Electric bike, stupid love of my life • Hacker News Board

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#121

Post by nicbou » Sun, Jul 16, 2023, 4:16 PM UTC

gerbilly wrote: post #83

Unpopular opinion: Ride a regular bike. In terms of theft, just use a beater bike for commuting. By getting rid of the 'E' part of the bike, you'll get more exercise and won't have to worry about theft. For years I rode a beater that I found in the garbage and that I fixed up with some parts I had lying around. Later I upgraded to a singlespeed because derailleurs freeze up in the winter. It's a trek earl. Seriously…

Try both, seriously.

I rented e-bikes to show relatives around, and they're fantastic if you can't or won't exercise that day. Sometimes it can make the difference between taking the bike or the car.

I see so many people on e-bikes that wouldn't ride a bicycle at all otherwise, and I think "good for them".

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#122

Post by wccrawford » Sun, Jul 16, 2023, 4:16 PM UTC

wpietri wrote: post #91

bluescrn wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless bike theft is solved, an e-bike will remain a toy for the weekends for most people. An expensive e-bike is a prime target to thieves. They require a secure indoor storage space at both ends of the any journey, and many potential users lack that, either at their workplace or their home (e.g living in an apartment only accessible via stairs)

A big reason cars don't require secure storage is better policing. Here in San Francisco there's been a lot of talk about how the SFPD these days isn't taking theft from cars and theft of catalytic converters very seriously. They aren't wrong; the SFPD seems pretty slack to me. But what they're missing is that the SFPD has always been like this for bicycles . A while back I had only locked my front wheel and my frame…

I don't know what my local police are like for bike theft, but given how poorly they handle theft from inside cars, I have no hope that they can do anything about any kind of theft, ever. They even had a security camera video of the person, knew who it was, and even where they frequently are, but flat-out told us they weren't going to do anything because it was pointless and they'd just be back at it soon.

We weren't missing much from that theft, but some of our neighbors were.

And so it is extremely unlikely that I'd leave my cheap bike anywhere, let alone my electric bike or scooter, no matter how well-locked it was. It 100% goes with me, or I don't take it at all.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#123

Post by kjkjadksj » Sun, Jul 16, 2023, 4:16 PM UTC

bluescrn wrote: post #15

ndsipa_pomu wrote: post #3

It amazes me how little attention e-bikes are given in terms of reducing traffic, pollution, CO2 etc. The BBC is especially bad at this - they promote lots of articles singing the praises of electric vehicles (i.e. cars) and almost never mention e-bikes as being far better for a lot of use cases. It also grinds my gears that there's tax breaks for getting e-cars and nothing for getting e-bikes. It's almost as if poli…

Unless bike theft is solved, an e-bike will remain a toy for the weekends for most people. An expensive e-bike is a prime target to thieves. They require a secure indoor storage space at both ends of the any journey, and many potential users lack that, either at their workplace or their home (e.g living in an apartment only accessible via stairs)

Bike theft is solved the same way car theft is solved. You merely insure the bike.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#124

Post by kjkjadksj » Sun, Jul 16, 2023, 4:17 PM UTC

blamazon wrote: post #20

bluescrn wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless bike theft is solved, an e-bike will remain a toy for the weekends for most people. An expensive e-bike is a prime target to thieves. They require a secure indoor storage space at both ends of the any journey, and many potential users lack that, either at their workplace or their home (e.g living in an apartment only accessible via stairs)

Cars once upon a time required a secure storage space for security. Technology improved, comprehensive insurance became a social norm, etc, and now you can just snug it against a curb, hop out of your car and press a button and generally not worry about theft, but if it does happen you're covered. Why can't e-bikes be this way? My answer: they can and are, just not all of them yet.

All bikes are like that today. Just put it on your renters or homeowners insurance.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#125

Post by blamazon » Sun, Jul 16, 2023, 4:17 PM UTC

analog31 wrote: post #79

bluescrn wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Car theft is rather more policed because a 2-ton 100mph+ car can easily kill or cause a lot of damage in the wrong hands. Bike theft is down there with shoplifting or recreational drug use when it comes to policing priorities. But when a bike is stolen, often a person is losing an important means of transportation, so perhaps it should be taken more seriously. Not going to happen in a ‘soft on crime’ society, though.

It may be that car theft is more policed because of political pressure from insurance companies, and because cars were typically more valuable than bikes. Fighting car theft lowers insurance rates. But virtually nobody insures a bike.

I would also imagine most police officers in USA patrol their jurisdiction in automobiles, not on bicycles. Number 2 is probably motorcycles.

I would also venture to guess that most officers don't cycle to work or in their free time.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#126

Post by rcpt » Sun, Jul 16, 2023, 4:17 PM UTC

Greatest thing about bikes, and this still applies to ebikes, is that you actually experience and participate in the city you live in. You learn the small roads, you see other people and they see you, you spot tiny businesses and interesting parks.

I lived in Los Angeles without a car for a few years. I often met people who lived here much longer but knew almost nothing about the local area despite having intimate knowledge of freeway off ramps. Cars are just so isolating. It's no wonder we see so much unhinged antisocial behavior from drivers.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#127

Post by kjkjadksj » Sun, Jul 16, 2023, 4:17 PM UTC

somerandomqaguy wrote: post #87

blamazon wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cars once upon a time required a secure storage space for security. Technology improved, comprehensive insurance became a social norm, etc, and now you can just snug it against a curb, hop out of your car and press a button and generally not worry about theft, but if it does happen you're covered. Why can't e-bikes be this way? My answer: they can and are, just not all of them yet.

Technology improved, but cars one main advantage. To steal a 4000lbs car one needs either a tow truck, or to enable the engine, or a lot of guys to push. To steal a 15 lbs bicycle, one need only pick it up and walk away.

Same issue with motorcycles and people just buy insurance, which you can do with bikes too.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#128

Post by marklubi » Sun, Jul 16, 2023, 4:18 PM UTC

Filligree wrote: post #16

blamazon wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first problem you outline has a very simple solution: insurance. Just like cars. E-bikes can also be leased, to lower the barrier to entry. As an alternative to providing costly downtown parking, many employers in USA subsidize month-to-month e-bike leases with a final cost of like 30 bucks a month.

Bicycle theft insurance costs approximately ten percent the cost of the bicycle, per month. Which should tell you how good an idea it is to leave one unattended.

I just insured my son's new bike ($1500) for only $20/year as a rider on my renter's insurance

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#129

Post by oezi » Sun, Jul 16, 2023, 4:19 PM UTC

paganel wrote: post #8

There is no way for me to let a ~2000 euros object of mine unattended and out in the open. I barely leave my current bike like that, and that "only" costs ~300 euros. More generally, I feel like this is a subject that doesn't get discussed often enough. Yes, most probably the writer of this article can eat the 2000 euros loss if his e-bike gets stolen, but the majority of the population cannot. It also sucks that the…

Berlin is prone to bike theft but a good lock and an insurance (less than 10% of the purchase price per year) helps to manage.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#130

Post by mulmen » Sun, Jul 16, 2023, 4:20 PM UTC

Rnonymous wrote: post #5

Coincidentally, this past week, VanMoof, the X3 discussed in the article, closed all stores and are on the edge of bankruptcy, with a lot of media attention in the Netherlands. Beautiful smart bikes, but the quality of components is horrible.

Yeah very disappointing. I'm e-bike curious but they're all so _ugly_. Something with VanMoof style and a "dumb" drive system would be perfect. Give me a conventional derailleur-and-cassette in the back and an electric drive up front without screaming "this is an e-bike!" in my face and I would be the first in line.