# Tired of all the negativity surrounding riding eMtb? I am



## Francine (May 26, 2004)

So I purchased an E bike last year. Have had several knee surgeries and lots of knee pain. I have been riding for 30 years and at this point I can' keep up with my faster friends. Knee pain on hills and only able to ride maybe 10 miles.
This bike has enabled me to ride with all of my friends. Faster and slower ones, and most of my friends understand why I ride it. I only ride on ECO mode, and to be honest, some of my friends are as fast as my ECO mode  I am just tired of justifying why I ride this bike. I HATE it when people on the trail say "you are cheating"....really...who am I cheating EXACTLY? We are not in a race here . 
Most people who have all of these opinions have never even ridden an E bike. 
I find it much harder to ride this bike on technical trails and downhill because of the weight. It is like a monster truck of sorts trying to stop it on fast downs. The main advantage is climbing for sure  Why do people really care what I ride? Getting tired of the negativity and exclusions from trails. Class 1E bikes are still bikes, if you have to PEDAL to ride it IS a bike. Right?
Anyone else get these comments? How do you handle it?


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## Sparticus (Dec 28, 1999)

I generally ride sparsely used trails where I rarely see another person &/or ride my ebike with other ebikers rather than with other pedal bikers.
=sParty


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## twowheelmotion (Feb 10, 2010)

The ebike argument is dead because ebikes are here to stay so you do you. 

As for me, I personally don't own an ebike, mainly because I can't afford one, but when I do get the chance to ride one, I am pretty much the worst ebiker ever. I ride in turbo non-stop, actually not sure why they give you the option, pass on the hill without saying anything, never make eye contact, ride up dh trails just because I can, seldom extend the seat dropper to full position because I have to be ready for DH at any time, never carry tools or a spare anything, wear basketball shoes and baggy TapOut shorts, no helmet, white gascans, and pretty much every time I ride, I maintain at least a .08 BAC.


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## life behind bars (May 24, 2014)

People have opinions. Whether they keep them to themselves is not something you can control. "Justifying" why you ride one just feeds their need to create drama. Do you think mtber's had it any different way back when? Just sayin.


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## 834905 (Mar 8, 2018)




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## Zeroselect (Aug 12, 2021)

Everyone I talk to with a EMTB on the trails are pretty defensive when chatting with them about the bike because of all the negativativity. I always start with "I have a EMTB" before asking about there bike.


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## numbnuts (Apr 20, 2006)

Who cares? Ride your bike.


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## shakazulu12 (Jul 14, 2015)

I haven't had any negative encounters with ebikers at all. Usually make a joke asking if they will tow me or something and stop to check out there bike if we are at the top or bottom or a run. I feel like the only place I see all this animosity is online. Real life, we are all just out there riding and having fun.


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## 2xPneu (Jan 26, 2004)

When I get back to SoCal periodically we ride in a place where ebikes are banned. I ride my non-ebike there and see more ebikes than regular ones. I never say a word, don’t give FA because it just isn’t that big a deal. Sounds like you’re dealing with some serious asshats, just tell them to fyouceekay off. Don’t explain, make excuses, nothing. Just F off. Well, you may want to add a third word, a-hole, just for effect. Coming from a female (assumed from your name) it carries a lot more weight that if it were a guy. Bonne chance!


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## Blatant (Apr 13, 2005)

So, then, why are you here justifying your decisions to a bunch of strangers?

How do you know what experiences others have had in regard to their opinions about ebikes?

Why does a rider have to have experienced an ebike to have a valid opinion about them? You probably have opinions about many things you’ve never done.

Surely, a bike-shaped object that has a motor clearly isn’t a bike. Right?



Francine said:


> So I purchased an E bike last year. Have had several knee surgeries and lots of knee pain. I have been riding for 30 years and at this point I can' keep up with my faster friends. Knee pain on hills and only able to ride maybe 10 miles.
> This bike has enabled me to ride with all of my friends. Faster and slower ones, and most of my friends understand why I ride it. I only ride on ECO mode, and to be honest, some of my friends are as fast as my ECO mode  I am just tired of justifying why I ride this bike. I HATE it when people on the trail say "you are cheating"....really...who am I cheating EXACTLY? We are not in a race here .
> Most people who have all of these opinions have never even ridden an E bike.
> I find it much harder to ride this bike on technical trails and downhill because of the weight. It is like a monster truck of sorts trying to stop it on fast downs. The main advantage is climbing for sure  Why do people really care what I ride? Getting tired of the negativity and exclusions from trails. Class 1E bikes are still bikes, if you have to PEDAL to ride it IS a bike. Right?
> Anyone else get these comments? How do you handle it?


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## Sparticus (Dec 28, 1999)

I’ll just leave this here in anticipation of the inevitable devolution of yet another polarizing ebike discussion.


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## Nat (Dec 30, 2003)

You say you're tired of having to justify your e-bike yet here you are trying to justify it. The solution is within. If you don't want to give a F what others think then then stop giving a F what others think.



Francine said:


> Class 1E bikes are still bikes, if you have to PEDAL to ride it IS a bike. Right?


That's a point of contention.

Somebody in another thread posted a similar photo and since I thought it was funny I'm stealing the joke:


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## MattiThundrrr (Jul 6, 2019)

Francine said:


> *Tired of all the negativity surrounding riding eMtb?*


Nope. It is just not an issue for me. If you don't care what someone else rides, why be concerned with what they think of your ride?


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## Flyer (Jan 25, 2004)

Not going to change anything in a hurry. It is slowly changing so relax and enjoy the ride.


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## Bhamss (Dec 23, 2014)

I still rarely see them out on my trails. then again the trails I ride and when I ride are rarely see anyone. When I do see them like I did on Sunday I thought cool have fun. we are all outside enjoying the trails and mom nature whatever you are doing or riding


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## AEyogi (Nov 19, 2021)

Except for one ass-hat on the trail, I only see it online in forums here and at Pinkbike. I find it tedious and unimaginative. They are not saying anything new or insightful, just cluttering up the forums with filler. 

At least we have the ignore function on this site.


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## MSU Alum (Aug 8, 2009)

I used to ride some trails around Bozeman. Some days motorcycles and ebikes are allowed, sometimes it's bikes or hiking only.
If it's hiking only, I don't ride. If allowed, I'd ride anything else. One day I'll probably get an ebike. As long as you ride where it's allowed, no one should care.


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## Crankout (Jun 16, 2010)

I'm not an e-biker nor plan to own one at this time, but just get out there and enjoy yourself. 

Try being the guy to show up at xc races with a 10-year-old bike....


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## dysfunction (Aug 15, 2009)

I feel like the thread title is almost perfectly crafted to generate acrimonious discourse.


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## Bacon Fat (Mar 11, 2016)

Mtb'er are one of the worst groups for looking down on other riders. Bike not good enough, you must not know how to ride. Bike is too nice, you're a rich dentist that doesn't know how to ride. You don't have 12 speed 51t cog, you must not climb. Oh you don't ride a SS...you're not hard core as me. But at least none of these people are trying to get other bikers banned like the e-banners want to. So I guess we all have someone to look down on


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## jrhone (May 23, 2011)

Ride what u want. Im a stickler for rules, so when it says NO EBIKES at the trailhead and you whiz by on an ebike, I look down on that. Rules are there for a reason and it may not be obvious to you why the rules are there. So follow them. Other than that, I have no issues with ebikes. I imagine I will have one in the next 5-10 years since I am 53. But I am slow to change, I still ride a hardtail lol.


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## quadzilla411 (Feb 25, 2015)

I guess if you don't like the heat, get out of the kitchen. Going to a forum you put a target on your back and trolls, haters will pick on you, plain and simple. 

My wife and I ride Ebikes, specifically EMTB's, not full time but quite a bit. We don't see a lot of negativity or hear comments but we follow a pattern of behavior for ourselves. That is, we don't ride Ebikes on weekends much and if we do it is the lesser traveled ones, we don't park at TH's with others, we don't discuss our bikes with others, we don't stop where others are stopping and basically follow common trail riding rules. I think the big issue is passing bikers on up hills without being aggressive so we are very tentative doing that. We have bells on our bikes but don't ring it for bikes just hikers. Usually one of us will ride up behind and ask if we can pass when they stop and then fall back and follow along. When we pass we don't stop just say thanks and move on.


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## 834905 (Mar 8, 2018)

Bacon Fat said:


> Mtb'er are one of the worst groups for looking down on other riders. Bike not good enough, you must not know how to ride. Bike is too nice, you're a rich dentist that doesn't know how to ride. You don't have 12 speed 51t cog, you must not climb. Oh you don't ride a SS...you're not hard core as me. But at least none of these people are trying to get other bikers banned like the e-banners want to. So I guess we all have someone to look down on


I mean... single speeders are just genetically superior to everyone else. Not sure how to get around the science on that one.


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## mtbbiker (Apr 8, 2004)

Occasionally I'll get a negative comment, I generally ignore them. Once I commented back to a guy that called me a cheater, he was in a group of guys with tons of pads on, they looked like they shuttled. I asked who am I cheating? And did you shuttle? Didn't say another word. I knew the lead rider, this was several years ago. Guess what? Most of those guys are now riding emtbs!

Most of the time, you can tell they are joking and hopefully in your case, maybe you are just misreading their comments. Emtbs are selling like hotcakes in many markets and I'm seeing an increase almost every where I go. Sometimes I see more emtbs then mtbs. 

Enjoy the ride knowing how much fun you are having on the climbs and the downhills! And the fact you can do this every single day!


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