Observations of mountain biking from the past 30 years

Stredda

Stredda

Runs naked through virgin scrub
slimjim1 said:
The funny thing is, the first thing you mentioned (Strava) has been destroyed by the second thing you mentioned (Ebikes). The amount of fat boomers on e-mopeds clogging the leaderboards is wild. You aint fast. LOL.

Strava - I use it, I'll keep using it for now, but I'd be happy for it to go altogether. Noting the above, the segments and leaderboard functions (which along with the heatmaps feature are driving the issue around unsanctioned trails) are redundant. Other free apps give you the stats and the route building features.

Agree 100% on ebikes. I still think about this article that was posted in 2018:
'Our trails aren't built for that': eBike riders risk fines in Canberra nature parks | The Canberra Times | Canberra, ACT

I guess a lot has changed in 5 years, namely the whole industry chasing the boomer eeb $. Call me a gatekeeper but IDGAF. This sport is not supposed to be easy. I worry about the long-term precedent that eebs set with Surrons etc. Now they are selling 'pedal kits' to make these things look like eebs. Nightmare to enforce. It's already becoming a big problem in the US.
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There's no evidence that class one Ebikes cause any more damage to a trail than a normal bike and that article has no evidence, just someone's opinion.
 
Jabubu

Jabubu

let you google that for me
And with regards to Strava, I'd like to see the ability to filter our ebike rides in the leaderboard, especially when it comes to vertical metres.
 
Stredda

Stredda

Runs naked through virgin scrub
Jabubu said:
I wish owners of ebikes knew how much more damage their high torque moves do to hand built trail features - I have to hop or launch over things (or mostly walk or fall off!) but ebikers can just lay down the power which slowly and surely scrapes a bit more rock or soil away, leaving a monumental uphill step that you have no choice but to lift your bike over to get to the next part.

I'd like to see a contribution from all sales of ebikes - let's call it a trail tax..
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Jabubu said:
It's certainly been observed here, and by people that help build the trails that also own ebikes.
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I manage and have been involved in the construction of a couple of trail networks in Tassie and I can't see any extra wear that is definitely coming from Ebikes. There's more wear and tear from more bikes, sure but I can't see evidence that it's all from Ebikes.
Skidding into corners, riding in wet conditions, schralping berms do far more damage that a bit of extra torque on a climb.
Jabubu said:
And with regards to Strava, I'd like to see the ability to filter our ebike rides in the leaderboard, especially when it comes to vertical metres.
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Strava will automatically flag a ride where it was likely to be an ebike. It plots average speed and also compared to past performances.
 
yuley95

yuley95

soft-arse Yuley is on the lifts again
Dozer said:
I had you in mind when I was thinking about posting this @yuley95 Have you noticed the lack of e bikes in Canada and the distaste towards it? I saw two ebikes on trails in Whistler in the month I was there in July and the vibe I got chatting with locals is the extra traffic totally destroys the trails for the short time they get to ride them. I totally get it.
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Totally - they’re are BIG climbs here and I reckon I could count on one hand the e-bikes I’ve seen. Seems to be a real different vibe.

Granted I’m now living in a small mountain town but people are all very active and pretty chilled here. People are riding trails at all times of the day, riding with friends and enjoying the climb and the chat as much as the descent.

There is a distinct lack of e-bike lines cutting across switchbacks on climb trails.

I get the idea that you can do more laps on an e-bike in a given timeframe but people just seem to give over more time to riding here rather than squeezing in more laps in a short period.
 
Jabubu

Jabubu

let you google that for me
Stredda said:
Strava will automatically flag a ride where it was likely to be an ebike. It plots average speed and also compared to past performances.
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I don't want to see any ebike vertical metres on the leaderboard - just pure human powered efforts.
 
Jabubu

Jabubu

let you google that for me
yuley95 said:
Totally - they’re are BIG climbs here and I reckon I could count on one hand the e-bikes I’ve seen. Seems to be a real different vibe.

Granted I’m now living in a small mountain town but people are all very active and pretty chilled here. People are riding trails at all times of the day, riding with friends and enjoying the climb and the chat as much as the descent.

There is a distinct lack of e-bike lines cutting across switchbacks on climb trails.

I get the idea that you can do more laps on an e-bike in a given timeframe but people just seem to give over more time to riding here rather than squeezing in more laps in a short period.
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Are ebikes allowed on many of the trails there? Listening to Seth's channel, they're banned from a lot of trails in his state (Georgia?).
 
dancaseyimages

dancaseyimages

Mountain bike pornographer
I actually like Strava but have a lot of my activities set to private, more about keeping myself accountable and a few mates, plus attaching pics to rides, plus the stats are a good thing to have and sync with the garmin pretty seamlessly, admittedly I do have the watch so the phone stays in the car or the bag. I'm not aiming for KOM's or anything like that, it's good on trail dig days to then look over a week and see what the average user is doing through there when its super fresh etc.

I don't mind people on Eeebs as long as they are not doing anything too bad trail wise, especially the older people it's good to see them out and about, Coffin Dodging I guess.
 
Minlak

Minlak

custom titis
dancaseyimages said:
I actually like Strava but have a lot of my activities set to private, more about keeping myself accountable and a few mates, plus attaching pics to rides, plus the stats are a good thing to have and sync with the garmin pretty seamlessly, admittedly I do have the watch so the phone stays in the car or the bag. I'm not aiming for KOM's or anything like that, it's good on trail dig days to then look over a week and see what the average user is doing through there when its super fresh etc.

I don't mind people on Eeebs as long as they are not doing anything too bad trail wise, especially the older people it's good to see them out and about, Coffin Dodging I guess.
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This is why I use my Garmin - When motivated I just compete with me now.
 
yuley95

yuley95

soft-arse Yuley is on the lifts again
Jabubu said:
Are ebikes allowed on many of the trails there? Listening to Seth's channel, they're banned from a lot of trails in his state (Georgia?).
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Don't think I've seen any signs saying they are not allowed - it's just culturally not popular at the moment. Maybe things will change but who knows.
 
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