I am lucky to get to travel all over the world to ride and race mountain bikes. While the terrain and ride style can be vastly different from what we have in Central Oregon, the commonality in every location I’ve visited is how a community grows around the sport. Groups of people connect to share in a recreation experience and take pride in the trails in their backyard. I’ve heard many Central Oregon riders express concerns that e-mountain bikes will diminish them.

This anticipated net negative is not what I have experienced on my travels — just the opposite, in fact.

First, the e-bikes that are allowed on singletrack are designated class-1. This is a pedal assist bike, not a throttle bike. It has a motor that only kicks in when the rider is pedaling and kicks out at 20 mph. The assist is capped at 250 watts. For reference, I am a small, middle-aged, very fit female rider, and I can pedal at this power for an hour on my acoustic bike. (Non-ebikes are commonly referred to as acoustic or analog by bike companies such as Trek and Specialized. You will also hear them referred to as analog bikes or standard bikes. These names are controversial among those in the anti-e-bike community who believe non-e-bikes require no denotation.)

A class-1 e-mountain bike can elevate a rider’s climbing power to that of a very fit rider, but no more. When I am in areas that allow class-1 e-bikes, I see more diverse rider groups than I see at other areas. I see multi-generational families riding together, everyday riders keeping up with their professional rider friend and more senior riders on the trails. The class-1 e-mountain bike creates a level fitness platform and enables riders with health issues like heart and lung conditions to ride when otherwise they would not be able to, thus lowering barriers to access.

Read more: Boulder study on e-mountain bikes on trails

Fewer cars, crowds at trailheads

When trail networks are opened to class-1 e-mountain bikes, the areas have not seen a notable increase in users, but a transition of riders on acoustic bikes to e-bikes. With pedal assist, riders spread out further into a trail network making easily accessible cross-country trails less crowded. On sessionable trails — short purpose-built downhill trails like Lower Whoops and Royal Flush — riders do more laps, but car shuttling is greatly reduced. Speaking of cars, I see fewer cars at trailheads because e-bikers are more likely to pedal to trailheads. Fewer cars on the roads is always a win.

Closing speeds, the rate at which riders going opposite directions on a trail meet up, can be increased if a trail has a long straightaway. If there are wiggles and other interesting features, a class-1 e-bike will not be going faster than that of a very fit rider on an acoustic bike. For reference, when I ride up a non-technical trail like Kent’s in the Phil’s network my speed is moderated by maneuvering around curves in the trail, not my ability to pedal harder. Long straightaways are dull to ride, and the speed reached by all mountain bikes on these sections of trails create washboards. These are not fun, so they are rare to find in a trail network with purpose-built trails like you find in Central Oregon.

Read more: Dust off your mountain bike trail etiquette for spring riding

When I’m pedaling uphill and am caught by an e-mountain bike rider, I find the pass is less stressful than when I’m caught by an acoustic bike rider. The e-biker does not mind having to slow and wait for a good place to pass because it’s not physically taxing for them to accelerate to make the pass and continue on their way. I have taken note of this and have been pretending I’m on an e-bike when I want to overcome a rider on single track. In hindsight, I may have caused some riders distress when I caught them.

Have I seen a class-2 throttle bike on single-track? Yes. Have I seen an e-biker behave in a fashion that is not aligned with standard bike etiquette? Yes, but no more so than acoustic riders. There is always a bad apple in every user group. Most people will follow the rules when they’ve been made known and do not intend to behave like a jerk.

The slippery slope argument exists, but it’s one of the reasons it was so hard to get places to ride at the inception of mountain biking and why snowboarders were not allowed on ski hills in the early days of the sport.

E-mountain bikes coming to Bend?

Will we see class-1 e-bikes allowed on trails in Central Oregon? Maybe. Currently all trails on federal lands (National Forest and Bureau of Land Management), which is the vast majority of our trails, do not allow e-bikes. Trails on privately owned lands, such as Radlands in Redmond and East Trails in Madras, are where class-1 e-mountain bikes can be ridden. There was a federal rule change recently that allows federal land managers to open single track to class-1 e-bikes if they deem it appropriate for all trail users including hikers and equestrians, and go through a National Environmental Protection Act assessment to ensure land, wildlife, archeology and humans are not negatively impacted. We may see a proposal from our regional federal land managers now that the rules have been changed. If there is a proposal, there will be a public comment period for options whether or not to allow class-1 e-mountain bikes on some area trails.

I, for one, was far less than enthused when e-bikes showed up on the mountain bike scene. I had fears of torn-up trails, entitlement that my experience was earned by my ability to be fit, and had a bias that e-bikers did not embrace trail etiquette.

However, having ridden in so many areas that allow class-1 e-bikes, I hopped on a few myself to experience firsthand what they do, and read scientific research reports on the impacts of these bikes on mountain bike trails, I have put all that to rest. I am excited to see a more diverse mountain biking community grow in Central Oregon and believe class-1 e-mountain bikes will be a part of making this sport I love so completely more accessible.

Read more: Tahoe area study and proposal to allow e-bikes