- We have come to the Black Mountains
to see if a man in a pair of daps,
gym shorts and expensive moisturiser
can beat an athlete on an E-mountain bike
with a long-range battery and a motor.
Yeah, it's an unlikely combination
and surely there will only be one winner.
So today, Ironman versus E-bike.
(upbeat rock music)
Ah, Mr. Threlfall,
let me give you a hand. - Thank you very much.
Well thanks for inviting me to your stomping ground today
and for sending through the planned route.
So I see we've got three glorious South Wales lumps,
out there and yourself Mr. Jones.
3,700 feet up, 3,700 feet down.
16 miles in total, which is actually given me
a predicted finish time of three hours 31 for the run.
Three hours 30 for yourself, but I'm pretty confident
I can knock a handful a minutes off that so.
I am a little bit nervous, I have to say.
I mean, Steve Banks,
and obviously I do have previous with GTN.
I've never been on one of these serious.
- Are you serious?
Okay, we'll build it up slowly.
- No, I've never been on one of these.
Oh, this I ridiculous, but okay.
Oh, get out of here!
No that's ridiculous! (laughs) - Hold on to the sides.
- Are you serious?
Which, it didn't really go so well did it that?
- It didn't, no. - Yeah.
- So I am really looking forward to a proper
head to head with you today and I'm sure
you've got a few doubts
in your mind after that. - Yeah
I do have huge doubts because let's face it,
two wheels and steep banks,
they don't really go hand in hand.
I mean, you see a lot of mountain bikers on push-up tracks
and you see a lot of cyclocross riders,
carrying their bikes up hills.
But look, seriously, an E-mountain bike,
with all that torque.
I mean, seriously,
it's not gonna work. - Well let's just
see how it all pans out.
Let's head to that first climb,
which is a couple of K down the road, right?
- [Steve] That's it, let's get on to the hill.
- So how many horsepower is this got Steve?
- It's not about the horsepower mark, it's about the range.
So I've got a 700 watt hour battery in there,
with a 90 newton-metre torque motor,
to help me up those punchy climbs of the Black Mountains.
150 ml travel, full carbon frame, 29 inch wheels.
System weight, the bike weighs in 19 kilos.
I weigh in at 90 kilos, that's 19 and 90.
And my bag which is probably about five kilos.
- So I'm interested, what mode you putting it in today?
- Well, we're looking at 16 miles
and some very steep climbs.
We're looking at around about 4,000 feet of climbing,
so I'm gonna be in eco and trail mode
as much as I can. - You sure that's enough?
(Steve laughs)
- Tell me about yourself.
Well, I've got my shorts, my T-shirt.
Some lovely on trail shoes, - Yeah.
- for slightly off road stuff here.
- Can I just have a look at the tread on those?
- Here we go.
There we go. - Let's compare treads
because contrary to what you might think,
I'm pretty low on tread. - Oh they look, they got some
high mileage on those. - (laughs) High mileage
on those.
- These are fairly fresh actually, ready to go.
- They look pretty light weight too.
- Got a few gels, a Mars Bar actually.
- A Mars Bar? - Yeah,
Mars Bar Duo. - Hold on!
A man that does Ironman's and triathlons,
has got Mars Bar.
- Yeah, just to, yeah.
Another cereal bar, couple of energy gels.
It's pretty much all liquid based really.
Water, yeah.
- So I've got a map.
I've got a smoked ham and mustard sandwich.
I've got, I got some tubes.
I've got some energy bars,
got more energy bars.
I've got a pump.
I've got some water.
I got some more tubes for the film crew.
I've got a multi-tool.
Yeah, I've probably got bit more than you haven't I?
- It's complicated this biking thing.
Ive just got credit card in case I--
- I quite like the simplicity of how this man travels.
- So here we are on the start of climb one.
It's gonna be a long day Mark,
but all the best - Sure is, best of luck.
- on your run. - Gonna need it.
'Kay, you ready? - Yeah, I'm ready.
- Get ready. - Yeah.
- Go!
(upbeat music)
- [Steve] As we moved up the hill it soon became clear
that on the last challenging gradients,
the E-bike could have a distinct advantage.
And so it proved as I took a big lead early on in the ride.
- Well Steve, whilst you save your battery
and do the little nursery root down there.
I'm doing the direct line, straight up to the top here.
It's hard, but I wanna win this thing.
- Soon the ground started tipping vertically
and it is here Ironman began to reel in the lost time.
And as the ground started to get really steep,
Mark slipped by me to get to the first summit
with a commanding lead of over a minute.
So all Ironman is probably simpering on
about his roots being ridiculously steep and technical,
but I think you'll find that my longer route
is pretty challenging.
(relaxed electronic music)
(bike rumbles)
The dissent of the first summit was absolutely flat-out,
sheep scatteringly swift.
Laced with unseen holes, smooth grass and blind crests.
I slipped past mark near the transition into the woods
and as we descended onto the lower slopes,
the trail closed in on us with more loose rock
and skin tearing thorn bushes becoming part of the game.
With the temperature soaring we headed for shelter
and some unexpected moisture.
Oh what!
Oh my god.
Ah! (laughs)
I bet you Ironman has got some
bridge crossing or something.
I've got the River bloody Nile.
(upbeat music)
- Well I've been following Steve's route until now,
but we finally split off our own separate ways.
So he's following the bridal path,
I'm on a footpath taking in this lovely bridge
and about to cut straight up through the village,
whereas he's got to could go all the way around.
So this might be my chance to claw back some time.
- From the crossing of the Nile,
we went separate ways or at least Ironman decided
on his own sneaky cut through on a path I couldn't use.
And it was here that he pulled out a massive advantage,
as I made for the summit the hard way.
First by road and then by river, yet another riverbed.
(relaxed electronic music)
By the second summit I had lost a huge amount of time,
what with the chatting to the locals
and floundering in the undergrowth.
And so it was that Ironman set off for the final peak
with a handsome lead and his daps and his gym shorts.
(upbeat rock music)
The nearest gateways didn't exactly
help my progress to the last climb
but this time the gradient benefited me
and I snuck past with just one final descent,
and some questionable route finding taking us back
to the Church of St. Issui's.
(dramatic electronic music)
Wow! - Ah mate.
- The Ironman arrives.
- Well and truly had me on that last descent.
- Hey listen, I'm too tired to get up, but what a route.
- That was incredible!
That was absolutely stunning,
thanks for bringing me out on that.
- I gotta say that was on of the best route I've done
on any two wheel transport.
But, do you know what?
Closer than I thought.
- It was really close.
Some of those steep grades, that's where I sort of had you.
- Yeah. - But you just came
tearing on the descents.
- But that's all that was in it.
We did three peeps, (laughs) three peaks, three peaks!
And it was just one descent that separated us all day.
That's, honestly, I got to take my hat off to you.
You actually are an Ironman. (Mark laughs)
- I had to say, I was praying for a motor.
I wanted to switch with you and take that bike
on that final descent because I was absolutely
wrecked by that final bit.
You definitely looked like your
having more fun. - Yeah.
Do you know what?
The task question was faster man or bike?
Whatever.
There's probably a mathematician that will work out
the optimum gradient for runners or people on mountain bikes
or on E-mountain bikes.
But, for me, it doesn't really matter.
We work we did some amazing river crossings.
You obviously had some nice smooth transfers
across some of the rivers.
I got bogged down at some streambed climbs,
where I'm sure you just were breezing up
some of those banks. - Yeah.
- And they just banks after all, right?
- Yeah, of course yeah.
I feel like you stitched me up, actually,
on some of that route but.
- What? (laughs)
- (laughs) It was so steep!
It was direct,
but flipping heck. - Yeah, which gives you
the advantage. - Yes, it did, it did.
To be fair. - Yeah.
I see sneaked through the village,
the village Llanbedr there.
- I did, very nice. - I think you pulled some.
So if we summarise the route.
I think I had you on the first climb,
before I got the summit.
Then you nailed me on the summit,
pull a few minutes on me.
I got you back on the descent.
Then you sneaked through the village
and then obviously you went up that
ridiculously steep climb to-- - I had a much more
direct route there. - Yeah I did,
we did struggle up the riverbed.
And then, and then it came down to,
we got to that last peak. - Yeah. (laughs)
- Sneaked past you, got it in the bag life
last minute. - I was suffering there.
So yeah, well done to you mate.
Well done. - Great, Mark.
Can't wait for the rematch. (Mark laughs)
- I'll have to plan that on. (Steve laughs)
- If you want to see what happened when I took on Hank
on GCN, check this video out down here.
In the meantime, have a look at the video
I did in the same hills with Chris Opie
from GCN on his gravel bike.
I'm looking forward to a new route,
which mark designs in the future.
We'll probably bring a few more snacks,
and coffee stops on the way.
'Til then, give us thumbs up.
Don't forget to subscribe to EMBN.
Thanks for watching, bye.