We chat to YT MOB athlete Josh Lowe about his development into Hardline rider, and how his recent introduction to ebikes helps him perform at the top level
Josh Lowe has been riding since he was a kid, building trails and sessioning dirt jumps in the south east of England. In fact, he remembers a time before enduro bikes were even a thing, so he and his friends rode hardtails or downhill bikes. We’re not saying he’s old here, in fact he’s younger than the author, but he has developed his riding through a period of change in the mountain bike industry – and that includes the progression of e-bikes.
Lowe has ridden in some incredible places on some amazing bikes, so we decided to have a chat with him about his career so far and how things are a little different now to when he first started.
“I started by doing local races, like the Aston Hill races, and got spotted by a coach called Ian Warby. He’s at Firecrest now, and a really, really good bloke – and it’s one of those things where you can owe your whole career to someone. For me, that’s him.
“He introduced me to Andy, who at the time was running the Ancillotti team, so I started riding with them on a six inch travel bike, which I suppose was probably an enduro bike back in the day. And I ended up doing Fort William nationals on this little, tiny enduro bike which was hilarious.”
From local races to World Cups
This little team then became the Madison Saracen development team, and Lowe was joined by childhood friend Harry Molloy. A competitive friendship filled with respect, the two hit the big leagues and went from racing locals, to regionals, to nationals and then the World Cups together. But if you’re a seasoned Lowe fan, you might have noticed his absence from the World Cups in recent seasons.
“We did the same tracks all the time and I didn’t feel like they changed much. I never felt like there were any jumps, anything like that. A lot of the time it felt like we were racing down more like a goat track style track.
“I prefer doing a lot of the bigger features and jumps, and that’s what I quite like about where mountain biking is at now because you have so many different disciplines. And you have an avenue for each person.”
Even within each discipline there’s something more specific for everyone’s tastes – you’ve got the out and out downhill racers, those who enjoy more technical, steep stuff, and the freeride scene, where you see people backflipping off 100ft drops for the hell of it.
And then, there’s where Lowe sits – something he calls a “free racer middle ground.”
“I felt like I didn’t really belong in the racing, didn’t really belong in freeride, and now I’ve found this nice middle ground. And I think that’s what events like Red Bull Hardline offer. It’s not just racing, it’s progression, it’s the big jumps, and that’s what’s so cool about it.”
Red Bull Hardline…the best race in the world?
We asked Lowe what his favourite event is, and without even taking a breath he said, “Hardline.” Of course, we also wanted to know if he’d attempt the infamous canyon gap, and readers will be pleased to know the man has no fear, and said “yes, if it was built safely.”
While e-bikes may not feature at Hardline, they do serve another purpose in Lowe’s life, and that’s for longer, more pedally rides, encouraging him to get more laps in. Interestingly, he hadn’t had much experience of e-bikes until he was asked to film a video to launch the Decoy SN – YT’s electric enduro bike.
“The first time I rode an e-bike was for the launch video. So my first ever time riding an e-bike, apart from, like, my dad’s old school e-bike, just to go to the shops and stuff when we were out in the mountains, was for the video shoot.
“And we went straight into Matt Jones’s Helfare line that hadn’t been opened yet. Which is really technical, really narrow, with 90 degree hip jumps straight into another hip jump. So it’s a really technical trail in a way, straight in on an e-bike.”
We wondered how the e-bike differed from riding an analogue bike – particularly for a pro rider, who’s so dialled into what he’s riding.
“You didn’t really notice the extra weight on the SN, and if anything, I think that’s what was cool. The weight’s all in the right place. I’ve always skipped over stuff on an analogue bike, and sometimes get a bit out of control, whereas on this for the first time ever I felt really planted. I was like, ‘wow, I’ve got so much grip’, which is crazy.
“It was a really cool experience, straight into doing an amazing video shoot with a really cool group of people. And then the next time I rode it, it was at Hurtwood Enduro, and then ended up getting the fastest time of the day.
“And it was quite interesting, because again, it was a super technical – for the southeast – slippery venue, and yet it was manoeuvrable. It was grippy, and I was really surprised at how well the SN worked.”
YT Decoy SN platform
When professional riders are utilising electric bikes in their training and racing, it really makes you think about how much they’ve developed, particularly in the last few years. The Decoy SN uses the Fazua Ride 60 drive system and compact 430Wh battery, which keeps the weight of the bike low (tipping the scales at just over 20kg for the Core 4) whilst still providing class leading range and power (as seen in MBR’s range test here) – and Lowe’s result and positive response to the bike is pretty much evidence of that.
Lowe wasn’t always a fan of electric bikes, but after riding the Decoy SN, he’s sold.
“I wouldn’t say I was outspoken against them, but I feel like I went from no experience, kind of against them, to, they open up a whole new realm of a different style of riding.
“I had the opportunity to be out in the Alps for a few weeks after the shoot, and that was when my mind was actually blown with e-bikes. That’s when I was like, ‘Oh, okay, this is, this is why everyone has e bikes’.
“Because all of a sudden you can get out for a ride in the morning or late in the evening, you don’t even need the lifts to be open. And you can say, actually, I want to explore what’s on the other side of that valley. And you’re then riding all these other trails, which you wouldn’t have even seen on something else. So the ability to explore an endless amount of trails was quite appealing.”
And he isn’t just a fan of them for himself – he sees them as a tool to get more people riding.
“That’s what I like about them. You see, especially where I ride a lot, the majority of people are on e-bikes, and I don’t think those people would be out as much if they didn’t have one. So I’m an advocate for anything that gets people more into bikes.”
Lowe’s experience with e-bikes is a story MBR hears a lot of – people go from not being entirely sure of the benefits or their purpose, to having that ‘aha’ moment during the first of many rides to come.