All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

Not going to lie, those SurRons look like a blast. I am sure in the near future some local dink is going to buy one and start ripping through the trails calling it an "e-bike", but have yet to see one in New England. You can buy the pedal kit and try to call it a Class II e-bike, but I see a bit of a complicated future with the legality of those and falling under the assisted pedaling category.

 

Agreed. There didn't seem to be a lot of animosity toward mountain bikers back in STL, and most of my trail encounters with horse people were amicable (the occasional uptight lady on a horse that hates her but pretends to hate bikes as an excuse to give her grief). I just wish they would follow similar guidance on when not to use the trails.

But, the horse people seemed to have a lot of influence as Gunshot mentioned. They put in some new trails just down the road from me, and along with them put in a huge circular parking lot for horse trailers to get the plan approved. Much of the trail work was done by the local MTB community (me included), and I moved away before the horse people found them.

Luckily here in NW Arkansas the trails are mainly for hikers and bikers. There are multi-use trails nearby, but plenty of other options.

 

The good news is most MTB trails that allow assisted pedal capability that I've seen are very specific about "type 1 e-bikes" being allowed which cuts that off the grey area around Sur-Rons at the pass.

That said, having ridden one, they are pretty cool for what they are.

 

That clay, death-mud will also render a bike un-rideable. I didn't understand when I first moved here from the PNW and thought people were just being silly. One ride in the wet and my tires literally wouldn't spin anymore. It took me over an hour to wash/pick all the mud out of the rear triangle.

 

Oh yeah, had a ride in ID one time that involved stopping every mile or so to thump the mud off the tires and carry on. Didn't have much of a choice because at some point, the bike would physically stop itself by interference.

 

oh yeah. so basically, if it has a throttle, mtb trails are off limits. if it has a throttle, it's a motorbike. which surrons fall under.

the actual categories get a little hazy in my brain but that's the bets way for me to remember

 

All this talk of eBikes and dirt bikes...is it just me or does anyone else see that these two sports will merge? I have a dirt bike and a Mountain Bike which I use for two completely different types of riding/fitness. My brother was trying to convince me to go with the eBike, but I just see that as a bit of a conflict.

 

Like this sign I saw yesterday.

 

Even though the legs are shot, I had to get one on in yesterday because NorCal is about to get slammed again by 2 days of rain!

 

Did you all see Neko Mullaly is out with a broken hip?! So sad, luckily he was able to get some people on the Frameworks team this year. I'm really pulling for him and his new bike company!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CqMVGfhtI7j/

 

I've seen a lot of people say that. And it's possible, I guess. Especially with Surron type bikes, which seem to fill in that gap. I sort of hope that it doesn't merge. Because like you said, I have both and use them for different things. I still think the Stark is going to be the way E-MX bikes go. It's still a full-size motorcycle, with like 80hp, big 48mm forks etc. I think ideally there is still a need for a full-sized MX motorcycle with electric motor. And then still have e-MTB which keep the bikes around standard bicycle specs. And if there are bikes in between like the Surron, then all the better. But to me, there is enough difference between the sports, that we should have bikes that fit the intended use (hopefully) in the future. That being said, I really almost bought a e-MTB. I wanted to try GNCC racing with one and another local Dirtbike woods series has an e-MTB class. But I just don't have any regular riding friends with them, so it was hard to justify spending that much to ride/race alone. I've ridden a Levo and really liked it. I looked into the Yamaha YDK Moro also, since I get discounts through my Yamaha dealer. Maybe 1 day....

 

My brother just bought a Levo Comp. picks it up Friday. I asked who he planned to ride with because I'm not riding with him. Even in Eco, he'll just piss me off. lol.

 

I haven't spent anytime on an ebike in the woods but from what I have heard, you can adjust the assistance on an ebike in eco mode to just offset the weight of the bike? I am somewhat fit and my father in law lost a lot of fitness over the years - he bought a Levo Turbo and we ride together every now and again: him on the ebike, me on the acoustic.

The ebike leveled the playing field so he can keep up, but depending on the mentality of the ebike rider (read: ego), it may not work out so well. I can imagine someone who has a bit of a competitive edge to them would make having an ebike in the group a real problem. I don't mind an ebike mixed in, just as long as they understand the hills are still going to suck for me. The ebikes don't fix technical riding obstacles or make someone a more efficient rider - you still need skills for any downhill run.

 

You know what the solution is dont you?

Hint... They are on sale.

 

Get his brother a REAL bike from Transition which are 20% off!

 

Definitely cheaper and less future headaches.

 

And you don't have to become one of the "E-ple"

*I just made that term up and I've amused myself. Anyways, enough with the e-bike slander.

 

You've been the most recent post I've saw regarding getting a new gravel bike. What source did you use to set up the bike?

If you've got a YouTube video you referenced I'd appreciate you sharing.

 

I don't see it happening. they're just different worlds with their classifications as well. :/ but what do i know? i'm just some dude on the internet.

 

So have I been friends with a hologram or... ?