I joined a 'regular mountain bike' forum in Jan of this year, just to say thanks for some of the info that was posted there. Info that helped me to adjust and repair my dog scooter (headsets, brakes etc). I never even had a bike at that time.
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Eventually, I decided to buy a bike and ended up buying an ebike, after reading about them on that very forum.
OMG! I was an instant leper there.
I suffered the slings and arrows and always came back with informed responses to the main forum bullies. Who, after realising they couldn't hound me out of there, put me on 'block'. I didn't mind that. The internet's a free country after all.
Although, I've noticed since, that my thread soon became the most viewed in the 'other cycling' discussions area. I also felt that the 'silent majority' there were at least in agreement with a lot of what I was posting regarding ebikes and e-MTB's in particular. They are, after all, a very agreeable art form now.
Many have said that they'd seriously consider one in the future. But some entrenched die-hards still insisted that they would 'slap the weak out of me', given the chance.
A lot of regular bikers, 'roadies' (racing bikers) in particular, gain an OCD, no pain, no gain, syndrome when biking and they feel that they need to suffer. Anything less is taking a liberty. You'll never be able to convince those otherwise. Each to their own. Just enjoy them for what they provide to you on a personal level.
Anyway, I always find that, energy levels permitting, I can work or relax as much, or as little, as I want with an ebike. With an e-mtb, you can go pretty much anywhere that any bike can go. So, why not!