XC but made it 100% worse.....
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBbkeypmuJw
www.youtube.com/watch?v=REVNtsLdON0
That looks like a proper MX track.
e-mtb's for the loss.
Looks like a bit of fun to me and riding on a mxgp track
Do you D H rollers hate ALL other sports ?
My wife rides a Pivot ebike, she watched that video and couldn’t stop laughing, then I told her it wasn’t a parody and she started laughing even harder.