In an interview a few days ago, Enrico Guala threw a stone in the pond. A reflection that, in the world of e-bikes, sounds like a warning: the uncontrolled increase in power risks undermining the very foundations of the assisted world.
When I heard these words, the question I asked myself was the following:
but is it really a damage?
To answer, we need to take a step back.
E-bikes have changed everything (maybe too much)
In recent years, pedal-assisted bicycles have literally the world of MTB has been turned upside down.
Their diffusion is now widespread and will continue to grow, especially in areas such as:
- alternative daily mobility
- outdoor tourism
- “expanded” enjoyment of the mountain
So far, nothing negative. On the contrary.
The problem arises when you look at the sporting and cultural heart of MTB, the one who built this discipline in the last decades.
An unbalanced market
Today the off-road market presents a fact that cannot be ignored:
9 electric bikes sold for every 1 muscular one.
This imbalance brings with it a direct consequence:
The investments in marketing, communications and sponsorships they are moving almost exclusively towards e-bikes.
The question, at this point, becomes inevitable:
Why invest in XC, Enduro or DH teams if the product you sell is almost exclusively electric, to an audience that often doesn't even know that world?
From an industrial point of view, it is an understandable choice.
From a cultural point of view, however, it is a huge risk.
Without competitions there is no community
Competitions are not just sporting events.
They are places of aggregation, catalysts of passions, dreams and identities.
The competitions create:
- community
- reference models
- shared languages
- new practitioners
This applies to all disciplines, even the most unconventional ones: from freeride to skateboarding, from surfing to dirt.
Without a common cultural foundation, a discipline doesn't grow. It disappears.
The great void of e-bikes
And this is where the real problem arises:
What are the key events for e-bikes today?
- Traditional races (XC, Enduro, DH) lose some of their human value with electric assistance
- Motorsports remain unreachable
- If we free up power and speed, What's the difference between an e-bike and a motorized vehicle?
Without a clear format, without shared rules, without a recognizable sporting identity, it is impossible to create a stable community.
The market paradox
At the last Misano fair the split was evident:
- on the one hand, only e-bikes
- on the other, ultra-high-performance components for traditional MTB
XC shoes with carbon soles, lightweight helmets, minimal protection that allow you to pedal better, not less.
But if everyone only used e-bikes, What would these products be used for?
To nothing.
Maybe the solution is to get out of the enclosure
A final provocation:
What if taking e-bikes to the extreme, officially removing them from the concept of a bicycle, was a solution?
Not to demonize them, but to clarify what they are.
Because if everything remains confused, the risk is real:
MTB could end up like BMX, with one substantial difference.
The e-bike could replace it only in part, but without a community of reference the bubble would quickly deflate.
