[ianhowson]

At least here in NorCal, it's not trail damage that's the issue. It's:

* people riding beyond their ability (too fast, too technical) and getting injured

* batteries overheating and stranding the rider somewhere they can't climb out of, requiring heli rescue and risking wildfires

I also don't like to be overtaken by someone who isn't suffering as much as I am [1] and it makes me feel bad.

[1] Not really, I also ride a road e-bike which strokes my fragile ego.

[dd_roger]

I'm personally convinced that there's no justification for banning eMTBs (or any other negative sentiments toward them really) beside gatekeeping.

There's nothing about eMTBs allowing people to venture in more difficult trails than with normal MTBs. Most terrains that are too hard on a normal MTB will be even harder on an eMTB because you loose some agility and the ability to carry the bike over unrideable sections.

I often see people complain about "how fast eMTBs go in some climbs, which is dangerous to bystanders". This is the most ridiculous argument, completely unrelated to eMTBs. Regardless of the terrain (uphill, downhill, flat, ...) I always slow down to ~walking speed when passing someone if the trail isn't wide enough to put at least ~1.5 meter between me and them. Meanwhile the same people who complain about eMTBs being dangerous bomb down the hill past hikers at 25+ km/h. Anyway, a long rant to basically say that any argument about speed is only ever relevant if brought up in the context of educating people to be more courteous riders regardless of the bike they ride.

Finally, you're orders of magnitudes more likely to be stranded because you punctured and forgot your repair kit (or whatever other damage to your bike that can't be fixed trailside) than due to overheating battery or whatever improbable scenario people come up to justify hating on eMTBs.

[ianhowson]

I generally agree with you. I don't personally find eMTBs to be bothersome, and fully expect to be riding one when I'm not physically able to ride an acoustic MTB. And I definitely agree with you re. bystanders, where regular MTBs are fast enough to be dangerous.

The only point where I disagree is:

> There's nothing about eMTBs allowing people to venture in more difficult trails than with normal MTBs

If you want to go down the hill, you need to climb up the hill. This is a skill and fitness gate, normally; you're not going to tackle a difficult or extended descent if you don't think you can climb out again.

Soquel Demo Forest, one of the very popular Bay Area spots, bans eMTBs. It might be reasonable in this case due to the elevation profile. From the car park you need to climb for 20-40 minutes. You descend. You then have another long climb back to the carpark. It's a worst-case scenario for batteries, and because the area is so popular, it tends to attract people riding beyond their limits already.

I don't personally care, and I don't want to tell people not to enjoy an activity, but I can understand the reasoning in some cases.