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E-bikes could be the electric revolution cities need

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Re: E-bikes could be the electric revolution cities need

#91

Post by underbluewaters »

ouid wrote: post #55
underbluewaters wrote: post #50

I've been commuting using a class-1 (limited to 20 mph) e-bike around Santa Barbara, CA for the last year and it is a dream. Far better experience than I expected. It won't work in all cities but if you have reasonable bike lanes switching over from a car can have many benefits. 1. Cost. Sure it's a high initial outlay (3k) but I'm not paying for insurance, gas, parking, and auto loan payments. 2. Faster. I can hop o…

If you're commuting with cars, there is no sense in which the air you are breathing is "fresh"

You are right about that. I'm hoping eventually this will become popular enough that cities will open more dedicated bike paths separate from traffic. I've even heard rumors of our city closing and dedicating the main street downtown for bikes and pedestrians.

Re: E-bikes could be the electric revolution cities need

#92

Post by peatmoss »

ouid wrote: post #55
underbluewaters wrote: post #50

I've been commuting using a class-1 (limited to 20 mph) e-bike around Santa Barbara, CA for the last year and it is a dream. Far better experience than I expected. It won't work in all cities but if you have reasonable bike lanes switching over from a car can have many benefits. 1. Cost. Sure it's a high initial outlay (3k) but I'm not paying for insurance, gas, parking, and auto loan payments. 2. Faster. I can hop o…

If you're commuting with cars, there is no sense in which the air you are breathing is "fresh"

In some sense this is true—I like to believe the benefits of exercise outweigh the increased exposure to air pollution. However, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that bicyclists are often breathing deeply next to traffic that can, in some cases, be putting out a lot of bad stuff.

I knew some researchers who were specifically looking at the question of bicyclist exposure to air pollution by pedaling around town with nephalometers (IIRC). I don’t remember what their conclusions were, if any. I should look that up.

Re: E-bikes could be the electric revolution cities need

#93

Post by milkytron »

For those who have e-bikes, what are your thoughts on riding them without the motor assistance? Is it heavy and difficult? Do they have battery regeneration from breaking?

I've been on the fence about getting one, and normally ride a crappy hybrid bike to and from work every day, which an e-bike would be useful for. But I also do 40+ mile trips on weekends and am afraid that if the battery dies, I'll be lugging a heavy bike around and exerting extra effort compared to a bike without a battery.

Re: E-bikes could be the electric revolution cities need

#94

Post by q845712 »

underbluewaters wrote: post #91
ouid wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're commuting with cars, there is no sense in which the air you are breathing is "fresh"

You are right about that. I'm hoping eventually this will become popular enough that cities will open more dedicated bike paths separate from traffic. I've even heard rumors of our city closing and dedicating the main street downtown for bikes and pedestrians.

I would also add that Santa Barbara generally has some of the most delicious air i've experienced in a place that still has restaurants, stores, jobs, etc. It surely gets worse with proximity-to and volume-of car traffic but overall the air quality here vs. other places i've lived is noteworthy[0]. (0: except when there's fires.)

Re: E-bikes could be the electric revolution cities need

#95

Post by rwem »

milkytron wrote: post #93

For those who have e-bikes, what are your thoughts on riding them without the motor assistance? Is it heavy and difficult? Do they have battery regeneration from breaking? I've been on the fence about getting one, and normally ride a crappy hybrid bike to and from work every day, which an e-bike would be useful for. But I also do 40+ mile trips on weekends and am afraid that if the battery dies, I'll be lugging a hea…

It’s basically impossible. Unpowered hub motors drag a lot. Unpowered mid-drives are better because they have clutches or freewheels, but you’re still pedaling a fifty-pound bike. Some ebikes do have regeneration triggered by brake lever switches but it’s pretty rare. Others have a regeneration mode switch. Most just don’t bother.

What you should understand about these bikes is the power delivered by the motor, and the power needed to recharge batteries in a useful time frame, greatly exceeds the continuous power a human would normally exert on the pedals.

Re: E-bikes could be the electric revolution cities need

#96

Post by cortesoft »

alistairSH wrote: post #29
retrovm wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Helmets are for sports. Ebikes have a ~50% market share in Belgium where approximately nobody wears a helmet ever. It's really not an issue.

Cultural differences in traffic management. In the US, bicycle infrastructure is sparse outside of dense urban cores (and even then, it can be spotty). That leaves many cyclists sharing roads with higher speed auto traffic. Also, the style of bicycle is often different. Hybrid and town bikes are far less common the US than Europe. I suspect that an easy-step over, big tire, upright town bicycle is easier (and this sa…

You don’t need cars in order for a helmet to be important.

An acquaintance of mine was killed running into a slightly raised piece of ground that he didn’t see... wasn’t wearing a helmet and was thrown over his handlebars. Doctors say he would have walked away if he had been wearing a helmet.

Re: E-bikes could be the electric revolution cities need

#97

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

Eric_WVGG wrote: post #85
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Helmets are for any activity that has an impact risk to your head which includes cycling not just sports. I live in Austria where few cyclists wear helmets yet my girlfriend who works in the local hospital sees patients coming in with serious head injuries on a daily basis from biking accidents that could have easily been prevented by wearing a helmet. Since then we both wear our helmets religiously. You don't even h…

Does this logic extend to showering, pedestrians, and automobile passengers and drivers? All suffer as many or more head injuries per year than cyclists.

They may have more head injuries than cyclists(citation?) but unlike cyclists you're not at risk of being run over by a car after a fall in your shower and also you're probably not showering at 25km/h when you fall so the potential damage is much lower.

Re: E-bikes could be the electric revolution cities need

#98

Post by tartoran »

I use a Solowheel unicycle. It is perfect for me to run my errands around my neighboorhood but wouldn't use it to commute to work. The only problem so far is that they are rather on the heavy side otherwise i'd commute between public transportation and the final destination. They seem hard to ride but once you spend 10 hours on one it becomes second nature, almost easier than walking..

Re: E-bikes could be the electric revolution cities need

#99

Post by choward »

The main reason I prefer renting e-bikes instead of using my own bike isn't the electric power. It's the convenience and not having to worry about my bike getting stolen. If I only want to bike one way and not round trip, no worries.

If I was to own an e-bike, I would want to not have to worry about it getting stolen. Everything would have to be like e-bikes you rent. All the parts would need to be integrated and not easily removable (lights, seat, etc). I don't want to waste 5 minutes locking/unlocking my bike every time I want to stop somewhere and have to carry around my lights. I would also want GPS so I can track my bike if it gets stolen. Until I have I bike like that, I will continue to buy the cheapest crappiest bikes I can find or rent bikes because people suck.

Re: E-bikes could be the electric revolution cities need

#100

Post by alistairSH »

cortesoft wrote: post #96
alistairSH wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cultural differences in traffic management. In the US, bicycle infrastructure is sparse outside of dense urban cores (and even then, it can be spotty). That leaves many cyclists sharing roads with higher speed auto traffic. Also, the style of bicycle is often different. Hybrid and town bikes are far less common the US than Europe. I suspect that an easy-step over, big tire, upright town bicycle is easier (and this sa…

You don’t need cars in order for a helmet to be important. An acquaintance of mine was killed running into a slightly raised piece of ground that he didn’t see... wasn’t wearing a helmet and was thrown over his handlebars. Doctors say he would have walked away if he had been wearing a helmet.

Absolutely. But, there's a risk analysis - if there's good bike infrastructure, and I'm riding townie bike (slow and can put feet down vs a road racing bike), the risk is much lower.

There's also evidence that requiring helmets reduces cycling among the general population. Partially because it's an extra thing to buy/maintain, but it also creates more work for commuters - they have to redo their hair at the office.

Residents of Amsterdam don't seem to wear helmets at all, except for high-speed training rides/racing. And they seem to do ok like that.

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