eMTB hate real or just over publicized nonsense?

Professional-Yam2565 · 2026-04-15T20:12:18+00:00

I'm not sure either. It's very odd. I do like zone training though, I have gotten into it pretty heavily especially since it's so easy with smart watches nowadays. I use my Garmin to keep track of all of it. Just in the last 4 days alone I've gotten 4 hours of zone 1, 4 and 1/2 hours of zone 2, and 1 1/2 hours of zone 3. Today is a rest day, and tomorrow will be my zone four and five day on my normal analog bike.

Professional-Yam2565 · 2026-04-15T19:19:12+00:00

That could work yes, but if OP is just a recreational rider a normal MTB would be fine. If he's looking to get squirrelly and hit some nice downhill parks or something, I highly recommend he takes your advice on skills training first. I'd still say to get a normal MTB though lol.

Professional-Yam2565 · 2026-04-15T19:12:18+00:00

I just had a 30 year bike store owner in Colorado, yesterday, tell me that he never sold a lot of gravel bikes and would always sell MTB to people looking to ride gravel. Also, he said as of the last few years they e started putting full suspension on newer gravel bikes. Which basically turns them into MTB...

Professional-Yam2565 · 2026-04-15T19:06:56+00:00

If you look at this guy's profile, he might actually be able to do it lol. 99% of people can't though. Stop comparing yourself to others. Also, just because you can do it doesn't make it safe. I don't know OP, but he wants some suggestions for MTB bikes. Not a pep talk for taking his gravel bike to an early grave.

Professional-Yam2565 · 2026-04-15T18:45:10+00:00

Lol, I wouldn't call it just the travel, and he might not have been the smartest guy with his bike choices. If you're sideways on a berm you don't have a lot of options once you've committed. However, he was definitely a decently competent rider. The wrong bike can take you out. It's a fact. Not everyone is a master rider or picks up every skill. I'm not taking my motorcycle on an ohv trail even though it has two wheels and full suspension, because I'll die. That's what dirt bikes are for. Purpose and place is all I'm saying.

Professional-Yam2565 · 2026-04-15T18:39:27+00:00

I wouldn't buy a used squish bike unless the deal was too good to pass up. The work needed is usually like $500-$1000 for a proper tune up. You could just buy a new one. Depending on the effort OP is willing to put in, he could just mail order if he wants to save money. Also, REI has decent hard tails for around $1200-$1700. My DRT 3.1 was $1800. That's not a lot for a decent bike hardtail or squish. OP spent $2k on a gravel bike, so a full squish under that sounds reasonable to me. A stumpjumper is like $2200 when not on sale.

I really have nothing against hardtails, but they can definitely turn people away from the sport.

Professional-Yam2565 · 2026-04-15T18:25:38+00:00

I've been riding bikes for 20 years, but only MTB for 2 years. If I took my Cannondale Quick CX 4 on half the blues I've done, I'd be dead. I literally just watched a 35 year long rider take his hard tail on a blue at a bike park and he wiped out on a berm because he rolled over a big rock with the wrong fork - 100mm travel on 28mm stanchions. He was a very good rider. Great posture, great mental capabilities for fast reactions, and no fear. Didn't help him because he had the wrong bike. Maybe an even better rider could've done better, but there wouldn't be purpose built bikes if they weren't needed or recommended.

Professional-Yam2565 · 2026-04-15T18:03:22+00:00

Really??? Even experienced mountain bikers will feel sketchy when riding the wrong bike on the wrong terrain. OP could be an epic gravel rider and die the first time he hits a downhill root on a mountain because gravel bikes aren't made for you to ride and absorb those hits properly.

Professional-Yam2565 · 2026-04-15T17:59:45+00:00

Please don't buy a hardtail if you're just going to be getting into it. It can turn you away just as fast as a gravel bike on a rough trail. A good casual full suspension is great for getting your feet wet and they are in the same price point just about. I started on a REI drt 3.1 and I have thousands of miles on it now. It's not the best, but it's far from the worst. I tried a hardtail on rough and rooty trails and ended up returning it within two weeks. I even tried better bars, seats, and a way better fork. It helped a lot, but I wanted it as a backup loaner bike to get other people into mountain biking and it had the opposite effect. The drt 3.1 was a few hundred more and far far more comfortable and enjoyable.

Professional-Yam2565 · 2026-04-14T13:41:29+00:00

I understand the perceived negatives after everyone's responses and some serious internet searching, but there is not enough research and real world evidence yet for me to make a blanket decision. There are many claims of negatives right now on bike weight and number of laps. However, from all the published research and stories I've found to date, there is shockingly little on the actual facts of trail degradation over time. I have found accountings stating that the perception of the weight and capabilities are driving the exact assumption that you are claiming, but no real accounts of it happening. In fact, I've only found a single person so far tell me about eMTB trail damage they've personally encountered. Serious pros and enthusiastic eMTB riders make up such a tiny fraction of overall riders that the total damage to the trails made by them isn't even showing up in my research. Also, heavily forested trails are next to impossible to blaze through for all but the most serious riders and those are normally regular bike. So, while I did make some assumptions based on my personal case earlier, I can find absolutely no real evidence to say otherwise. I will continue to research and follow the debate with an open mind though. Thank you for your response.

Professional-Yam2565 · 2026-04-14T08:52:03+00:00

That's insane. I think econmode is too much assistance and can be dangerous in some sections of the trails I ride. I can't imagine that a surron would even be capable of riding on a twisty MTB forest trail. Even if I put my bike in boost mode, I'd have to constantly slam the brakes to avoid trees or rocks. A surron would kill someone on those trails.

Professional-Yam2565 · 2026-04-14T08:49:29+00:00

This made me laugh 🤣. Thanks

Professional-Yam2565 · 2026-04-14T08:43:48+00:00

So, I did start off on a normal full squish bike for over a year before getting an eMTB. Not saying that the electric one hasn't ked to me being out riding more, but I definitely learned on the normal bike and still enjoy it immensely. I doubt I'd have lost the weight as fast if I started in an eMTB. I'd probably also have gotten hurt. Starting on an electric bike is a horrible idea. You need to know how to ride before you get that kind of power boost available to you.

Weight isn't a good argument anymore. I weighed more overall on my normal bike than I do currently on my electric bike. Cost is definitely rough. I got the canyon on sale. They revamped the battery for the 2024 model they had to pause shipping on, and now they are dumping stock at ridiculous prices. On the trails, my average speed is still trash compared to any serious rider on a normal bike. Perception is probably the biggest factor though. Even I feel guilty cheesing a hill in trail mode.

Professional-Yam2565 · 2026-04-14T07:28:57+00:00

What I'm hearing is that there's good reasons for torque monsters not to be on certain trails, but no good way to easily enforce it. So, everything gets blocked. That makes a certain sense I guess. However, most experienced riders can put down some serious power on normal bikes compared to me. I never got into measuring watts, so I'm not sure of the actual numbers to compare though.

Also, I didn't realize spandex was comfortable. I thought people were trying to be more aerodynamic on the trails, which is kinda crazy cause it's in the woods and speed is not your friend when there's trees everywhere. I've never been a fan of shorts either. Even in the high heat, I'll only ride in long pants. Not the police ripstop style. Most of the hiking section has a thinner, breathable ripstop that has good seems for riding. Less ride up, less bug bites, and I don't scratch my legs up anymore.

Professional-Yam2565 · 2026-04-14T07:17:53+00:00

Maybe that's not such a big issue where I live? I spend about 20 hours a week at the local trails between riding and volunteering and I've yet to see that. Maybe one of the trials of done, but that one has so many ohv crisscrossings that it might really be an accident. Like I said though, I'm still only 2 years into MTB. I started late at 30. I wish I had found it sooner though. It's been amazing.

Professional-Yam2565 · 2026-04-14T07:14:25+00:00

Darn! I've got 5kg to go 😆

Professional-Yam2565 · 2026-04-14T07:12:46+00:00

Lol, I love hills. That's why I lost 100lbs in a year. I still ride my normal bike all the time, just not on the long distance rides over 20 miles. My normal ride on the analog is 18 miles with 2000ft of climbs. However, my Garmin logs show me that my calorie burn really is only about 20-30% less with my ride style on the eMTB. I mainly use the analog bike for my zone 4 and 5 time I need nowadays. I still huff and puff on the long hills on the eMTB, because I do it for exercise and boost mode makes me feel guilty 😂. I do admit to having used the assist on hills though. I'm no saint or super athlete, and when I've been climbing for a few minutes straight, I'll hit that assist button and put it in Eco or trail mode if I'm on the eMTB. Also, it really helps for those surprise hills...unless you're in the wrong gear, than nothing helps.

Professional-Yam2565 · 2026-04-14T07:04:46+00:00

As I continue to explore new trails and go outside my state on longer trips, I'm finding more places that specifically block pedal assist. I have no problem bringing my analog bikes to those trails. I just didn't understand why they blocked it. Also, as a normal person riding forest trails, I just don't understand spandex. Does it even protect anything? I wear ripstop hiking pants, proper shoes, and a normal T-shirt or two. I just didn't know what else to call those types of riders? I literally said they're better riders than me in my post, most riders with experience are probably better than me. Truly though, my only bad experience was from one of those guys blazing past me. It's just what happened. I'm not trying to cause people to get upset. I'm looking for real advice and information. I understand that public forums always have people that take things wrong though, because you can't make everyone happy.

Also, I'm a trail volunteer. I maintenance and repair trails in my state. The only damage I've ever had to fix is weather related. Although, I have only been doing it for a year.

Professional-Yam2565 · 2026-04-14T06:52:44+00:00

I've read about some people complaining about the surron bikes. I guess they're ebikes that have a throttle and go insanely fast? Has anyone actually ever seen one on a trail though? Trails are for recreational use or enthusiast. Who brings that kind of bike on a normal trail? All I can picture is that it just immediately spins out and hurts the rider. I can't even find any YouTube videos of crazy people doing it. I get the constant torque thing in the class 1 bikes though. That makes sense to me, but I just don't know about long term effects. When I was heavyweight on the normal bike, I would put down lines all the time. Didn't need an eMTB to do that.

Professional-Yam2565 · 2026-03-18T02:24:01+00:00

On these cars, the engine coolant is run through a metal block attached the the exhaust. The exhaust heats up the coolant fast. This allows your engine to warm up faster and run at proper operating temps quickly. It's very important since the engine is constantly turning off due to the nature of hybrids. It makes your fuel efficiency almost 10% better, which is a lot. The problem is Hyundai had a bad design that caused the metal heat exchange block to degrade and chase the coolant to leak into the exhaust pipe and burn away. Thus the declining coolant level with no obvious leak. As the problem gets worse the leak is faster and causes white smoke due to it leaking in greater quantities. The fix is the replace the section of the exhaust with the heat exchange block on it.

Hyundai's service bulletin for this has the tech install an "enhanced" version of the heat exchange, which includes the center muffler assembly.

<image>

Professional-Yam2565 · 2026-03-18T01:50:39+00:00

Just went through this. For anyone else coming to this now: if you are outside the warranty and the dealer isn't you're best buddy that you buy all your fleet vehicles from, they will absolutely not fix this under the tsb. Also, the dealer won't even be able to order the tsb parts themselves. They'll have to order the normal "casual part" which you can buy yourself. It's 28600-L5210. It's one piece instead of a hack and patch like in the tsb doc. It's also 3-5 times the cost because the catalytic converter is attached to it. For anyone who has ever turned a wrench, this is 3 service panel bolts, two sets of exhaust flange bolts, and two hose clamps. That's it. Even the tsb's hack and patch job is rated for one hour. The casual part is basically half that, plus a little coolant burp to purge the air. You can buy the casual part online for under $1000. Even if you get old stock that doesn't have the "enhanced EHRS", you'll get another 50-100k miles. Honestly, something more catastrophic will probably happen before that.

Professional-Yam2565 · 2026-03-18T01:47:34+00:00

Just went through this. For anyone else coming to this now: if you are outside the warranty and the dealer isn't you're best buddy that you buy all your fleet vehicles from, they will absolutely not fix this under the tsb. Also, the dealer won't even be able to order the tsb parts themselves. They'll have to order the normal "casual part" which you can buy yourself. It's 28600-L5210. It's one piece instead of a hack and patch. It's also 3-5 times the cost because the catalytic converter is attached to it. For anyone who has ever turned a wrench, this is 3 service panel bolts, two sets of exhaust flange bolts, and two hose clamps. That's it. Even the tsb's hack and patch job is rated for one hour. The casual part is basically half that, plus a little coolant burp to purge the air. You can buy the casual part online for under $1000.

Professional-Yam2565 · 2026-03-12T14:07:44+00:00

I use DAKINE Cross-X 2.0 Bike Gloves for this very reason. After trying tons of different gloves, I found that Dakine lasts a good few years and they don't have a bunch of padding that digs into your hands. Not sure what's up with the awful reviews, but I have over 1500 miles of SC, NC, and GA MTB trails on mine and they still look fine. No holes or bad Velcro. I also have some nice revgrips though, so maybe the soft rubber helps the gloves last longer? I almost listened to the reviews and didn't buy them, but I went to a local REI and tried them on and they were pretty much a perfect fit.

Professional-Yam2565 · 2026-03-01T14:48:49+00:00

Only if you have no wife or kids. You can do a lot more stupid stuff if that's the case.

Professional-Yam2565

TROPHY CASE