Have to agree on every single point. Been riding for 25 years and had a hard time motivating myself, especially in bad weather conditions. Got myself a Levo Pro two weeks ago and now I wish I could go riding every day.
I never comment on videos, but I logged in just to add that your reviews are by far the most real world, relatable, and thoughtful that I have seen on e bikes. Thanks and I hope you get to review more bikes soon!
All spot on! After a month of owning one (and constantly gushing about it) my wife bought one too. She was not wanting to ride as much with her old bike, now she's with me on almost every ride. If you're debating, don't wait another minute!
Thank you for your incredibly well presented commentary / perspective on e-MTBing. I just turned 56 and I couldn't agree more with your list as I have found all of it to be so true! I just got back into MTN biking after so many years of not riding at all. Now I can't get riding out of my mind, I think about it everyday. Your list is bang on!
Our local trails are shared use equestrian, hiking, and mtb ... With my e-bike the damage the horses do to the trails is not a problem so I ride more ... so I have more fun
Excellent video. 54 yr old here with 50 years “behind bars”. It sounds like you and I have very similar experience & experiences with both bikes & ebikes, and I agree with every word you said. Ebikes Rock!🤘 Excellent video. Keep up the good work.🙏💪👍😉
Thanks, what a great list indeed! I agree, but how about training and fitness? I have been thinking about it and here is my opinion. I have found that the best thing about ebiking is the power control. For example, I no longer spend all my body's energy on accelerating and maintaining my pace, as usually with the manual bike. I can use my energy much better. For example, I can do intervals much better, but not only that, I can also do better recovery between sprints. I can also do fast riding well beyond what I could on a manual bike. For example, the EU speed limit is 25 km/h, but I can easily reach 35 km/h because the bike is saving my own energy up to 25 km/h. The speed limit is actually very fun to exceed and then after that, I can use all my strength in my legs to accelerate. What a great feeling to do speedy runs! I didn't buy an electric bike for the usual steady riding style, but the bike actually encourages me to test my own limits as a rider. It is very rewarding to ride with electric because my fitness level is no longer limiting my riding style! I ride because of the feeling of freedom, and that is the best in eMTB.
Thank you for making these videos. I've been away from a bike for over 10 years and wanting to get back into it and glad I came upon this channel. My friend who still rides told me to think about an ebike because we aren't getting any younger and even a little assist is nice 😂. Thanks to your videos and his suggestion, I'm leaning more towards an ebike now.
I really appreciate your videos. This is a great list. I also ride both analog (22 Stumpy) and eBike (Trek Fuel EXe) and I love how they complement each other. A couple other pros about the eBikes in my view are 1. It gets me out riding more. I typically alternate between analog and eBike and can now ride 5 days a week, weather permitting. 2. The eBike is a great conditioning/training tool as I can better control the effort I am putting in and maintain a specific heart rate band. I would not be surprised to see companies integrating heart rate monitors tso the bike varies assistance based on rider defined heart rate band. Could be great for training.
My 1st Ebike experience was because I was invited to a ride that I was in no shape to be with them. Now our whole group is on ebikes and living our 50s and 60s like we used to when we were in our 20s.
Great list and advise (for me). I need to get out there more with you guys and enjoy the beauty of my first love....riding my bike. Thank you Francis for all you've done for this industry, the people around you, and myself.
I’ve been ebiking for 4 years now and have become a fanatic. Back in the 90’s I raced a full rigid 26’r and then moved on to motocross and then offroad motorcycle racing, all amateur stuff. After multiple concussions, broken back, and too many broken bones to mention I stopped racing and got back into mtb’s. Went to purchase a mtb and saw an ebike. Dealer let me take it for a spin and holy crap I was sold. I now have two ebikes, one I use for trail maintenance because I use it to pull a trailer with equipment , the other I ride and race in local events in ebike class. I would really like to converse with you on the merits of ebiking and the dark side, of which I was guilty of in the beginning. If you are interested please let me know. Jim Clark
There is far less cardiovascular benefits with "ebikes," not to mention the fact that on a very long race, I'll be able to outdistance any electronic bike on Earth. Yes, I'll stick to my Montague 27.5" folding pedal bike. It'll go a reeeeeeaaaal long way.
My Canyon e bike can climb quick to 6000' and still have battery left. Very hard to beat pedaling. People actually get more cardio workout on an e bike, if they want, because they go way further more regular. Still have to pedal. You would have to try it............. In general e bikes race e bikes in races, and pedal bikes race pedal bikes.
Great points Francis! I love being able to ride in groups of varying skills since the wait time at the top of the climbs is so much less. It could be anywhere from 30-45min waiting for everyone in our group to re-group at the top of a climb, but on ebikes the average wait is no more than 5min. As we get older we all have different amounts of time dedicated to riding so some spend 3-4 days a week riding while others are lucky if they can ride 1 day out of the week so the gap in climbing times is huge if it wasn’t for ebikes. More smiles per miles! I find the ebike haters are usually the big egos who are mad they can’t brag about how much stronger and faster they are than others. Nobody cares bro just enjoy your life and stop worrying about others! 😂
@@EMTBReview The single biggest complaint I hear from non-eMTB riders is that the eMTBs tear up the trail more. They still prefer eMTBs not be allowed on all trails. Interested to hear if you think they tear up the trail more or not?
Great summary! So true about the elements. Out here in Colorado, once the trails get iced over i throw on my studded tires and KEEP SHREDDIN'! Its crazy actually! 98% confidence with studs.
I enjoyed your Worst and Best videos very much. A lot of perceptive observations. I would mention, however, that there are some options other than the high-end mountain bikes you mention that do the job extremely well. I ride a Sondors Rockstar, and while it’s considerably heavier than my buddy’s Yamaha, it handles well on all but the most complex trails and tears it up on the open road. I'll turn 75 in February and my Ebikes have greatly improved my life, providing all the health benefits I could possibly want, plus great camaraderie. Keep up the good work.
The anti class 1 and 2 ebike trail laws are elitist in my opinion. We should be Enabling each other so that we All may legally experience our backcountry.
The lighter mid power segment seems to be exploding at the moment and may propel the industry to equal terms with analog MTB. I just ordered an Orbea H15 to open up more trail options and I can now keep the Scalpel more XC focused rather than a compromised all rounder.
That makes sense, I have a 21 Intense Sniper, and its a nice light XC bike. I just ordered a Canyon Spectral ON CF8 so the Intense doesnt have to fill in as a trailbike and can be kept as light as possible for XC rides. Never have too many bikes.
I think all of the points are correct except for the last one. The quality of the ride is only better on the uphill on heavy ebikes. I think you give up too much on the downs with heavy ebikes.
Thanks for putting out these honest and informative videos, I’m a MTB rider of 30years, a E rider of over three and I find myself choosing my E first for many of the reasons you describe. I’m putting this comment out there, hoping you’ll read it and respond… I have a small company that makes derailleur guards, handguards and Im currently working on bash guards to protect E bike motors and I foresee my products becoming a common accessory on many E bikes in the future. You have a deep connection to industry, riding and the community and I’m looking for your advice and take on my products. I’m a huge fane of MTB Action magazine and remember waiting for the latest issue to come in the mail and gush over all of the cool bikes and stuff coming out and now I’m the guy making the new stuff! I’m not mentioning my company or putting any contact info because I don’t want to spam you but you have kindly responded to two of my previous comments and I hope you’ll do the same on this one. Thanks for the great videos, they reinforce my passion for this new sport and I’m looking forward to watching more!
1 and 5 for me. Made new friends to ride with and progressed faster on ebike with repetitions. Was struggling 5 months back with my analog bike and now close to flying with both ebike and analog bike. Optimal health is physical=weight lifting, mental=eMTB and financial= 😂
Great video and very thoughtful. I have been riding on ebike for few years now, and has defenitely change my riding experience. Plus i can defenitely explore more.
I have a fat tire FLX Gladiator e-bike, and it is so much fun to ride. I still ride my other bikes sometimes, but I usually go with my e-bike. The only downside is that I am not able to transport my e-bike in my car because it is so big and heavy. I don't have a trailer hitch + rack, and that is the only kind of rack that would work.
@@EMTBReview We travel full time in a motorhome currently in Mesa AZ plenty of ebike friendly trails and the ones that aren' have no enforcement of the no ebike rule that I ever saw. i also ride a fuel ex e and most people don't even recognize it as an ebike:)
I have both regular bike and ebike(trek Rail). I will only ride my ebike in winter, who wants to sweat there butts off when temperatures get to 30 degrees. Winter riding is so much more fun with ebike .also I happen to love to ride in pouring rain but only in 70 degrees and above and only on my ebike. Unfortunately almost none of my friends ride ebiks and the one that has an ebike (specialized levo)stopped riding it because he likes regular bike better 🤔😵💫.
Yes but everything you say is true for a motor bike. I know, I’ve done dirt bike cross country for years. Everything you say would apply to a light electric cross bike. Soon enough you won’t really need to pedal, by the way: they are going to become more and more powerful. You’ll just pretend to pedal. So yeah, slowly but surely motor bikes are becoming legal everywhere, as they already are in places, and people there get all this great time, flexibility and ease of access. I don’t know, it’s like cross country skiing with… motorized skis? Wait, that’s a skidoo! Now on the other end I really saw how some very old dudes who rode all their life can keep up with groups of younger people. They acknowledge that without an ebikes they would not join, however they would probably be on the road or bike path with a different kind of group.
