- [Steve] Mr. Limited loves to live by the rules.
In fact, he actually takes joy in being ruled.
He drives with his hands at three and nine
and makes the utmost out of one charge of battery.
Making sure it always charged
to it's most efficient level.
Mr. Loose burns through batteries.
In fact, he's got about 10 of them.
Just like the amount of bikes in his garage.
Fuel economy? Nah!
He never pays parking tickets,
drives with one hand at 12 o'clock,
flaunts traffic speed limits
and hell, he never even tells him parents
what time he'll be home at night.
These then are two examples of E-Mountain biker.
Clearly, there's a load more.
But, the question is
should you de-restrict your e-bike?
(heavy electronic music)
(soft pop music)
(heavy electronic music)
(soft pop music)
- [Steve] Phwoar, crikey.
Not a bad day for an
e-bike ride; a bit cold.
What on Earth are you doing?
- Turning my de-restrictor on, Steve.
Got it off eBay; £120.
Means I get rid of that stupid
15.9 mile an hour, or 25 kph.
Who the hell wants to ride around
these woods at that speed?
It's like a Victorian horse and cart.
(Steve laughs)
Who the hell made these bloody rules up anyway?
(engine revs)
- Ooh, that's a bit harsh, Chris.
I actually have a nice time
on my E-mountain bike.
I don't think I can go that speed.
(engine revs)
- No, you really need to get with the program.
Who the hell wants to trundle up those hills
15 mile an hour, 25 kph.
It's about being in your big chain link
hardest gear, cruising up
there 30 mile an hour.
I'm really not into this restricted.
(engine revs)
- See, I think this obsession with speed
and overtaking people on the trail
with a snigger, and getting to the top
of fire roads as quick as humanly possible
is just a load of nonsense.
The modern E-mountain bike can do lots
without being de-restricted.
Wasting battery in the
name of speed and saving time
and then you're just around,
wondering what to do
with the time you've saved, anyway.
- Well, I think you're speaking absolute
(engine rev) there, Steve.
I totally disagree with you.
I think it's about time we did a duel.
In fact, not one duel.
Four duels.
(heavy electronic music)
(circus music)
- (sighs)
(circus music)
Finally!
Thirty seconds of time you've wasted
on that restricted piece of junk.
- You actually got away from me a bit there, Chris.
- It's about time you get with the times.
Every single person is de-restricting their bike.
- Oh wow, how fast were you going up there?
- Well, my eyes were streaming,
I couldn't really see
and my speedo said 15 mile an hour,
so if I times that by two,
that's 30 mile an hour.
- What effect's that gonna have though
on the battery life in your bike?
- Who the hell cares about mpg?
It's all about miles per hour.
- Yeah.
- I think you really need to
de-restrict that bike, Steve.
- Do it need to get with, do I?
Is that what you said?
- Get with the times.
That restriction needs to go.
Tell you what, actually,
we need a head-to-head drag race.
Me and you, and I'm absolutely gonna smash you.
(tense music)
(beeping)
(electronic music)
- (sighs) What a pointless exercise that was.
You were miles behind.
That was so lame.
That bike's so slow.
- Look, when do I ever do a drag race
on my E-mountain bike?
- Well, best bit of advice
I've got for you Steve,
get on eBay, order a dongle,
get that bike de-restricted.
Maybe get your great, great,
great, great grandson to fit it
whilst you're down your pub
sipping your real ale.
(engine revs)
God. (chuckles)
Where's he off?
- [Cameraman] I think he said
the top of the downhill track.
- Downhill track?
Whilst he's meandering his
way up the fire road, slowly,
I may as well go down pub,
get a burger and chips.
Guy's (engine revs)
That car should be able
to do 200 mile an hour.
I want that speed limiter removed.
Yeah, Thursday?
No worries, I'll bring it in.
See you then.
Finally here then?
- (sighs) Do you know what?
It's all making sense now.
My nephew said he saw you down the supermarket
car park on the weekend.
- Really?
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Hey, listen.
Back to the riding.
I've got this lovely bit of single track.
It's not for a horse and cart
like you mentioned earlier
but it'll take us down the downhill
to that super technical track
uphill which I told you about earlier.
Do you know what?
I've been meaning to ask you.
Where can you ride that bike of yours?
- Hmm, not very many places.
- You can go down the bike park, though, right?
- Hmm, private land's alright.
As long as there's no public access.
- Down the pub though in the night
you can ride down the pub.
- Not allowed to ride it on the road, Steve.
- What about those super cool trails
down by your house?
- Nah, public access again.
- Oh, crikey. That's not so good.
Hey, listen, shall we ride
down this track together?
- You crack on, I'll see you down there.
I'll catch you up, easy.
(beeping)
(soft electronic music)
(heavy electronic music)
(soft electronic music)
- Crikey, I wonder where he's gone.
He's been quite a while now.
Oh, here he is.
Ah, Chris. You alright?
You've been gone a bit of a while.
Are you alright?
- Yeah, I'm alright.
Thing is, trails aren't
very defined, are they?
Can't really see where you're going.
- They seem pretty clear to me.
Well, no matter.
Do you know what?
I was going 29
kilometers an hour down there.
Got a time in, 3:21.
What was yours?
- Well, it's a little bit slower
but I had a few things going on.
Had a wild boar run out,
jammed in the front wheel
then got a double pinch
puncture on the rear wheel.
- Oh, bloody hell, that's bad luck.
Anyway, never mind, let's get them fixed
and I fancy another couple of runs on that.
How about you?
Really nice technical track.
We can do a timed run to the top.
- Nah, you're alright.
- Really?
- Yeah, I ain't got a lot of battery left.
- Really?
What do you mean you got no battery left?
- Two bars.
- Wow, you really are down.
I'm still on five bars.
- Well, you can't get out,
I've been going way
faster than you, remember.
You can't get out what you don't put in.
- Didn't you have a spare battery
in your van I saw earlier?
- I've got three spare batteries in the van.
- Oh, okay, I would go
pop down and get one, right?
(electronic music)
Fresh battery then?
- Yep, one of three.
- Great. Well, nice fresh battery.
A nice fresh track.
This is where your bike,
your de-restricted bike,
will probably come into it's own.
It's a smooth single track for about 5 minutes
and I think your speed will be pretty fast up there.
- Should hopefully be about
30 mile an hour the whole way up.
- Yeah. So, I'm thinking if you give me a minute.
I mean, there's a good chance you'll catch me up.
Give me exactly a minute, and we'll
compare times when we get to the top.
So do you wanna count me in?
- Yeah, I'll see you up there in,
I'll pass you on the way up.
- Count me in the, count me in.
- 3. 2. 1. See you in a bit.
(soft electronic music)
(heavy electronic music)
(soft electronic music)
(heavy electronic music)
- Phowar, right.
5:20, so, Chris should be arriving
pretty soon actually.
- [Chris] Whoa.
- Chris, how'd you get on?
- That was amazing!
- Yeah?
- I was literally flying
on those berms uphill
bouncing off the roots.
This thing was flying!
- I really thought you'd catch me up.
What was your time?
- 6:55, how fast did you,
well, how fast did you meander up that hill?
- Well, I did a 5:20,
but if you did 6:55
and if you take a minute because
you set it a minute after me, that's 5:55.
That's quite a lot slower than my time.
Chris, what really happened
on that single track climb?
I don't think that super bike of yours
is everything it's cracked up to be.
- No, it wasn't as fast as yours
up there, I don't think.
- Hmm, so is there actually any point then
in us going to a
technical single track climb
because, let's face it,
I am going to smoke you bud!
(Chris laughs)
- If it's smooth, then yeah,
I think it might be a little bit faster
but if we go more technical,
there's definitely not going to be
any difference in it, whatsoever.
- So, for me, I think the great parts
of our restricted E-mountain bikes
is you actually get a
true read out on the display.
And, I know yours messed up
but, on some E-mountain bikes
you do get a true read out,
if they are de-restricted.
But, yeah, a good read out,
you get a good range
out of your battery, you get a
great E-mountain bike feel.
- Yeah.
- It can be a bit more of a workout on occasions
but, at least you don't
get to wear your components
out like you've been doing on your bike.
You've snapped two chains today.
- Snapped two chains, worn a battery out.
But I think it comes down to
what your idea of mountain biking is.
Obviously, the de-restricted bike is
a lot faster on fire roads.
Which is great if it's not public access
and, of course, on the road
it's gonna be a lot faster.
But, you're not mountain biking
if you're on the road
and it is technically illegal if you're
riding a de-restricted
bike on the road as well.
So, it all comes down to what your
idea of mountain biking really is.
- So, I think you might be
changing your ways then, Chris?
- Yeah, might be time to
take that dongle off, Steve.
I think you might have changed my ways.
- Great. So, if you want to see more
controversial E-mountain bike videos
check out the one 'E-Bikes vs Uplift'.
Please, please, let us
know your comments on this video
because I'm sure there's loads
to do with de-restriction, right, Chris?
- Yeah. Don't forget, if you've
enjoyed today's video
you can subscribe to EMBN by clicking
the globe in the middle of the screen.
Give us a thumbs up,
and we'll see you soon.