The problem I’ve always had with allowing electric-motorized bicycles on multi-user, natural-surface trails is that they are motorized. While a hiker or mountain biker may experience incremental gains in the amount of trail used in an hour by improving their physical condition and technique, the operator of a motorized bicycle can record substantial speed improvements by upgrading equipment. Case in point, the $10,300 Nicolai G1 EBOXX mountain bike.
Nicolai explains the bike uses a Bosch motor that was “tested for months in secret.” This months-long testing (that doesn’t seem like a lot of testing to me) resulted in a claimed 6.4 pound motor with 75 Nm of torque. The battery is a 625Wh BOSCH Powertube battery (just shy of America’s 750-watt limit). Nicolai says it runs specifically-designed software to deliver the finest responding mountain bike motor on the market. They explain this 2020 model is “smaller, lighter, stronger and quieter.”
Nicolai, a German company, gives other motorized bike companies a target to shoot at with their G1 EBOXX. They also prove why these vehicles should never have been permitted on multi-user, natural-surface trails. The motorized bicycle wars will be fought in your parks and on your hiking trails. All other users, take cover.
