Looking back to the piece I wrote about electric mountain biking back in 2021, Less is more. Does it still stand? Do I see things differently?
Four years ago e-mountainbiking was just erupting in our neck of the woods. Today it pretty much took over. Judging by the people I meet while out riding, sporting a classic bike on our trails is more and more of an exception.
While these four years did not make me any younger, I am happy to report that I still don’t need the help of a motor to pedal uphill. It is obvious for me that sooner rather than later I will need electric assistance to keep enjoying mountain biking, but I am also determined to delay this moment for as much as I can.
I’ve been around long enough to witness first-hand the shift from film to digital in photography, from tape production to digital on video editing. I was in my late twenties when I got my first mobile phone, one with many buttons, and a small, monochrome, non-touch screen. I have learnt to drive in a car without assisted breaking or steering, turning right or left required some proper workout routines.
Nowadays my then-state of the art DSLR photo camera lays forgotten on a shelf, replaced by a smartphone that I can unlock with a touch of a finger(tip). I struggle with assembling this text while Open AIs help in writing an article about electric mountain biking is just one tab and two mouse clicks away. (It might very well do a better job than I do, for sure it would do it much faster).
I have enjoyed and benefited from various technological advances in more ways that I can think of. Why, then, wouldn’t it be similar with electric mountain biking?
Maybe I am just getting too old, and a natural conservatorism is creeping in. But I am growing more and more uncomfortable with the idea of things around me getting too comfortable. It is in our nature to look for easy solutions, to conserve energy, keep it for when it really matters. I fear we’ve reached a point where we are having it too easy, and it is working against us. We are so used in getting newer, better, smarter, funnier, cooler everything that we are actually annoyed when things are, well, just normal.
I know I am loosing this battle with comfort on a daily basis. Delaying chores that are not in any slight way or form exciting. Buying (bike) stuff I don’t really need. Etc.
Sticking with a classic mountain bike and staying away from the ebikes is my way of #resistance. It helps, of course, that I really like it, so it feels like cheating, but I am ok with that.
It doesn’t mean in anyway that going electric is wrong. If that’s your thing, go for it. If you are in the same boat with me, still relying on leg power, and you are interested in a guided trip on some really quiet trails, drop me a message.
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