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

Worldwide Cyclery. https://www.worldwidecyclery.com/pr...sXRU6xn1gCBEXLlbkPyZXrya2-JW7P-z7WFdNZA&gQT=1

 

I too paid homage to the enchilada gods.

 

Didn't quite make it to the top for sunrise, but it was close. Good enough for the first early outdoor ride of the year

 

“Back in the day” there was no riding enchilada without a mechanical on everyone’s bike. Everyone carried two tubes, shit ton of water, and a backpack filled with a jacket, mini-pump and tools.
Bikes are a lot more reliable these days. Last time I rode TWE, I did it with one bigger water bottle and tools on the frame, and no pack or even waist pack. 3h15m, top to bottom. Yeah, I was beat. But not the all-day-epic it used to be.

First longer ride of the season. Body is finally able to ride a bike again. Tough winter….
This is my new “training tool”. Best exercise equipment ever.

 

is the tube strapped to the frame or screwed in with like the wolftooth b rad system?

 

have you happened to have ridden a spire? I've been tossing the idea of ditching the dedicated enduro for a full size ebike. I really like the spire and would like to stay on a transition when the time comes.

 

The frame has upper bosses, and I used a tire wrap from Jank to screw into the frame. Having MX means I carry a 27.5 tube which can be used in a pinch for 29 as well. But I'm toying with the idea of getting two tubolitos instead. Or just running DH tires and ditching it all, not sure I want the added rolling mass though.

I have demoed one, but don't know it well. I just got the Repeater PT from the big sales. It's like 4K off, has the powertrain system, great battery and motor. I replaced the brakes with my Magura MT8s, the fork with a 38 and MRP Lift damper, and the wheels with Oneup/Reserve AL (though I really didn't need to, but wanted to turn it into MX).
The Repeater rides A LOT like the Spire, or really any other modern enduro bike. It's 170/170, I measured the geo myself on the medium (in MX, high flip chip) and I got:
HA - 63*
STA - 78*
WB - 1260
BBH - 340
RE - 450
CS - 450
ETT - 505

Yeah, the new crop of eMTBs are cool, but the deal on the Repeater is just way too good. You can find a new PT for $6,600 if you look. The bikes was $10.5K!

As for ditching one for the other, not for me. These things are heavy, and I'm not. It's like 30% of my body weight, and even if I'm strong and fit, it's a lot of bike. I've ridden eMTBs from the 42-52 lb range. If going lightweight, I'd go full lightweight. If it's nearing the 50 lb mark, it's the same/same. I couldn't tell the difference between a 47, 50, and 52 lb bike. It' was more about the suspension and setup. There really aren't any low 40s bikes that are still full power and long travel. So, I went full-hog. Love it so far.
Like other big bikes, it plows. But if you put the energy into it, it'll still pop and play if you're a strong rider.
Analog bikes still have the edge when it comes to making stupid line choices, jumping, whipping, manualing, and just plain old moving it around.
Plus, lots of places still aren't eMTB friendly, so some places are off limits.
Current stable includes the Transition Repeater, Santa Cruz Nomad, and Santa Cruz 5010. I'm very lucky to have options, and I use them all

 

I like to over complicate things and since my ripley af is getting a little tired I want to probably a smuggler and just use that for enduro racing. I only do a handful of races a year and it’s plenty of bike considering I’m not racing for the podium haha.

ideally I’d keep the spire but between the space and cost of e-bikes I think I’d be cool with selling it to fund the e bike. I feel like the spire really requires some intention to pop, it makes it super stable and fast but harder to jump if there isn’t a transition….sounds like the repeater is the same with an extra almost 20 pounds haha. I’m also eyeing the Orbea Wild, seems like some decent deals on that one too. We will see what it’s like since I’m probably a couple months out. I’m also planning on renting an e-bike some time soon for some Virginia mountain riding haha

 

Got a chance to throw a leg over the new Levo and promptly put it in "class 3" mode. Honestly I was skeptical at first and wasn't sure if I liked the idea - but it doesn't seem like that big of a deal after riding it. Instead of the hard cutoff and really having to put in more effort to overcome the limiter (more than riding a normal bike) - it more or less just removes that limiter. You do have to work to keep the speed up too. I could maybe seeing it being an issue of opening the floodgates for other class 3's that dont feel like the Levo, but in this instance my concerns were unfounded.

The bike seems better overall - much quieter, and its been awhile since I've ridden a transmission drivetrain so that was nice. However i'm not in love with the bikes looks.

 

I hear what you're saying, and it makes sense for experienced mountain bikers. I just know that there's going to be tons of dipshits on those bikes who are new to mountain biking and riding in the C3 setting and have no clue about trail etiquette. They're going to piss off a lot of loud old grumpy riders, who are going to complain to trail managers, who are going to shut shit down for everyone. It's already a precarious relationship at best between regular trail riders and eMTBs.
Just last week I was in a bike shop and heard the typical conversation:
Customer- "Hey, I've always wanted to mountain bike. Can you show me the best electric bike I can get so I can learn?"
Employee- "Sure, here's ___."
Customer- "Is this the most powerful or fastest?"


I don't have any answers to fix the eMTB debate. People are going to be people. Companies are always going to try and make something more powerful and faster. The only real solution is to ban eMTBs from regular trails and start making more eMTB trials, which I don't like the ideas of but seems like the only real option. I've ridden in an area dedicated to eMTB use and it was great. The trails were different, no conflicts, expected to see tons of eMTBs and Jerrys, wasn't disappointed.

 

Looking for Roanoke BETA…
First NICA race of the season postponed and the kids have next week off so packing up the family truckster and heading south!

Does anyone have any riding suggestions for greater Roanoke VA? We did a similar trip last year and rode Carvins Cove and some stuff by the Star on the Blue Ridge but looking for more, ideally within 1 hr of Roanoke.
As always, any info is appreciated. TrailForks and Strava heat maps already perused.

 

Yeah its a messy situation - I think around 50% of the riders I know are riding hacked ebikes, but now C3 is just saying the quiet part out loud. I want to say the C3 setting is slightly detuned from the C1, but that's just talking with friends from the shop and interpreting how the bike feels. I don't see a *need* for C3 mode other than it removes that harsh cutoff @ 20mph - if they could find a way to remove that resistance above the 20mph unassisted id be all for it. Going to parks in the southeast Jarrods/Kanuga, it does suck when you hit that wall.

 

One of the big 'destination' trail networks around here just opened up to ebikes and I'm very curious to see how the season holds up. Kingdom Trails in VT has only allowed them through medical necessity and in doing so, a lot of the more remote trails were inaccessible to people without the fitness and climbing legs to get there - a bit of a built in squirrel catcher to keep new riders off the more advanced trails. A couple concerns I have that may be unwarranted, but time will tell:

-A few major sections of the network have been shut down from land owners due to conflicts with riders - some really nice trails were lost and connectivity of the network was affected. Get more inexperienced people out there without a sense of etiquette and more trails can become in jeopardy. Almost the entire network is built on private lands and landowner respect and permission keeps them going. People on an unrestricted eMTB can be racing the XC trails at speeds that put horse riders and hikers in a precarious positions. Blind corners can become dangerous and without having the skill to slow down and corner appropriately can lead to pretty serious personal and pedestrian harm.

-A more selfish concern: the more remote trails that can take 1,000' of elevation to get to are going to get beat big time over the season. More riders and ebikes causing more wear and tear at a much faster rate. Harder braking before berms causing more breaking bumps, pedaling out of corners with an assist causing more erosion, etc. Not to say I don't want people to experience what those trails are and how much fun they can be, but if maintenance lags on them it can destroy the trail and general vibe.

At this point in time and with the way the market is trending, there is almost no use in fighting against it. Almost every new major bike release seems to be an ebike or update and I've personally never had an issue with an ebike rider so all this may be completely unwarranted. They have been around long enough to mitigate a lot of fears and the community as a whole appears to be more and more accepting of them. I still make a mental note of when someone is on an ebike while riding and sometimes take a different trail to try and avoid having my rear tire scrubbed on a climbing single track, but that's just par for the course these days.

 

We are trying to get access to a new state park that was recently donated. Someone had commented on one of my Facebook posts sharing the feedback survey that it would be nice to have eMTB specific trails…you should have seen the rage from all sides.

For my area, we just don’t have the access levels to be able to create e-bike only trails. We can barely get bike access to trails. At this point everything has to be multi-use which includes horses. The only thing that could help is if we can build advanced trails with more rocks, that would help self filter a little bit.

 

what would an ebike specific trail look like? is that just a steep uphill?

 

I'm thinking construction of a cigar bar and beer room half way up. Maybe a climate controlled recliner room with pizza ovens running? Don't know, just spitballing here.

 

i was thinking more of a conveyor belt but it goes downhill so you get more rolling distance in less physical distance

 

Haha I think they just wanted trails to be set aside for e-bikes…so just signs basically.

 

The ones I rode were less steep, more flow, rolly, jumpy, rock-reinforced berms, durable technical features, and two ways to get up; steep or scenic.
Made sense to me. Not too steep meant you use motor power, and fewer brake bumps. The features were meant to take the abuse to the weight. One way only up and down. Basically played to the strengths of the emtb, reduced conflicts.
Plenty of green/blue, some black.

 

On a long enough time horizon natural selection will take care of the types mentioned above.

Unfortunately for the rest I don't think banning emtb is going to do anything considering how they have completely ignored prohibitions to date.