Words: Matt Wragg
Illustrations: Taj MihelichRacing runs on money. Sure, many racers would still race even if there wasn’t a cent in it, but sooner rather than later things around them would crash and burn. Sometimes I get the feeling that people forget this, that they see racing as some higher, purer thing and lose the connection to the bottom line. I remember a friend telling me that towards the end of his racing career Nico Vouilloz couldn’t find a bike sponsor. The problem was that he had already won everything there was to win and had little interest in the marketing side of the sport, his incredible focus was trained solely on winning. As my friend put it to me, there was no upside for the bike manufacturers. If Nico won, well that was expected, and if he didn’t win then your bike must be a turd.
I don’t know how true this story is but the truth isn’t the point here. The story perfectly illustrates a dynamic that does ring true - that if you’re not selling bikes, even the greatest downhill racer the sport has ever seen could find themselves in a tight spot.
Participation vs Spectator SportsWe need to get to grips with the difference between a participation sport and a spectacle sport. Motorbikes offer the best example as Supercross is one of the best spectacle sports anywhere in the world. They found a way to package a sport that usually needs copious space and terrain into an arena. It was ten years ago that I went to see it live in Seattle and the thing that still stands out is that I could walk from the centre of the city to the arena to watch it. The other advantage is that the infrastructure to offer total coverage of the racing is as simple as it could possibly be - in that contained environment they can use a few static camera positions and the riders are never out of sight or signal.
Of course, as a rider, just being able to ride a supercross track is no small feat. What most people are more likely to do is ride enduro, where they can head out their door into the hills and forests. And when they come to race they are likely to compete in that discipline too, but as with MTB enduro, the media coverage of those races is limited because of the logistical problems of getting cameras all over the countryside.
The result of this split is that supercross is an effective tool for promoting the brand as a whole, bringing motorcycle racing to casual fans who like the racing but will never care enough to trek cross-country to stand in a muddy field and will not tolerate gaps in the action because the camera crew couldn’t get there in time. Enduro is more direct, primarily talking to people who ride and race enduro, and the impact across the brand as a whole is far smaller. To seek refuge in another easy motorsport parallel, Lewis Hamilton lifts Mercedes as a whole, while Colin McRae only really helped Subaru shift those blue and gold Imprezas.
To cut the cheap analogies and get into the dirty business of mountain bike racing, specifically the gravity disciplines, downhill is our spectacle and enduro the participation discipline (there is an good argument that you see a similar dynamic in cross-country with XCO vs marathon). While many of us may bemoan the camera placement at World Cup downhill, these days they do a pretty good job of covering most of the course with the resources available - a top 20 rider on the live feed should get a decent minute or two of screen time in front of an ever-growing audience. At an EWS, even the race winner is unlikely to get more than a handful of clips on the event recap video.
Maybe the simplest way to think of this is to imagine showing the racing to a friend who has little interest in the sport. Show them the DH live feed and it is clear what is going on, while despite a heroic effort on the part of the EWS team, that is not possible in enduro, and likely never will be. If you can accept that the spectacle sport helps the whole brand, while the participation discipline is much more closely tied to the people who ride and race the discipline, then the question follows: what happens to the participation racing when what a bike company is selling changes?
Enter the eMTB. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, you cannot deny that they are wildly outselling regular bikes in Europe, especially in the mid-travel bracket (ie. enduro). Sure, North America is still arguing with itself about whether they are good fun or here to destroy everything we hold sacred and turn us all into puny, chicken-legged weaklings, but even there they are beginning to emerge as a force in the marketplace. I remember a very senior salesman from one of Europe’s largest bike brands telling me a couple of years ago that many of their consumers were going into the bike shop intending to buy a mid-travel mountain bike and walking out with an eMTB. Here in the South of France it is even more dramatic and the percentage of riders on regular bikes is ever-diminishing.
At the same time, racing for eMTBs currently ranges from “
so embarrassing someone should have their thumbs lopped off” to “a good idea that needs a little more polishing”. The attention and resources are going to regular racing, while sales are starting to lean strongly towards e-bikes and that is beginning to create a disconnect between enduro racing and the money needed to keep it going on its current scale.
Why it matters who is buying eMTBsThen there is a question of market, too. EMTBs are opening up the sport to new people, people who just want to ride a bike rather than become committed mountain bikers (hint: if you’re reading a several-thousand word screed on the economics of racing then you’re in the hardcore few percent). They won’t care about your moral stance on assisted vs. unassisted riding, will never worry about what pedals Sam Hill runs and think your chest-beating about “type 2 fun” sounds thoroughly f*cking miserable. As a very experienced sports marketing specialist put it to me, “maybe it’s a middle-aged guy who just wants his kids to think he’s cool because he’s riding the same brand bike they saw on TV.” These are the people the industry is courting, people who will walk into a dealership and leave with whatever happens to be in stock. At full retail price. And that ‘seen on TV’ thing is a huge deal for this demographic - they are a prime audience for the spectacle sport. Even if ebike racing gets its shit together this year, is it the right way to try and sell bikes to these people? It could well be that the biggest boost to downhill is ebikes as brands refocus to try and reach this market.
Has Cube pulled a masterstroke?The tension point probably won’t be in 2021, if for no more pressing reason than the industry is so occupied with trying to get bikes to market that they don’t need to worry about selling more of them for the time being. Cube may well be the canary in the coalmine for things to come. Yes, they have a reputation as this geeky German brand, but they were fielding a factory-supported enduro team way before the bigger players on the global scene and spend a lot of their energy trying to reach outside the core mountain bike market.
For next year they have invested heavily in their DH team, with Danny Hart hopefully offering them visibility and credibility at the sharp end of racing, while at the same time they are pulling out from the full EWS calendar in favour of more consumer-focused events and select races, primarily in Europe. Gusti Wildhaber is still on the Action Team programme as he is practically part of the family there and happy to turn his hand to whatever they want. Zakarias Johansen and Sofia Wiedenroth were let go to chase their racing ambitions. Cube then offered public applications to the revamped programme to bring in more ambassador-like riders. The new team will rarely, if ever, travel outside Europe, which is far more feasible in our pandemic-stricken world, cutting expensive international travel for a brand who have most of their sales here in Europe, getting rid of the staff and logistic overheads that come with a professional race team and allowing them to focus on events where Cube know they can talk directly to their customers. They will still race in some events, which will include enduro and ebike racing, but with a much more limited focus.
Don’t get me wrong, I have a huge emotional attachment to enduro racing and this isn't an article about what
should happen so much as what is
likely to happen. I followed the enduro race circuit because I think it is the most fun form of mountain bike racing and I'm not suggesting that it will go away. I believe that for as long as mountain bikes exist people will continue to ride and race enduro, but I wonder if in a few years we will look back on today in much the same way we think of the Grundig days of downhill. In that time money flowed into the sport and many look back on those times a some sort of heyday, but the truth is that it was a bubble and when it popped it set the sport of downhill back by at least a decade. The brands that had poured money in realised they weren't getting value and we still don't see names like Diesel and Volvo on the title sponsors list, but at least today the growth has been steady and real, and the value created by the racing is solid.
Maybe this comparison is not fair to the people who run enduro races or invested in the discipline, its growth was not irrational in the same way, and the bubble is one that the market created later. But, the sales of ebikes are creating a bubble and that is unsustainable. In my time on the enduro circuit I got to know a lot of the riders, staff and organisers, even call a few friends, and I want to see them do well. But… If I put myself in the shoes of a sports marketing manager trying to get best value for money in a market that is marginalising the commercial importance of the enduro bike, I’m not sure I could bet against the Cube strategy. Would you?
Also, can someone please share some actual statistics about e-bike vs. regular mountain bike sales in europe? Is it actually true that more emtbs are sold than regular mountain bikes? I find that hard to believe.
Sure, ebikes are (perhaps unfortunately for some) here to stay, but I don't think they will spell the demise of Enduro racing. Enduro has always had a coverage issue... but it has continued to grow and is incredibly popular.
I also think that in a few years technology will be good enough to bring us near-live coverage of certain enduro stages. If Elon gets his way, there will be 3,000 satelites ready to beam up a signal from wherever You're go-pro will be able to livestream to youtube and a drone will be programed to follow riders down the courses.
i think racing pushes R&D and bike nerds, but i'd say a lot more factors into the "cool" that influences dad-bros.
Enduro won't be less relevant to the people riding it, but it may become less of a priority for bike companies because the people watching and paying close attention to enduro races are a more niche, hardcore group of MTB fans (aka, not the market for eMTBs). In order to reach the growing eMTB market, brands need to be seen in whatever venue reaches the masses. And unfortunately, enduro racing has not yet been able to achieve the coverage needed to reach the masses in the same way a DH race (like supercross) already does.
That said, your last point definitely provides some hope! I look forward to the day when I can watch live POVs of Jesse and the other guys/gals tearing it up at EWS events.
Anyone who bought an MTB in the last three years has already got the benefits of slacker/lower/longer, so when it comes to spending the money they haven't been able to spend during the pandemic it probably made sense to by an eMTB rather than just get marginal gains from switching to a new enduro rig.
That's my theory on the high eMTB adoption rate anyway!
The first two I'm totally cool with hats off to them, the last one however ruins the sport. Several times now I've been riding some local trails and been passed on the climb by a new rider on the E-bike, and then find them moments later on a decent completely out of their comfort zone, zero understanding of trail etiquette.
Personal experience here, but just feel E-bikes are used as a short cut for new riders who want all the pros of riding without earning it, its been the common stereotype several occurrences now.
In between university semesters I sometimes work in a big multi-brand bike store. Here, MTBs outsell E-MTBs by about 4 to 1.
But the sales with a sticker price above 5.000€ are mainly E-MTBs. Although that in turn could be because E-MTBs are generally more expensive and the shop doesn't have that many regular bikes costing more than 5k.
Not rich people, just rich white people? What a stupid ignorant statement.
and then ride the regular bike on weekends.
that's without counting the commuters.
that said you are correct that many newer riders need more clinics/classes lol
(PS have singlespeed, bmx and ebike, ride all )
Punk is not consumer culture
www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/technology/technology-media-and-telecom-predictions/2020/bike-technology-transformation.html
Its pretty easy and really fun with people who cant ride well.
Just setup on the inside, drop your outside elbow low enough to get under theres, slide under and drift out raising your elbow. Then try to control your laughter enough to stay in control.
Its also fun with friends in tech jank singletrack or on high speed bikepark berms next to huge cliffs.
If I ever start to do clinics this is definitely part of the curriculum.
I’ve been ostracized from my crew for riding a E bike and it’s made me realize who my friends really are...mountain bikers used to be the E bikers of today, on the fringe and misunderstood.
Maybe I am punk rock but I’ve always been a little left of center and I’m glad to be at the forefront of a new facet of mtb called E.
I find the e ews racing a little more interesting in part because of the climbing stage. This also will lead to more versatile e bikes that have to be able to climb as well as they descend, which is a good thing. It might also be a little more spectator friendly because fans can see the racers for a longer period of time on the technical climbs.
Possibly one day eBike racing becomes its own popular thing, but when average people ditched dirt bikes for more consumer friendly quads & Side x Side ATVs, neither of those had forms of racing that took off despite the popularity of the products. The average Joe’s that bought those vehicles never cultivated a deeper racing culture and couldn't care less if Polaris or Can Am won some random race. I see eBike buyers screwing around after work and wanting fun transportation as largely the same demographic.
To the statement about packaging like arena cross- the packaging and spectacle of eBike racing is no more consumer friendly than it is with regular bike racing.
It’s not saying that ebikes “blasting” around stadiums is about to become the next big thing in MTB racing.
well they are already "charged" in their own way on the Tour de France, it is not thanks to electrical power though..
DH has the benefit of some cameras but even then as the article points out we still only see a few mins of each run, better than nothing of course but at least good enough for the average to new viewer to get some baseline on course difficultly and drama. Add to this society's general short attention span and you have a discipline thats more viewer friendly and thus the "spectator" sport of MTB.
At any rate, I don’t see eBikes having any significant impact on racing in the near future, DH, enduro, or otherwise. I don’t think 35 year old software engineers buying eBikes (who don’t live on this site) watch DH or enduro, and normcore yuppies who don’t ride bikes that are enamored with the occasional spectacle of humans flying through the French Alps under their own power would probably lose all interest if the bikes had motors all of a sudden.
I just don’t see eBikes relating in any way to the type of marketing the traditional racing is all about.
Even in my local series, I tend to be able to descend as fast as most of the top 10 guys (in my category), but I lack fitness and lose a lot of time on the climbs and pedaling sections.
But yes, more drone footage, as well.
Standard EWS GoPro mounts on athletes helmets, top 10 or 20 riders given EWS GoPros, more drones used where possible and a few static camera positions at interesting points of the stages. Hell... maybe even a few follow cam riders??
SD cards could be swapped out at the end of stages so editors can begin the process of creating a 30 min to an hour long show. Again a lot of this is done for WRC's coverage and it works so well. But there is obviously a lot more money in something that sells cars than bikes... but still, it doesn't have to be to the level of WRC.
More money = more cameras, more editors, more experienced editors and producers, and more production value, all packaged up into a highly entertaining and drama filled event.
But all of the above takes cash... so you'd need a substantial sponsor willing to bet on it working, take the shot and fund the first season. Red Bull, GoPro and Pinkbike seem like good options.
Look how well the Pink Bike Academy worked. I'm not saying turn EWS into reality tv... but using some of what they did to create a compelling show that advertisers and sponsors would invest in would go a long way to turning EWS into a well supported and marketable event.
But I never thought that the EWS needed to go to the same level of production as the WRC... but using some of the simple cheaper best practices and modifying them to work for the EWS could make the show just so much better.
There'll never be live coverage on par with DH, obvs, but they could absolutely evolve and improve the content they are putting out at the moment to engage more committed and casual fans.
I must say this is a very well-written article, and I hope @brianpark commissions you to do more in a similar vein.
If some readers are suggesting they don't follow the argument, I'd suggest it might be due to the elephant in the room - how could eMTB racing actually work as a format? Are the credibility hurdles too high? Will viewers perceive it as fundamentally unfair?
Or perhaps the point of the article is that eMTBs don't need to be raced to sell, like Mercedes don't race the SUVs and saloons that they sell off the back of Lewis Hamilton's sucess. So is the logical conclusion that eeb manufacturers need to sponsor DH? Or do more grassroots events where people can try them?
Also, they are banned on some of the best trails, like in Soquel (although you see a few and I'm not gonna fight anyone over it), which makes it seem kinda pointless to me around here.
I'm not saying that you have to give a crap about what anyone else thinks, we just need to be prepared to welcome, educate, and get these new folks focused on keeping mountain biking accessible and fun for everyone, from the dad cranking out laps with his kids on a E-DH bike to the dudes who ride ride BMX bikes on the tightest single track they can find, which you should totally try sometime, it's rad. We need people who can afford to donate $1000 a month to a trail advocacy group as much as you need people who maintain their local spot through their own blood, sweat, tears, shovels, picks and beers. You need someone to pay full markup on bikes AND accessories so your local shop can afford to give someone a bro discount without going out of business. Most of all- and I'm going ten-ply here- you need people who do more than open their wallets, but open their hearts to the idea of getting out in the wild and having fun.
Anyway, thanks again for the article, great work.
There are not casual mountain bike fans who do not also ride, right? I enjoy watching basketball and will occasionally pay money to go to an actual game, but I can't remember the last time I actually laced 'em up at the Y. But if you ask the average person to sit down and watch a DH (or enduro, or XC) race, they'll get up and leave after a few minutes. It's not supercross.
I think e-bikes will allow a lot of casual riders to, with minimal suffering, do enduro races on the same courses (or similar, at least) as the pros. That will never, ever be true of DH.
DH isn't supercross. It's not exciting enough to draw non-riding fans. The future (and past) for mountain bike racing, like triathalon, is as a participation sport exclusively.
-Walt
Foster the core culture, cover the best races and make bikes targeting life long riders and reap the rewards of your investment.
Why the f*ck does anyone think its so popular now??
Maybe if we could get brands to focus on the ability to put DH as the spectacle but perhaps treat the Enduro team as the minor league affiliate or in the states are Arenacross and WORCS racing? The place where some pros can grow up then move to elite DH then go back down to retire?
Thoughts?
Any event or series that requires extensive travel will continue to suffer post covid, so I don't think Enduro is alone in that one. I do agree that normal bikes (and hence normal bike racing) will suffer because of the e-bike bubble.
Anyway, most Ebikers are interested in having a good time with friends, a good lunch, a smooth ride. They don't care about racing, EWS, DH or XC.
Don't mix up your way of looking at cycling, Wragg (enduro or bust), and reality.
I also feel like outdoor mountain sports are supposed to be a leader in environmental awareness and advocating for more natural resources. Pushing this battery narrative in the name of sales seems awfully hypocritical. We can paint pretty pictures, such as people will use them as a commuting alternative to cars. However, our over consuming society will prove this is simply another way to make our lives easier and to get our latest/greatest fix.
Using that brand as an example of future campaigns for highly established brands is a bit of a stretch, don't you think?
At least this article doesn't do the usual stretch : ebikes=emtb="emtb that are used for actual mtbiking"
But how are ebikes related? Unless we will be seeing artificial stadium courses the ebike bit seems a bit shoehorned in to an otherwise well thought out and interesting article.
The same dynamic may be at play for mountain bikes. Ebike racing is never going to be any good. But the brands can gain overall recognition for their products through something like DH racing (spectator sport) more so than they can through enduro.
1. Decorated competitors who frequently engage with their audience, oblige their sponsors, and have strong followings.
2. "Decent" competitors and "lifestyle" (ugh, hate that word) athletes who frequently engage with their audience, oblige their sponsors, and have strong followings.
3. "Content creators" who frequently engage with their audience, oblige their sponsors, and have strong followings.
4. Decorated competitors who have strong followings, but are less proactive with engagement and content.
5. "Decent" competitors and "lifestyle" athletes who are less proactive with engagement and content.
The bigger the budget you have, the more 1s and 2s you can get. You can nearly the same effect with with more volume of 2s and 3s, however. You pretty much want to avoid 4s and 5s, and they struggle to get contracts and much of anything other than product support.
In any case, "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" is definitely a limited effect.
Manufacturers quit with all the friggin gears - just run a 10 speed 11-42/46. Mid drive motors wear skinny 12 speed chains out so quick. TBH a good range on an 8 speed would be perfect...
And though I do agree that a lot of mountain bike race coverage could use improvement, again I don't see some kind of direct tie in with Emtbs? It's just the return on investment finding it's natural place. They have no problem covering every aspect of Survivor, or the Amazing Race, or all kinds of various "reality TV shows". It's just called putting cameras EVERYWHERE. But back to the ROI of mountain bike racing there just isn't enough money spilling out to do that for every race.
And then I kind of get your point of Supercross showing how to package something to make it easy to provide camera coverage. AND "maybe" this is where your going with Emtb's? That we should throw Emtb racers in arena's in a city center near you and let them fly??? HOWEVER, I don't see the need of mountain bike racing to be in city arena's. At that point it's no longer mountain bike racing and who gives a shit? Emtbs in an arena aren't going to be any fun unless you get rid of the pedal assist and make them electric dirt bikes. AND if I'm gonna watch dirt bikes race I'd rather hear the BRRRAAAPPPPP....
AND there are/have been any number of formats created to make mountain biking more easily packaged for spectators and great TV coverage. Dual Slalom, short track, "biker cross", etc. It's not that those formats don't already exist.
All of this said, if i were to make my OWN PREDICTION: I can totally see eMTB DH sales blowing up and that will for sure be correlated to increased DH coverage and cash inflows. As technology continues to make strides, I would absolutely be on board w/ riding a 200-170mm travel rig that can spin me up to the top of the mountain so I could ride the gnarliest lines as many times as possible BUT give it to me at sub 40lbs! I didnt buy an eMTB this last year bc 1. still lots to be sorted in Washington state on trail access 2. most importantly i dont think the tech is there yet (e.g. weight) and 3. Evil hasnt made an ebike (nor will they ever maybe...). In 5 years maybe given recent strides in battery tech, in which time ill be 40 and will likely not be too interested in 5k ft of climbing for a bunch of DH trail laps.
Like i said above, I have a riding window thanks to a wife and kids, I want to get in as many laps as possible, I want to take the biggest gun possible to the fight, and I want it to FEEL like it doesn't weigh like a tank on the descents. Do that bike industry and Ill give you a pile of money!
How have they maintained there interest levels over the years ? Maybe it’s more about following that model for EWS if they are seeing drop in demand. EWS are also looking at ways to bring ebikes into the series aren’t they.
Watching an e-bike climb rough terrain at 5mph is still just as boring as watching a bike climb it at 2.5mph. And bikes are considerably faster going down than an e-bike. That is not a marketable racing strategy even though it would be great for e-bike development.
Lots of people get on e-bikes and after the initial novelty wears off seem to go back to just a bike. E-bikes are going to continue to break down constantly rendering a lot of them useless after 3-4 seasons.
My personal opinion is that limiting our local trails to NON-motorized only (which is the current law btw) creates a reasonable line in the sand that protects other user groups from excess speed primarily from inexperienced riders, but also even heavier trail traffic and more user conficts.
If I lived and rode in wide desert expanses I'd likely feel differently about e-bikes and as a lifelong motorcyclists, of course it's very appealing to have a motor on my local trails. But I don't think it's the right fit.
Clearly there's beef between you guys.
But come on as 2 professionals let's stick to the point here.
Is there really a shift of sponsoring budgets because of the eBike-Boom and who's gonna be affected by it? If there is, shouldn't there be more mone generally? I mean people have been throwing money at the industry last year. The cube example is surprising, but after a little research they are the biggest eBike supplier in Germany, where the eBike share of new bikes sold is somewhere between 30-40% of all bikes, and 50-60% of MTBs. Also they consider themselves a top 5 brand worldwide by volume, but I didn't find any data on that. Interestingly they were almost unexistend in DH, before Atwill and now Hart and practically don't see them around like you do a specialized, trek or giant for that matter. On the flip side giant seems to do the opposite.
So I can see a strategy change with cube, andgiven that the eBike boom is a fact, what will that do with the industries marketing budgets?
I hope I will never have to ride an e-bike.
But, I don't care if someone else does. I am a lone wolf and I don't care much about other users of trails as long as they know trail manners.
But, in my opinion, e-bikes could be potentially dangerous. Let me elaborate a bit. 7-8 years ago, I was very unfit and I was 30 kgs over my regular weight. At one point, I have decided to get back in shape. My local hill is 6-7 km away and I have to climb two short but steep hills to come to the trails. There is a short loop there, when I am fit, it is 5-6 minutes of hard effort uphill and 4-5 minutes of downhill. When I was out of shape, I could ride that loop twice and still have enough in the legs to come back home. That would be ~20 km and ~1:20.
As I was getting fitter and lighter, I was increasing the number of laps. Usually, I am on 4-6.
Last year I had a bad crash. I was going 40 km/h and I hit a stump with my left pedal. I went over the bars and landed on my shoulder and my head. Luckily, I ended up only with a scapula fracture. My MD told me that is a good thing that I am working out and that I am very fit. He told me that if he had fallen like that, he would be injured much much worse. His fitness level and weight are like mine 7-8 years ago. I thought it is a good thing he could ride so fast.
Then I realized, that he could if he would have an e-bike.
I think e-bikes give an opportunity to the people that are not so fit and potentially overweight, to ride downhill part of the trail more times than they would be able with a regular bike and even flat(ish) parts of the trail at a higher speed. This simply increases the probability of crashing. And if they fall, they are heavier than they would be if they would be riding a regular bike, and their bike (e-bike) is heavier than a regular bike.
This could lead to more serious injuries.
Basically, they give me from 7-8 years ago an opportunity to ride the same number of loops as I could ride now, and at a higher speed, and my body from 7-8 years ago would suffer much more in the case of a crash.
The XC became Olympic in 96’, and that s when XC courses went from 2 or 3 country side loop, 3h ish of racing, to 6-8 short loop and barely 1h30 and mechanical stations.
Ebike can take that format to the next level with more technical, and likely battery stations of some sort.
The problem I see is that it will be very difficult to control the cheating for batteries or motors. Specially at a lower level of racing. It s already happening.
Also money will make you faster, like a lot of mechanical sports.
Dh racing is one after another then that's it. You can watch a dh race start to finish on race day and never be bored.
Enduro racing say you are a Richie Rude fan, you watch a race run, then what? Spend the next 45 minutes watching him on the transfer stage? Then watch another run. Ok, now come back tomorrow. From a viewer coverage an enduro event is a lot more drawn out affair than a dh event.
From a racing/following standpoint I would say enduro racing has pretty close to the same following as dh. From a sales standpoint I think enduro racing drives sales far more than dh does. That's why when EWS really blew up a few years go there was a significant shift of riders from DHWC to the EWS.
I think them pointing out ebike usage in Europe is kind of misleading. 1) decent ebikes are new. New stuff sells better because it is selling in a vacuum. Sales need to settle in before they can look at those numbers and actually figure out ebike vs regular bike. 2) we are coming off of 2020 with it's major supply chain issues. You can't compare sales figures when people were trying to buy bikes and being told there were none to buy. Hopefully someone within the industry is smart enough to figure that out before they look at the numbers that they screwed up and use that to determine where their resources should be.
Here's the video link for reference.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEgzwNPRm_Y
I dont known if the main argument of Matts article holds true - that ebike buyers are motivated by the ability to watch and enjoy DH easier rather then enduro. But the participator vs spectator argument is 100% accurate. So consequently enduro racing must die. It's also 100% true that ebike sales, even in mtb especially 3000+, outnumber the classic ones.
Not sure where that leads, but I can tell you that I, as a dad of soon 3 kids, but also a passionate bike rider, former enduro race organizer, mtb-club representative, local Trail advocate and...
... will soon be owner of an EMTB too (or later, I orderd a Forrestal).
After questioning the hatred I had towards emtbs previously (ai was furious, even towards good friends), I tried to understand the motive of the buyers and asking myself what it could be good for. I found some reason it could work for me, and once I have it I will try to also cater to ebikers with our club.
Why i will do this, is to reach a greater group of people to share my passion and promote bicycle riding and the need for trail access. I am confident that the majority of ebike buyers - just like me - are well aged, wealthy and of influential status with limited time. BUT I want them to share what I love so that they can promote bike riding too, within their peer groups.
From a marketing perspective I can also tell, that I found no reason to replace my 2014 12 kg 160mm 26" enduro bike with something slacker, beefier just to plough (?) through rough stuff better, and spent 5k+ if I want to come not sure if close to the same weight.
I think that is the very reason that gives eBikes all the momentum, and therefore more leverage on future sponsorship Budgets. I just hope ebike racing never gets a thing sponsorship wise, and all that money goes to DH and XC as the pinnacle of our sports.
As much as this sucks for Pro-Enduro-athletes (whom I admire) - but I think Matt is right.
I really think you have a point regarding the bike manufacturer marketing point of view.
There is another big player in the game that is often forgotten, it is the mountain resorts.
They are trying to get a piece of the cake, and should/will certainly play a role in the race business.
Thos with skilifts slowly realize that they can grow their business with summer operations,
here in Switzerland it is very visible. Those without lifts count on e-bikes to bring tourists in.
This articles pretty convoluted but essentially yea DH is easier to watch, riding bikes in woods which turned into enduro is more accessible. I don’t watch either I’d rather go ride but if they put all this marketing into more local ambassadors and better training and help for shop staff they would make way more money.
Best benefit for me; after I have returned to TR, I moved on a skirt of a mountain where is close to single tracks and forest roads. So I can ride unplugged some days for fitness, I can handle more laps on singletrack on eMTB. Simple calculation; our local best technical single track's trailhead is a non-stop climb of 6.2kms with %10 slope which takes for me 50mins at least for the current fitness level. Riding down the single tracks takes more than 20mins (not an easy one) with %17 slope. 2nd lap I'm completely exhausted. Total = 2hrs 20mins - 2 laps - completely fatigue...
But if I take my eMTB; 6 laps non-stop with 504wh battery. Total = 4hrs 10mins - 6 laps - still have power for next day. 300% efficient!
Somedays, I just want to ride my enduro bike; light - agile - playful on track. Means, I will never turn into eMTB completely.
Youd6 basically need a n hard enduro arena for emtb... but it would just come off as kinda lame to the masses.
Full E moto /trials the next big thing.
Basically, all mt bikers and dirtbikers want to be able to hard enduro/trail ride near home-which will be allowed bc they're quiet and no emissions.
Triggered Americans in 3,2,1....
Each to their own as long as it is fair (no, MP3 piracy isn‘t) and does not harm anyone = who cares.
the funny thing is that when i met Ash and Greg 1001 in 2011, i actually said the same thing...
not about ebikes offcourse, but about the enduro sport.
They didnt like it at that moment & I doubt they would like it now,but coming from the motocross/offroad industry, I knew it would go the same way in the mountainbike industry...
Have we learned jack shit from how our phones have battery systems that fail on purpose. Planned obsolescence is allready a problem with bikes.
Now your axle standard or wheel size will not be the only thing that makes your bike a paper weight.
Some firmware update will brick your elite.
-yup.
There's my musings!
See you in 2022 in a Ebike race
Would I still be 20, I'd have that 6k regular enduro for sore. But perspective changes with your point of view - bro.
There will come a time that no matter how much training you do ,,,it WONT work. Yeah i know , you will be the exception. Guess again fool .
When that day comes and it WILL , send us some pics of your shiny new e bike . LOL !!