Mountain Biking has been cancelled. The final episode ended early Tuesday morning, at 12 AM Pacific time. It will not be moving on to streaming platforms. We had a good run, though. What was it, 40 years? Maybe 50, depending on how you measure it. But now that Santa Cruz has made an e-bike, there’s clearly no point in going on. There are no more icons and no more heroes. No more history to be made and no more stories to be told. We proud few must step aside and let the alluring march of progress pass us by. Sure, there will be people who will deny this. Some will go on with their lives like this doesn’t change what they love about riding. As if mountain biking were still all about freedom and personal expression. As if it didn’t matter how everyone else plays their game, as long as you like how you play yours. But if you believe that, you’d have to believe the Santa Cruz Heckler is simply a machine. Something with no more power over us than our microwaves or our self-cleaning cat-litter boxes. A bit of technology that you can either take or leave. In other words, an e-bike.
…
That was a brief telling of the “what” behind the Heckler, but Santa Cruz is making a point of covering the “why.” Why would a brand that has sustained (and earned) a hard-core soul-rider image risk it by releasing an e-bike in the U.S.? Santa Cruz bikes are sold all over the world, in places where there’s far less stigma around e-bikes. The Heckler could have followed the lead of the Rocky Mountain Powerplay and, at least at first, limited its sales to outside of the U.S. Of course, there is wide domestic demand for a Santa Cruz e-bike, but Santa Cruz is calling our attention to a particular type of demand. One that emerged not far from Santa Cruz itself.
[continued...]
From Bike Mag
Bike Magazine showcases the sport of mountain biking like no other publication. It captures the sport's personalities, trends, and issues with a style all its own. With insightful features, columns and gear reviews coupled with the best photography, Bike is sure to make you want to get outside and ride.
