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Reflections on E-Bikes

ebikes.neighbor-ryan.org

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Re: Reflections on E-Bikes

#141

Post by rdubz »

Hi, I'm the site creator, just saw this posted! Happy to field questions.

The site is due for an update, I've been compiling a lot more resources and bolstering some of the arguments with more data, but lately I've been spending a lot of time on these cyclist PoV videos https://twitter.com/CarsDontFitJC

To briefly touch on a few common q's I see cropping up here: - Yes, cycling infrastructure is really bad everywhere in the US (some places worse than others). That's orthogonal to most of the things that are great about e-bikes though. Better infra, and more e-bikes, are both part of fixing the US's horribly broken urban transportation landscapes. - "Rain and snow": it's just not that hard to make biking reasonable in all but the most inclement weather, and anyway, solving {traffic, parking, traffic violence, air pollution, noise pollution, emissions} on the other ≈95% of the days would be extremely good for everyone (including drivers). Making everyone wear a "$40k internal combustion parka" everywhere is not a good solution either!

I really appreciate the thoughtful feedback and discussion I have some related projects with cool software angles I am hoping to post here as well, soon™

Re: Reflections on E-Bikes

#142

Post by missedthecue »

chrisfosterelli wrote: post #28

> Previously, you had to be a serious cyclist to access this speed (and corresponding ability to simply exist on car-dominated roads), but now almost everyone can. Wow, interesting that they frame this as a positive. I'm a general advocate for e-bikes but this has been the absolute biggest drawback I've noticed with them: e-bike riders suddenly get all of the speed of a very fit cyclist but absolutely none of the roa…

This is something i'm also concerned with when it comes to electric vehicles. I don't necessarily think the average 4000 lbs family sedan should be doing 0-60 in 3 seconds.

Re: Reflections on E-Bikes

#143

Post by RegW »

gambiting wrote: post #123
RegW wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Conversion kits start at around £150 and can be fitted to that £50 bike. The biggest issue I see for higher priced bikes is secure parking (as mentioned in the article). No one provides secure/supervised parking and its tricky to get insurance. You can't really lock any nice bike outside the supermarket and always expect it to be there when you get back.

Do they start that cheap? I'm looking at this website and there's nothing even close to that price: https://www.cyclingnews.com/features/best-electric-bike-conv...

You are right. My minimal research was inadequate. There are some shonky kits on EBay for £53 that don't include the battery. At least one on Amazon for £80, but looking more carefully its probably looking more like £350 to £400.

Re: Reflections on E-Bikes

#145

Post by RegW »

dreamcompiler wrote: post #133
RegW wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Conversion kits start at around £150 and can be fitted to that £50 bike. The biggest issue I see for higher priced bikes is secure parking (as mentioned in the article). No one provides secure/supervised parking and its tricky to get insurance. You can't really lock any nice bike outside the supermarket and always expect it to be there when you get back.

If you want 250 watts or less for a bit of assistance with pedaling and ~20 miles of range, a conversion kit is fine. But if you have to deal with serious hills or want to use throttle-only, 250W won't be enough. IMO 750W is the bare minimum for that, and it requires a bigger motor, bigger battery, and disc brakes.* That costs a lot more and it's easier (and probably cheaper) to just buy the whole bike than convert w…

Currently 250W and 15.5mph are the current legal limits in the UK. If want buy bigger and take it on the road without registering it as a motorbike, getting an MOT and insurance or paying your road tax, then you may find the rossers feeling your collar.

I ride with a friend who has gone MTB electric. I leave him behind on the flat but he gets it back on the hills. He's fine for well in excess of 40 miles. Range is mainly an issue of battery size not the wattage.

Re: Reflections on E-Bikes

#147

Post by Fricken »

pjmlp wrote: post #139
mft_ wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My observation is that ebikes broaden the group of cyclists to people who (for example) might otherwise consider themselves too unfit or elderly, or who would be put off cycling due to living in a hilly area, etc. They also broaden the times a bike is used vs. some other mode of transport - for example commuting for people who would not want to arrive at work wringing in sweat and in need of a shower, or carrying hea…

They don't do anything against rain and snow.

Might I suggest clothing? There is clothing available now that can be used to protect our frail, naked bodies against the punishing elements.

Re: Reflections on E-Bikes

#148

Post by rdubz »

ezfe wrote: post #6

It is not accurate to use $40,000 as the amount of money needed to get a car. A good new car can be purchased for half that, not to mention the used car market.

Used e-bikes are also available, and cheaper.

I'm comparing new cars to new e-bikes and, sure, in both cases you can get something "pretty good" for ≈half the average new {e-bike,car} price. Some people will get something "very good" for 2x the average!

From what I can tell the research supporting the $40k average (or, alternatively, $800/mo) seems reasonable:

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/average-new-car-price-202... https://www.motor1.com/news/370609/average-american-monthly-...

Definitely something I want to hash out and cite more though.

Re: Reflections on E-Bikes

#149

Post by pjmlp »

Fricken wrote: post #147
pjmlp wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They don't do anything against rain and snow.

Might I suggest clothing? There is clothing available now that can be used to protect our frail, naked bodies against the punishing elements.

Indeed, yet they are hopeless against proper rain and snow, but I guess some people are masochistic.

I am used to Scandinavian, German and Swiss winter.

Cycling with rain or snowstorm, only when no other option is available.

Re: Reflections on E-Bikes

#150

Post by mrep »

haspok wrote: post #95
blowski wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’ve put your finger on a real problem for me. I live in the UK countryside, and we get a lot of serious cyclists visiting here. The most dangerous pattern I see is occupying the middle of the road - which is fine when they’re doing 25mph in a 30mph road. But they stay there in 60mph sections, causing drivers to accelerate and veer round them. If we had more riders doing the same thing on ebikes, I imagine there’d…

E-bikes are limited to 25kmh in Europe (and that also applies to the UK - for now). If you are seeing e-bikers doing 25mph (are you really?), then those are illegally modified. They exist, but are a distinct minority. Also, e-bikes are typically ridden by people who would never think of riding a bicycle in the middle of an A-road, so no need to worry.

Level 3 e-bikes in the US can do 20 mph on throttle alone and 28 mph with assist.
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