Something for the weekend…

Electric Bikes aren’t just for boring things like going to work! They are very good for getting out on the road and for mountain bike trails to enjoy cycling to the max. You may be older and slowing down enough that you need an extra bit of oomph to catch up with your friends, or you may be younger yet sick of being beaten by hills and want to be able to reach the top without feeling like you’re going to pass out…

Older riders

In a previous E-Bikes Direct blog we have looked at older people using e-bikes. Over 50’s are one of our biggest groups of customers. One of the biggest reasons older people come to us is because they want to ride with their clubs and / or families and not be left behind. You can keep up with your grandkids!

The older generation often have a few quid to spare and may well buy one of our better bikes like a Haibike XDURO range of electric bikes. These are relatively light, have a huge range and the kit on them enables you to ride even longer routes without being challenged too much. There’s a road version for those who may like to blast along the lanes and not onto bridleways / single track too.

For those who want to potter along with friends on the odd occasion (but not too seriously) then you might want one of our Emu range e-bikes that will give you change from £1000.

Younger riders

There’s controversy in the serious mountain biking world over e-mountain bikes. Many haters call them ‘cheater bikes’ and love the feeling of extreme exhaustion as they creep to the top of a hill in dead bottom gear, close to cardiac arrest. They point to the added weight and increased speeds that supposedly destroy the tracks they ride – we’ll cover this shortly.

The fact is that professional MTB riders use electric bikes for low-intensity training and in recovery from injury – it keeps the right muscles going even when they might otherwise be off games. Another issue is, just how long will it take you to get to the point you can climb a half mile, 10% muddy gradient without worrying about needing an air ambulance to get you home? E-bikes flatten hills and can enable you to get to the best trails very quickly.

If you are a serious rider then you’d not be too worried about spending £2000+ on a mountain bike anyway. You can get a decent e-MTB with a mid drive motor such as the Diamondback Lux at the mid range of e-MTBs, or if you’re the sort to spend more money on your bike than you would a car, look at the Haibike SDURO FullSeven that is relatively light and very, very quick! For those who are perhaps using an e-MTB to get a leg up into the sport, have a look at the hub driven GreenEdge CS2 Electric Bike.

Advantages and disadvantages of an e-bike

So, you’re getting that extra push up hills and can keep up with your fitter friends. You can see more of the world, perhaps doing a 40 mile ride when you might have been able to do 25. The doors are certainly opened to riding further and faster on more challenging rides. What’s the drawback?

Weight. The kit that makes all these fantastic attributes possible adds more to the weight of the machine. The more money you spend on an e-bike, generally the less extra weight there will be (as with traditional MTBs). From the added weight you will find it less agile than a traditional bike of a similar price. The balance to this is that you get more power to be more agile, but there is a definite tradeoff there.

When e-bikes came onto the market there was a definite negative response from more conservative elements of the cycling community. They still call them ‘cheater bikes’ – I have even been told that by an 86 year old man! The response to e-bikes was very much like that of the walking and rambling community to that of cross country riders when we started appearing on the back lanes of the world. E-MTBs don’t damage trails as much as some claim, and nor do traditional cross country riders damage footpaths as much as the naysayers claim. Small ‘c’ conservatives will always moan at new things!

E-bikes and e-MTBs are here to stay. There is no doubt that once you have ridden one you will immediately understand why they are so popular among those who use them. It really is a case of “The water’s lovely – jump on in!”