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  1. jabberwocky

    Total e-bike ban after a fatality in Key Biscayne, FLA

    I don't fully agree with everything he says, but I think the video illustrates the problems we are facing in the fight for wider access, and even just keeping the access we have. A large subset of people purchasing "ebikes" don't actually want an assisted bicycle, they want an unregulated...
  2. jabberwocky

    Tools Needed

    Really depends where you ride. I have thousands of miles on my gravel bike with conventional gravel tires setup tubeless (Giants OEM Crosscut tires and then Panaracer Gravelking SKs) with zero flats on some pretty rough roads. I detest how heavy flat resistant tires feel, but modern tubeless...
  3. jabberwocky

    Tools Needed

    You just gotta decide how much you want to be prepared to handle while on a ride. Personally, I prep for common issues (which is basic adjustments and flats) and anything beyond that I'll call my wife for a pickup. So my kit is generally a pump of some sort (I have several but most are Topeak...
  4. jabberwocky

    Total e-bike ban after a fatality in Key Biscayne, FLA

    I would extend this thought further and suggest it may seem stupid to us, but could be perfectly logical for the government if the outcry from banning (or heavily regulating) is less of a concern that doing something to assuage citizens who have issues with them. I don't personally think...
  5. jabberwocky

    Total e-bike ban after a fatality in Key Biscayne, FLA

    Its a nice thought, but I'll eat my hat if even 25% of households own an ebike within my lifetime. Bicycles have been around for well over a century, and motorcycles just about as long, and while both have carved out a niche for themselves neither have ever built up ownership numbers that...
  6. jabberwocky

    Keeping it Legal for the Common Good, Staying Within the Legal Classes

    The good news is we don't really have to speculate about power outputs for elite/pro cyclists, many of them post training and race numbers. The top guys can sustain ~5w/kg for an hour, and in the 4-4.5w/kg for 3-4 hours. Rider weights vary (dedicated climbers tend to be super thin, time...
  7. jabberwocky

    Total e-bike ban after a fatality in Key Biscayne, FLA

    For sure. Ebikes are extreme newcomers to the access and advocacy scene, but some of us act like we have an inalienable right to be anywhere we want, riding whatever we want, and any restrictions on those are sinister gubmint overreach. Its very, very different than the attitude I'm used to in...
  8. jabberwocky

    Total e-bike ban after a fatality in Key Biscayne, FLA

    Yeah, I completely agree, but its definitely a difficult line to toe. The term "ebike" encompasses a pretty wide range of capabilities these days, from class 1 city bikes up to things that toe the emoto line (or drive over the line at 45mph). The scrambler style bikes like the Super 73s are...
  9. jabberwocky

    Fancy Soft or hard shell armor (possibly with airbag?) for ebike rider (20-30mph)

    MTB armor in whatever flavor would probably work. You can do individual pieces (knee/shin, forearm/elbow, gloves) or get a full jacket generally used for DH racing. Leatt/Fox/Troy Lee Designs/7iDP/etc all make good options. The main issue is they take time to put on and off. Not a ton, but...
  10. jabberwocky

    Total e-bike ban after a fatality in Key Biscayne, FLA

    IMO the takeaway for the broader ebike community is that access is tenuous and it doesn't take as much as some people think to put it at risk. This is a small community with preexisting opposition, but the underlying dynamics (kids/teens riding "ebikes" that are basically motorcycles on public...
  11. jabberwocky

    Dutch Police not messing about.

    On the one hand, its really hard to imagine something like this in the US. I mean, police generally can't be arsed to enforce traffic laws on cars, which actually kill a staggering amount of people every year. But conversely, its pretty easy to imagine some politician deciding this is an issue...
  12. jabberwocky

    Yamaha Y-01W AWD & Y-00Z MTB

    They switched those bikes at the end of 2021/early 2022, which means the decision was made a lot earlier than that. Thats back when the pandemic boom was still in full swing and lots of various parts are unavailable or in short supply. Its possible it was some sort of shot over the bow of...
  13. jabberwocky

    Yamaha Y-01W AWD & Y-00Z MTB

    Yeah, Giant switched some Canadian market bikes to Shimanos EP8 a year or two ago. AFAIK those are the only ones but I haven't checked all their regions. Giant has released new US market bikes since then and they've all still been Yamaha motors. At the time I assumed Giant wasn't getting...
  14. jabberwocky

    Yamaha Y-01W AWD & Y-00Z MTB

    “It’s well know that companies with Y in their names cannot make bikes and if they did they would crumple like wet paper the moment you looked at them. That’s why real companies like Specialized and Giant don’t have Ys in their names. I rest my case. [random pictures of some other brands bikes]”...
  15. jabberwocky

    Yamaha Y-01W AWD & Y-00Z MTB

    I've worked in a bike shop and know several professional bike mechanics. I think your perception of what the job entails is a little... romantic. Bikes are not complicated. A lot of the bike mechanics you deal with are people who came in with little to no experience and basically learned on...
  16. jabberwocky

    Yamaha Y-01W AWD & Y-00Z MTB

    Anyone who has worked on motorcycles will be able to learn bleed a bike brake in a few minutes. They are very similar. Honestly, anyone who works on motorcycles and engines all day is going to find the vast majority of bike maintenance to be easy mode. Whether the dealer is going to invest in...
  17. jabberwocky

    Yamaha Y-01W AWD & Y-00Z MTB

    I own a Giant ebike, and honestly my impression is the company support is lackluster. My local shop is great and willing to harass Giant when necessary to resolve things, but I haven't gotten the impression the company-to-shop support is very impressive. My shop has said as much. That said...
  18. jabberwocky

    Yamaha Y-01W AWD & Y-00Z MTB

    Do you actually know how Yamahas dealer support is? They have no presence in Poland, fine, but in the US there are a lot of Yamaha dealers. Many of those dealers probably are green with ebike stuff, but they already have showrooms and workshop sand mechanics, and bikes aren't that difficult to...
  19. jabberwocky

    Yamaha Y-01W AWD & Y-00Z MTB

    Dude, I think you've taken too many hits off the Specialized marketing departments crack pipe. Specialized makes a fine bike. Purchasing them because they have excellent dealer support where you live is totally legit, and not purchasing a Yamaha (or whatever other brand) because they don't is...
  20. jabberwocky

    Yamaha Y-01W AWD & Y-00Z MTB

    I genuinely don't get what the "motorcycling" comment means in the context of this thread. Yamaha does make actual motorcycles, but their ebikes are definitely ebikes. Class 1s and class 3s, even the concept bike this thread is about is just using their standard mid drive coupled to a front...
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