aclinjury

There is an epidemic of capable 20-30something year old adults on e-mtb bikes ripping up and down dirt trails.
They have become the most self-entitled bunch now. This trend has become so bad that rangers are out in ATV's more than ever enforcing trail regulations (which is not a bad thing, but it does take away ranger resources).

On mtb forums, the homies are telling amongst themselves that when get pulled over by a ranger, tell them that the ebike is used as "mobility assistance" and that your "verbal assurance" is enough proof of evidece (which is of course not true at all because ragers do have within their judgement to ask for evidence if your "verbal assurance" of moblility contradictions your actions, eg, hucking boulders and ramps.). And it's not just the 20-30something who are talking about how to take advantage of the regulations. There are even 40-50something working professionals who are participating in these morally questionable debates.

I have mtb friends that I used to ride with and were a friendly bunch and all, but I had to stop riding with them becauase many of them carry this self entitled attitude and ride ebikes as if it's a badge of honor that they're able to outsmart the rangers. Am I being a party pooper?

Reflector Guy

CAT7RDR

I rode the SoCal river MUPS for the first time in several months to and from the beaches. One fat E-MTB was ripping up and down the trail at 40+ mph. I did not think that was possible? He was not peddling. Another on a road bike blew by me at 30+ mph. Seems like the e-bike are being modified and getting faster to me.

Rolla

No, but calling it an "epidemic" and laying blame at the feet of specific age groups while calling them "homies" makes you sound less than rational. Your post reminds me a lot of the meetings I used to attend in southern California in the 80s, when the equestrians were trying to prohibit mountain bikes from the trails. They used similar verbiage and rarely earned much respect for their position or their cohort.

Happy Feet

An e mtb is one type of e bike I might eventually buy, for times when I want to focus on downhill technical riding and not uphill cardio workouts.

I see no difference in riding an e mtb up an access road as compared to throwing the manual bike in the back of a truck and driving or using a chairlift at a mountain resort.

As a solo rider I have to pedal up instead of being ferried and that limits the number of downhill runs I can do in a day.

indyfabz

General is making me fat these days.

Got to hand out another F- for this effort.

veganbikes

The homies? Yeah diggity dog those homies sure are whack, with their bikes and their playing of the Snoopy doggity doggy and the M and Ms. When I am hippin and hopin' as we mtbers do I don't need these youngins' getting all up in my grills. Word to your mother.

Canker

Around here we just have a bunch of people riding the ebay 2 cycle gas conversion bikes on the road because they are either drunks with a DUI or just regular old junkies. Haven't had any issues with emtb on the trails, have much more of a problem with horses and ATV illegally on trails.

Atlas Shrugged

There a few posters on this forum who regularly average 30+ mph so it’s not just the e-bike crew causing problems.

Elvo

These are some of the common ebikes on our mups:

Rick

I primarily ride on the road. I am going to put an ebike kit on my bicycle. I want it to assist me. So no throttle and no high voltage. If you want to ride with the public on paths or trails then you will need thicker skin. I have seen both ebikes and motorized bikes that run illegally. Eventually they will catch themselves in trouble with the law. If we complain to loud about them then more unreasonable restrictions will be put on all of us. As it stands ebikes are not allowed on MTB trails in many or all national parks. My friends and I were riding our MTBs up Rock Canyon in the early 80s and some waco pointed a small caliper pistol at us. He pronounced that he was a member of the sierra club. He left the area without his pistol and never threatened us again.

Trakhak

As usual, any suggestion that it's possible for a cyclist of any stripe to be other than a saint results in 'owls of derisive laughter, Bruce.

veganbikes

Wait your names not Bruce, that's gonna cause a bit of confusion, mind if we call you Bruce.

phughes

As long as they have a bell, all is well.

drlogik 

I guess the question might be, "What constitutes an eMountain Bike versus an electric motocross bike"? The distinction seems blurred to me watching the video post above. eBike are here to stay on road and trail so maybe there needs to be some rules applied at the State level on what is an eMountain bike versus an electric motocross bike. I agree that bikes that can go 30 mph+ uphill on trails is not safe for other traditional MTB riders or equestrian riders.

I don't like government-mandated restrictions and I'm fairly libertarian in that regard but when public safety is involved, maybe us bikers (traditional and eBike) need to come together and help draft up rules for trails and work with State officials to help. Gives me the creeps saying that but unless something material is done, people will do whatever it takes to get away with something they want to do.

AlmostTrick

If the rider never pedals and can do rooster tails at will, then it's an electric motocross bike.

aclinjury

I know this river trail! These guys can't ride s* for the bikes they're owning, a waste of a $4000-$5000 bike! Them fools should just get on a moto and hit the moto trails, plenty of these in the LA area. I like how one dude said to the old lady "if I don't do this to let out some energy, I'll do drug". Oh jeez how I have this s*tty argument before from the self-entitled! Ok homes, be my guests and go do drug and let's see how your wives like it!

billridesbikes

No need to be all extra, my dude.

veganbikes

Hahahaha! Sorry, bro was just out juicing my guns and got a little aggro.

Hiro11

Setting aside singletrack, the crushed limestone paths around Chicagoland are packed this year with inexpensive e-bikes purchased online. I'd say one out of every four bikes you see now is an ebike. These are usually not the restricted "pedal boost" type e-bikes shops sell. These have throttles, powerful motors and, judging by how fast I've seen them going, they are derestricted for speed. I've seen 13 year old kids tooling around not pedaling at 30 mph in basketball shorts on cheap e-fatbikes. This is not a good idea. These paths specifically ban "motorized vehicles" but have a very vague, unenforceable allowances for e-bikes. The lines between different types of "bikes" is already very blurred and the price of entry is plummeting every day. It's only going to get worse.

Hiro11

There is NOOOOO .... rule six.

Rick

I saw a video on youtube of a Sirron riding with a harley rider on the street in California. They were pulled over by a motorcycle cop. The Sirron can do close to 50mph stock. There is a canadian controler that will allow the Sirron to run at 80mph. This is not an ebike 7000 watts is allot of power.

MarcusT

You kids, get off my lawn!!

Doc_Wui

Guess I've never seen this out in Will County but I haven't been down to the Joliet canal paths since 2019, nor have I been up to the Prairie Path. Last time I looked though, Cook County Forest Preserve still limited ebikes to 16 mph capability, with fine/forfeit listed as penalty. I ride ebikes by the way, but only ride the small ones on bike paths,

DMC707

Although these machines have chassis's that resemble DH mountain bikes, the lack of visible cranks or pedals puts these squarely in the electric motorcycle category --- i would think their performance on a real motocross track would be dubious at best though