Trying a KTM & Haibike at my local forest.

Kinninvie

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 5, 2013
907
415
Teesdale,England
Not mine but borrowed from a fellow Hamsterley rider...
Grim. That was the only way to describe Saturday’s weather forecast for Hamsterley Forest. I crawled out of my pit and looked out of the window. It was indeed gim. It would have been easy to have dropped back in to bed and hibernate but Stockton Cycling and Running had organised a bike demo day and I had booked an hour on an e-bike. I’m not in the market for a new bike and have no particular interest in e-bikes but couldn’t resist the opportunity to ride one. I can’t really have an opinion about them if I have never ridden one.

I arrived at the car park as the rain ceased and walked towards the marquee. Lots of bikes were on show. Mostly Merida models.

After handing over my pedals, showing my ID and signing a form which was probably important and I probably should have read I was taken to the KTM full suss (with a Bosch motor) which I would be riding. I was then given a debrief on the bike. It had a fairly large black and white screen on top of the stem which chunky text reminiscent of old GPS units. It displayed the speed on the middle, a battery status on the top and which mode you were in. There were about 6 modes ranging from off through to turbo and these were selected by pressing up and down on a massive panel on the left of the bars. I tried to lift the bike up to carry it out of the area. I say tried because I could hardly lift it up! These things are really heavy. You can’t imagine how heavy they are until you try and lift it.

Riding out of the car park it was obvious which route I had to take: flat out up the black to Rocky Road. I whacked it it turbo and started to attack the first black climb. I couldn’t stop giggling! I blasted up with very little effort. When I reached the path I was surprised to find myself out of breath - it wasn’t like riding a motorbike - but my legs were as fresh as when I got out of the car. I blasted along the straight in the lowest setting and it was still motoring me along. I reached the sharp left turn so put it in turbo and attacked it. The strangest thing happened. The bike struggled. I had to get up out of the seat and put a fair amount on effort it. I remembered in the debrief being told to use the gears and not just keep it in a high gear and expect the motor to do the work. I shifted down the gears when I got a chance and the motor came to life and again started to push me up the hill in its sprightly manner. Up past Pikes Teeth, beyond Frazer’s and up on to the moors. It was here where the bike had its first technical terain. After the gate there is a bit of a rocky climb. It just powered through it. Because I was able to maintain momentum easily it just went over the rocks and steps as if they weren’t there. So this is what it feels like to be fit! I stopped at the start of Rock Road for a quick photo then I was off again, descending as fresh as a daisy. It was here the bike proved how capable it was descending. Because of its weight it was well planted even in the slippery conditions and the suspension worked well. I was impressed.

I followed the black and found myself at Root 666. I usually miss the gubbins on the right out and just go straight up the steep bit so did the same on the e-bike. I usually reach the wall with my heart pounding out of my chest. On the e-bike I still had to work but I arrived a bit out of breath and with fresh legs so cracked on. Tackling the roots on the climb was fun but it occurred to me that as I had taken most of the challenge out of it I could have just gone up the fireroad and my feet wouldn’t have been soaking wet. I followed the trails down to the bottom and effortlessly returned to the car via the grove link.

A Haibike was available so I got to take that out for comparison. This was lighter (relatively speaking - it still weighed a ton), smaller and more nimble. I headed straight towards the transmitter via uprooted and that was a blast. Again being able to easily maintain momentum helped get over the roots and stones easily and I was at the transmitter in no time. Coming down triple tranny was fun. It felt like I was riding a normal mountain bike. A near effortless blast up to section 13 maintained the big grin on my face. The bike got a few looks from the downhillers who were unloading their bikes from the uplift. The forest was quiet due to the weather - and I didn’t stop as I was going around - but the few people I did talk to were interested in how the bike worked rather than judging me for being on one. Section 13, Boneshaker, an easy blast up the road climb, Special K, Brain Freeze then back to base feeling fresh as a daisy.

I was asked whether I enjoyed it and I did. I really did. It was a great novelty riding up challenging climbs without any effort. I didn’t feel like I was cheating as I wasn’t in a competition. I did, however, feel something was missing at the end of my ride. Endorphins. There were no endorphins fizzing around my head rewarding me for my efforts. You still get a bit of a work out. It is more like the riding you do on a road bike where you go fast and get out of breath rather than go slow and burn your legs out.

Should you get one? It depends what you want to get out of mountain biking. For me, an able bodied rider with a job and a family, riding my mountain bike without doing any exercise doesn’t appeal to me but you should make your own mind up. You can contact Stockton Cycling and Running to take out one of their e-bikes. They are also selling off their 2015 fleet to make way for 2016 models and there is a saving of a couple of grand on bikes that have only done about 20 miles!

Oh, and to be kind to those who take Strava seriously there is an e-bike option so you don't steal everybody's KOMs. I can see some familiar names in the top 5s on segments so it looks like I'm not the only one who has taken an e-bike out around Hamsterley