My Electric Bike Is Not ‘Cheating.’ It Could Replace Cars for Millions of People
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Re: My Electric Bike Is Not ‘Cheating.’ It Could Replace Cars for Millions of People
#2I agree with the main thesis, but from the exchange, it just sounded like the biker was giving the author some gentle ribbing.
Re: My Electric Bike Is Not ‘Cheating.’ It Could Replace Cars for Millions of People
#3It's a decent article, but I don't believe for a second that exchange at the beginning actually happened
Re: My Electric Bike Is Not ‘Cheating.’ It Could Replace Cars for Millions of People
#4It's a decent article, but I don't believe for a second that exchange at the beginning actually happened
It's plausable from my experience riding an ebike. I've been yelled at by cyclists claiming that I'm not allowed to use trails, etc. and from /r/ebikes it's common to read that many cyclists call ebike riders "cheaters".
Re: My Electric Bike Is Not ‘Cheating.’ It Could Replace Cars for Millions of People
#5Use your legs. /r/shittymotorcycles
Re: My Electric Bike Is Not ‘Cheating.’ It Could Replace Cars for Millions of People
#6I've never lived anywhere near where I worked or studied - absolutely not within push-bike riding distance. So I used to ride a motorcycle. However, after several near misses with oblivious car drivers I decided I didn't want to die.
Riding a push-bike is great for your fitness, but it's not feasible if you have a long distance to travel every day. That can be assisted by public transport, but that means you need reasonable public transport - being drenched in sweat, trying to squeeze a push-bike onto a completely packed peak-time train service isn't fun for anyone.
Motorcycles (and scooters) actually make a lot of sense, they are extremely efficient as a personal mode of transport, quick and great for travelling most distances. In many places around the world (particularly certain Asian countries) motorcycles are hugely common. I wish that were the case in western countries and that people actually took motorcycle rider safety seriously. The stigma is really "do it at your own risk", which is down-right ridiculous given I never sped, lane-split or did anything even remotely dangerous on my motorcycle. If I was going to die it was at the hands of someone else, someone whose thought-process never considered motorcycles as a legitimate means of transport, never expected them on the road, and frankly never looked out for them.
It's a shame, driving around a large 5 seat vehicle for 1 person is an enormous waste in most cases.
Re: My Electric Bike Is Not ‘Cheating.’ It Could Replace Cars for Millions of People
#7Electric bikes are really taking off in China. I wrote down my thoughts a while ago. Will copy and paste here:
Like a car, they offer cheap on-demand transit to your exact destination. Unlike a car they do not support long distances, heavy loads or more than 2 people, but often those features are not needed by the urban commuter. Furthermore they lack many of the drawbacks of a car; getting stuck in traffic, the need for parking, the need for insurance, licensing requirements, high fuel requirements etc. Furthermore an e-bike is a signifigantly smaller investment than a car. Having it lost, stolen or damaged poses less of a personal risk to your finances. Unlike a classical bike, e-bike's do not require the user to be in shape or even exert effort to operate. Thus we see that in the personal transport market, e-bikes represent the best of both worlds for the urban commuter. We can see proof by demonstration that in the right conditions they can be enormously popular (China). Why haven't they taken off all over the world yet?
1. Topography. They are generally not powerfull enough to go up steep hills. Sadly this rules out San Fransisco which would otherwise be quick to pick up on an eco-friendly trend.
2. Regulation. These vehicles neither qualify as motorcycles nor bicycles and thus are often ambiguous or de facto illegal in many parts of the states.
3. Weather. Driving at 40 Km/hr in the cold of winter is unpleasant. The otherwise perfect markets of the flat mid-west and dense+flat New York may find this a deal breaker. Sun-belt cities without too much sprawl (Eg San Diego) are the only place in the states that are a perfect match. The Chinese have invented a rather unfashionable "bike apron" to make the cold weather driving tolerable.
I think point 2 is a huge mistake. If the US is serious about green technologies, deregulating e-bikes would be a huge boon.
Re: My Electric Bike Is Not ‘Cheating.’ It Could Replace Cars for Millions of People
#8I have a couple of friends with e-bikes and they sound like a lot of fun. My only problem with them is that, by the time you've added 10-15kg of running gear to a bike, you've entered a feedback loop where the bike's heavier, and it goes faster, so it needs wider tyres, better brakes... and now is even heavier and harder to pedal, so it needs more power... pretty soon you have something that's enough of a motorbike that you can't pedal it unassisted and should really be wearing proper safety gear, but still enough of a bicycle that it's not a very good motorbike.
Re: My Electric Bike Is Not ‘Cheating.’ It Could Replace Cars for Millions of People
#9Through happenstance I rode an bike with electric pedal assist a couple years ago, thinking that electric bikes were not for me, but why not try. I was instantly hooked, the high-quality pedal assists feel "magical", like you are just stronger or that your always headed down a gentle slope. They are also very quiet which helps make the experience (at least for me) a bit dream-like and surreal.
I really recommend everyone give one a test ride. For us, it ended up replacing our second car.
Re: My Electric Bike Is Not ‘Cheating.’ It Could Replace Cars for Millions of People
#10Electric bikes are very popular in Tokyo. Many nurseries and schools forbid car drop offs of children. So parents speed around on e-bikes. Ive seen some parents with three kids on their bike. Child seat on front, child seat on back and baby in chest carrier.