Finale Ligure E-Bike Edition with MTB Beds

E-Bikes. Whether you're filtering content to avoid them or re-watching Josh Bryceland zipping around Pila, you've got an opinion. Commercially, They've never been on MTB Beds radar. Our partner Transition don't have one (apart from a prototype power assist Petrol) and seemingly have no intentions to make one. Our clients haven't been asking for one to rent on holiday and they can't bring them along even if they wanted to, if they own one as the battery isn't allowed on the plane.

Our interest was peaked mid-summer 2019 during a trail recce in Italy, where over a few beers one of our partners and guides on our new Trans Liguria Tour reckoned it was a thing, that we should get involved. Maybe it was the booze talking, or maybe it had legs... a large portion of our clients do own one and bike parks across the UK at least hum the whir of electricity along with the bird song.

Positive / Negative? We weren't sure. We've never put much thought into it, not our bag, let them do their thing. The E-Bike hate is still very real for some and it's causing a whole heap of trail access issues in parts of the world. Though, like anything, you don't know till you try it. In the middle of November, Rich spent a day with the lads from Peaty's in the Forest of Dean, UK and had one of the best days riding in a long time, on an E-Bike. Slapping turns in the mud and grinning like idiots in between quick-fire business chat on the climbs. He called up Ben and said they're cool, it's a thing, let’s go ride E-Bikes somewhere.


The MTB Beds team met up in Finale Ligure mid-January for catch up and with amazing weather conditions to greet us we set about grabbing espresso, meeting our partners and planning for 2020, setting aside a few days to get some proper riding on E-Bikes. Our good friends at Oddone Bici hooked us up with 3 Cannondale Moterra's, with not much real experience on E-Bikes we didn't know a good one from a bad one. Issued with two different models and with two different motors (Bosch & Shimano) we figured it would at least be a learning experience.


Hopping onto one of Finale Ligure's finest uplift services Ride On Noli, we took a lift to Nato Base to save on some battery time, getting us up to around 1000m above sea level, where we'd see how far we could get on our batteries and how much fun we could have.

Off into the Ligurian back country we went, in typical style when there are no clients to look after, we didn't prepare at all. We took no snacks, no hydration, 1 small multi-tool, no pump and one tube between the 3 of us. Luckily Scott our media guru took both his £5,000 cameras, drone, 3 lenses, 2 Go Pro's and spare batteries so at least we'd be documenting it.


As soon as we dropped in a grin appeared, sure most of that was just riding a bike in Finale Ligure and that we don't get to ride together as a crew as much as we'd like. But the bikes were capable, it did feel like a mountain bike with a case of beer taped to the downtube, but you could hop, jump and move around relatively easily. The low centre of mass meant the bikes held a line better than their short travel suspension should. The welcome boost of power (yes full turbo) was pretty cool. The only thing holding us back was the thought of landing or hitting something on a bike so heavy and the 'normal' bike components not taking the strain.


We weren't past the gimmick stage but we started making our 2-D ride 3-D. Whatever you see, get up it, go over it go through it. Once the initial fun wears off if you take these bikes out and treat them as normal would you get bored real quick and prefer to be suffering on the climbs or simply be on an uplift? We set off into the back country to try and ride 'properly'. A few laps on some Nato Base classics, then onto the pedals and off into the back country.


We'd made our way after a morning of trekking, filming, shredding and laughing to the start of the Super Groppo trail, with a 20-minute descent into Feglino. The bikes don't ride in the same way your own bike will, they don't limit what you can do more how you do it and in some ways they increase possibilities. We stopped, filmed, photographed, then rode back up and did it again, it's all a bit easy to do with a motor. One of the added bonuses of E-Bikes is if you need to film or photo a section more than once, going up is absolutely fine, like a moto in a way.

Time to sit down and take stock. We'd rinsed half a battery and laughed all day, ridden fast, ridden far and we had way more in the tank to do more. So we did.

These things are rapid on the road. We took on a steep, windy climb that takes 10 minutes in the uplift van in 10 minutes, and we got to the top still fresh as a daisy. We had pedalled to the top of a Finale Ligure classic, Cromagnon. Used in the Trophy of Nations in 2019 and in the Enduro World Series years before, it's a challenging trail. Technical, rocky, with plenty of small pinch climbs and awkward sections that would play to E-Bikes strengths and weaknesses trying to ride 'normally'.

E-Bikes handle the tight, technical and slower pace better than you'd imagine. All that weight is low, so they corner really well and the added boost opens up the way you can approach a turn and power out. It would definitely be tricky to follow someone on an E-Bike if you're not on one, and vice versa. Braking points, straight-line speed and line choice are very different. Perhaps not so much on one of the newer, lighter E-bikes.


When we broke it down we figure it comes down to an experience where the E-Bike thrives. If you treat it like a normal bike, it's never going to be right. They have a few very specific roles to play in the bike scene, you all need to be on one, or you need to be riding by yourself because it's just not the same trail and the for us the whole concept changes. For the better? Yes if you're looking for a sick way to spend a few days trying something you haven't before. It's easy to see how they would be an amazing self-shuttle machine, a trail scouting tool, a way to get back on two wheels after injury, or just to get more shredding in at the local when time is limited.


For us, for now, E-Bikes are a fun way to spend a few days shredding and exploring. In a holiday format? We'll be announcing something real soon that will definitely be worth a crack for anyone who loves a good time. Don't hate it till you've tried it!

Photo / Video - Scott Windsor / MTB BEDS

#ONEPEDALAHEAD