Any cyclists here?

Audiophile Bill

Well-Known Member
Mar 23, 2015
4,293
4,093
675
I didn't understand Enduro so this has been enlightening for me. I'm glad they have this different class of racing to highlight different skills and talents. Unfortunately I'm not particularly good at climbing or descending.

Ha me and you both, Tim. Bog average descender and ascender here.
Key is to keep plugging away and enjoying. For me the cardio benefits are most important so honestly getting more technically proficient is great and a 2022 goal but not the bigger picture for me. I am working on the larger drops (so 6 feet+) at the moment. Also my jumping is unreliable lol.
 

bazelio

Well-Known Member
Sep 26, 2016
2,493
1,745
345
California
I was a little worried about it, but ebikes haven't been a major issue for either mtb trails or bike paths around here. I love my commuter ebike and will surely own an emtb some day. I know a couple girls who don't like to ride with some groups because they feel they're too slow, emtbs have changed their whole mtb world and what they feel they can do on a bike. A friend's dad who is getting up there in age got one and now can ride with his son again without feeling like he's holding him up. I also know a couple guys who got emtbs because they are lazy, fat and drink too much, lol.

Yeah, it's a non-issue. The kid across the street just bought one - so they're not just for old folk. I've ridden it once, and it's not for me. I prefer to earn my downhill. It's funny though... Most of the eMTB riders who pass me on climbs apologize as they go by, acknowledging they're being assisted.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tim Link and rando

christoph

Well-Known Member
Dec 11, 2015
4,660
4,058
825
Principality of Liechtenstein

christoph

Well-Known Member
Dec 11, 2015
4,660
4,058
825
Principality of Liechtenstein
Hi Chris.

Yes I also considered getting an e bike after I got my new enduro bike end of last year. I really see the appeal of an e bike. I went riding with someone in October - I was on my hard tail and he was on his e bike. 3.5 hrs later I was absolutely ruined and he was fresh as a daisy lol.
I already live quite up in the mountains and I would only go up from my place with a regular bike never down into the valley and up on the other side because I could never get back home again. But with the e-mtb, I can (almost) go wherever I want and have some reserve to get back up home again.

I don't have the e-mtb to go with regular riders and be fresh like a daisy. Going with regular bike riders, I drive on the lowest support (compensating the more weight of the e-mtb) as long as I can.

The beauty of the e-mtb is that I can have it both ways.
I can kill myself with low support when riding with others or kill myself when I go alone with limited time after work, when it gets dark earlier, then I use more support and still go all out to make quite a lot of kilometers uphill before it gets dark.
Or I can drive to work (almost) without breaking a sweat.

For me, where I live, the e-mtb was the only realistic possibility to get back on the bike again and I enjoy it vastly.
When the weather is ok (except during Winter), I normaly go on the e-mtb 3 to 5 times per week most of the time for around 2 hours and the fitter I get, the less support I use and the bigger my radius for tours gets.

And I can sometimes even convince my wife to tag along with her e-mtb, she going high support while I use low support uphill. She drives down the same gravel tracks we took uphill, I drive down on single trails through the woods. Work out for both of us and we get to spend time together.
By the end of each season, she also drives single trails with me where she dares to and walks where she feels uncomfortable. I guess I have her hooked :p:cool:
 

Uk Paul

Member Sponsor
Sep 27, 2012
516
183
955
UK
Hi Chris.

Yes I also considered getting an e bike after I got my new enduro bike end of last year. I really see the appeal of an e bike. I went riding with someone in October - I was on my hard tail and he was on his e bike. 3.5 hrs later I was absolutely ruined and he was fresh as a daisy lol.

So you had the better workout then Bill..
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Audiophile Bill

christoph

Well-Known Member
Dec 11, 2015
4,660
4,058
825
Principality of Liechtenstein
Ha me and you both, Tim. Bog average descender and ascender here.
Key is to keep plugging away and enjoying. For me the cardio benefits are most important so honestly getting more technically proficient is great and a 2022 goal but not the bigger picture for me. I am working on the larger drops (so 6 feet+) at the moment. Also my jumping is unreliable lol.
Same here :D
Last year we booked a pro to show us some tricks with the result that the guy told my wife the whole day exactly what I told her all along and at the end of the day, we didn't have the time to show me some stuff :rolleyes:
I guess I will have to book a guy for me alone next time.
I would like to be guided when starting more dangerous stuff like big drops and jumps. I "think" I could do it naturally on my own but because of the risk of injury, I would like to have someone who can teach me correctly and step for step :oops:
 

Audiophile Bill

Well-Known Member
Mar 23, 2015
4,293
4,093
675
So you had the better workout then Bill..

damn right - I nearly died lol. He was rocketing up the climbs when I was gruelling them.
 

Audiophile Bill

Well-Known Member
Mar 23, 2015
4,293
4,093
675
Same here :D
Last year we booked a pro to show us some tricks with the result that the guy told my wife the whole day exactly what I told her all along and at the end of the day, we didn't have the time to show me some stuff :rolleyes:
I guess I will have to book a guy for me alone next time.
I would like to be guided when starting more dangerous stuff like big drops and jumps. I "think" I could do it naturally on my own but because of the risk of injury, I would like to have someone who can teach me correctly and step for step :oops:

I got lessons last year just to make sure drops and jumps are safe enough. Can be a bit risky if you go fast on some of our trails without the right skills. Will have more this year - so worth it!
 
  • Like
Reactions: christoph

Uk Paul

Member Sponsor
Sep 27, 2012
516
183
955
UK
I never tire of watching this:

 

Audiophile Bill

Well-Known Member
Mar 23, 2015
4,293
4,093
675
I never tire of watching this:

Those are some sick skills. That last one with the front flip over the barbed wire took the piss lol.
 
  • Like
Reactions: christoph

DaveC

Industry Expert
Nov 16, 2014
3,899
2,141
495
Same here :D
Last year we booked a pro to show us some tricks with the result that the guy told my wife the whole day exactly what I told her all along and at the end of the day, we didn't have the time to show me some stuff :rolleyes:
I guess I will have to book a guy for me alone next time.
I would like to be guided when starting more dangerous stuff like big drops and jumps. I "think" I could do it naturally on my own but because of the risk of injury, I would like to have someone who can teach me correctly and step for step :oops:

Coaching is the best thing you can do if you want to learn or progress. So many techniques are counter intuitive and most people can't even understand what they are doing on a bike without feedback, in other words they can't just see a good rider and then copy their technique without being coached. IMO, mt bike coaching is very interesting as a result of this, plus the fact many skills are very difficult to teach. Some things on a bike come simply by experience and the rider doesn't consciously understand exactly how to do it, which makes trying to teach it very difficult. The finer points of jumping definitely fall into this category, it can be very difficult to teach and explain jumping. Luckily there are tons of vids on youtube, but you also have to make sure you do drills to practice the skill, and do the drills correctly. If you don't do drills you won't be able to apply the skills when they matter.

Evidence: check out Pinkbike's Friday Fails videos. It's full of people who have a distorted view of how they ride and it leads to them doing things on a bike they are completely unqualified for. Jumping larger jumps without learning proper technique is one of the most dangerous things you can do, as a beginner it's tempting to hit larger jumps prematurely for some reason, but it's better to do a lot of practice on smaller sized jumps until you are able to maintain full control of the bike in the air. It's also a skill that needs to be maintained, if you don't use it you lose it and will have to build your way back up again, a lot like strength training.
 

TooCool4

Well-Known Member
Feb 7, 2013
960
939
925
England
I could not finish watching it as it made me feel sick, I have a fear of heights. I am a cross country mountain biker.

A while back I went to New Zealand to visit my friend, we used to race cross country together in the UK. While visiting him we did loads of rides together, on the climbs I left him standing as I am very good at climbing and I was looking up. On the way down, I did not see him for dust I can see where I would fall if I got it wrong hence I was slow. I was always like this as a child, very good at climbing trees but coming down was a different story. :oops:
 
  • Like
Reactions: christoph and rando

DasguteOhr

Well-Known Member
Sep 26, 2013
2,354
2,515
645
Germany
I sold my mountain bike,a Bergwerk last year, back problems I really miss riding it. I'm a big fan of Fabio Wibmer. Lockdown video.
bergwerk-mountainbike.jpg
 

Atmasphere

Industry Expert
May 4, 2010
2,336
1,837
1,760
St. Paul, MN
www.atma-sphere.com
I was a little worried about it, but ebikes haven't been a major issue for either mtb trails or bike paths around here. I love my commuter ebike and will surely own an emtb some day. I know a couple girls who don't like to ride with some groups because they feel they're too slow, emtbs have changed their whole mtb world and what they feel they can do on a bike. A friend's dad who is getting up there in age got one and now can ride with his son again without feeling like he's holding him up. I also know a couple guys who got emtbs because they are lazy, fat and drink too much, lol.
A friend of mine built up an ebike about 15 years ago before anyone really knew what they were. He liked it so much he built a second, which looks like a retro motorbike.

The thing is he had hepatitis C for most of his adult life which messed with his joints; he got a treatment which cured it about 8 years ago.

The ebike allowed him to get out and get exercise before and after the cure. I introduced him to mountain biking a few years back and he hardly rides the ebikes anymore and is faster than me at this point- he is most definitely hooked. I don't think this would have happened if not for the ebikes.
 

rando

Well-Known Member
Sep 22, 2019
1,701
1,234
245
Online
While visiting him we did loads of rides together, on the climbs I left him standing as I am very good at climbing and I was looking up. On the way down, I did not see him for dust

I miss having long technical climbs to ride on a mtb. Thrill of jumping up something others are lost on is a pleasure indeed.

There really is nothing so fun as casually falling down a trail though. Sheer variety of things you can jump and fall off just never gets old. At least it was before you needed multidisciplinary doctorates to set your fork and shock up correctly.
 

TooCool4

Well-Known Member
Feb 7, 2013
960
939
925
England
There really is nothing so fun as casually falling down a trail though.
If you can walk / ride away from the fall you are good. Some of those places you can fall from in New Zealand, you will not be walking / riding away from. I did not fancy that. ;)
 

Zero000

Well-Known Member
Jul 28, 2014
2,985
1,139
478
Here's a few things I have noticed about my ebike. See my earlier post.

1) 5 power settings and a no power mode mean you can get as much or as little exercise as you like.

2) The design of the bike is impractical without power assistance. But it allows for huge 26 by four inch wheels which are great on the beach. This is cool. The tyres also attract a lot of comments from passers by. Really.

3) For a hub motor torque is better than I expected and it is welcome on steep terrain.

4) it has a walk mode which is great for super steep terrain you can't cycle up, and there is quite a bit of that around here. It'll literally just power itself up as you walk with it.

5) 50 miles range on one charge is pretty astonishing I think.

6) I cycle much greater distances on the electric bike as opposed to my road bike.

7) I am using the electric bike more than the road bike.

8) The display and programmable features are far more tweakable than I expected, with literally masses of parameters that can be adjusted.

9) It really needs a larger front sprocket as pedalling to get a really high speed becomes stupidly rapid. I am sure this is deliberate to stop 40+ mph being a possibility.

10) The rims are plastic. The frame is aluminium. So some concession to weight saving but in no power mode it is definitely a bitch to ride.

12) The battery is detachable by lock & key. But the fit is fantastic. No matter how rough the terrain it doesn't jangle about.

13) The bike tech says hub motors are easier than crank based mechs to maintain. I think crank based motors do have better torque for a given wattage.

Just some thoughts to anyone thinking of buying one. Mine is quite an extreme design and other approaches to the problem may suit you and your intended terrain a lot more.
 

Uk Paul

Member Sponsor
Sep 27, 2012
516
183
955
UK
My 2 bikes( incl the TREK)

The B one is a 11 year old bike , it was a dutch brand ( no longer exists )
I fully restored it last year new cranck shaft bearings / Chain / rear derailleur and new Campagnolo WTO 60 s .
6,9 kg Sram red

View attachment 87867
How do you like the Campag WTO's? Do you get pushed around by the wind much being 60's?
 

andromedaaudio

VIP/Donor
Jan 23, 2011
8,358
2,731
1,400
Amsterdam holland
How do you like the Campag WTO's? Do you get pushed around by the wind much being 60's?
No problems at all .
The force with a side wind is just slightly more but not much .
I find high rims ideal actually as they keep their line much better then normal rims , they ride more steady / secure
Fit n finish is excellent , no cheap chinese (copy )design here .
Ceramic bearings come standard.
 

Attachments

  • 1641990750032.png
    1641990750032.png
    528.4 KB · Views: 2
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Uk Paul

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing