Those that travel to popular ride centers around the Northwest are likely familiar with sharing trails with eMTB riders. The adoption of eMTBs seemed to land in Missoula over the 2023-2024 seasons. Sightings of eMTBs on shuttle racks, in the shops, and on trails throughout the valley started becoming familiar. The Zootown Ebike Club spun up to start organizing Ebike interests both on pavement and dirt. Our 2024 projects built the first trails in Montana designed at the outset to accommodate adaptive bikes—these bikes all use electric motor assist. Meanwhile, requests continued coming in for us to advocate for eMTB access to local trails.
Our Advocacy Committee has been working to answer questions related to Class-1 (pedal assist) eMTBs as it pertains to local land management policy for some time now. Like all advocacy matters, our goal is to be deliberate on forming a position and this process takes time. We debated the pros/cons, surveyed the rider-community, chatted with local bike shops and land managers, read papers, all the while watching management trends evolve at popular ride areas in the West (see Bellingham, Tahoe).
Current opinion
After wrestling with several common questions/concerns, paired with rapidly increasing eMTB adoption globally, here's our opinion on the topic.
Class-1 eMTBs are an expansion of mountain biking; adoption has surpassed the point of a passing fad.
They hold tremendous potential to make the sport accessible to many more people.
Values and goals are generally the same among analog and pedal-assist mountain bikers: enjoying time outdoors on great trails.
User behavior, including riding within individual limits, is the key to minimizing on-trail conflicts and environmental impacts.
Providing access can reduce misuse and conflict. Sanctioned access should reduce instances of social policing and create an opportunity to expand our community of trail stewards.
We see Missoula’s foremost destination for mountain biking on public land, Marshall Mountain Park, as an ideal testing ground for creating eMTB access. Why? Marshall is a multi-use park but mountain biking has been the predominate summer use for many years. The master plan includes several more purpose-built mountain biking trails. There's no other piece of public land in the area that's as ripe for trail development as of this writing. Furthermore, the site is managed by Missoula County. Local government is uniquely positioned to implement new management policy at smaller scales and adapt to changes.
Our recommendation to Missoula County is to allow Class-1 eMTBs at Marshall for a one-year trial.
We think it's going to work out with minimal issue; a trial period affords some extra assurance per chance it doesn't. Please bear in mind that this is only a recommendation. We have no decision-making authority. If the County does choose to follow it, it's unlikely to happen in 2025 while the County is busy working to understand baseline visitor use of the park, onboard new staff, and implement essential infrastructure improvements.
To understand how we got comfortable with this position, we encourage you to read over our letter to Missoula County. There you'll see our responses to the most frequently heard concerns about providing trail access to Class-1 eMTBs.
November 6th, 2024
Randy Arnold
Missoula County
Dear Mr. Arnold,
MTB Missoula has been tracking and debating Class-1 (electronic pedal assist) mountain bike technology (“eMTBs”) for several years. Information that we’ve gathered and evaluated includes: community surveys, conversations with local bike shop owners, conversations with other trail associations, visits to other outdoor recreation communities, evaluations of industry trends, and published peer-reviewed studies.
After careful consideration, we recommend that Missoula’s foremost destination for mountain biking, Marshall Mountain Park, extend a one-year trial period to allow Class-1 eMTBs on all trails that are open to bikes. The trial period could include metrics such as before and after measurements, photo analysis, trail counters, and public opinion surveys.
Up until now, we’ve refrained from taking a position on this topic, preferring to remain neutral while advocating that mountain bikers adhere to all management policies. This approach has allowed us time to carefully study industry trends, evolving management policy, and community opinions before issuing our own position related to local eMTB access.
Having wrestled with several questions outlined below, paired with rapidly expanding eMTB adoption globally, our opinion on the topic within our service area is as follows:
Class-1 eMTBs are a steadily growing expansion of mountain biking; they have surpassed the point of a passing fad.
They hold tremendous potential for accessibility, making the sport accessible to many more people.
User behavior can minimize conflicts by focusing on etiquette over equipment.
Providing access can reduce misuse and conflict; sanctioned access will reduce the need for social policing and create an opportunity to grow our community of trail stewards.
The basis of our request is further detailed in the series of questions we worked to answer over the past several years.
Q: Are Class-1 eMTBs a passing fad?
A: No. Consumer demand globally is at an all-time high and shows no signs of slowing.
Like most emerging technology, early versions are expensive, inefficient, and esoteric in their appeal. Now, following twenty years of eMTB tech advancement, those problems have largely been solved. Today’s eMTBs are increasingly hard to distinguish from analog bikes and their respective price points continue trending towards convergence.
Anyone who travels to popular bike destinations in the Pacific Northwest, Canadian Rockies, Europe, and New Zealand among other places will verify that at least 25% of all bikers are riding an eMTB and in some locations, nearly all bikers are riding an eMTB. Yes, adoption has been slower in our immediate region but that is quickly changing as more people discover eMTBs in conjunction with increasing industry promotion.
Q: Will eMTB use cause additional user-conflict on trails?
A: Probably not. Most trail conflict stems from inconsiderate behavior rather than the
equipment used. Analog bikes–when ridden without regard for other trail users–can equally degrade the quality of experience for other trail users. This is one of the reasons why we’ve invested considerable resources into forming the Missoula Trail Partners and through that, have co-created the “Slow and Say Hello” PR campaign to encourage friendly on-trail interactions.
To that point, there may be a need for additional management guidance and signage. A typical eMTB rider will likely ascend with more speed than most riders on an analog bike yet descending speeds should be comparable. We acknowledge there is limited available data on this particular point. A web search for reports on accidents and incidents pertaining to eMTBs on mountain trails, not all e-bikes in general, returned scant results of studies or articles with any real rigor.
Q: Will eMTBs cause additional maintenance and environmental impacts?
A: Maybe. Maintenance impacts are another etiquette over equipment issue – the extent of impact caused by the bike will largely depend on how it’s handled. Again, a poorly handled analog bike will cause erosion impacts. Trail design and construction is another factor in the extent of maintenance impact. In this respect, it is beneficial that the majority of trails at Marshall Mountain have been designed using today’s best practices for sustainable trail construction. The few legacy trails that don’t follow these standards are actively being updated under our maintenance and management agreement with the County.
The most current and comprehensive study we found, “Ecological impacts of (electrically assisted) mountain biking (2023),” identified that all trail facilities and trail use do result in impacts to the environment whether that’s to soils, plants, or wildlife. The study found that it is hard to parse out whether eMTBs are exceptionally impactful and further acknowledges that impacts to the environment are dependent on the specific site. A 2015 published study conducted by the International Mountain Bike Association also noted the influence of site conditions yet found that for soil displacement, “There was no significant difference between Class-1 eMTBs and mountain bicycles (p=0.9999)” (p. 19).
The technology will continue to invite new participants to the sport. This is highly positive due to benefits to community health and wellness, our local recreation economy, equitable access and many others that don’t warrant additional words. Despite these positive points, it is not uncommon for beginner mountain bikers to skid their rear wheel during the learning phase and in turn cause soil erosion. Also, the assistive technology will allow people to increase their ride distances and ride times, resulting in an overall increase to trail use and maintenance needs.
While impacts to the infrastructure are a reasonable concern, it should not prohibit a trial period that could lead to a more inclusive park. User education on the merits of riding under control is a mitigating action to erosion. That, along with directing new riders to the beginner trails opening in the spring of 2025 should help. The trial period could conclude with an evaluation of trail conditions. It will also be critical to survey site managers, maintenance partners, and the community on their perceptions following the trial period.
Q: If eMTBs are allowed at Marshall Mountain, what will prevent them from riding onto adjacent National Forest land with use restrictions?
A: There is no guarantee that this will not occur, but we don’t see this as a justification for a categorical ban across the valley. We point to the trail-specific use restrictions at Blue Mountain Recreation Area as evidence that access management through signage does work. In our experience, it is rare to see a motorcycle or even a motorcycle track on the non-motorized trails. Similarly so with unsanctioned bike use of trail 3.01 on the portions north of Blue Mountain Road. As Blue Mountain is the only recreation area allowing eMTBs on singletrack trail, we anticipate use pressure to decrease there as well as illicit use elsewhere by providing a sanctioned area.
Other arguments against sanctioned eMTB access have been presented to us over the course of our review. One major concern is that trails will become crowded and exceed visitor carrying capacity. Another is that eMTBs will enable inexperienced or ill-equipped individuals to ride further into the backcountry, or access terrain that exceeds their skill level thereby leading to increased calls for emergency services in the event of an accident.
While there may be validity to these concerns and unforeseen negative consequences could unfold, we are holding off on making assumptions. We also believe that all trail users bear a responsibility for their own welfare by planning ahead and being prepared. eMTBs are not dissimilar from other transportation technology used on public land–e.g. motorcycles, UTV's, snowmobiles, snow bikes, backcountry skis–that enable people with varying ranges of experience and fitness to venture far into the backcountry.
Our local trail system, while excellent in quality and cherished by the community, is not wholly unique from other trail systems that have extended eMTB access. For example, one of the most popular mountain biking locations in North America, Bellingham’s Galbraith Mountain, was opened to eMTBs earlier this year by the City of Bellingham. In Northern California, the Tahoe National Forest E-Bike Trail Designation Project is presently reviewing a proposal to allow Class-1 eMTBs on “up to 143 miles of additional non-off-highway vehicle trails, both existing and yet to be constructed.” These examples point to the trend of sanctioned eMTB access on public trail systems, not just at ski resorts and bike parks.
An intentional trial period at Marshall Mountain is our proactive answer to evaluating eMTB access locally. We believe that embracing Class-1 eMTBs at Marshall Mountain Park will further the goals surrounding inclusion and accessibility that were extensively mentioned throughout the acquisition period. We are committed to working with you to ensure the success of this proposed action, including communication about trail etiquette, additional maintenance, and monitoring.
Thank you for considering our request,
John Stegmaier
MTB Missoula
References
1) In the context of this letter: Class 2 and Class 3 eMTBs with higher top speed, large power sources, and throttles are outside of the scope of our consideration and advocacy concern because they are too far removed from our mission.
2) E-bikes: What you need to know (https://www.mtbmissoula.org/post/e-bikes-what-you-need-to-know)
3) Mountain E-bikes Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Drive (Belt Drive, Chain Drive), By Battery (Lead-acid Battery, Lithium-ion Battery), By Propulsion, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2024 - 2030. https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/mountain-e-bikes-market-report
4) Ecological impacts of (electrically assisted) mountain biking. Lukas F. Kuwaczka, Veronika Mitterwallner, Volker Audorff, Manuel J. Steinbauer,https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989423001105cal impacts of (electrically assisted) mountain biking - ScienceDirect
5) A Comparison of Environmental Impacts from Mountain Bicycles, Class 1 Electric Mountain Bicycles, and Motorcycles: Soil Displacement and Erosion on Bike-Optimized Trails in a Western Oregon Forest. The International Mountain Bicycling Association. https://cdn2.assets-servd.host/material-civet/production/images/documents/A-Comparison-of-Environmental-Impacts-from-Mountain-Bicycles-Class-1-Electric-Mountain-Bicycles-and-Motorcycles.pdf
6) Galbraith Mountain getting more trail miles, and Bellingham allows electric-assist bikes. Robert Mittendorf. March 4th, 2024. https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/politics-government/article286005541.html