Is this the future of UK trail biking?

[garyboy]

My Halford knobbly tires are lasting well. The schwalb are the worst ever. Punctured easily, snakeskin literally, side walls, dangerous, as sudden deflation, and took me a few weeks of Internet research to get them off.

You stand on the rim, flat on ground, and pull tyre upwards. Halfords cheapies change out good n easy.

[Chris S]

The link in my OP is a report on a few days on the Glyndwr’s Way – a lateral ‘trans Cambrian’ and Britain’s least know national trail.
I rented a top of the range full-sus Marin out of Hay (was all they had). New it costs same as a 300L ;-/
Once I got a handle on the range (45 miles road and trail in Eco with camping gear) I relaxed a bit, but was a bit slow to realise that, unlike a moto, an eMTB is still rideable on a flat battery.
I popped into Nick Sanders' on the way – recently he rode Norway to Gibraltar on one of Yamaha’s new e-bikes.
He observed that with a fast charger (which I didn’t have), you could load another 45 miles over lunch and never be held back.
But as it was, 45 miles in Eco on hilly trails and backroad was my limit too.
Originally re-did the walk on my Merida hardtail but the planned 30 m/d was not as sustainable as I thought it might be, hence the e-rental.
The 140-mile G-Way walk is an average of 14 m/d lodging-to-lodging (unless you wild camp).

Wrt to TL. My Merida came TL but I’ve got no experience managing that on the trail so I converted to tubes for Glyndwrs which is what I know. Had no flats on Schwalbe knobblies. The rental was also tubed on Maxxis knobs. No flats.
For the last few years I've converted all my spoked motos to TL. It's definitely the way to go but did not want to be stuck in Wales on a multi-day with an unfixable TL flat.

When I got back I got all excited about slotting a grand’s worth of Bafang in my hardtail.
But decided I still like the simplicity and lightness of my Merida.
Decided a properly integrated mid-range hardtail eMTB would be better.

Worst thing with e-MTB was lifting over styles; but very few of those on the G-Way.
Annoying thing with the Marin; no mention of Hill Assist ('hand throttle') by Marin or the rental place.
Could have really used that in mid-Wales, as the vid below shows.
Best thing was the day I did without luggage - loads more fun and came back with loads more range than normal too.
If I lived nearer Wales or similar I definitely get an e-MTB. For the moment I’ll rent.

The question is: will owning an e-bike get you riding more and for longer than your regular MTB, or is it just another toy? Setting aside motivation which overcomes all excuses, I think much must depend on opportunity and access to worthwhile riding. I'd say in the southeast e-bikepacking would be wasted but in the remoter upland locales of western and northern Britain there must be loads of great riding nearby and where the climbs need not always be daunting.

[minkyhead]

My Halford knobbly tires are lasting well. The schwalb are the worst ever. Punctured easily, snakeskin literally, side walls, dangerous, as sudden deflation, and took me a few weeks of Internet research to get them off.

You stand on the rim, flat on ground, and pull tyre upwards. Halfords cheapies change out good n easy.

go tubless gary fill it with stans sealent and punctures will be a thing of the past ...ride over anything brambles alonside thorn hedges ect and it will seal no bother ....

[Bart1]

Thanks for starting this tread Chris, hopefully it may inspire more to ebike. Everyone I know who has an ebike says they ride more both on and off road and as a result are a bit fitter too.

Re tubless, I've also converted the mtb's to this and have had no punctures for a few thousand miles with either Maxxis or Schwalbe. However I do carry mini tubeless tyre repair worms and a tube...just in case. A bit of weight can be saved, lower pressures run if needed and the tyres have a bit more flex to absorb bumps etc

Lifting an ebike is hard work but if one keeps off footpaths it's not a problem.

Hand throttles are not strictly legal in the UK, wasn't your bike torque sensing ?

Re the Bafang kits, for off road they are not as good but for the price are brilliant value and are cheap and easy to repair, unlike off the shelf ebikes.

[Bart1]

Just found this on Nick's trip

[garyboy]

My Halford knobbly tires are lasting well. The schwalb are the worst ever. Punctured easily, snakeskin literally, side walls, dangerous, as sudden deflation, and took me a few weeks of Internet research to get them off.

You stand on the rim, flat on ground, and pull tyre upwards. Halfords cheapies change out good n easy.

go tubless gary fill it with stans sealent and punctures will be a thing of the past ...ride over anything brambles alonside thorn hedges ect and it will seal no bother ....

Great tip, Minky .... will try this year

[garyboy]

I don't know about North Wales but Mid Wales is awesome. Must get up there soon on my crf250rally, and maybe look for Emtb trails, in the summer, easy tarmac stuff I mean.

Somewhere i got a pic of my crf250L on the Glyndwr way, a legal bit, or close to the glyndwr way,. I got lost looking fro Moelfre City .. interesting day that lol.

I had 2 punctures in the first 3 weeks of owning my new Ebike, about 2019, just in time to save me from covid lockdowns ... dohh. and then a really bad rip in the shwalbe rubbish junk tyre. lucky i only had to push the bike a few miles lol. I couldn't get the schwalbe tyre off. but did later. May try the stans sealant thing.

My KTM eBike is not easy to ride without battery, as the magnets cause a drag on the engine ... really difficult for me. Some bike (specialised?) have no engine drag, apparently.

Got to get myself fit and get out on these bike apparatuses.

20171101_132052 by gary boy, on Flickr

20171027_144808 by gary boy, on Flickr

20171025_141136 (2) by gary boy, on Flickr

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

My wife has a Mary Poppins-style Raleigh e-Bike...hilarious watching it scream up the hills.

The control unit has a 'walk' mode, which somehow reduces the parasitic drag from the motor.

[crofty]

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

IMG_20230407_133448396_HDR.jpg (283.38 KiB) Viewed 2121 times

IMG_20230407_143959627_HDR.jpg (285.13 KiB) Viewed 2121 times

[mark vb]

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.

Wow, 10k miles in 3 yrs is impressive. I wish I had more time to rack-up my mileage, but life gets in the way!
We (Mrs vb & I) also went for Cube, largely because our local bike shop sells them and lent us their demos for half a day. Well built bikes at a (fairly) reasonable price. Range on my Stereo obviously varies dependent on many factors, but getting 50+ miles is no problem using mostly Eco, plus Turbo on some inclines and a bit of gnarly off-road. My wife's Acid can easily get 80+ miles with it's less powerful motor. I find pedalling cadence makes a lot of difference to range - a good/quick cadence in a slightly lower gear is best. I've also found that staying in Turbo mode can actually boost the range - pedalling at over 15.5 mph saves the battery (as it of course shuts off at that speed), and when speed drops below 15.5 a quick spurt of Turbo easily gets things back to over 15.5.... this works well on reasonably surfaced roads/tracks, but not of course on steep inclines or proper off-road stuff.
I keep on meaning to check-out the Yamaha eMTB, which seems well-priced at under £5k.