# Demo an E-Bike in Washington State??



## JamesPM (Apr 8, 2009)

Does anyone know of a shop in the Seattle area that can demo an E-bike?

(Yes I know they are banned on most trails, I will be respecting trail closures)

I have a group of friends that have succumbed to Strava, and spend more time arguing about who is better at exercising than enjoying the singletrack. I want to troll them a bit, and short of just getting on a motorcycle, and E-bike assisted climb on one of our local rides might shut them up for a bit...

Anybody know of a shop than would demo an E-bike?


----------



## TFitz (Jun 21, 2008)

Bothell Ski and Bike has a Pivot Shuttle you could tool around the parking lot. We are hosting a demo day at St Ed's June 16, but I do not know if the vendors are bringing any e-bikes.

Edit: I should add that e-bikes are allowed in many state parks, incl. St Ed's and Ollalie, but not in any King County parks. So if you get a chance do demo an e-bike at St Ed's, respect the park boundary even though it's all one trail system (and of course, not much in the way of signage at the southern boundaries of St Ed's).


----------



## vikb (Sep 7, 2008)

So you want to cheat someone out of a KOM that they worked for just to make a point to your friends? That's lame.


----------



## watermonkey (Jun 21, 2011)

Strava and ebikes...what wonderful times we live in.


----------



## JamesPM (Apr 8, 2009)

vikb said:


> So you want to cheat someone out of a KOM that they worked for just to make a point to your friends? That's lame.


I don't post my stuff on Strava as public, and I hide everything from the leader boards...

But yeah, I agree.. Strava is totally lame. If you want to race, join a freaking race.. If you want to post KOM's and take all the cheater lines,,, stick to road bikes...


----------



## Klurejr (Oct 13, 2006)

JamesPM said:


> I don't post my stuff on Strava as public, and I hide everything from the leader boards...
> 
> But yeah, I agree.. Strava is totally lame. If you want to race, join a freaking race.. If you want to post KOM's and take all the cheater lines,,, stick to road bikes...


I don't believe he was stating that Strava is lame, he was pointing out that riding a motorized bike uphill in an effort to beat the uphill times of his friends who are pedaling on human power only is lame. And I agree with him.

If you are going to use strava on an e-bike, you better be using the e-bike setting.


----------



## fos'l (May 27, 2009)

The Electricbike Expo will be in Seattle on July 15-17 with reportedly more than 75 models to test. I've been to a couple in CA, tested a ton of bikes and had fun. Free event.


----------



## JamesPM (Apr 8, 2009)

Klurejr said:


> I don't believe he was stating that Strava is lame, he was pointing out that riding a motorized bike uphill in an effort to beat the uphill times of his friends who are pedaling on human power only is lame. And I agree with him.
> 
> If you are going to use strava on an e-bike, you better be using the e-bike setting.


There was some sarcasm in my response... and I mostly agree with everyone here. It is a huge dick move to do, on the other hand, if you could hear how wickedly obnoxious they have become, I think you would whole-heartedly agree with my plan to troll the crap out of them... I won't be stealing any KOM from legit riders, just messing with some co-workers taking things way too seriously...


----------



## Klurejr (Oct 13, 2006)

I missed your Sarcasm brackets.

[Sarcasm]enter sarcastic statement here[/Sarcasm]

;-)


----------



## chuckha62 (Jul 11, 2006)

JamesPM said:


> There was some sarcasm in my response... and I mostly agree with everyone here. It is a huge dick move to do, on the other hand, if you could hear how wickedly obnoxious they have become, I think you would whole-heartedly agree with my plan to troll the crap out of them... I won't be stealing any KOM from legit riders, just messing with some co-workers taking things way too seriously...


I have to admit, I sort of like the deviousness of this.

OP, please let us know your coworker's response(s) if you do this.


----------



## Giant Warp (Jun 11, 2009)

Ha, great thread! Don't you know that Strava is only to be used by the purists to ride blazingly fast on M.U.T.s? Shame shame......

Strava is a great tool for use by the ebiker to hone up the skills. Unfortunately, the purists think that anyone that rides an ebike suddenly has mad mountain bike skills. It takes lots of practice and crashes to get fast on technical single track, with or without a battery. I've had routes that I practiced for months to get a KOM (privately). Both my Levos get hot and derate if the route is too long and the power setting is too high so it really turns into a challenge to get that 52 lb bike into KOM territory when under a power derate.


----------



## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

Giant Warp said:


> Strava is a great tool for use by the ebiker to hone up the skills.


I'm sure it is, nothing wrong with that as long as you run it on e-bike mode and aren't competing with bicycles.


----------



## Klurejr (Oct 13, 2006)

Giant Warp said:


> Strava is a great tool for use by the ebiker to hone up the skills.





J.B. Weld said:


> I'm sure it is, nothing wrong with that as long as you run it on e-bike mode and aren't competing with bicycles.


Agreed, I could care less if a eBiker using strava when it is recording and posting in eBike mode.

Yesterday before my weekly ride my friends were all gathered on my driveway, I live on a busy street that is also on a hill. While standing there we all watched a beachcruiser style eBike blaze up the hill at about 15mph, faster than any roadbike I have ever seen climb that hill. If I was a roadie and that guy beat my KOM I would be a little upset.


----------

