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Looking back to 2020, modern mountain bikes have long become “unrecognizable”, and various technologies are emerging one after another. Which electric assist or traditional mountain bike should be chosen, which wheel diameter model should be chosen, which strength model should be chosen, modern or conservative geometric choices… These various choices are placed in front of mountain bikers. How should I choose?
Okay, let’s not talk too much nonsense, let’s talk about mountain bikes and electric power assistance today. Many people say that electric power assistance is “soulless”, and that only the weak need electric power assistance… But in fact, mountain bikes and electric power assistance are more suitable.
Before starting this article, let us look at a set of data. Since 2014, the most dazzling product in the European bicycle market is electric bicycles. Take the “Bike Kingdom” Netherlands as an example. In 2014, sales of electric mopeds were 223,000 units, which doubled in 2018 to 409,000 units, accounting for 40.9% of new car sales.
Mountain biking is a very developed and very common sport. Most mountain biking parks have very complete professional venues. In addition to professional and scientific tracks, the most enviable thing about these venues is their complete cable cars. You can get to the starting point without any effort.
As we all know, the most interesting and challenging part of mountain biking is downhill, and many games are designed for downhill (such as Enduro and DH). Therefore, having complete uphill equipment will allow riders to spend more time enjoying pure downhill sports, which will make cycling more fun.
Power assist can help the rider go uphill faster and easier, make the rider more focused on the downhill, get more fun, and greatly improve riding efficiency. In the uphill phase, you can also “play with treasures” like the downhill phase. This is the benefit of electric assist
The addition of electric assist will not bring too much change to mountain biking itself
After all, mountain biking is about passing as fast as possible on the track. The most important factor in this is the skills and technology of the rider. The addition of electric assist will not change this. It will only make the rider more labor-saving during the uphill process, and will not bring too much to the mountain riding itself. That is, the rider’s enjoyment of using their own technology to pass faster during the downhill process will not be affected.
On the other hand, road riding relies more on personal physical fitness, physical strength, etc. The addition of electric assistance will affect itself, which is equivalent to having a “plug-in”. Such riding is unacceptable to many riders.
Electric-assisted mountain bike equipment itself has a low impact on mountain bikes
Compared with conventional mountain bikes, electric-assisted mountain bikes have higher weight and lower center of gravity. In the uphill phase, due to the intervention of electric power assistance, the increase in self-weight is not a problem, while other differences such as the center of gravity and geometry have little effect on climbing. In the downhill phase, the larger deadweight influence is also acceptable (at least among the models that I have contacted), and it will even be more stable due to the increased deadweight. At the same time, due to the continuous improvement of mountain bike geometry in recent years, the controllability of electric assist has been greatly improved compared with the past. Of course, it’s a little bit harder when facing sharp turns.
The addition of electric assistance makes mountain riding more approachable
mountain biking longer. The addition of electric assist will make riding easier, and physical strength is not a problem, because electric assist will give you enough help.
Let you ride further
With the same physical strength, using electric assist can help you ride further. This is easy to understand. At the same time, electricity can also help you become a “professional”. With a power supply, it is easy to keep up with those “cruel guys” who blow you up fiercely, and even you can easily unplug them. Blast them. But, don’t play too much, so as not to run out of battery, in this case, the road will become very, very long (don’t ask how I know, if you ride a 30 kg waste battery, you will know after running. Over 20 kilometers).
Relatively loose laws and regulations
Some people will say that all power is used for assistance, why don’t I look for (electric motorcycle) or off-road motorcycle? In fact, laws and regulations have relatively loose requirements for electric bicycles. Electric mountain bikes can be said to be “big toys” that can be played in the mountains, and they are the easiest to get “buff” rewards in laws and regulations.
Electricity-assisted mountain bikes develop faster and more mature
Compared with electric-assisted road bikes, electric-assisted mountain bikes are more easily accepted, so manufacturers are more willing to develop on electric-assisted mountain bikes. Electric-assisted mountain bikes have a more complete product line. Almost every top mountain bike brand has its own electric-assisted mountain bikes, and there are many options when purchasing. Secondly, in recent years, electric-assisted mountain bike technology has also made great progress. Longer battery life, lighter weight, smarter power assist mode, etc., all of which make electric-assisted mountain bikes more powerful and mature.
Hotebike is selling electric bicycles, if you are interested, please click on hotebike official website to view