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

I'm a social creature, so I do usually enjoy the company of others while riding. However, I've grown much slower in my "old" age (45), so I also feel guilty whenever people have to wait for me -- especially randoms I'm not close friends with otherwise.

For that reason, most of my future will likely be spent riding solo. Such is life.

 

Riding with the guys in Pisgah a couple weekends ago was the only 'group' riding I've done in a long time. I definitely was on the lower end of the spectrum skill wise. Especially while on much rowdier terrain than I ride regularly, but it was fun to push myself to take hairier lines than I might not have solo.

We did a fair amount of long climbs with long descents. Not something I have available in my area nor am I really a fan of, but I could tell my fitness level was not a limiting factor.

 

I ride by myself and with varying groups. I'm pretty easy going though - depending on which friends im riding with dictates my effort. If im riding with faster friends I just tell them to drop me if im really holding them back, and if im the quick one ill just wait at the end of the trail. If someones struggling to keep up and wants to stop alot ill just alter the pace so they can make it through trails slower so they dont need to stop as much.

 

riding with friends is waay more fun, but when trying to set PR's gotta roll solo or with the faster buddies only

 

Nothing better than dropping in behind faster bros. Great way to build confidence and get faster

 

Hey guys, if you ride mtb in the North East, check out this thread I started!

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/north-east-mtb-thread-trails-and-bs.634009/

 

That makes sense. Ideally, I would ride with 1-2 other people who are all similar skill and fitness levels, that way we could all push each other, and have the social element. But its difficult to find people in that category, especially ones with the same schedule, and times to ride. So for the most part, its solo riding for me also.

 

Lets talk reliability of eBike motors:

Bosch
Brose
Yamaha
Shimano

My take

Bosch has generally proven itself as the standard, and is the easiest to get serviced, especially if you travel with your bike. Replacement batteries are readily available. Plus, they have freaking charging stations throughout the swiss alps. Cons are that the performance line is very noisy, which sucks for riding in nature, and due to the reduction gearing it doesn't feel natural at all with the engine turned off. We shall see how the new 2020 models look, but I would give them a year or two to get the kinks worked out.

Brose feels much more "natural". Main dealer is specialized. Brose is dead silent. Have heard of a lot of issues with specialized reliability, and many people with a turbo specialized that I have bumped into complain about frequent issues. The other main brose dealer is Bulls, but again, reliability issues abound.

Yamaha is noisy as hell, but they have a good reputation for reliability. Your mainly looking at giant ebikes here.

Shimano I don't know much about.

 

I’m the opposite haha. My skills are solid but my fitness limits me for sure. And the worst part is that as I get tired my skills decrease by default. I do miss having some long climbs/descents within an hour of my house though.

 

We probably aren't the best group to ask regarding e-bikes lol. But I know an easy way to avoid excess machine noises...

 

My $0.02 is F an E-bike on a trail. Flame away

 

Not saying I can’t hold my own skill wise. But in that group, in terrain that’s way steeper and more technical than I see on the regular. Yea, I was definitely bringing up the rear on the descents.

 

Ja feel, I bet you felt like a pro after getting back to home trails though! Unless your home trails are intense haha. I know riding scary trails puts a different perspective on not so scary trails haha

 

I have a 2018 YT Capra, a solid do it all enduro. I would never trade my pedal bike for pedal assist. Although I have ridden a Specialized Levo and had a lot of fun. They have their place in the sport, but unless I had an extra $10k and my pedal bike setup perfect, I will never have one. And with that being said, If I had an extra $10k I'd still rather put it directly in my Tacoma build, rather than a second bike such as an e-bike...just my two pennies.

 

Haha me either, sorta. They have no place on trail in my opinion. Not saying I'm right or wrong as there is no right or wrong, just opinions.

I can potentially see their merit as a commuter piece. But even then the cost is huge factor.

 

Kind of in the same boat. Not a fan. I was at Snow Summit, a downhill bike park, and ran into a lady riding an e-bike uphill on the Green Trail. I told her she wasn't supposed to be there, and she replied with an entitled attitude, that she didn't see a one-way traffic sign at the bottom... In my experience they tend to mess with the existing culture on trails. I'm with you that they don't really belong on most of the same trails most of us in here are riding.

 

Yea, I said this before either in this thread or the other MTB one when this topic came up. If I see you on an e-bike on a trail, and you're not VERY old, I assume you're disabled somehow, or lazy.

 

I've only fiddled around on two eBikes.

I test rode a Rocky Mountain Altitude Powerplay. Fun bike. Ludicrous mode was insane. I did notice that in steep tech stuff, the motor felt very mechanical. You could almost feel the gears biting within the motor. No so much loud, but more of a mechanical/vibration.

I also had the chance to play around on the Trek Powerfly. They use the Bosch system and it felt amazingly smooth. I didn't get to take it on a true trail, so I don't know how the motor felt under heavy load, but the Bosch was very quiet and smooth.

YT uses the Shimano on their decoy, and most riders seem to like it.

I haven't heard much about the Yamaha system.

 

Riding in Moab last week and randomly hooked up with a couple of fellas. We were all on the same basic pace, all three pushing hard and resting at the same places. Sooo much fun.
Then we get passed, by a dude on what must have been a ten year old Trek fuel. Met him at the bottom, it was his first time riding Whole Enchilada.
I swear, every time I ride that trail I get humbled by some rando on a jankety bike.

 

I totally enjoy when that happens. Puts me back in my place lol