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Tricia

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News from Summit County:
Summit County approves the use of Class 1 e-bikes on the county rec path system

<Snip from article>
Pedal-assisted e-bikes without a throttle and a max speed limit of 20 miles per hour will now be allowed on the county-managed rec path network. Summit County’s board of county commissioners opened up the recapth to Class 1 e-bikes during its regular meeting on Tuesday.
 

Andy Mink

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I'm curious about the 20mph. Does that mean no matter how hard you peddle the bike can't go over 20mph? Or the e-assist shuts off? I mean pretty much any bike can go well over 20mph even without e-assist.
 

martyg

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I'm curious about the 20mph. Does that mean no matter how hard you peddle the bike can't go over 20mph? Or the e-assist shuts off? I mean pretty much any bike can go well over 20mph even without e-assist.

Assist shuts off. Most of these bikes are plenty heavy - enough so that many users will not be able to go any faster an a regular grade.

Todd Wells uses an ebike to commute. In his case he can probably wind it up to whatever speed he wants.
 

Tom K.

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Same in Hood River County, on our mtb trail network. Class 2 and 3 are limited to the OHV portion of the trail network.

Several years ago, my e-bike attitude started out as what I'd now describe as a pretty elitist, snobby approach.

Now I've come around to @martyg approach. Anything that gets people outside and from behind the screens of their various devices is good -- esp kids.

So I guess I better quit typing and head out on a ride!
 

tball

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Note these are not mountain bike trails. They are bike paths like this one:


I think it's great and allows commuting that would otherwise be too difficult for most because of the hills. I don't want to see e-bikes allowed on the mountain bike trails where motorized vehicles are not permitted, but I do think they also make a ton of sense on ski area trails. They could really broaden the trails available and lengthen the season of lift-served type of mountain biking and bring badly needed business to resorts during shoulder season.
 
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Philpug

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Note these are not mountain bike trails. They are bike paths like this one:


I think it's great and allows commuting that would otherwise be too difficult for most because of the hills. I don't want to see e-bikes allowed on the mountain bike trails where motorized vehicles are not permitted, but I do think they make a ton of sense on ski area trails. They could really broaden the trails available and lengthen the season of lift-served type of mountain biking and bring badly needed business to resorts during shoulder season.
I do see this as a first step though.

We were at Interbike at Northstar, which has lift serve mountain biking, what I liked about riding the e-bikes we tested...we didn't need the lifts. That right there is better. I do think that they will have to have one way traffic on the trails though to eliminate head on issues which cuuld get ugly if there gets to be significant uphill traffic.
 

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I don't want to see e-bikes allowed on the mountain bike trails where motorized vehicles are not permitted, but I do think they also make a ton of sense on ski area trails. They could really broaden the trails available and lengthen the season of lift-served type of mountain biking and bring badly needed business to resorts during shoulder season.

How would it lengthen the season?
 

tball

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. I do think that they will have to have one way traffic on the trails though to eliminate head on issues which cuuld get ugly if there gets to be significant uphill traffic.
Yes. I believe all the ski areas around here have designated uphill and downhill-only trails. And, importantly, also have designated hiking trails. All those designated trails, and hopefully more, should minimize the conflict that is the reason I oppose e-mtbs on non-motorized trails elsewhere.
How would it lengthen the season?
The lift-served MTB operating season is pretty short at most of the resorts in Colorado. Pretty much mid-June through Labor Day, with maybe an additional week or two on each end. There's at least a month if not more in the fall when mountain biking is excellent on the ski areas, but there are not enough visitors to justify running the lift(s). e-MTB's allows the use of all the fantastic trail infrastructure without the cost of running the lifts.

Copper Mountain, for example, just invested something like $10M into the Chondola that will be used for summer operations. They don't want to put the hours on that lift when few are using it during shoulder season. e-MTB's give folks the uphill without the cost of running the lift. The uphill is brutal at altitude even for fit visitors.

Same with the daily operating hours during the summer season. There is a lot of great mountain biking to be had in the morning and evening when the lift isn't running. I love doing a self-propelled ride at those time and I have the whole mountain pretty much to myself. I'm happy to share it with a few e-MTB's. There are plenty of trails to go around.
 
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Dave Petersen

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That could be for family and me. Biking from Breck to Frisco is fun -- going back is a workout.
 

tball

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I suppose you could just ride up the hill... :huh::roflmao:
For sure, for those able. All these bike paths are between 9,000 and 10,600 feet and many struggle with the altitude. The hills on many of the paths are not small, either. The road biking on these paths is fantastic for a fit cyclist. This will allow their family and friends to enjoy the biking too.

See great descriptions and maps of road bike rides in Summit County here:
http://www.summitbiking.org/

With a map and descriptions of the rec path rides here:
http://www.summitbiking.org/area_rides/rec-path-map.pdf

What I love is it's road biking with no cars. I know road bikers frown on bike paths, but these are real deal road biking and super fun and challenging.
 
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Now that we have been lumped in with bikes, I guess we can forget any hope of ever being allowed to ride in "wilderness" areas.
 

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