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Sorry Ted, that's BS. These are not a niche product being marketed to people
with physical issues limiting their access -- and a tiny % of the bikes sold
will be used for this purpose.
E-Motorized offroad bikes are this industries answer to three-hole-Golf
courses with larger holes. They are about getting a maximum % of an experience
for a minimum amount of effort. They are about saying "I played a round of
golf at lunch" without qualifying it was three short holes with a hockey net
on each green.
They are about able-bodied people accessing your favourite trails at Burke,
Eagle, the Whistler Flank, and many other places that require a serious
commitment to ride without making that commitment.
And, if these companies sell as many bikes as their investment indicates they
believe they will then they will create huge issues.
I love mountain biking -- but when I am too old or broken to do it I would
rather accept that then ruin it for anyone else. Somewhere - guaranteed -
these bikes will result in trail closures if they catch on.
Absolutely Cam & Co can take the "let the consumer choose" approach… they
have to eat. But it doesn't change the fact that their publication is born of
an area that had - and has - huge access issues and I would, personally, be
disappointed if they chose to ignore that in what they include under the
heading "Mountain Biking."
Nov. 4, 2014, 8:51 a.m. - DrewM
#!markdown Sorry Ted, that's BS. These are not a niche product being marketed to people with physical issues limiting their access -- and a tiny % of the bikes sold will be used for this purpose. E-Motorized offroad bikes are this industries answer to three-hole-Golf courses with larger holes. They are about getting a maximum % of an experience for a minimum amount of effort. They are about saying "I played a round of golf at lunch" without qualifying it was three short holes with a hockey net on each green. They are about able-bodied people accessing your favourite trails at Burke, Eagle, the Whistler Flank, and many other places that require a serious commitment to ride without making that commitment. And, if these companies sell as many bikes as their investment indicates they believe they will then they will create huge issues. I love mountain biking -- but when I am too old or broken to do it I would rather accept that then ruin it for anyone else. Somewhere - guaranteed - these bikes will result in trail closures if they catch on. Absolutely Cam & Co can take the "let the consumer choose" approach… they have to eat. But it doesn't change the fact that their publication is born of an area that had - and has - huge access issues and I would, personally, be disappointed if they chose to ignore that in what they include under the heading "Mountain Biking."