Forest Service Issues ‘E-Bike’ Guidance

[Dirthog67]

The Butte BLM recently released their final plan for the Scratchgravel Hills recreation area. Within it, they outlined that ebikes are motorized and therefore only allowed on motorized trails. The local outrage from bike shops and mtn bikers was significant.

This is an issue that will continually rear its ugly head, particularly by the ever growing industrialized recreation contingent.

Actually, many mountain bikers are against lumping ebikes in with "analog" mountain bikes because mountain bikers have fought so hard for access in a lot of places and access and funding is often tied to non motorized use.

My stance on the issue is that they are a completely different user group and should be accessed and allowed or disallowed as such.

That said, they aren't motorcycles and don't have the same impacts as "dirt bikes", assuming they are unaltered from their original classes.

For one, they are dead silent. Quieter than a regular mountain bike, usually. Second, they don't have the power to spin and do the trail and landscape damage that motorcycles can. They are heavier and probably can do more damage than a regular mountain bike, but its not significantly more.

My first concern with allowing blanket access is that difficulty in access increases solitude. Some places should be hard to get to.

Second, on heavily trafficked mixed use trail systems where mountain bike use is heavy it works well for hikers, joggers and mountain bikers to share climbing trails because mountain bikes cant go very fast uphill. The sort of trails mountain bikers want to go down arent very fun to walk down, so the bikes have their own down trails. This is the model in a lot of places, and it works pretty well.

And if you want a lot of trails built fast, invite the mountain bikers.

Allowing blanket access to ebikes ups the potential for conflict and the mountain bike community has worked really hard on making it a community ethic to be considerate to other trail users.

Giving some jack ass a battery that let's him power all over the mountain is a recipe for disaster especially since there really isn't a good way to monitor users and if/when modification kits start coming out that do make ebikes function more like motorcycles all hell will break loose. As we know, there are electric motorcycles, too.

I have no problem with ebikes on roads, even most closed roads, and I do think they could/should be allowed in some places motocycles are not but it should be on a case to case basis.

They work great for transportation for doing trailwork, SAR activities and enforcement because they can go pretty far, pretty fast and their impact is pretty minimal.

 

[NoWiser]

I’ve been using my ebike for trapping this spring since it’s too muddy to drive trucks anywhere off road. To call or classify them as anything other than a motorcycle is ridiculous. I’ve covered a fair bit of ground the last few weeks and I’ve pedaled exactly zero times.

Here’s my bike with 70 pounds of beaver strapped to the back. Uphill the entire 3/4 mile to the truck from where I caught them. No pedaling necessary.

 

[Dirthog67]

I’ve been using my ebike for trapping this spring since it’s too muddy to drive trucks anywhere off road. To call or classify them as anything other than a motorcycle is ridiculous. I’ve covered a fair bit of ground the last few weeks and I’ve pedaled exactly zero times.

Here’s my bike with 70 pounds of beaver strapped to the back. Uphill the entire 3/4 mile to the truck from where I caught them. No pedaling necessary.

Is yours a class 2 or 3?

Class 1 you have to pedal to get power and so those are more bike like, but again, modifications can happen and enforcement will be nearly impossible.

 

[mtmuley]

Is yours a class 2 or 3?

Class 1 you have to pedal to get power and so those are more bike like, but again, modifications can happen and enforcement will be nearly impossible.

That is why a complete ban of ebikes across the board is necessary. mtmuley

 

[Chingon]

I've had motorcycles, dirt bikes, ATV's, UTV's and Jeeps. E-bikes are definitely not in their league, but are also way beyond simple pedal bikes.

Off-road vehicles weighing hundreds/thousands of pounds with 100 mile+ range and louder than heck are prohibited for good reason in certain areas. Ebikes with 20 mile range and only about a 20lb weight difference to mountain bikes? I'm not sure they should have the same rules.

I'm undecided. We have OHV roads, wilderness trails where horses are allowed and stinky cattle trample everything, but we're focused on mountain bikes with a bit of silent zip?

I just don't see the reason for the hate. Join the party until they're banned.

 

[mtmuley]

I just don't see the reason for the hate. Join the party until they're banned.

Let's see. Non motorized means just that. NO motor. Ebikes have a motor. It's easy. mtmuley

 

[Dirthog67]

I've had motorcycles, dirt bikes, ATV's, UTV's and Jeeps. E-bikes are definitely not in their league, but are also way beyond simple pedal bikes.

Off-road vehicles weighing hundreds/thousands of pounds with 100 mile+ range and louder than heck are prohibited for good reason in certain areas. Ebikes with 20 mile range and only about a 20lb weight difference to mountain bikes? I'm not sure they should have the same rules.

I'm undecided. We have OHV roads, wilderness trails where horses are allowed and stinky cattle trample everything, but we're focused on mountain bikes with a bit of silent zip?

I just don't see the reason for the hate. Join the party until they're banned.

Leave some areas non motorized and allow ebikes in others.

The "silent zip" changes the whole atmosphere because it makes it so anyone with 7 grand to drop on a bike can get 20 miles in in a few hours.

People buzzing past others sucks. Its one thing when their superior fitness provides the buzz, its another when its their bank account.

As for other users, ebikes are a hazard because they go fast and are dead silent.

 

[Dirthog67]

That is why a complete ban of ebikes across the board is necessary. mtmuley

Public land needs to be managed to include the whole public. Allow them where motorized is allowed and potentially open access to other areas on a case by case.

 

[mtmuley]

Public land needs to be managed to include the whole public. Allow them where motorized is allowed and potentially open access to other areas on a case by case.

No. Allow them where motorized vehicles are allowed. Period. mtmuley

 

[Nameless Range]

Next thing ya know it will be electric side by sides on closed roads. They’re quiet you know.

This is an issue of thresholds, and when enough is enough. The motorized versus non-motorized is a clear case definition and where we should draw the line in my opinion. As pressure increases unrelentingly on public lands and wildlife increasingly taxed, I see no need to inject a new mode of transportation that allows users to disturb more ground and wildlife per unit time on the landscape with less effort, utilizing a new and quickly developing technology.

There’s canaries dropping dead in coal mines all over the place. You can only take and take and take and engage in more and more and more for so long. It’s Damned obvious to me.

 

[MTGomer]

I’ve been using my ebike for trapping this spring since it’s too muddy to drive trucks anywhere off road. To call or classify them as anything other than a motorcycle is ridiculous. I’ve covered a fair bit of ground the last few weeks and I’ve pedaled exactly zero times.

Here’s my bike with 70 pounds of beaver strapped to the back. Uphill the entire 3/4 mile to the truck from where I caught them. No pedaling necessary.

70 pounds of trapped beaver on an ebike. I can’t say I ever predicted those words being put in the same sentence with each other.
that is quite the photo.
Talk about the collision of an old time tradition and modern technology.

 

[shoots-straight]

What till you have to decide where these can go. Future vehicles are here.

 

[NoWiser]

Is yours a class 2 or 3?

Class 1 you have to pedal to get power and so those are more bike like, but again, modifications can happen and enforcement will be nearly impossible.

Can be either depending on how I program the controller.

 

[NoWiser]

70 pounds of trapped beaver on an ebike. I can’t say I ever predicted those words being put in the same sentence with each other.
that is quite the photo.
Talk about the collision of an old time tradition and modern technology.

The farmer is happy I’m killing the beavers and not tearing up his field roads. I’m happy because I’m trapping instead of getting the truck stuck. My wife is less mad at me because it takes 15 minutes to tend the traps instead of an hour or more.

 

[Hammsolo]

I am a mountain biker that is back to riding at least twice a week. I have a very nice modern mountain bike. Going uphill is WORK, while bombing down is fun as hell. Plain and simple traditional mountain bikes and e-bikes are different critters.

Climbing on any unassisted mountain bike is hard. Any rider will admit that the more you ride the faster the climb gets, but it never really gets easy.

Climbing on an e-bike can be no work. There are settings where you don’t have to pedal. Also, I’ve ridden quite a few, and can pedal up stuff sending a roost that some guys won’t tackle on a dirt bike. I actually think they could get you into areas big bikes could never go, while sneaking along. Aren’t they just e-peds? These e-peds are much more capable though. I’ve ridden full-carbon, fox suspended beasts that feel like super light dirt bikes. Some of them are so slickly designed you barely can even see the motor now.

They’re motorized. Why’s this even a discussion? They stick with motorized trails.

 

[Hammsolo]

Oh, and e-trucks should get to ease into the wilderness too! Here’s the evidence! E-Trucks aren’t trucks…

 

[bucdoego]

I'm interested in e-bikes and therefore the regs that govern/limit their use. One of my concerns would be that I'd buy one and find that I couldn't use it due to changing/shifting regs. Thanks to everyone for their contribution to this thread. Good to learn of everyone's concerns.

 

[Dirthog67]

Oh, and e-trucks should get to ease into the wilderness too! Here’s the evidence! E-Trucks aren’t trucks…

All these slippery slope arguments are silly. Bigger electric vehicles will do damage inconsistent with ebikes just because they are bigger.

While ebikes CAN be pretty powerful, class 1 ebikes just provide a boost of power and look almost exactly like analog mountain bikes.

I've ridden my mountain bike up things average people couldn't get their ebikes up.

I kinda hate ebikes on single track. I really do. I feel like it will change the whole ethic of mountain biking.

The big but here is that there is a lot of money behind them. Lots of big bike manufacturers make them, lots of wealthy people own them and there are some reasonable arguments to allow them. They allow disabled, older, and average people access to places they wouldn't otherwise have. They are quiet, a lot of people wouldn't be able to tell the difference, especially at a casual glance.

They use the argument that motorized is banned because its loud, it pollutes, and it tears the land up. Ebikes do none of those things. It makes the argument become philosophical.

I'm right there with you wanting to ban them everywhere non motorized, but I'm afraid with the money and people behind them that they will fight and win something worse.

Allowing class 1 in some non motorized places may give enough space to keep them happy. Remember, bikes are not allowed in wilderness areas at all, so we aren't talking the most pristine areas. Everyone wants their little piece of the access pie.

Also, allowing them in a few places means they can be monitored to see if they cause issues. If they do, that will be ammo to keep their access limited.

 

[Nameless Range]

The consistent push and position I have seen from mountain bike shops and advocates is to allow class 1 & 3 ebikes up to 750W.

Lots of evidence backed up by studies highlighting the advantage that provides an individual against non-electric “acoustic” (an actual term used in the community) bikes.

 

[Chadwick91]

In the National Forest around me, ebikes are allowed on roads and trails open to motorized travel only. mtmuley

From what I've seen in most states you are good to ride your e-bike on everything down to a dirt bike trail, Utah let's you have them everywhere you can mountain bike. Even with the dirt bike restriction it still opens allot of land for hunting, as far as accessibility.