Is this the future of UK trail biking?

[Chris S]

I like getting out into the wilds and I don’t mind how I do it, pedal, paddle, on foot or on moto.
Plus there’s the ‘use it or lose’ element at my/our? age.
Now more than ever you need to look after your own health and fitness.

Not that much lifting on the GW but there sure are a lot of gates, as I remember well WR-ing out of Llani one time.
From Mach to Llanbrynmair not less than 70 gates in 15 miles along the GW!
Great day out in the hills but sure stops you running away with yourself.

Having transformed into an overnight eMTB evangelist, I did suggest to Nick that he start doing eMTB tours of his area, along with his regular moto ride outs, and as he is in with Yamaha. But I think he was on it already. Mid wales is deserted a lost paradise sat between over-run Snowdonia and the Brecons (or whatever we call it now).

I guess ‘hand throttle’ was the wrong expression. There is a hidden ‘hill-assist’ setting on the Marin which engages drive up to 5mph when you press something on the bars in a certain way. I nudged into it accidentally on the last day but was too knackered to work out what it was. I think a lot of eMTBs have it now.

If my current Merida was more of a tired old hack I might slap on a Bafang to rejuvenate it, but right now seems a shame to ruin it.
Best MTB I've ever had and the right size for once, not nearly the right size going cheap.

Talking of lovely France, I don’t know if anyone knows Chris Evans Sport Adventure who does trail rides in France.
Always looked a tad too hardcore for me and the bikes I ride, but this year I heard he’s offering a van supported e-MTB ride of the Grand Tour Massif Central
Fabulous area I know well from packrafting - big rivers and high limestone plateaux.
I got all excited and bought the GTMC guidebook; that’s the easy bit but there’s a free .gpx too.

Starting to think eMTB are a bit like packrafts – a whole new way of enjoying the outdoors, especially when you’re not 22 anymore.

[crofty]

Think your choice of bikes is good Mark, I bought Cube because it was the only Hybrid/Mtb hardtail I could find with 36 spoke wheels, its a big deal for me at 100kgs.i expected to have replaced the wheels by now but they are still strong and true. 10k isn't a big deal if your retired, its only a couple of 35/40 mile runs a week and as Chris says when your getting on in years keeping your fitness is important. Its interesting what you say about preserving battery charge by staying in Turbo and keeping above 15mph, I have thought about this but always chickened out trying it on runs as most of my runs have a good percentage of offroad where it would be difficult if not uncomfortable keeping above 15mph, but I'll give it a try on a road run sometime.
Chris, thanks for the link about the Massif Central, I last paddled there in 2019 when i had a hub drive e bike which | took with me but it was largely useless trying to cycle on the roads upstream on rivers like the Allier or that Corniche road above the Ardeche, the motors are so inefficient at low speeds that you mostly just overheat the motors. The mid drive would be much better I'm sure.
The packraft that you recommended a few years ago didn,t really work out for me as I rarely ever walked into places to paddle so i changed it out for a sit on top, cheap and cheerful, light, carries plenty of gear and easy for me to flop off and onto in my 70s. Even manage to keep up with the sea kayaks on easy stuff.

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[johnnyboxer]

I'm another convert to the e bike for trail riding. At the start of lockdowns in 2020 I bought my first mid drive, its a Cube Cross Allroad with the fantastic Bosch CX gen 4 motor. In 3 years i have done almost 10k all over the UK and France. I have a 625w battery and can easily get 50 miles on a mixture of eco and tour. If I go on longer trips like i did last year on the Velodyssee and Velomaritime i take a spare 500w battery this allows up to 80 miles plus easily. I prefer to use cheap hotels and youth hostels for ease of charging and reduction in luggage carried but so far it is working out fine.
My bike is pretty standard but early on I fitted Schwalbe Marathon Plus MTB tyres, at 2.25" they give a plush ride and have good rolling resistance and the pressures can be varied for road/off road. i have never had a puncture with them. I am going to take it to France again soon to do some more of the fabulous off road routes in Brittany and Normandy, not too hilly and usually traffic free. A few pics from a lovely week in Easter in Torridon

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Do you have to adjust your mindset ?
What you do looks fab
My fear with eMTB is running out of range, but I guess you use cadence properly to overcome this
Having been to mid Wales last weekend on the moto trail bike I struggled with fitness (my fault) and bike choice, as the slate bedrock was tricky for me
Sometimes an eMTB would have been better - slower and chance to get fit

[crofty]

maybe it is a mindset thing Johnny, you would have to try your local trails and see how it goes. In fairness all the stuff I do are land rover tracks, old railway lines, or bits of recognized long distance mountain bike trailsl. There are others on here who could answer your question better.
My MO is to go somewhere usually with my wife for a week airbnb with the bikes, we then do bits of long distance paths most days.
The range anxiety isn't a problem if you choose your distance to suit your battery size. some of the new bikes have 750w batteries. i think cadence is important as Bosch motors for instance are more efficient at higher cadences, at least 60/70 rpm.
You mentioned Wales, I was on a small bike tour of Wales last year on my Suzuki 250 when I stumbled on the Strata Florida, I didn't get very far up that track before I realized it would be totally unsuitable for my kind of e biking

[johnnyboxer]

maybe it is a mindset thing Johnny, you would have to try your local trails and see how it goes. In fairness all the stuff I do are land rover tracks, old railway lines, or bits of recognized long distance mountain bike trailsl. There are others on here who could answer your question better.
My MO is to go somewhere usually with my wife for a week airbnb with the bikes, we then do bits of long distance paths most days.
The range anxiety isn't a problem if you choose your distance to suit your battery size. some of the new bikes have 750w batteries. i think cadence is important as Bosch motors for instance are more efficient at higher cadences, at least 60/70 rpm.
You mentioned Wales, I was on a small bike tour of Wales last year on my Suzuki 250 when I stumbled on the Strata Florida, I didn't get very far up that track before I realized it would be totally unsuitable for my kind of e biking

Thanks for the tips

We did Strata Florida last Saturday and in 30 years of trail riding I am glad to have done it, but wouldn’t rush back to do it again
One river crossing too many

[Tonibe63]

As an ebike virgin I'd like to know what the maintainence regime is like compared to traditional moto trail bikes? The constant cleaning and repairs was the reason I stopped.

[johnnyboxer]

The constant cleaning and repairs was the reason I stopped.

Motorcycle or eMTB?

[Bart1]

Having had ebikes for a few years now the biggest pain is the chain, especially on a mid drive.

Proper mudguards help reduce the muck (and reduce trail cred...do I care??) but the poor chains do take a hit. Using ebike spec chains does help (be very aware of fakes on ebay DAMHIK) Hopefully one of the big players will bite the bullet and design a proper ebike chain with thicker gears as well and maybe just 10 speed. You don't really need 12 speed with all the power.
Having said all that it does not take long to clean the ebike, certainly much less time than my old DRZ did.

One of the great benefits riding is that there is virtually no noise so you can hear things, your less enclosed and travel slower so you also see much more. Another is 99.9% of walker/ramblers are very friendly and often don't even know the bike is electric. Multi day tours can be treated exactly like a moto, just reduce range and pack light. After a while the range becomes less of an anxiety and second nature. I've never run out of battery in over 5k miles.

One thing about the power of kits, the rated power is less than off the shelf bikes for mid drives, the way the power is rated is different and is a whole topic in itself. Also some kits are cadence sensing (Bafang) and some torque sensing(Tongsheng) while most off the shelf mid drive bikes are torque sensing. However, less power can mean more range.
There is lots of info here
https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/

[Tonibe63]

The constant cleaning and repairs was the reason I stopped.

Motorcycle or eMTB?

Motorcycle trail riding.

[johnnyboxer]

The constant cleaning and repairs was the reason I stopped.

Motorcycle or eMTB?

Motorcycle trail riding.

The cleaning bit isn’t too bad
Not keen on the fragility of race enduro bikes though, albeit their performance is nice