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They are great at making mountain biking fun and welcoming aren't they.

No doubt they will make the most of whatever comes their way.

They definitely seem to have found the recipe for making it fun!

@downtimepodcast I was fortunate to meet Bex and Chloe at Fort William in April. I was just coming back from completing the Macavalanche, and they asked me how I did.

@@Brownef1sh how nice is that! Good humans for sure.

Super interesting and I'm glad you've found a way to keep them at bay.

@@downtimepodcastit is. They come on with no warning at all. You can be full blown in one within less than five seconds. If you haven’t had one before, it’s very frightening! I felt one coming on route to my mums house. As soon as I got there I had to tell her what’s happening. I went straight to bed, and stayed there for over 48 hours. Room spinning incapacitated and throwing up. I wouldn’t wish them on anyone. I went private for a diagnosis and was put on abortive medication. But that didn’t touch the sides. At work one night one came on. I had to sit out the shift. Then, after some hours, I felt vaguely ok to drive, driving home throwing up on myself. I woke up the next day and searched vestibular migraines on TH-cam and found a video, five years old and only 250 views explaining how they are produced? By vertebrae one and two seizing and putting pressure on a nerve. So I ask my chiropractor if he could help. Which he did.

We have an episode with Hattie from 2021 here www.downtimepodcast.com/hattie-harnden/ but I agree I need to get her back on the show at some point soon.

Between working 5 12hour shifts with a full fitness routine in the gym throughout the week and hiking in between at the end of the week I don't want to challenge myself anymore I want fast efficient effortless fun I spent years cycling analogue bikes up hills. I still have my aggressive hardtail and analog full sus but I also have a expensive emtb and I love it

One way you have to look at it. Good or bad, E is taking over the MTB world. I figure in about 5 years (or even less), there just won’t be many non electric MTBs around anymore. Even outside of MTB, any teenagers these days are on E-bikes. Mostly class 2s or 3s, and these kids find the idea of riding a standard bike unfathomable. Road biking will be dead in the not too distant future. Pointless to worry because this is what’s coming.

Thanks Ben, Isa is incredible!

I'm normally like that with every bike swapping things out over and over but I recently picked up a actionteam 140 and for once I feel like I don't need to change a thing it's still stock and I love it that way now it does have high spec tho

​@@sersolo3112 glad you found the right bike in the right spec for yourself!

Glad you enjoyed it!

Isabeau is an incredible athlete for sure

It's going to be great to see what he brings to the channel!

I was thinking the same .I spent today on a amflow ,the bike has an awful on off surge at 15mph + making it hard to ride over the 15mph limit . The motor is strong the whole package isn’t great

😂😂😂😂 you’re joking right America is literally the laziest county in the world Our country has the highest obesity rate in the world we’re always looking for a quick fix. Ozempic and fast food for example

@ your right! But we are still the richest country and we have the most powerful armed forces. Both are true.

@@matthewesquivel9551 That's a pretty stereotypical thing to say. Still the richest and most powerful, for a country of cheese burger eaters, we sure whoop everyone's ass in the Olympics... Do we do everything right? Hell no.. That's why you can't paint with a broad brush.. A good way to get the majority of people more in shape and out of their houses is promoting ebike use at least at the class 1 level... Too many people think of surrons and commuter bikes when they think of ebikes.

Millennials are in their 40s now, how long you planning on waiting? 😂

@@TheArrowFist So how does that tie in to anything?

I agree - time for him to leave.

@@AliB-cf3bq Neil has lost any enthusiasm for mountain biking years ago. It seems like he is just doing it for the pay check now.

Gotta be honest he really doesn't seem very "excited" here, he's saying the words but it the feeling isn't coming across.

Nah I think that's just his personality... I prefer him to Blake

@@Jasonthomas-m4p Not everyone has to act like a clown in a circus to entertain their audience. I've always liked Neil's segments personally. Love Blake too though.

lol you really think a beginner rider’s going straight to a $5k bike… nobody’s forcing people to buy expensive bikes and nobody’s forcing anyone to help someone back to their car, if someones riding over their skill level they’ll learn eventually lol mtb is inherently dangerous anyway

These are all tired and unfounded arguments against... so to counter your points above: 1. They are certainly not 'unnecessary' any more than any bicycle being ridden for pleasure is 'necessary' - sure, if you live in a primarily flat area (where you might only ever have a few hundred feet elevation change at a time), the requirement to have an element of pedal-assistance is diminished... but conversely if you live (or choose to ride) anywhere where there are sustained climbs of 1000-2000ft or more to get to the trailhead, then you're soon going to appreciate some pedal assistance! 2. Li-ion batteries can last for many years, and many elements of Lithium batteries can be recycled, although whether there is currently the incentive to do so is another matter... 3. Generally speaking, it is your bravery and experience level which dictates how fast you ride - not the bike you're on. eMTBs are only real faster uphill anyway - the assistance cuts out at 15.5mph (in the UK/EU) and 20mph in the US, so anything fast than that is down to you. 4. You can buy a good eMTB for similar money to a mid-high spec non-assisted bike (between $3000-6000), so the price of entry is far more attainable if you want it to be. 5. It's nonsense to suggest any form of mountain biking is 'elite' - as with many hobbies and pastimes, you can spend as much or as little on a bike, whether it's assisted or not. These days its not an especially cheap hobby, but equally the quality and performance of even an entry level MTB is far better than what we had even 10 and certainly 20 years ago. There are also any number of secondhand bikes out there if a brand new bike is beyond your financial reach. 6. Crowded trails - you mean pubic spaces? Unfortunately you are going to find rude people in every walk of life, but there are also plenty of courteous and experienced riders on eMTBs too. 7. As for something 'failing' - a Class-1 pedal assist bike can still be pedalled back to the car with the motor/battery off, just like any other bicycle. 8. And finally, it's a bit hypocritical to suggest that eMTB riding is somehow 'elitist' when you go on to suggest that not everyone should be able to ride MTBs to begin with?

@@javi3_14 yes they are the average decent bike is around 2500 to 3k and that’s for a hardtail. The mechanics at my lbs are always trying to fix the lower end e mtb’s that are actually ridden a lot on our local trails. And to your point about helping people that’s a douche thing to say I would and do stop to assist anyone on trail that needs help that’s just biker code mtb or moto.

@@yodapig long winded much 1. I live in Southern California 10 min ride to over 5,000 ft elevation. 2. Batteries are horrible for the environment. 3. People are stupid. 4. I can get a decent used car for that much money decent hard tails are over 2k alone. 5. All the people I ride with can’t afford a decent modern bike and the local youth where I’m from parents definitely can’t justify the price of a decently capable bike where are you from? 6. I agree there are some courteous e mtb but most of them are older and well versed in trail etiquette, unfortunately majority are not. 7. Yes you can still ride them but sucks to be you. 8. E bikes start around the price of a used car on Craigslist. Where I’m from most people can’t justify a months wages on a bike, and that’s a cheap one a good one is around 5-10 k who has that kind of money just burning a hole in their pocket, not majority of people. Must be nice to live in that world. Same shit happened to winter-sports who the F can afford a 200 dollar lift ticket again must be nice. And for reference I’m a guide and outdoor educator so it’s not like I’m working at target.

@@yodapig you really think 3-6k is attainable to most people not in the world I live in. Batteries are no good for the environment and are not being recycled. Just like the ski industry, I hate to tell you but most people don’t have a couple thousand just sitting around to spend on any bike, just like most people don’t have 200 dollars for a day lift ticket at the local ski resort. And yes mountain biking has become elitist just take a look at the types of cars at the trailheads and abundance of 5k plus bikes must be nice to be that privileged. I’m a guide and outdoor educator it’s not like I’m working at Walmart and I have no where near that type of disposable income and neither do most hard working average people.

The main issue in the US is the proliferation of Class-2 and throttle only e-bikes (rather than Class-1 eMTBs), plus Surrons and the like... It's tiresome trying to explain the fundamental difference between a Class-1 bike (which is what all the mainstream manufacturers offer) and cheap imports and home-brew electric bikes time and time again - and you can see why some authorities don't want to have to differentiate (or rely on their Rangers to do so), so just 'ban' everything...

Thank you!

@@yodapighence the beed for people like Joker. Ignorance and laziness is not an excuse for our land managers.

I did a trip to Marquette area with a group of guys and had a blast on the those trails. It's also a great town. Earlier this year when I looked into going back with my e-bike, all the trails I was interested in riding were closed to e-bikes, so no go. Correct me if I'm wrong!

@@drc2088 Michigan is now fully legal for emtbs, including Copper Harbor trails. The Marquette trails (Nomequon Trail Network - NTN) was actually at the forefront of demonstrating that emtbs were just fine for trail sustainability and have allowed emtbs for the last two years (even though michigan still had the prohibition in effect). Now, aside from a dozen or so controlled game hunting areas and Federal wilderness preserves (which don't really have any 'mountain bike trails'), it's pretty much wide open for ebikes! I gotta say, it changes everything for really getting into those up north trails

Totally agree, he's so passionate about it that his detailed knowledge is amazing.

I think it's perhaps because both of those criticisms are unfounded (and repeated ad infinitum on every eMTB thread)... Yes, in like for like conditions an eMTB can be easier to ride - especially up steeper hills - but fundamentally you can choose how much assistance you get (from max to min to none at all if you wish) - and it is that flexibility which allows you to ride much further and more frequently than you might otherwise do on a non-assisted bike. Therefore it is really up to the user to decide how much riding the eMTB is going to affect their overall fitness longer term. Also, and perhaps fundamentally to this 'argument' is that no one is insisting you give up your existing bike - it's not an either or decision, you can have both - as Neil says above, it's nice to have the option of riding assisted or not, as conditions and circumstances dictate.

Because it's nothing to do with age you can be lazy on either or go all out on either. Take one out and run a heart rate monitor and ride it hard up and down the trails. I like to ride both

@@yodapig Perfect post regarding not being 'either or', and about the great merits of a long day with multiple climbs and therefore more downhill fun. Although I don't want to go down the tech trails here on an eMTB TBH. Looks difficult to manouvre. The 'criticisms' as you see them however, are not even criticisms, they are points of view. Besides that, if you don't have the option of 'assist', you can't choose it, if you do, at some point you will. This is realism. I ride with various people. One guy, who is very fit indeed, always shows up on an eMTB. I hate it. Uses his power to get up the hills, then when others catch up, just speeds off again on the next trail. It's Japan, so no-one raises a fuss, but I think it's very selfish. EMTB is all good, but I wish people would show some common courtesy.

If you just plod around the same trail centre routes then e bikes are easy and will have a not negative but not positive more neutral effect on the body. Its still good cardio but you wont be conditioning any 😢muscle. If you use the advantage of an ebike however its an insane workout. I cleaned Snowdon (our highest mountain) a few weeks ago my heart rate was at 85% of maximum for a solid hour and hauling up the techy rocky jankyness is full on physical effort. E bikes are more than mtb, thats what the haters hate

@@amud1eI still get out of breath on my ebike and have to take breaks. It’s a different kind of ride.

Ditto here.