Originally Posted by
big john
In one hilly area near here there are groups of young men on long travel, high power electric mountain bikes. They wear full face helmets and body armor and I have been warned to stay off the trails they descend on. I've chatted with a couple of them and they were friendly but stay out of their way. This is what concerns mountain bikers, that these guys are going to cost us hard earned trail access.
I know, guys on human powered bikes cause problems, too but this is just amplified.
I presume these are hilly areas with no uplift system for regular DH MTBs? I doubt they will be using motor power on the descents (presuming they are suitably steep for DH riding). The motor on this type of DH MTB is to ride the bike back up to the top of the hill. But I could see how that could create a dangerous situation for other trail users if there were previously no DH bikes, simply because of the lack of an uplift facility ie a chairlift. Motorised DH MTBs effectively turn any steep hill into an instant “bike park”. I can see how that could cause potential problems. Regular unpowered DH riding is effectively limited to areas where you can shuttle your bike back to the top of the descent ie purpose designed courses.