TheDoctoRR

@Fill-Freakin: oh I absolutely agree with you there as well. The other thing I didn't mention that is a huge contributor to trail damage is e-bikers can often be inexperienced riders now that access is no longer tied to fitness or skill level. It doesn't take long dragging a rear tire down a trail to destroy it beyond recognition...

@orm1972: although I just made this statistic up, I'd guess less than 1% of trails are shuttle accessible. That's makes their impact largely irrelevant, which is why nobody has ever really complained about them (until they became the empty counterpoint to the e-bike argument).

@wburnes: you are right, e-bikes don't damage trails. What does damage trails is the 2x-3x more laps each e-bike does, and the 30x increase in traffic because where only a few had the time and strength to pedal to the top, every joe blow now drives to the top. Trails that used to see only a few laps a day now see hundreds. That's what damages trails...

@Timo82: Absolutely agreed. I really wanted to like mine, I even bought a different dropper post because mine wasn't compatible. But the nose drop is just too much at 12 degrees, it's too uncomfortable for normal climbing.. Maybe it works climbing a vertical wall but I don't do that very often...

You know that very soon you will see this cruising your local green trails on metallic painted e-bikes, slammed to the ground with chrome-plated spinner rims, blasting hip hop music while the front end is bouncing in the air...

For the longest time, I was E-bike neutral. Hell, if I could have justified the price, I wouldn't have minded one myself. Then the other day, I was peddling up a local long, steep, slightly technical single track. It's super popular and it's something of a right of passage to be able to climb it without dabbing or dying. As I'm just getting into a groove I hear someone coming up behind me fast so I pull over. Not one, but 33, spaced-out full power E-bikes pass me going uphill at the speed people generally come down that trail. I was a full couple of minutes waiting for them all to pass, and a cursory look suggested that 80% of them couldn't have pedaled that climb on an A-bike. I don't want to be a gatekeeper but I am a lot less neutral about E-bikes these days, I mean how can anyone be... Oh, and did I mention, E-bikes aren't allowed on that trail....

For the longest time, I was E-bike neutral. Hell, if I could have justified the price, I wouldn't have minded one myself. Then the other day, I was peddling up a local long, steep, slightly technical single track. It's super popular and it's something of a right of passage to be able to climb it without dabbing or dying. As I'm just getting into a groove I hear someone coming up behind me fast so I pull over. Not one, but 33, spaced out full power E-bikes pass me going uphill at the speed people generally come down that trail. I was a full three or four minutes waiting for them all to pass, and a cursory look suggested that 80% of them couldn't have pedaled that climb on an A-bike. I don't want to be a gatekeeper but ai am a lot less neutral about E-bikes these days, I mean how can anyone be... Oh, and did I mention, E-bikes aren't allowed on that trail....

I was just in Switzerland and it was by far the most shockingly expensive country I have ever been (though our dollar doesn't help). I hope you are all enjoying FA on my tourist dollars...

@slayersxc17: If a mtb'er falls in the forest and no one sees him, did he even ride...