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The popularity of e-bikes isn’t slowing down

nytimes.com

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Re: The popularity of e-bikes isn’t slowing down

#211

Post by quadrangle »

pjmlp wrote: post #102
fh973 wrote: post #6

> ... and have the potential to transform urban transit. Not in Germany. Biking is and will stay irrelevant for daily transport as long as the infrastructure is a joke. Electric propulsion isn't the missing link. Interestingly you'll find holiday areas that have biking infrastructure packed with older people on e-bikes.

And the weather is not inviting to cycle all year anyway. Maybe there are people that enjoy doing 30 km under heavy rain or negative temperatures with snow, I rather not.

it might not be inviting, but it's FINE. Biking in negative temperatures with snow is easier than heavy rain (heavy rain is the worst case). The ONLY barrier to biking in snow is whether priority is given to support the infrastructure to make it safe.

Why Canadians Can't Bike in the Winter (but Finnish people can) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhx-26GfCBU Answer: because Finnish people have dedicated bike paths that aren't next to traffic and are cleared and maintained by the city, even in snowy weather. And in that case even elderly people still bike. It's not some extreme thing.

Re: The popularity of e-bikes isn’t slowing down

#212

Post by danielheath »

cmos wrote: post #170
kevincrane wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Proponents of efforts to make roads safer for cyclists have always gotten pushback from people who think that cycling is a niche hobby of rich lycra-clad yuppies. Which I think is misguided pushback btw (which I think you agree with based on the context). I see it as a chicken and egg thing. The roads are unsafe for bikers, so the only people who bike are those who are super dedicated to it. Then when people ask fo…

Throw into this confusion a badly implemented public transportation system that you find in most US cities. Public transportation and city bike rental systems should be free to ride. We all pay taxes to keep roads maintained, we should all pay taxes to keep public transportation maintained. Not charging would help busses keep their schedules with less queuing and waiting, tourists would be less likely to rent a car,…

> Public transportation and city bike rental systems should be free to ride.

This would depend on first fixing the poverty and homelessness that make theft, vandalism and antisocial behaviour so common. These things cost money to protect them from the impact desperate people otherwise have on them.

Now, I’d be thrilled to help pay for that to all happen, but the order should be respected; making trains and buses free isn’t as simple as it sounds.

Re: The popularity of e-bikes isn’t slowing down

#213

Post by sokoloff »

jdavis703 wrote: post #173
Johnny555 wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you think fast cycling "Lance Armstrong wannabes" are bad, wait until the trail is taken over by 30mph eBike riders that not only aren't experienced enough to ride safely at that speed, but they bolted on the eBike drive to a bike that was not intended for that speed.

Unless you’re on a major downhill, there’s no street legal e-bike doing 30 MPH.

That depends on the jurisdiction. In MA, it’s a point of ambiguity, but I think that’s resolved in favor of e-bikes being treated as mopeds today (with a max of 30mph): https://www.massbike.org/ebikes

Re: The popularity of e-bikes isn’t slowing down

#214

Post by sokoloff »

mike_d wrote: post #203
analog31 wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Time for a Critical Mass of casual cyclists. ;-)

Responsible bike riders should publicly condemn Critical Mass. They are the type of people that make drivers and pedestrians hate people on bikes, and go out of their way to escalate confrontations due to some bike rider victim complex. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflicts_involving_Critical_M...

I cycle to work on fairly rare occasions. My kids ride on city streets every so often. There is nothing that I’ve seen Critical Mass (or events like it) do that I think is positive.

Re: The popularity of e-bikes isn’t slowing down

#215

Post by hyperpallium2 »

bagacrap wrote: post #176
hyperpallium2 wrote: post #145

Fuelled by the smartphone battery revolution. Like hydrofoil surfboards [1], one-wheel skateboards [2], electric paragliders [3]... what next!? 1. https://youtube.com/watch?v=i9yCe6ibhzU 2. https://youtube.com/watch?v=XNqOU4jx62I 3. https://youtube.com/watch?v=BeayJZzaXjM

bike lights have gotten immensely better over the last decade too, mainly due to better battery energy density

I think efficient LEDs are the hero there. Light bulbs are now led as standard, and even traffic lights are an array of leds.

Re: The popularity of e-bikes isn’t slowing down

#216

Post by _carbyau_ »

Robotbeat wrote: post #66
hectormalot wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see these around the city: https://www.estrima.com/en/models/biro-winter/ approximately 360kg, so def not as light as a bike, but not incredibly heavy either. 100km range.

Too heavy to allow driving in the bike lane, IMHO. Needs to be a weight, speed, and footprint limit. But the number of wheels shouldn’t matter, regulation-wise.

So something like an electric recumbent e-bike, with four wheels.

Closest thing I could find was " City Commuting Recumbent Quad " , 2nd from the bottom of this page: https://www.trikexplor.com/pages/trikexplor-recumbent-quad

I still think they are a bit big but with smaller diameter wheels, removal of pedals for full electric kart experience (but otherwise speed limited as per usual e-bike) maaaybe they could be made small enough and lightweight enough to play with.

Re: The popularity of e-bikes isn’t slowing down

#217

Post by spodek »

paulgb wrote: post #4

The thing that excites me most about e-bikes is that they change the politics around cycling. Proponents of efforts to make roads safer for cyclists have always gotten pushback from people who think that cycling is a niche hobby of rich lycra-clad yuppies. With e-bikes becoming more common, I know a number of people who would not have touched a bike share but are using it as a replacement for Uber/Lyft rides. People…

> Proponents of efforts to make roads safer for cyclists have always gotten pushback from people who think that cycling is a niche hobby of rich lycra-clad yuppies.

Here in New York City, people delivering food, packages, etc are one of the major biking contingents, I guess invisible to the Hacker News community.

Sadly, here in New York City, kids can't ride bikes around for fun except once or twice a year when they close Park Avenue or if you get an open street. I don't see why kids riding casually shouldn't be a major interest of the population. If the streets aren't safe for them, maybe change the streets and disallow cars instead of depriving kids of that space.

Re: The popularity of e-bikes isn’t slowing down

#218

Post by sokoloff »

ashtonkem wrote: post #152
nradov wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a nice ideal but it's just not realistic in most existing built up areas. There's literally not enough space for three separate networks without knocking down existing buildings and buying a lot of land through eminent domain. Let's focus on what can actually be achieved with realistic levels of funding.

That’s only true if you presume that demand for roads remain constant. Ideally you’d hope that cycle infrastructure would offset some road use, which would allow the state to reclaim some lanes for cyclists. Given how space inefficient cars are, it wouldn’t require a significant drop in road usage for cyclists to be given all the space they need independent from pedestrians.

Most roads around here that are not controlled access are one lane in each direction. Those that aren’t have often had a lane dedicated to buses (and emergency vehicles). There are rarely lanes free to be taken unless cycling becomes so prevalent to displace cars to zero on some routes.

Re: The popularity of e-bikes isn’t slowing down

#219

Post by yissp »

kevincrane wrote: post #18
paulgb wrote: post #4

The thing that excites me most about e-bikes is that they change the politics around cycling. Proponents of efforts to make roads safer for cyclists have always gotten pushback from people who think that cycling is a niche hobby of rich lycra-clad yuppies. With e-bikes becoming more common, I know a number of people who would not have touched a bike share but are using it as a replacement for Uber/Lyft rides. People…

> Proponents of efforts to make roads safer for cyclists have always gotten pushback from people who think that cycling is a niche hobby of rich lycra-clad yuppies. Which I think is misguided pushback btw (which I think you agree with based on the context). I see it as a chicken and egg thing. The roads are unsafe for bikers, so the only people who bike are those who are super dedicated to it. Then when people ask fo…

Along similar lines, I think the fact that many cities aren't particularly bike-safe causes (some) cyclists to behave more assertively to the annoyance of motorists. This adversarial relationship hinders potential political cooperation. Admittedly, when I'm driving my car or riding my bike, I often find myself getting mad at people for doing things I know I also do when riding my bike or driving my car.

Re: The popularity of e-bikes isn’t slowing down

#220

Post by Robotbeat »

SahAssar wrote: post #200
Robotbeat wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s unlikely. From a revenue standpoint, ebikes are cheap and you don’t need that many e-buses. Even if we go to Netherlands-level bike-friendliness, that’s only a 40% reduction in per capita car/truck ownership at best. Doesn’t mean we won’t do a lot of miles by bike or bus, but as long as people have the money for it, they’ll still buy at least one car per household for cornercases that buses and bikes (& ride s…

> that’s only a 40% reduction in per capita car/truck ownership at best. What is that based on?

Number of motor vehicles per capita. US = 816 per 1000. Netherlands = 499 per 1000.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_vehicles_...

499/816 = 61%. Only a 39% reduction.

But there are geographical differences that make it even harder for the US to get rid of cars even if it had the same culture/institutions as the Netherlands.

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