Not Today

The end is inevitable, Maverick. Your kind is headed for extinction.

Rear Admiral Chester "Hammer" Cain.

Maybe so, sir. But not today. 

Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell. 

Top Gun: Maverick (2022).

My rigid steel 2018 Jones 29+, built 2x11 for geared bikepacking.

E-bike this. E-bike that. E-bike whatever.

You do you. 

Not for me.

The current e-bike trend reminds me of racing mountain bikes in the 1990's, when you could outright buy better performance.

Front suspension, and then full suspension, developed at dizzying speeds in chaotic forms, fueling an arms race for the latest, greatest technological breakthrough. Buy the new, shiny gizmo and, if it didn't break, rocket past all your friends and boost your weekend warrior status. Talk about a performance enhancing drug.

Other innovations piled on, promising to make one even faster, smoother, more in control, and more cool.

My 1997 Specialized StumpJumper Pro (circa 2014, when finally sold).
Original frame & cranks, practically everything else replaced after breaking/wearing out.
Final mountain bike with any suspension.

After racing with lighter, better suspension for awhile, I decided not to be the same guy who simply bought technology to ride faster. Or easier. Or over more difficult terrain.

For example, I didn't want suspension to carry me over obstacles. I wanted to ride the best line. If that put an upper limit on speed or the difficulty of the trail, so be it.

So in 2003, I converted to fully rigid, and never turned back.

Yes, I rode slower, crashed more often, and walked more technical stretches than I would have on the latest, greatest suspension wunderbike. But I rode. The bike didn't carry me.

Whatever my level of performance, absolute or relative, I earned. I didn't buy.

My steel 1991 Specialized RockHopper, set up for commuting (circa 2020).
Repainted, rebadged, and re-configured several times, never suspended.

That's where I'm at with e-bikes. They're just not for me.

Now, I ride even slower and over less difficult terrain than a few years ago. I'll probably ride even slower next year. And walk my bike more.

No worries. If you're bikepacking with me, I'll catch up on the next pass, or over lunch, or at the campsite, or sometime the next day, or maybe the next week, or not.

No matter. I know that I'll get there. And that I'm powering my bike. 

E-bike for me?

Not today.

Not today. Maverick Top Gun (2022).