I bet within a year or two they'll be plenty available since they're owned by DT Swiss now. Quality will probably decline a bit as well (not a dig at DT Swiss, but just the nature of upping production)
E-bikes are a thing
- Thread starter jdog
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I bet within a year or two they'll be plenty available since they're owned by DT Swiss now. Quality will probably decline a bit as well (not a dig at DT Swiss, but just the nature of upping production)
Ian F
Well-Known Member
I saw a bunch of kids riding around my mother's neighborhood. Her main complaint was basically none of them are wearing a helmet.
Without really knowing much about bikes, I gave her the analogy that these are sort of like really quiet versions of the 50cc minibikes that were around when I was a kid and before.
Without really knowing much about bikes, I gave her the analogy that these are sort of like really quiet versions of the 50cc minibikes that were around when I was a kid and before.
Ian F
Well-Known Member
Where is that?
Dupont State Park. Western NC.
Which this now made me think of the conversation I had with a guy who runs the bigger bike shop here. Tourism is down overall likely due to Helene, maybe economy? Typically they would have 20 bikes out on rental for the weekend and now it's 10.
But due to E-Bikes being banned in Pisgah/Dupont they get a lot of people from Florida who just won't come up now as as they want E-Bikes to deal with the elevation.
Ian F
Well-Known Member
Ah... makes sense now although it's farily well-known e-bikes aren't allowed there. I've heard rumors advocates are working on getting e-bikes allowed, but it's definitely been a slow process. Seth has mentioned in his videos a couple of times that he doesn't really do a lot of e-bike content simply because there are so few legal places where he can ride one. Like his Amflow video was done at Kanuga.
Not saying E-Bikes are not going to get allowed, anything is possible. But pretty much every user group and everyone who runs the park doesn't want E-Bikes. With all the new faster E-Bikes I'm sure there's going to be a big push to keep them banned. They did a lot of out reach, public meetings and such for their current Master Plan at the park. The only thing Bikers, Hikers, Bird Watchers and Horse riders could agree on was not allowing E-Bikes.
I think we'll see E-Bikes allowed in Pisgah before Dupont. Pisgah likely sees a ton of E-Bikes already especially up near Asheville even though they aren't allowed. Mostly because it'll likely come from the federal level due to people with disabilities ride.
Kanuga is basically made for E-Bikes. They're also allowed at Ride Rock Creek which is another local park.
I think we'll see E-Bikes allowed in Pisgah before Dupont. Pisgah likely sees a ton of E-Bikes already especially up near Asheville even though they aren't allowed. Mostly because it'll likely come from the federal level due to people with disabilities ride.
Kanuga is basically made for E-Bikes. They're also allowed at Ride Rock Creek which is another local park.
My insurance broker has warned my already that they will not cover claims where digital or mechanical hacking of ebikes is involved. I guess they are awakening to this already.
This seems even harder to enforce than keeping ebikes out of the woods. Wouldn't they need Insurance Adjusters with enough knowledge of any potential hack on all the bikes out there and then have them analyze the bike after a claim?
Ian F
Well-Known Member
My WAG is they will have a shop like Halter's to do a professional analysis and provide court testimony if necessary.
probably more money in this than mod'ing them.
I have to say...that is a pretty ingenious idea...and as an engineer, I do have a certain love for planetary gear sets.
No disrespect to Halter's but do you think anyone there is qualified to determine if someone digitally hacked some cheap Chinese Ebike before they t-boned a car and destroyed the bike and themselves?
There is always someone..
Steve Vai
Endurance Guy: Tolerates most of us.
We’re not allowed to work any anything throttle based or mod any Specialized product. Anything else I’ll do whatever the customer wants. The latest gen e-bikes like the Levo4 are already Class3 so people will want to update the older systems to keep up. It is what it is. You’re either pro e bike, or anti e bike and that’s it. Getting hit by a 200lb man on a Shuttle vs a 125lb kid on a Surron is probably exactly the same?
I guess we will see how this plays out. I can see insurance companies just saying they are not covering anything if you’re on an Ebike.
Well, the better question is there anyone at any shop that would want the liability that comes along with doing such an assessment