Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The popularity of e-bikes isn’t slowing down

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

431–440 of 599 posts

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

#431

Post by mulmen »

tlamponi wrote: post #425
mulmen wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> They aren't limited to conventional biking speed. Partially repeating my comment from another sub-thread here: In Europe, the speed at which an ebike motor may assist one is limited to 25 km/h (~ 15.5 mph): > pedal cycles with pedal assistance which are equipped with an auxiliary electric motor having > a maximum continuous rated power of less than or equal to 250 W, where the output of the motor > is cut off when…

Yes, legally they are limited. Here in the real world people are riding electric mopeds at nearly 30mph on bike paths anyway. Happens all the time. There are pedestrians walking in the bike path too. Someone is going to get hurt.

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

#432

Post by watwut »

parineum wrote: post #27
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…

I support the efforts to make cities more friendly to cyclist traffic but the increased popularity of both ebikes and electric scooters in downtown areas has made life as a pedestrian and a motorist stressful, especially around closing time. All the things that annoy me about cyclists (running stop signs when driving in the street and driving on the sidewalk are my two biggest annoyances) have gotten worse. Cycling a…

I find it odd that stop sign is a go to complain about cyclists, given that those do nothing for bike. And I say that as someone who drives car way more often as bike. Cyclist ignoring stop sign is not an issue at all, stop signs exists because of cars.

The red light, yes, that is valid complain. But stop sign, meh.

But also, pretty much any transport mode features people with bed behavior: cars, pedestrians, roller skaters. Those people are not even that much demographically different, unless the transport ends up tied to politics.

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

#433

Post by mulmen »

snovv_crash wrote: post #423
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 especially dislike that companies get to profit from cluttering public spaces with bicycle and scooter litter. Then you must hate on-street parking and parking lots. I think the speed and power limits of ebikes are actually pretty reasonable. A fit cyclist can go faster on the flats, and I don't just mean a pro, anybody young and healthy who cycles a few times a week should be able to manage it. Bikes should have…

> Then you must hate on-street parking and parking lots.

Here in Seattle we actually reclaimed on-street parking for dedicated bike-share parking because people park them so inconsiderately. Like sideways blocking entire bike paths and sidewalks.

If you are in a wheelchair you can forget about curb ramps, they’re blocked by bike shares.

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

#434

Post by mcny »

richiebful1 wrote: post #342
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…

This doesn't generalize to most cities though. In my Rust Belt city, the government has put a lot of effort into making cycling safer on the road. The people cycling from one neighborhood to the next are a diverse bunch. Kids are using cheap hand-me-down bikes to go to school. College kids are commuting to campus. Adults of all ages are riding to work at a service job or downtown office. What it took was a focus on g…

» What it took was a focus on good quality bike lanes outside the affluent white neighborhoods, bike accessibility at transit stations/on busses, and expansion of bikeshare to poorer neighborhoods.

I've never been to Chattanooga, TN but once I realized I can work from home I've been curious about owning a home somewhere with gigabit fiber but without ridiculously expensive real estate within commuting distance to a Costco or Sam's Club (so clearly not Jersey City, NJ or Longmont, CO).

What I noticed just looking at Google Maps Street View was that any home within my price range lacked a sidewalk. Apparently, only the wealthy people in Chattanooga, TN need sidewalks. How do we talk about bike lanes when places lack sidewalks?

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

#435

Post by a-dub »

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.

i've seen this pushback come from two camps. 1) people with cars who get pissed when street parking or automobile lanes get turned into bike lanes (i prefer bike lanes, but i can at least understand this.) 2) professional users of the roads who saw early construction of bicycle infrastructure as something that would attract more cyclists and therefore make their jobs harder/riskier.

i feel like construction of bike infrastructure in many us cities is something that really blossomed in the late 00s/early 10s when urban cyclists were often more ragtag jorts with tattoos than "lycra-clad yuppies."

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

#436

Post by cblconfederate »

The bigger problem is how to adapt roads to multi-form-factors. There are going to be cars, trucks, bikes, tricycles, and other battery-cars for all kinds of needs, and separate lanes are not the solution, in fact they may make the problem worse. Roads are woefully stuck in the two-lane-car system

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

#437

Post by barry-cotter »

chrisseaton wrote: post #309
mjmahone17 wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Housing within bicycle commuting distance (under 5 miles) in many cities is abundant, if you’re willing to forgo a car. Especially if you convert the car savings to rent or mortgage payments. Basically, if you can be all-in on not driving, you save a lot. But once you even want to drive a little bit, the savings to driving only sometimes instead of all the time is not very large (and can in fact be negative, as you p…

> Housing within bicycle commuting distance (under 5 miles) in many cities is abundant Housing isn’t abundant within 50 miles of London and other similar major cities, let alone 5.

That's a fact about policy choices, not something that can't be changed. If building housing wasn't illegal it would be built. Developers love money and the Green Belt is quite big enough to spare one Mnahattan's area if it was politically possible to build a Manhattan's worth of housing on it.

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

#438

Post by mulmen »

tgsovlerkhgsel wrote: post #400
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…

> cluttering public spaces with bicycle and scooter litter. I think this is a disingenuous description of "provide a valuable service that many people appreciate". I also don't see why speed-limited e-bikes shouldn't be on bike paths, unless you're living in an area where they are unthrottled or have a ridiculously high limit.

Here in Seattle people park them inconsiderately. Like block the entire path with the bike sideways inconsiderately.

They’re a nuisance. The city actually marked off some specific parking areas and is asking the ride share companies to require drop off in those areas. It got that bad.

I regularly see bike shares and scooter shares blocking curb ramps in crosswalks. Good luck to anyone in a wheelchair.

E-bikes might provide some value but proponents and users are ignoring the negative externalities to existing cyclists and pedestrians.

It will get better but we need to educate people on how to use these things responsibly.

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

#439

Post by jacquesm »

multjoy wrote: post #48
jacquesm wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My e-bike is taxed, insured and tested to the same standards as a light e-moto (in Germany, a Riese & Mueller 'charger'). The only difference with the bicycle version is the speed limiter setting.

That and it's not a motorcycle so you're not going to get stuck on for riding it on a bike path, surely?

No, I'm not allowed to ride it on a bike path. I am allowed to ride it on a combined bike/moped path.

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

#440

Post by mulmen »

cptskippy wrote: post #324
mulmen wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I don’t see any Lamborghinis on the bike path. I do see Super73s every day though.
Post reply on HN