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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

#321

Post by ryan_lane »

ceras wrote: post #114
rcMgD2BwE72F wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>with pedestrians Do some cities actually let cyclists bike on sidewalks? I bike 24/7 but this seems crazy. Bicycles needs their own, separate, protected paths, at the road level. Period.

Besides Europe, I remember seeing several sidewalks in Japan that allowed it. And many (most?) streets in Japan are fully mixed across modes, and have no sidewalk, so you'll see bikers+pedestrians(+cars) combined there too. There's something very nice about these types of mixed streets, but they're pretty much unheard in the US. They work very well on small residential streets, where cars would otherwise get 80% of t…

It's technically illegal to ride your bike on the sidewalk in at least Tokyo. The lack of protected bike lanes, however, means that very few people obey that law.

There's a lot of mixed-use streets here without sidewalks, and if cars weren't allowed on them, they'd be great. I'm always worried about being hit by a car on them.

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

#322

Post by beebmam »

wolverine876 wrote: post #317
beebmam wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who lives in this part of the country and uses an ebike for nearly everything for the last 4 years, it can be pretty annoying. Especially when it's raining, as I'm going to get soaked and there's pretty much nothing I can do about it other than bring a change of clothes and find a place to warm up when I get to my destination. I use these to keep my hands warm while riding: https://cozywinters.com/shop/bar…

How do you ride safely on snow and ice, especially around traffic - one skid and the cyclist could be history.

I use a fat bike, with studded tyres, with low inflation for extra grip. Haven't had a problem with any kind of terrain really, but I don't live in a place that gets super icy.

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

#323

Post by wittycardio »

nradov wrote: post #107
enriquto wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mixed-use paths are an extremely bad idea and dangerous for everybody. I actively avoid them as a pedestrian and as a cyclist. They should all disappear. If ebikes help to accelerate the inevitable dismissal of these stupid mixed-use lanes, so good! A bike-friendly infrastructure is based on three separate networks, for pedestrians, cycles and cars. Each of the three networks must be continuous, reasonably complete a…

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.

Building bike lanes is extremely cheap, not sure why funding is an issue

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

#324

Post by cptskippy »

mulmen wrote: post #263
danny_codes wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As long as they're speed-limited to conventional biking speed I don't think this is much of a problem. E-bikes have similar mass to normal bikes so the forces are basically the same.

They aren't limited to conventional biking speed. The rental bikes are close but they're still significantly faster than any human-powered vehicle on the bike path. A buddy of mine bought a Super73 which has speed limiting modes but operates purely on the honor system. In the "unlimited" mode it can do 28mph, without pedaling. In the "limited" mode it can still do 20, which is faster than most people are capable of f…

Using Super73 as an example is like complaining about how fast cars are and citing the Tesla Plaid or a Lamborghini Aventador as an everyday example.

Super73 bikes are premium bikes that start at $1500 and can easily top $5000 with accessories. The highend RX cost $3500 base, has 750w motor that boost up to 1200w with an almost 1000 watt hour battery.

Compare that to something reasonable like the RadPower Radmission that costs $999, has a 500w Motor that cuts out at 20 mph powered by a 500 watt hour battery.

Just like regular bikes, ebikes come in all varieties and banning them all or relegating them to car lanes because a few should be classified as Mopeds isn't the answer.

Some responsible ebike companies ship their top end bikes with VINs that require they be registered as Mopeds.

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

#325

Post by burkaman »

jay_kyburz wrote: post #319
mulmen wrote: post #246

I like that e-bikes are getting more people on two-wheeled transportation. I dislike that people are effectively riding motorcycles on dedicated bike paths. I especially dislike that companies get to profit from cluttering public spaces with bicycle and scooter litter. My hope is that long-term we get the e-bikes into the street where they belong and combine that with traffic calming measures to make scooter commutin…

I don't think children, or anybody without a drivers license should be allowed to ride on the road at all.

How do you think people under the age of 16 should get around? For some examples, if they want to go to a friend's house a mile or two away, or from their home to a train station, or to the supermarket.

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

#326

Post by ashtonkem »

Steltek wrote: post #154
ashtonkem wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think people should start pushing for cycling infrastructure on fiscal responsibility grounds. A good cycle path system is an extremely cheap way to provide mobility options to a city, all considered.

I'm pretty sure most of the maintenance costs for a bike lane are for repainting it because cars drive over it and wear away the paint.

Weather tends to be a factor in some areas too. But generally the damage that a vehicle does to the road is proportional to the per axle weight raised to the fourth power; bikes don’t even register in terms of road wear.

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

#327

Post by notlion »

Johnny555 wrote: post #155
Spooky23 wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have a point, but the Lance Armstrong wannabes make everyone miserable. In my area, they “took over” a popular bike trail and now kids and more casual people are pushed aside. It’s like dealing with serious lap swimmers.

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.

30mph is often needed to keep up with cars in areas where the bike infrastructure is poor or nonexistent. If you can't maintain the speed of traffic, cars will try to pass creating a more dangerous situation for the ebike rider.

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

#328

Post by zdragnar »

slt2021 wrote: post #283
jmcphers wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It’s super unfortunate that it still gets the stereotype as a “rich white people” activity when it’s really so much more financially accessible than a car. It's true that a bicycle is itself cheaper than a car, but housing within biking distance to job centers sure isn't. In my view this is the primary reason bicycle commuters are stereotypically rich folks. The bicycle itself isn't the expensive part; you need pro…

i heard that in US living in downtown is for poor people, and rich people prefer slrawling suburbs

I saw an article the other day about a woman in California who rents a studio apartment (i.e. no dedicated bedroom) for $1900 a month, and was worried it would jump up to the usual $2,300 a month after the covid special pricing ended.

Meanwhile, for $2,000 a month in the upper midwest you can rent a house with multiple bedrooms and bathroom on 40 acres of land, or a nicely remodeled house with a small yard and river views in a town if you prefer. Or, with enough for a minimum down payment saved up, you could also buy a small house on 5 acres in a forest.

Granted, you'll pay more for owning a car, but... deciding between studio, or a prime house for $300 less per month, and the car doesn't sound too unreasonable.

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

#329

Post by ashtonkem »

sokoloff wrote: post #218
ashtonkem wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Depends on your city I guess. You didn’t specify where you live, but I’d broadly categorize the cities I’ve lived into two categories.

The first is car centric, with lots of roads and deep set backs. These cities are amenable to bike and public transit transformation in terms of space, but usually have political resistance to change. These cities will be the easiest to add extra bike infrastructure to, once a political mass is reached. My current city is like this, and the current bike path master plan is trying to add enough paths for 96% of the city to be near bike infrastructure (currently it’s 10%).

The second category are really dense, and do not have the space for any extra lanes. But these cities dedicate a huge amount of space for parallel parking. Theoretically the city could remove parking for bikes, but practically this means purposefully pricing people out of car ownership, which is obviously unpopular. These cities should focus on public transit, which is by and far the most space efficient way to move people. For a lot of these cities this is less about installing new lines, which is expensive, but about making the existing system feel cleaner and more dignified. It will always be hard to make improvements when even the crappiest sedan is considered a step up from taking the subway to work.

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

#330

Post by hytdstd »

jay_kyburz wrote: post #319
mulmen wrote: post #246

I like that e-bikes are getting more people on two-wheeled transportation. I dislike that people are effectively riding motorcycles on dedicated bike paths. I especially dislike that companies get to profit from cluttering public spaces with bicycle and scooter litter. My hope is that long-term we get the e-bikes into the street where they belong and combine that with traffic calming measures to make scooter commutin…

I don't think children, or anybody without a drivers license should be allowed to ride on the road at all.

Why do you think that?
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