It's 2025 Is an Emtb in your near future?

Is an Emtb in your near future?

  • Yes

    Votes: 10 7.8%

  • No

    Votes: 52 40.6%

  • Maybe

    Votes: 21 16.4%

  • Never

    Votes: 11 8.6%

  • Already own one

    Votes: 34 26.6%
  • Total voters
    128
I was guilty of bashing eMTBs before riding one (shame on me, I know). So last summer I gave one an honest demo. 20 minutes in and I thought I was sold. Uphill jumps became a thing and I couldn't stop laughing! But an hour later, the deciding factor hit me: when I got tired it was harder (and less fun) to ride. Pedaling isn't a huge issue when I get tired. You can always drop to that granny gear and crank out of the woods, but maneuvering a heavy eMTB when I was out of gas was a chore. So, they aren't for me. And I don't see that changing. But that's, of course, just my opinion about what is best for me.
 
Santapez said:
I'm not sure how much weight they'll really shave off.
Click to expand...

This. Friend of mine is an industrial designer working in this industry and the carbon layups on these bikes have to be quite thick so there's not much more weight savings to be had. Additionally, while motors might become smaller and lighter that doesn't seem to be the case for batteries. At least not in the immediate future.

Then there's talk about cost. I'm sure the picture will change in the next 5-10 years but if you're looking at a lightweight ebike right now you're over $10K easy. And you can be sure that cost will climb in direct proportion to any widespread weight reduction.

While they undoubtedly have their place and will likely continue to grow in popularity, as someone that works in this industry I'm not at all buying the notion that ebikes are the future of all bikes.
 
sundaydoug said:
This. Friend of mine is an industrial designer working in this industry and the carbon layups on these bikes have to be quite thick so there's not much more weight savings to be had. Additionally, while motors might become smaller and lighter that doesn't seem to be the case for batteries. At least not in the immediate future.

Then there's talk about cost. I'm sure the picture will change in the next 5-10 years but if you're looking at a lightweight ebike right now you're over $10K easy. And you can be sure that cost will climb in direct proportion to any widespread weight reduction.

While they undoubtedly have their place and will likely continue to grow in popularity, as someone that works in this industry I'm not at all buying the notion that ebikes are the future of all bikes.
Click to expand...
If there’s one thing that history has shown us, it’s that humans are AWFUL at predicting the future.

The 7 Worst Tech Predictions of All Time

The only thing we love more than a visionary is a visionary with really bad eyesight. Here now is a brief history of the world's most dunderheaded tech predictions.
www.pcworld.com www.pcworld.com

We tend to extrapolate based on today’s knowledge and not on what unforeseeable progress might occur.
 
rjr44 said:
If there’s one thing that history has shown us, it’s that humans are AWFUL at predicting the future.
Click to expand...
That's very true. I could not have predicted the results of this survey...

Screenshot 2024-07-26 at 8.48.09 PM.png
 
Battery technology is advancing every day. I’m guessing that in less than 10 years eBike batteries will have double the output at 1/2 the weight. You’ll have to charge your battery 1x a month.

I’ll be past 60 by then. In my case it probably won’t matter much since I won’t be hoping and jumping stuff the way I do now. What will be nice is getting out in the woods and enjoying myself without having to train all year long like I’m still in my 30s.
 
The cost is still a limiting factor to wide-range acceptance of e-bikes. While we can look at the heavy discounts getting applied to many models, the resulting price is still beyond-stupid for the vast majority of buyers.

When the performance of a $3000 bike (still a lot of money to many, but we have to pick a price) matches the performance of a current $10K+ bike, maybe then the discussion will change.
 
Ian F said:
The cost is still a limiting factor to wide-range acceptance of e-bikes. While we can look at the heavy discounts getting applied to many models, the resulting price is still beyond-stupid for the vast majority of buyers.

When the performance of a $3000 bike (still a lot of money to many, but we have to pick a price) matches the performance of a current $10K+ bike, maybe then the discussion will change.
Click to expand...
I'm actually surprised there's any riders who get directly into ebikes with the entry cost so high.

Almost all of us got in at the entry level buying cheap bikes and not understanding the crazy people buy the expensive bikes at the shop.

Then eventually we become those crazy people.

Maybe there's more people out there with money to throw into a new hobby than I realize?
 
Steve Vai said:
If you posted this 10 years ago we’d be looking at exactly the same bikes today 😂
Click to expand...
I dont know man, I remember @jdog lent me a 2017 cannondale moterra for a week....it was fun, but comparing it to my 2024 Shuttle LT? Night and day in terms of the riding experience. But ill grant you, the range and power might be similar.

And while they are going to be initially expensive, I wouldnt totally sleep on solid state batteries....They exist, they just havent gotten to a mass market price point yet.
 
UtahJoe said:
I dont know man, I remember @jdog lent me a 2017 cannondale moterra for a week....it was fun, but comparing it to my 2024 Shuttle LT? Night and day in terms of the riding experience. But ill grant you, the range and power might be similar.

And while they are going to be initially expensive, I wouldnt totally sleep on solid state batteries....They exist, they just havent gotten to a mass market price point yet.
Click to expand...

They've definitely made them ride a ton better. When we'd take our Demo Levo fleet to Raystown for our yearly shop trip I couldn't ride one more than a couple miles, I absolutely hated the way they rode. But our 60+ year-old co-workers were able to ride the entire park with us so range and power were the same. Or damn close.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom