Henry’s Waffle House: Mountain Biking is Getting Too Easy
Kaz let me make my own banner. It only took two full days.
Welcome to Henry's Waffle House. Here, we serve only absolute waffle, each and every one doused in a hubristic sauce and washed down by an accompanying pint of inane babble. Bon appetite.
It looks so capable, so easy to ride - both up and down... what fresh hell is this?
Lighter, faster, more efficient, and more comfortable. These are just some of the terms that may well be the top of your wish list, even if you're looking at a bike with over 150mm of travel and with capabilities not too far off a downhill bike. In 2022, it's potentially a very real prospect to desire a bike that has electronic gears, tyre valves that saves you the oh-so laborious drudgery of using a pressure gauge to check the pressure. If it's not within a decimal place of pumped-up-perfection you can then connect it to your gazillion-dollar wall-mounted electronic pump that will inflate it just so, as you drink your expensive coffee and look wistfully into the distance and think to yourself that you do indeed look like a f*cking movie star. All this convenience and luxury and that's not even mentioning the e-bike question.
E-bikes bring up two main problems in mountain biking. The first, and most significant, is the rise of the term "analog bike" to describe a normal bike. Can somebody stop the world from spinning? Because quite frankly I want to get off. I actually said it once in a video and, much like a teenager who wants to distance themselves from the pre-teen cheeriness they were once known for, I live in fear that one day I will have the video presented for me and I too will have to answer for my past life as a cringe-inducing criminal.
Just nipping out for a ride on the ol' analog.
The second question, I suppose, might just mean a lot to you but to some have no doubt it will be absolutely inconsequential. Are we trying to make mountain biking too easy?
The joy of riding bikes is to feel so many different things. Is trying to isolate any one particular value from the full bandwidth of feeling to the experience's overall detriment? Is there such a thing as too much sweet? Too much sugar? Do we not need some savory now and then too?
Are bikes that make both climbing and descending just so easy a good thing? Does it always have to be on a plate?
Of course, I would never contend the days where you're soaked to the bone up a long climb and are genuinely considering pissing yourself just to feel a brief reprieve from the cold are anything but shit - but those shit days sure do distill over time to become something like satisfaction. That being said, you're very welcome to piss yourself on an e-bike. Whatever works for you and, save from the risk of electrical fires I can't see anything fundamentally wrong with it. We live such cosseted lives, and I'm not saying we should arbitrarily make them worse but it is an interesting thought. Why do we need to have everything our own way? Why are we all so precious? A little misery never hurt anyone.
I suppose the idea of trying to make something easier is something that often plays on my mind and, to be transparent, is one of the reasons I will never be sold on e-bikes. With all that said though, I still ride my 170mm travel bike that can get me up and down things with ease. So really, who am I to say?
I might look at somebody on an e-bike and think why must you try and make the climbs easier? That's the point!. They're probably looking at my carbon fiber 29er with a 62.5-degree head angle thinking the exact same thing. "Why do you need all that travel?"
Why is this a great thing...
And this a bad?
If we look at road cycling, I personally subscribe to the belief that it's a lazy person's sport. It's about going as fast as possible for as minimal effort as possible, and that's kind of respected as the sensible way to go about things. It's out there and, assuming you're not a bearded influencer riding some god-awful bike on badly maintained roads in the name of "freedom", all whilst subscribing to a very limited aesthetic, as a road biker you probably wouldn't totally disagree with it.
To call it lazy isn't to question somebody's motivation to get out the door but rather the sport itself. No road cyclist in their right mind would turn down a 10-watt saving but, conversely, they're also out there to push themselves hard and often focus on mastering their own body. Is that not counterintuitive? Shouldn't they all be on 25-kilo beach cruisers? Well, no. Just because they want to be lazy doesn't mean they want it to be easy.
Giacomo “Zico” Pieri riding a Quaddrouple Everest - an incredibly difficult thing to do - but also on a very light bike. That isn't a paradox - even though superficially it may well seem so.
I suppose the reasons we ride mountain bikes are far more varied. Many are shared with road cycling - the outdoors, the smell of fresh air, the blank cheque to eat 15,000 Oreos without so much as a flicker of guilt, but there are differences too. Road cyclists could well boil down the desire to ride their bikes to two or three main reasons whereas we ride mountain bikes for a whole myriad.
Although there is no such thing as a wrong way to do things, Levy certainly does look to prove that there is as he rides silly bikes down silly things in a silly way.
Maybe we want easy living on the climbs, maybe we want to keep up with our friends, or maybe we just want to have more control and safety. Truthfully, that's just scratching the surface of the plethora of different intentions and each individual's motivation to ride a bike is both rich and varied. To look at somebody is not to know them.
As I work my early morning shift keeping the gate, I often have to remind myself that to assume really does make an ass of you and me. After all, better and easier are just concepts that we leverage to fit our own ideas when it suits us.
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Tenuous culture references
Tedious culture references
..yup, works
EDIT - I'm actually that stupid.
Yeah - let's leave it. It's meant as a monument to my own stupidity, it seems fitting that only most of it is deliberate. That irony might just be the best bit.
@SATN-XC: Haha! Very appropriate.
Why pamper life's complexity
When the leather runs smooth
On the passenger's seat?
I like peecan waffles...
I read it as ‘Genious’. After some consideration I reflected that this was slightly overblown but, in the main, fair.
I've had trails near me that this has happened to. Excellent technical green/blue singletrack that rode fast, really rooty and rocky... and they pretty much just paved over it with a gravel/dirt mix that feels like riding slippery cement. Meanwhile all the new trails are black gap-jump trails that I'm not interested in riding. Very glad those jump trails even exist now for the people that like them, but when the trails I like get changed to the most boring roads in existence, it stings a little.
Reminds me of that Futurama episode where they get a new ship for safety reasons, but switch back to the old one because the danger gave it character and fun, whereas the new one was sterile and boring by comparison. S7E15.
I know that in my community there is no shortage of unmanicured trail with tech features and so new trail may be "milktoast" "boring" "easy" "flowy" "robust to deterioration" or any other adjective you might want to throw at it but for me those machine-built, roll-y, jumpy, smooth trails are a luxury I'm ecstatic to have. Additionally, rough trails are a lot faster to build so if the land conservancy or owner is okay with those types of trails being built you can make it happen right away with minimal cost. Sometimes a poorly built trail is the most fun and best suited to the area, and it's awfully convenient that they can be built so quickly.
I'd say most council planned blue flow well-drained rubbish is 'poorly built' if resists erosion and looks nice in photos, but fails the use case for the community it's meant to help.
I don't want to sound like a douche, more power to whomever, and I understand why professional trail builders on high dollar contracts build new trails that way. The core of my complaint is that a certain style of building has now proliferated into altering existing trails - some that have been around for three decades now. Approaching from the same cookie cutter template is counterintuitive to the idea MTB is for everyone, the diversity of sport, and its riding styles.
I have found that the blue flow suits most riders in my community and is much more welcoming to new riders. They always get the most traffic and I'm glad they are built with longevity in mind. The point I was trying to make is that tech trails or "old school" trails are easily built in a relative sense. If you want one, you can build it. If you're not involved with making it, get off the worldwide internet forum until you've brought up that you want different trails in your locality. No dig, no bitching about what other people but lots of thought, time, and resources into building.
I want a wide variety of trails as much as anyone. In my region I'm lucky to have many trail networks that have rocks and roots, built technical features, and new blue and green flow trails with jumps and berms. I don't want to go back to a time where there were minimal resources put toward building trails and everything was either ATV infrastructure through swamps and sand pits or old hiking trails that were virtually un-rideable uphill.
Yes, effort should be aimed at building some nice tech or quick loamers in new trailbuilding projects (in my area this happens) but we're catering to the masses here and we should. Look at the heat maps in a place that has blue flow and then some black jank. Here, the blue trails are getting at least 50% more traffic and I'm fine with that. It's a great balance between usership and resource allocation. Plus, those new blue trails absolutely rock. It makes perfect sense to me that money from the general riding public would be put toward trails that most of that general riding public would use. If you want black trails, make it happen. You have to advocate for your views.
Just go do it yourself (with landowner permission).
However, f*ck e-bikes.
It's like complaining that people are walking on a treadmill for 3 miles instead of running, even though it's still significantly better than them sitting on their ass all day.
If I'm going on a two-hour ride, it's a two-hour ride regardless of the bike selection. It'll just be a longer distance on a carbon road bike instead of a beach cruiser. I would say that makes it more fun as well.
I'm 37, have been riding since I could walk. I exercise daily and have done many 30-50 mile mountain bike rides. At this point, no matter what I do the uphills just keep getting harder. Ebikes make it more fun again.
Don’t know what’s going on with you or your riding, but there are quite a few things to check before you start suspecting age.
Not sure if my original post came off as "I'm out of shape and want an ebike so things are easy!" But that seems to be how it was taken. It wasn't how it was intended. I just enjoy my ebike as well as all of my other bikes. Two wheels plus nature equals fun.
My deeper reason for objecting is that narratives about dramatic drops due to age cause far more harm than middle age could ever hope to achieve. People reduce activity as they age and are explicitly told that this is the proper and wise course of action, which then leads to loss of muscle and fitness which then leads to negative experiences with movement such as injury or soreness. Those experiences reinforce the idea that they are "too old" to do things which feeds right back to the start of the cycle. But deeper research shows a FAR more hopeful picture. Hope that clears up where I'm coming from and why I'm pushing back.
Concerning how people took the post: Why did you mention declining fitness and age? That's not a gotcha question or anything but a genuine inquiry/feedback. Readers assume a writer provided the information they did for a reason. So we try to figure that reason out and then interpret the rest of the post in that light. And it's hard to rationalize the inclusion of age and fitness without concluding that your point is "I'm out of shape and want an ebike so things are easy!" The parts about hating climbing even in your 20's points that way too. You say "2 wheels plus nature equals fun" but you totally have that while climbing a mountain bike. The only difference is climbing is hard instead of easy.
Maybe people took your post that way because subconsciously that's what you actually feel? Once again, not a gotcha, just kind of feels like you're telling yourself a story that doesn't reflect your true motives.
Enough of those squeaky wheels means more 4' wide flow trails compacted to hide all the scary rocks and roots. Obviously this isn't happening everywhere all the time, but the more inexperience that can get further out on the trails, the more headaches it causes those of us who put in the blood and effort to get good enough to make it out/up on human power alone.
You can't have ridden much in BC then. Janky nasty trails fair outnumber flow trails.
That’s what I did. Would recommend.
He said “new trails” and “tend to be” and somehow you twist that into a claim that every rider in the world and every trail on trailforks. Just absurd.
I play golf and disc golf with a beer in one hand, or nearby, but there's always the people who want to take everything too seriously and feel like they need to aggressively validate their hobbies.
I will say, regardless of riding perspective, the TYPE of people I've seen getting e-bikes and the way in which they ride is... Not a great look. It's funny to watch the "it's for older people who wanna keep up" narrative absolutely fade into the background... And there's a lot of overweight, unhealthy, unskilled riders doing hot laps on boost mode and going up the climbs at an obnoxious pace which would be less annoying if it weren't on a weekend where the trail has quite a few riders and we're all frequently leaning off the trail to dodge these donuts.
I wasn't even against the idea of e-bikes... But I fear it attracts a type of person and enables them in ways that aren't a net positive. There's too much of a shared venn diagram with the boomers and trust fund babies on electric dirt bikes and surons and whatever. They don't have trail etiquette, and they presumably ain't gonna go online to learn any and do what other people say. Especially given those things are illegal on most trails. Sigh...
Two weeks later I’m riding my local trails. Basically xc trails with a few features. A guy stuffed me in a corner on an eBike bike with full Moto kit, chest protector on full face helmet. It was a case of instant karma. He hit a stream crossing and went otb. Of course I rode by and said cool moped dude.
I’m in my 40’s and still ride hard in dh, moto, xc and everything in between. Maintaining fitness is harder sure. Just have to eat clean and take care of yourself. I cant eat lighting and shit thunder like I did in my 20’s. Maybe when I’m 70 an ebike will will make sense on local trails. For now I’ll earn my turns unless the environment was built for it.
It's far from paved.
That brings up a question: if you drop your e bike in a stream while crossing, what happens? I'd hope they protect all the electrical connectors because that could be problematic.
But drat, it’s just “ebikes are just like full suspension and 29 wheels!” repeated for the thousandth time
It goes beyond is it easier. It's like driving a Ferrari for a morning commuter. that thing is not going to obey a speed limit. The person operating the machine is always the one to blame, but if one can pedal at 25mph all god damn day, and an Ebike is their first "mountain bike" why would they think someone could be around that flat corner not ready to get killed? Some trails need to be real bikes only.
Also, real selfish note here : if you are on an Ebike and set a strava KOM on a climb expect a lot of hate.
Last encounter I had with George Jetson, I had just finished cleaning the crux of a very steep climb, and was 'track stand' for a breath or two...f#(er goes off-trail into the grass to pass me. No noise, no bell, no "Howdy, stranger!" When I caught up with him later, and made my true feelings known, he split the scene at 25mph.
Dude had about a whole minute of visibility on my position, the rideable crux is an 'alternate' line through a fence cut. If he yelled at 30 seconds approach, I'm off the trail no problem. Run me down without a warning, dude is gonna cause an accident. Dude was a Class A Shithead and deserved a stick in the spokes.
Previously, on that same trail, I had a couple nice old ladies on e-bikes announce themselves and dust me. Their younger friend didn't give a shit and did the same f*cked up thing, nearly running me into a rut. It's the same DGAF the Stravaholes exhibit.
Soon the materials required to build a lithium battery will be in short supply, so maybe the issue will fade.
Amish was the word that an overweighted group of E-bike cowboys used when passing me left and right on a steep section with out calling out.
Next thing I'll get a mirror.
A: to see them coming
B: to see their faces when I drop them again.
(E-bikes are great for certain people under certain circumstances. Lazy posers with no respect are just lame)
I enjoy the experience of grinding climbs and enjoying the fruit of my labor on the way down on my trail bike. It’s the mtb that I grew up on, all-mountain. It’s the real experience.
That said, I also love meeting up with my one friend who enjoys DH as I do on the weekends and hitting all of the shuttle / DH trails on our E’s. Frankly our local trails get so mobbed on the weekend, the E is a blessing as it opens up the unsanctioned / DH that is very difficult to self-service.
I understand the vitriol towards E bikes at a high level I suppose, but they’re a fun tool if you want to get a ton of DH laps in certain circumstances.
I would never want just an E bike, and if I had a more rigid budget I probably would just keep my stumpy Evo as my single bike…but hey, I work hard, why not have all the toys I want.
I must say it’s fairly comical to see the look of disdain towards us by regular mtb Jerry’s when we rip around on the E’s on the weekend. You can ride circles around these muppets (I’m talking ability, not fitness lol), but they sure are righteous. Cracks me up.
I’d say if I were new to the sport, I’d be pretty uncomfortable if I owned an E bike. There is some very negative attention towards them here locally.
I guess I’m a prick, but I enjoy how annoyed people are about E’s. Makes me laugh.
Also, maybe it's just that I live the the US southeast, but I don't get the whole Waffle House reference. Unless it's a reference to like drunk fighting people at 3 AM or something?
It’s heartening to see there’s still bloggers…I get it. Inventing arguments to debate with imaginary nemeses. Taking strong stances on nothing. I’ve been there.
…same as it ever was!
Biking gives you a reason to live a healthy life. Over 40, faster than I ever was. The E in E bikes seems to stand for Excuses.
No you didn't. See 52t eagle, a 25lb downcountry bike with beep boop shifters, droppers and otherwise don't add to the human output of wattage. Comparing tech advances to strapping an 800 watt motor is the most obscene of apples to oranges and yet the battery powered community defers to it every time.
Mopeds are their own sport; I guess? I'll give up that I'd rather see people on 2 wheels in some form than not riding at all, but there's also a lot of dumbing down of "the good stuff" up high on the mountains because these guys can get to it now, they get hurt on it, and they're vocal about it because boomers.
Just stay home and watch TV, the trails here suck.
However the vast majority of people who comment & their reasons for owning one, come across as if they are trying to justify it in their own heads, rather than convincing others, they probably would have been better off buying a copy of the Chimp Paradox, reading that & not buying an e-bike ;-)
You want to ride an e-bike, crack on but stop trying to brainwash the rest of us & Oh don't be a dick on the trails.
Now I if the attitude starts we just tell them unpolitely where to go and either ignore them or carry on. It's really more sad than anything. If you don't like it, mind your own business Karen.
I've put my time in on cross country when thats all there was, then chair lifted for years at whatever bike park we could drive to when DH bikes were 55 lbs, shuttled most of the interior of BC for weekends on end when we were younger, and broke more than a few handlebars doing trials. I shouldn't have to prove I'm an "actual rider" to anyone.
We have become soft in what we ride, how wide a trail is and how manicured the trail is.
Its all about looking pretty these days on a silent bike thats long, slack and has Dh tyres on it!
Bring back the old school when we shredded gnarly stuff on XC tyres...
youtu.be/u0XwDav1fE0
I’ve been hearing some pretty crazy stuck up shit creek without a paddle stories from ebike rides gone wrong. I believe there are many more to come, perhaps involving fires and explosions, smoke and angry land owners. Regular bike misfortune stories will pale in comparison.
I ride an ebike cos I like going downhill, if that makes me a cheat in the eyes of the pinkbike commenters, then I’ll wear that like a badge of honour.
I like cheating, and being lazy. It lets me do 3 runs for every 2 that the “acoustic” crowd can do. (God I hate calling them acoustic, somebody kill me now) (( Don’t kill me just yet, I still have 2 bars and can get a few more descents in first))
I realized that if I'm not competing in road races, or trying to keep up with a group, or trying to get Strava records, that I may as well just sell my road bike and ride my MTB on the road on a few occasions, and still have the same workout capability if I so chose. It's pretty crazy how cheap road biking can be if you're not climbing Strava leaderboards or racing.
... and that's the problem, you're looking at the wrong person.
Try a mirror, it's a lot more truthful.
People focus on what other people are doing, then judge those people.
Why do you care what other people do?
That's a problem right there.
Oh, single speed only of course.
However, i'll stick with single speed with issues, all twelve of them...but keep the stiff twolegs out front.
To keep this philosophically legit, I should really put forth my own opinion, because in this age of easier, faster, more often, it’s one’s own desires that are the most important factor in life!
I fear I am the paradox you speak of Henry! I paralysed my arm to make things harder, which has won me great applause, yet I have a bike with electric gears. I have those tyre pressure things in my wheels, but infuriate my peers by stubbornly running no batteries in them to save weight, yet being comfortable with the squidge pressure test. I philosophically hate Ebikes, in that they represent all that I think is wrong with the world (more, more, more consumption of everything) yet I bought my Dad one so that his 69 year old (what a number for an age!) self doesn’t simply fall asleep all day in his poly tunnel after tending to his tomatoes. It’s been great for him.
In short, I think if we were in a pub we might be the pair that have long, meandering conversations all night while everyone else has an awesome time getting shit faced on vodka trebles. That presents a dilemma as I love a good “set the world to rights” conversation but I equally enjoy hardness of trying to recover the next day.
It’s all so confusing.
Seriously though, as a 47 year old riding a 36 pound, 150/160mm aluminum bike still with knees that have long gone to shit, I still don’t see the appeal of an e-bike…maybe in another decade?
Regardless, as long as folks aren’t a*sholes about it, let people ride what makes them happy. I get the appeal for folks with disabilities as I have a friend who can’t really ride a traditional bike because of lifelong injuries since birth, so I think it’s rad that there are more options out there for every walk of life to get out there and have fun.
I also live in Minnesota and basically every trail system I ride has some variation of “no e-bikes allowed” so I don’t really have to deal with any pedal assisted jerks being unsafe.
Ultimately technology progresses, and what was once accessible to only a few, becomes easy for many to participate in. If this causes legitimate problems, it’s time to step back and look at the big picture. Do we need to come up with new rules or laws to limit damage?
A more extreme area where this same basic discussion is playing out is side by side ATVs.
Off-roading used to be a fairly difficult hobby to participate in. You had to start with a road-going vehicle- modifying a beater into a capable rig, or pay big bucks for an expensive Rubicon or Land Cruiser. Either way, your vehicle had a lot of personal value invested, and you were putting it all on the line, constantly. Even with careful driving, the risks of braking an axle and getting stranded, or doing enough body damage to write it off were high enough to enforce a level of responsibility and etiquette. Not everyone was an angel, but the a*sholes could only do their thing for so long before karma kicked in.
Now, with a SXS, you can forget about all that. Just roll in to your local Polaris dealer, and finance a $15k purpose built off-road machine, with shitty credit and no money down. Glorified golfcart or not, these SXS will take you through and over pretty much anything at twice the speed of a built Jeep. Forget about breaking it- Just mash the pedal and point at the target, the CVT and 15” of racing suspension will figure it out, and the plastic body panels don’t dent if you roll it. These machines make it so easy for anyone to drive off-road with no experience at super high speeds. Bring your grandma, bring your dog… Use it hard, put it away wet- the machine doesn’t care. You’ve got a factory warranty and a dealer to fix it. Bored? Sell it to someone else for most of its MSRP. Combine all these factors, and choosing to get into the sport is stupid easy, and instantly gratifying. Obviously this means more people off-road, more crashing, more injuries, more damage to the environment. Nothing has torn up trails the way SXS have.
Now don’t get me wrong- SXS are a legitimate marvel of engineering and value, and I’m happy reasonable people have access to such handy machines. But it does beg the question- Should every a*shole be able to hoon a mini Baja race buggy for the price of an economy car? Idk. Maybe it’s time to start talking about specific licenses and driver training. Maybe their use should be limited to more suitable areas. It’s not the machines fault, it’s the choices humans make. We are not helpless, we can run things differently and avoid conflict if we desire.
End of the day, ATVing and traditional off-roading are totally different sports, with different motivations and goals, just like bicycles and mopeds, even if they overlap the same areas. They each have their place, but they are not the same.
yeah i got both bikes, why because i wanted both bikes and don't give a rats arse, couldn't care less what someone i don't like, and don't need their blessing or approval from, who gives a shit.
I ride my e bike hard, and im bloody puffing , i ride my reign hard to and still puffing, but whenever i see someone saying cheater, lazy, unfit, whatever peeps, i dont complain about your language, your clothes, your whatever, why , cause i mind my own business, E bike haters are the new KARENS/DAVES of the trails, and there is nothing better than winding up a Karen or Dave, makes my day
They still sell rigid singlespeeds...
Or even better, dust of your pop's old bike from the shed and have a rip down your local trail
And if you ride an ebike until your legs are done. Well, your core and upper body are in a world of pain. No assist there. You get a more whole body work out.
But all bikes are getting easier, long, low and slack. For years and bigger wheels. And all the young kids think the old techy trails suck, because the new bikes are too bloody long low and slack for slower tech to be fun.
I take my 2010 26" out a bit. Still an amazing fun bike. Twitchy as now. The L is shorter now than most S. 67 HA is no longer slack and the 420mm chain stays means you body position must be spot on. Rode every A line on it same as my 2006 Enduro. Once standard for an AM etc and now Enduro, this is now DJ territory. Santa Cruz Chameleon with 160mm 36s.
Enjoying my Status 160 now. Old school back end geo on new school front. Old trails and fun, so are the new. Not a race bike. My goto for me rides when I need to play and chill. Not max the gravity descents in limited time.
My Kenevo gets used as a tractor. Hauling 16-25kg kids riding Shotgun from 2.5 years old. Brilliant up to 2 hours in the bush, wheels on the ground to intermediate. Kids picked up the body position, feel and balance riding with me. My eldest, now on a 20" 6 speed Norco and 6yo can't to big climbs, tow her out 100m+ climbs with the ebike while my 4yo is on Shotgun. Daddy time with my two girls. Brilliant.
That little nugget right there I'll be using later, thank you sir.
Now I ride a modern steel hard-tail, but I feel waaaay faster!
(and slightly more sore lol!)
It isn't about easy. It's about expanding a ride, or the challenge of a trail, or a climb, etc.
I agree with Danny Macs opinion that it changes every aspect of my rides for the better. I do 40-50km rides no instead of 20. I get more laps, more turns, more terrain.
I don't give a rats ass what the haters say. I dealt with them when they hated skateboards, dealt with them when they hated snowboards, and deal with them when I'm on my ebike. Same elitist shitty attitude it always has been.
My dislike for you @henryquinney is getting worse the more you talk and write. Always the same spiel, with a opinion that is barely defensible, or flat out wrong, then getting delighted listening to himself justifing it for ever and feeling smug about yourself in the end.
It's tiring and annoying, grow up.
North American
Fail to make up one's mind.
"Joseph had been waffling over where to go"
British
Speak or write, especially at great length, without saying anything important or useful.
"he waffled on about everything that didn't matter"
People climbing on 180mm, carbon fiber with a 50t dinner plate on the back, climb switch engaged "Oh eBikes too easy". You got it easy. Go back to rigid bikes with a 3x8. Front suspension makes it easier, rear suspension makes it easier, 1x12 drive train makes it easier, modern suspension / geometry makes it easier.
So much opposition to eBikes when every single one of us is chasing making it easier in every single component we put on the bike. No ones opposed to lighter weight components cause it makes climbing easier, but add a motor? Suddenly that's the devil.
Everyone just wants to believe that they are doing it the hardest and anything easier is one step too far.
I have an opinion about what your are doing, so much so that I am going to write and publish a novel, throw it against a wall, and see if it sticks. other folks are living rent free in his head. i didn't a paragraph into this before i realized it was a judgment call. maybe i missed the point. either way, [the collective] you do you, and i will do me. how easy you have made anything for yourself has no bearing on how much of a sufferfest i can create fo rmyself.
Internet man who, presumably, isn't paid to be here: "I DONT NEED TO BE TOLD WHAT RIDING IS"
Intelligent, sophisticated internet people: (tosses popcorn bag in the microwave)
Internet man whom is intelligent, sophisticated and tosses his popcorn bag in the microwave putting words in my mouth.
Internet man who, accurately, isn't paid to be here: "Again, you do you, and I will do me." That's not me judging what people make of this activity. the article is wrought with "why would anyone want to make this easier?" I'd bet a dollar he has a gas or electric powered stove and/or a microwave to prep his meals rather than cooking over an open fire. at any rate, how he preps his meals has no bearing on mine, and at the end of the day, we both eat what we want.
Not realizing you sound the same but with LESS humor. But good thing you let that salty brit know. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna occupy myself with making bicycle riding what it is to me. (Proceeds to pedal defiantly and proudly, deeply grasping the feelings pedaling gives me.)
your retort to my comments is to call in to question my cognitive capacity to understand his humor. I am not intelligent, nor am i sophisticated, nor can i catch his subtle English humor.
I sound the same with less humor? well played, considering I wasn't trying to be funny, but somehow was, because, you know. "less" is some humor and "none" is no humor.
that you are picking a fight with me because you are a brand loyalist to his articles has zero to do with the fact that the article is based entirely on things that other people do to make cycling enjoyable to them and nothing about what he likes to do to make cycling enjoyable to him. if you will note, unlike you, i haven't disparaged him, or you, for what you like. not sure why you are making this personal.
If you want a taste, show up on a club ride with some Cat 2,1 and pro racers and see how long you survive. Or try to follow one down a mountain pass at 60+ miles an hour through some switchbacks. Or see how fast you get dropped even doing a training criterium.
I ride big, slack mountain bikes on big, consequential terrain but grew up racing road, and you’re full of crap Quinney!!
And-all bikes are analog. E-bike is a marketing term used to rebrand motorized vehicles. If it has a motor, it is by definition not a bicycle.
Riding on the road was my first love, and everything I said is true. Nobody that takes their riding seriously would turn down even a 1-watt saving. I think my example serves to illustrate my point.
What was that I wrote about taking on assumptions?