Electric Bicycles?

[Nikos]

I love love love the first one. It's amazing
https://cloodjo.com/best-electric-powered-mountain-bikes-top-10-reviews

 

[Lefty315]

Most all of the mountain bike advocacy groups have taken an open stance against e-bikes on most mountain bike trails. .

Had the Internet actually been around, I wonder what the conversation would have been when compound bows came out vs traditional? Scopes vs iron sights?

I don't have one of these bikes and will probably never buy one, not at $5000.00. But in my opinion I would ask what harm do they do compared to a regular Mtn bike? They obviously don't have the torque to tear up ground like dumping the clutch on a dirt bike. If it can help a hunter access land more easily, and legally, just the same as a regular bike than I would say OK.

Obviously wilderness areas are off limits, but I always thought it'd be interesting to try antelope hunting off a mountain bike. I figure there would be enough cattle trails and two tracks a person could cover some ground. Again, providing it was legal to do so.

 

[Gr8bawana]

I don't have one of these bikes and will probably never buy one, not at $5000.00. But in my opinion I would ask what harm do they do compared to a regular Mtn bike? They obviously don't have the torque to tear up ground like dumping the clutch on a dirt bike. If it can help a hunter access land more easily, and legally, just the same as a regular bike than I would say OK.

Perhaps there should be areas that can't be accessed easily by someone on an electric bike who is not willing to bust their butt. When too many people can easily access an area that was hard to get to you end up with a crowded and overhunted area.

 

[Flatland Crusoe]

Had the Internet actually been around, I wonder what the conversation would have been when compound bows came out vs traditional? Scopes vs iron sights?

I don't have one of these bikes and will probably never buy one, not at $5000.00. But in my opinion I would ask what harm do they do compared to a regular Mtn bike? They obviously don't have the torque to tear up ground like dumping the clutch on a dirt bike. If it can help a hunter access land more easily, and legally, just the same as a regular bike than I would say OK.

Obviously wilderness areas are off limits, but I always thought it'd be interesting to try antelope hunting off a mountain bike. I figure there would be enough cattle trails and two tracks a person could cover some ground. Again, providing it was legal to do so.

The same thing could be said about if mountain bike had existed when designated wilderness came out. By all accounts horses damage trails to a similar or greater level than mountain bikes but are wilderness legal. Where you draw the line in the sand is pretty sketchy.

The arguments for e-bikes is that they require that you pedal for them to move and only add 200 watts or so. I'm a decently light competitive rider but my threshold power average is around 290 watts, but short offroad segments might see me spike to 500 or 1000 watts for a few seconds so 200 watts is both a lot and not a lot of power depending on the situation. The damage a mountain bike does is largely a function of the soil condition rather than the power being put down. Sure you will over time do more damage on steep uphills while racing and coming out of corners on a race course but power isn't really the limiting factor.

 

[WapitiBob]

As noted, illegal in any "non motorized" area regardless of what the owner of the company might want you to believe. Motor vehicle classification has absolutely nothing to do with non motorized access restriction.

 

[Lefty315]

Perhaps there should be areas that can't be accessed easily by someone on an electric bike who is not willing to bust their butt. When too many people can easily access an area that was hard to get to you end up with a crowded and overhunted area.

I'm not disagreeing with you and that's why I like the rule of no mechanical devices in a wilderness area. But when it comes to easy, a man on a horse can go a heck of a lot more places than a man on a bike can.

There definitely has to be a line in the sand but technology always seems to push that line back. When I'm dead and gone will the anti gravity boots of Star Trek be allowed in the non-motorized areas?