On 23/08/2014 17:22, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Per Lou Holtman:
I was in the Alpes
and Dolomites a month ago and the amount of eletric assisted ATB had
grown a lot since last year. I was passed on the Passo Pordoi on a 8%
stretch by such a bike at double the speed I rode.

I'm surprised to hear that. Maybe Ebikes have come along since I
started dabbling in them a few years back. My sense has been that the
power-to-weight ratio is still poor - even compared to mopeds.

Electrics and electronics are improving. There's a lot of pressure to
improve battery capacity for small electronic devices (ie computers of
sizes from phone to laptop), and the resulting tech will feed into other
areas. People are also getting better at motors. This is all happening
quite quickly, ie what you saw a few years back is probably out of date now.

In Switzerland they have charging stations on popular routes and signs
warning people that electric bikes are faster than they think they are.
I saw a few for hire - looked quite respectable beasts, not shameful to
ride.