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Une nouvelle réalité cycliste / A Brave New Riding World

  • June 17, 2021
  • Mountain Life Media
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mots :: Peter Oliver.

Vieux, pas en forme et paresseux : voilà le portrait type de l’adepte du vélo à assistance électrique. Les vrais athlètes — vrais cyclistes — n’ont pas besoin de l’énergie supplémentaire fournie par un moteur électrique. Seuls les tricheurs l’utilisent. Désolé, encore une fausse nouvelle !

Cette attitude face aux vélos électriques est fréquente alors que les ventes explosent partout dans le monde. Il y a, bien entendu, une part de vérité. Les acheteurs en sont attirés parce que ces vélos facilitent le pédalage, même s’ils ne s’équivalent pas. Certains sont équipés de moteurs plus lourds et plus puissants.

D’autres, plus légers, sont principalement conçus pour fournir une assistance motorisée en cas de besoin, comme pour grimper. Quoi qu’il en soit, lorsqu’on considère le vélo électrique comme un simple outil pour éviter l’effort, on passe à côté de l’essentiel : ils sont la porte d’entrée vers une nouvelle réalité cycliste, celle du plaisir de rouler.

C’est particulièrement vrai pour le vélo de montagne électrique, qui a le pouvoir de transformer un sentier. « Grâce à la puissance et à la vitesse supplémentaires, même un sentier sans grand intérêt peut devenir amusant », souligne Romain Delory, directeur du magasin Vélo Branché à Montréal. Sébastien Beauvais, directeur de compte du Cycling Sports Group au Québec, acquiesce. « On peut s’amuser tellement plus avec le sentier.

Par exemple, une pierre sur laquelle vous auriez simplement roulé avec un vélo de montagne traditionnel peut devenir une rampe de lancement avec l’accélération supplémentaire qu’un vélo électrique peut fournir. » Beauvais n’est pas du type télézard souvent attribué aux e-cyclistes. Ancien coureur cycliste, il lui arrive souvent de grimper au sommet du réseau de sentiers de Bromont trois fois en une sortie, une ascension qu’il ne fait généralement qu’une fois sur un vélo traditionnel.

A Brave New Riding World ramp ALAIN DENIS
ALAIN DENIS

Le segment des vélos de montagne électriques est un peu à la traîne par rapport à celui en plein essor des vélos de route, mais Beauvais pense qu’une récente augmentation des ventes pourrait annoncer « un moment tournant ». Les vélos électriques peuvent rouler plus vite que les vélos sans assistance, ce qui peut créer des conflits lorsque différents types de vélos se croisent sur un sentier étroit.

Selon Beauvais, si la politesse devrait être l’ultime moyen pour éviter les conflits, les fabricants et les détaillants reconnaissent les problèmes potentiels et prennent des mesures pour influencer le comportement des cyclistes. Certains fabricants de bicyclettes, par exemple, expédient des vélos de montagne électriques avec des règles de courtoisie, explique Delory.

Il est difficile de savoir dans quelle mesure les cyclistes suivent ces règles. Et il faudra du temps avant que l’attitude de plusieurs adeptes du vélo de montagne traditionnel envers les “tricheurs” en vélo électrique s’atténue. La vérité : les vélos de montagne électriques ouvrent la voie à un nouveau monde de plaisir — un tout nouveau sport, littéralement survoltant.

La petite histoire de la van life / A Brief History of Van Life


words :: Peter Oliver.

Old, out of shape and lazy—that’s your typical rider of an electrical-assist bike. Right? Real athletes—real cyclists—don’t need the extra oomph that electricity provides. E-bikes are cheater bikes. Sorry—Fake News!

That’s a common attitude toward e-bikes as sales skyrocket around the world, and there is a degree of truth in it, of course. Buyers are obviously attracted to e-bikes because they make cycling easier, although not all e-bikes are created equal. Some have heavier, more powerful motors; others are lighter, mainly designed to provide motorized assistance only when needed (climbing, for example).

Regardless, thinking of e-bikes simply as tools of indolence for avoiding the hard work of real cycling is missing an important point. E-bikes are a gateway to a brave new reality of riding fun, and that’s especially true in e-mountain biking.

A Brave New Riding World Mont Loup Garou Sainte Adele ALAIN DENIS
Félix Hudon sur le Mont Loup-Garou à Sainte-Adèle. ALAIN DENIS

In effect, e-mountain bikes can reinvent a trail. “With the extra kick and the extra speed, even a boring trail can be really fun,” says Romain Delory, manager of the e-bike store Vélo Branché in Montréal. Sebastien Beauvais, Quebec Account Manager for the Cycling Sports Group, agrees. “You get to play with the trail so much more,” he says. For example, a rock you might simply have rolled over with a traditional mountain bike can become a launch pad with the added acceleration an e-bike provides.

Beauvais certainly does not fit the lazy, couch-potato profile often attributed to e-bikers. An active, former competitive rider, he sometimes climbs to the summit of the Bromont trail network three times in a ride, a climb he’d typically make only once on a traditional bike.

The mountain bike segment of the e-bike market has lagged a bit behind booming road bikes, but Beauvais believes that a recent upsurge in e-mountain bike sales could signal “the tipping edge of an explosion.” That does, however, raise caution flags. E-bikes can obviously travel faster than non-motorized bikes, creating possible conflicts when riders on different bike types encounter one another on a narrow trail.

A Brave New Riding World ramp ALAIN DENIS
ALAIN DENIS

Politeness, says Beauvais, should be the ultimate guiding principle to avoid or resolve conflicts, but bicycle manufacturers and retailers recognize potential problems and are taking measures to influence rider behaviour. Some bike companies, for example, are shipping e-mountain bikes with guidelines on trail etiquette, says Delory.

Nevertheless, how closely riders follow those guidelines is uncertain. And it will take time before the dismissive, sometimes confrontational attitude of many traditional mountain bikers toward e-biking “cheaters!” abates.

The truth: E-mountain bikes are ushering in a new world of riding fun—a whole new sport. One that is, literally, supercharged.

From VEM, summer ’20.

De démodé à œuvre d’art / From Old to Art

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