Here in India I see a few people cycling to work. A "few" (we have a LOT of people). I can't see adoption increase. I myself won't ride a cycle, because 1. There's way too much pollution on the roads. I'll die breathing that air 2. If I don't die breathing that air, some car or bus driver who doesn't give a shit about other people's lives and is on their phone while driving will hit me and perhaps kill me (or worse,…
First 100 miles on my E-Bike
201–210 of 248 posts
Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike
#202I also completed my first 100 miles on an ebike this past week, on a bike I bought two weeks ago. I splurged and bought a top of the line pre-built[0]. Call it a mid life crisis. It is a class three bike. The electric motor will only activate under 28mph. There is no throttle, the motor multiplies your pedal force by 55-200% depending on the setting (eco-turbo). I can beat the bus on a few bus routes. I use to take t…
Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike
#203Question to e-bike owners - did you have to handle any sort of negativity from non e-bike riders? Stuff like "oh you are lazy", "this is unhealthy" etc?
Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike
#204e-Bike prices are a scam. An e-bike can't possibly cost thousands of dollars, when components only add about $100-$120 to the total cost. Until prices go down significantly, I am refusing to buy one.
Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike
#205> If the ride is so great and economics so favorable, why haven’t I seen more adoption here in US and Canada? 1. What's an E-Bike?
I can't believe the number of downvotes this has gotten. It's a very large contributing factor that was overlooked by the author. Get over yourselves.
Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike
#206Earlier quoted context omitted.
I live in Switzerland where 45km/h speedbikes are fairly popular (since for once our laws are more lax than in most European countries). I don't really see how they're more dangerous than scooters in the same vehicle category.
The big difference is that many people drive e-bikes on bike paths or even pedestrian paths, while scooters tend to stick to roads.
Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike
#207Here in India I see a few people cycling to work. A "few" (we have a LOT of people). I can't see adoption increase. I myself won't ride a cycle, because 1. There's way too much pollution on the roads. I'll die breathing that air 2. If I don't die breathing that air, some car or bus driver who doesn't give a shit about other people's lives and is on their phone while driving will hit me and perhaps kill me (or worse,…
Are there fines in India for driving while using a phone? If so, is it policed?
Sorry, couldn't resist. Yes there's probably a fine on car drivers, but typically you pay a smaller bribe and get out.
Bus drivers are difficult to punish due to unions, etc
Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike
#208Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes it would, if you really care about the planet and climate change you and I need to sacrifice something. Getting fit while helping doesn't hurt.
It's worth keeping in mind that riding a bike isn't necessarily better for climate change. Presuming that you aren't actively losing weight, you're eating extra calories in the form of food to power your bike. And the ecological impact of that food can easily be greater than that of biking. For example, buying 1kg of beef has the same ecological impact as driving 63 miles in a car[0]. However, that 1kg supplies you w…
Don't be absurd. Nobody should worry that they're hurting the planet by riding a bike. Your calculation omitted the impact of creating and disposing of the car. Your calorie projections assume riding at a strenuous pace, most bike commuters don't. You assume a nearly all beef diet which is ridiculous. There is no reasonable calculation that would show biking worse than driving for the environment.
Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike
#209I don't grok e-bikes. I like them and I'd like to get one but I just don't know how I will manage the charging. I am livinig in a big city and have no garage and no wall socket in front of my street door. And 100% of all destinations I ride to don't have wall sockets for charging neither. So, I would need to carry every time the heavy battery upstairs (3 floors)? I am anyway always full-loaded with bags or whatever a…
> Edit: Why the downvote? Maybe it's because you've said you don't understand e-bikes for the ridiculous reason that they don't fit your very specific living situation like what kind of housing you have, which floor you live on and how many bags you're prepared to carry. Other people have different living situations, and e-bikes suit them. It's not a mystery.
Re: First 100 miles on my E-Bike
#210For the author, I'm really curious about the section "Economics of owning an E-Bike relative to car". Would you mind sharing your rough math on how you came to those numbers? The IRS rate for expensing milage is $0.54/mile which (in theory) is supposed to cover standard maintenance and fuel. However mostly it just seems really high for the bike to be $0.14/mile. My back of the envelope calculation for electricity cos…
Over those 4 years, he'll ride 15 miles/day * 253 working days/year, or 4000 miles/year, or 16000 miles.
So.... $1400 / 16000 = $.09/mile
He also included maintenance, so if he spends $200/year in maintenance (not unreasonable if he takes it to a bike shop for maintenance), that gets him up to $0.14/mile.