This is precisely the "Gatekeeping" attitude we face.

CloneWerks

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Old article, but sent to me by an associate who was "trying to prove a point" about how eBikes are horrible. When I pointed out the age of the article and how much had changed since then he pretty much dismissed me out of hand. In other words the article is dated, but the Gatekeeping attitudes represented are still alive and well in 2022.

Opinion: Friends Don't Let Friends Ride E-Bikes​


Recently, one of mountain biking's original freeriders posted an Instagram photo of himself out for a ride. Now, normally this wouldn't be a big deal – just another day in the office for a pro rider slightly past his prime trying to keep his sponsors happy with little pictures and long lists of hash tags. Except that he was on an electrically assisted mountain bike. Mind you, this is a rider who was once famous for riding the slipperiest, gnarliest trails around, back when most riders were still sporting spandex and rocking bar ends. Seeing him on an e-bike was like seeing Guy Martin puttering around on a Honda Goldwing trike, or Cedric Gracia sipping tea and knitting a sweater – it just didn't seem right.

Now, I understand that maybe, just maybe, there's a place in the world for e-bikes. If a little old lady has her driver's license taken away and wants to save energy while pedaling to the store for some Metamucil, fine, she can use an e-bike. But off-road, electrically assisted mountain bikes? They shouldn't exist, yet somehow they're gaining traction in the marketplace, especially in Europe. At last year's Eurobike trade show there were electric motors bolted to every type of bike imaginable, with eager salesman waiting to pop out of their booths and spout off the list of benefits that a heavy motor brings to mountain biking. Most of these sales pitches were along the lines of, “It allows you to go farther then you would be able to without a motor.”

Full article at this link
 
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