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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

#511

Post by blunte »

lmm wrote: post #371
blunte wrote: post #268

Not a criticism of e-bikes, but I discovered an unexpected danger related to e-bikes which was much less an issue with traditional bikes: when driving a car, it's now much more difficult to judge how much time you need to pass a bike. I would say without hyperbole that it's much more dangerous now, to the cars and the bikes. I currently live in a Dutch village, so bikes and cars share rather narrow roads. The roads a…

As a vaguely competent cyclist, cars have frequently pulled in way too soon after overtaking and cut me off, so ebikes are making the roads much safer.

In my experience driving, the car is now more likely to misjudge and not allow enough time to pass, thereby pulling back into your space while you’re still there (if you’re on a faster e-bike).

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

#512

Post by baq »

danny_codes wrote: post #241
BackBlast wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's... complicated... I rode a bike to school when my limited money would buy a very bad car or a nice bike. So I opted for the bike and had to ride it because that's all I had. I did that for a couple of years - even in the cold and ice. My commute distance varied in my biking days, from 6 to 20 miles. I always obeyed all the traffic laws, though occasionally in the early AM I'd find lights that would not turn gree…

In regards to bike-rider behavior on roads, of course cyclists appear "misbehaved" on roads. The roads are not designed for cyclists, so we have to fight with the design of the transport network to get anywhere Car-oriented transport infrastructure has been a terrible mistake. Don't blame the cyclists for trying to salvage something from the wreckage.

running red lights is not 'fighting'. it's being an ass.

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

#513

Post by pmontra »

silicon2401 wrote: post #56
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.

I live in a city that explicitly allows cyclists to bike on sidewalks, and I'd never bike otherwise. One time I tried road-riding the mere 15m home from the gym and had 3 close calls from drivers. We also have separate, protected paths at the road level. Anybody who wants me to ride on the road can send me a blank check to cover medical expenses in the case of an accident if they are so invested in my riding accordin…

Luckily it's illegal to ride a bicycle on sidewalks in my country and yet many people do it at half the speed and half the comfort of what they would have on the road (sidewalks are not maintained to be smooth and are cluttered by all sort of things and people.) I'm a cyclist and I really hate them. If they are afraid to ride on the road, it sucks for them but it's only one of the things people would like to do and cannot do. Walk, catch a bus, drive a car.

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

#514

Post by pmontra »

namdnay wrote: post #492
jacquesm wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those speed limiters are indeed stupid, especially because on a 'regular' bike you can fairly easily outrun a normal e-bike (though probably not for as long unless you are in very good shape). Normal ones should be limited at 35 or so and speed-pedelecs at 50 Kph so you don't end up holding up other traffic. Where I live a speed-pedelec has to be in traffic but it isn't allowed to go as fast as that traffic, which cr…

What are the rules where you live? In France it's either a bike if the assist is limited to 25kmh (you could go above that on a nice flat road, but the gearing usually isn't designed for it) , or a "<50cc motorcycle" in which case it can go up to 50kmh (like all other <50cc vehicles). In the latter case, no bike lanes, you need a rear-view mirror and helmet, and for some bureaucratic reason the brakes have to be inve…

Same in Italy.

It means that a ciclyst on an ebike can outperform a group of friends with normal bikes on an slope but can't stay with them on the way back home and they'll have to wait. I experienced that and it's not nice. The two types of bikes mix well only in low intensity sightseeing rides.

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

#515

Post by foepys »

bambax wrote: post #506
foepys wrote: post #427

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meanwhile forest rangers and other land owners are extremely angry because now even more people carve lines into delicate forest grounds. Even in places the mountain bikers couldn't have reached before.

At $20k apiece I don't think there are a lot of these around...

You can get them at $2k, no problem.

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

#516

Post by mFixman »

bambax wrote: post #505
osigurdson wrote: post #402

I am amazed by what they have been able to do with e-mountain bikes. The battery and motor are barely discernible anymore. Not for me as I prefer to pedal but impressive nonetheless. https://www.specialized.com/ca/en/s-works-turbo-kenevo-sl/p/...

That is indeed magnificent, but... $20k??!?

A lot of people spend $20k to buy a low-mid range car. A top electric mountain bike seems like a better choice.

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

#517

Post by chrisseaton »

barry-cotter wrote: post #437
chrisseaton wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

> That's a fact about policy choices, not something that can't be changed.

Ok but now we’ve moved from ‘bicycling is relatively practical’ to ‘it’d be relatively practical if only everything about our politics and built environment was instantly completely different.’

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

#518

Post by mFixman »

wolverine876 wrote: post #298

What is the solution for weather? Major cities in the US can regularly be in the 30s F (~0-5 C) in the winter. Add to that a nice 10-15 mph wind in your face from riding. And especially add snow and ice - or worse, rain or freezing rain - and I don't see many people wanting to rely on an e-bike for unavoidable trips.

I bike on cold winter weather, and the solution to the cold is using a coat, a nice pair of gloves, and a cute little hat. It's really not nearly as big of a deal as it seems.

A lot of people use balaclavas for preventing cold air on their faces too.

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

#519

Post by bambax »

mFixman wrote: post #516
bambax wrote: post #505

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is indeed magnificent, but... $20k??!?

A lot of people spend $20k to buy a low-mid range car. A top electric mountain bike seems like a better choice.

It's very difficult to buy a new car for less than $20k but it's very easy to find MTBs for ten times less...

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

#520

Post by watwut »

Scroedingershat wrote: post #468
watwut wrote: post #424

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think this is true. The mixed use paths are pretty good start. People use them for commute. The special bike lane is more expensive and ideal step, but not necessary.

As soon as any significant fraction of people use them they become congested, slow, and dangerous to pedestrians. Slowing to 5km/h repeatedly whilst waiting for an opening for a large portion of your journey makes commuting far less pleasant and severely limits viable range, and being overtaken constantly is unpleasant and dangerous for pedestrians. The separated bike lane *and* the mixed use path is the end goal, bu…

The separated lane is just too expensive while there are just a few bikers. If people start using bikes on mixed purpose roads too much, building them after makes sense. But while you are just in the process of promoting the whole cycle thing and there are not that many people, building dedicated tracks does not make much sense. This was the case in our city for quite long time. There was no massive negative sentiment towards cycling. More like, cyclists complained and when there were enough of them infrastructure started to build.

Imo, American negative sentiment and aggression toward bicycles is way more about politics and assumed demographics then anything else. It does not matter how well behaved average cyclist is. It does not matter how intrusive or safe it is. The people who are aggressive will focus on that one minor infraction that happened once to validate their anger.

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