OPINION: Do we need e-bike trails?
Whether you own one yet or not, the ever-increasing presence of eMTBs on the trails is hard to ignore.
Photos: Gerard Lagana, Cam Mackenzie
As we celebrated 200 issues of Australian Mountain Bike, it was hard to look past two of the biggest changes over the last few decades. One is the amount of high quality, purpose-built mountain bike trails that have been funded and we typically get to ride for free, or a minimal cost. The other big change is e-bikes.
Both of these changes have hugely popular outcomes for us as mountain bikers. Firstly, we have more trails to ride all over the country. Think of places like Blue Derby, Falls Creek, most of south-western Australia, Fox Creek Bike Park and so many other places we all love to ride. Or of course one of the original mountain bike destinations – Rotorua in New Zealand. The layout of the trails in the Whakarewarewa forest is one that has evolved over time, spreading through the huge forest network, criss-crossing the native forest and the plantation. The soil's pumice base deals really well with water – and has near limitless traction.
If you've spent any time aboard a nice eMTB, you will appreciate the ability to ride more trails. With the support there on the climbs and flats you can churn through more kilometres. Whether you use that to get access to more remote trails, challenge yourself on technical and longer climbs, or just self shuttle for more descents is up to you. The outcome is the same – you're riding more trails.
I spoke to Casey King, the Trail Leader from the Rotorua Trails Trust. An eMTB is an excellent way to explore the 200km of trails in the Whakarewarewa forest, but the boom in all types of riders on the trails and the way they get ridden has impacted how he and the trail team plan and build trails.
'Our soil is quite soft and fluffy, and washes away quickly – so braking bumps can form quickly. When you come into a corner you do need to slow riders down by slight uphills so they don't need to brake too much and wreck the surface, they can really flow through.'
As the Whakarewarewa forest is a working forest, Casey and his team often get to rethink a trail if a coupe has been logged. Turkish Delight is a recent example, as it flows up a climb, before flowing back down with a couple of extra features built in. Given the trail is close to the main Waipa trail head and the Trek Rail eMTB hire fleet, the trails have been built with extra use in mind – and to make sure they're fun on the e-bikes.
Given you can ride climbs at up to 25km/h on an eMTB if you really give it the beans, the climbing trails have berms on the corners so you can keep pedalling and maintain your momentum into the next corner. For any rider it's a great experience as the camber guides you up the hill, over the top and into a speedy descent with a few jump options thrown in. But importantly, it's a blast on an eMTB and works to play to an eMTBs strengths.
Having ridden an eMTB and ridden the shuttles in the Whakarewarewa forest, I know which one let me ride more trails. While on the dirt in the Redwoods I saw plenty of other riders using eMTBs as a way to access some of the trails further out from the main hub, including the more demanding grade 5 trails. And plenty of riders were using hire eMTBs to ride the grade 2 and 3 trails closer to the main hub, and everyone was having a good time.
I think we are on the cusp of change in how trails are being designed and built. On the one hand, many new developments are built around shuttle access, for shuttle companies to employ drivers and aid in access to some awesome descents. And this is an awesome service for riders. But when I see an eMTB being loaded onto a shuttle trailer, I see a missed opportunity. A fun climbing trail will often result in a faster turnaround, which means more trail time.
Given the handling of eMTBs and motor performance has really improved over the past 5 years, the types of trails an eMTB can climb is incredible. Josh Carlson showed this on his visit to Blue Derby, and YouTube is full of rider's feats. With brands like Bosch adding their Extended Boost function to assist with step ups and speed for gaps by keeping assistance on for a few seconds once you stop pedalling, maybe we'll see another evolution of trails. An evolution where there are more lines on climbs and descents, adding variety for different riders and different bikes. And if you can ride more trails and sit in a bus less, what's not to like?
