Still concerned about getting clipped by a careless driver of a 5000lb. machine. It's unfortunate.
E-bikes could be the electric revolution cities need
171–180 of 244 posts
Re: E-bikes could be the electric revolution cities need
#172I've been commuting using a class-1 (limited to 20 mph) e-bike around Santa Barbara, CA for the last year and it is a dream. Far better experience than I expected. It won't work in all cities but if you have reasonable bike lanes switching over from a car can have many benefits. 1. Cost. Sure it's a high initial outlay (3k) but I'm not paying for insurance, gas, parking, and auto loan payments. 2. Faster. I can hop o…
I remember when Dean Kaman introduced ginger/Segway as a transformational revolution in personal transportation... If only he’d thought of electrifying available people-powered systems and miniaturizing as well adding capacity rather than re-inventing things. Of course hindsight... but what if he’d seen things differently.
yes, the segway's innovation was essentially a consequence of moore's law: consumer-oriented computers and sensors were small enough, fast enough, robust enough, and power-efficient enough to calculate dynamic stability for locomotion in real-time (my field of study in grad school).
it was awe-inspiring and admirable from an engineering standpoint, but painfully misapplied and dorky from a societal one.
kamen could have used this technological advance on any number of (existing) personal transport machines, but he chose to invent his own, as inventors are wont to do.
Re: E-bikes could be the electric revolution cities need
#173This is a fantasy in the US, change my view. We have waaaay too many overweight/obese people. And, as other comments point out, there would have to be a sacrifice in terms of automobiles for this to truly work. I find it highly doubtful that Americans would be willing to make that trade. Also, I think that if it came up there would be significant push back from groups you wouldn’t expect, like the disabled or union t…
You've got this entirely backwards. E-Bikes are an enabling factor for overweight people to start using bikes more. I know because I am one, my BMI is 33 and it's one of the main driving factors behind my decision to acquire an e-bike in 2018. (Another driving factor is the fact that my commute home involves an elevation gain of ~550ft, which would be tough even if I was not obese. I had been a bike commuter when I lived in the Bay Area but after moving to Portland I had a longer commute with more hills and I couldn't make it work with my old bike.)
The biggest barriers to people in the US riding bikes more are having enough safe bicycling infrastructure to make trips feasible without having to go too far out of their way for a safe trip and having secure parking at their destination. These are solvable problems if we have the will to do so.
I admit I'm lucky, I live in Portland where we have a pretty good greenway network -- I encounter very few cars on my commute -- and I work at Oregon Health & Science University, so I get to park my bike at the largest bicycle parking lot in North America before I hop on the Portland Aerial Tram for the last leg of my commute. Plus I get a commute incentive of $1.50 every day I ride. OHSU does have unique incentives to limit employee driving -- the city limits how much employee parking we have, so spots are limited. Daily parking passes are expensive and sell out quickly; you can expect to wait at least seven years for a permanent parking pass. The bus takes 20-40 minutes longer than my bike ride depending on transfer connection timing. The e-bike is my best commute option, hands down. Even in the rain, it's far more enjoyable.
I'm actually on my second e-bike; my first one was my old bike converted with a GeoOrbital Wheel. That was great until it started malfunctioning, and it was the second time I sent it back to the company for service that I decided to invest in a new e-bike with a larger battery and more range. Now I not only commute by bike, I've acquired a cheap cargo trailer so I can do my grocery shopping, I ride it to therapy appointments, and I even rode it to a Trail Blazers game once (we have a set of secure BikeLink lockers at the Rose Quarter Transit Center, which I first used in the Bay Area and something Portland needs more of). Portland's climate means I can ride nearly year-round; I won't ride when the streets are icy but that's pretty rare around here.
I am really, really close to being car-free and my e-bike is the reason why. I recommend everyone try riding one at least once.
Re: E-bikes could be the electric revolution cities need
#174This is a fantasy in the US, change my view. We have waaaay too many overweight/obese people. And, as other comments point out, there would have to be a sacrifice in terms of automobiles for this to truly work. I find it highly doubtful that Americans would be willing to make that trade. Also, I think that if it came up there would be significant push back from groups you wouldn’t expect, like the disabled or union t…
I don't think weight comes into it. The primary issue the 60% of people who fall into the "interested but concerned" category cite is safety around cars. The way to fix that is with a multi-faceted approach of engineering (protected bicycle facilities, dedicated bicycle signals at intersections), education (classes for both drivers and cyclists that focus on appropriate behavior around bicycles), enforcement (focused…
60% interested but concerned is not even close to enough, there are significant entrenched views (car culture) and lobbies(AARP, Big oil) who will make this very difficult/impossible. Also how many Americans are “interested” in being fit, or following a diet to lose weight. Interest means little in the face of a routine that requires substantially more effort. And yes, riding an eBike is substantially more effort than hopping into a climate controlled automobile.
>engineering
The US has so much infrastructure debt it’s crazy. Our bridges are falling apart, I don’t see bicycle infrastructure being a priority any time soon. The spice must flow and so semi-trucks must be made roads to drive on. Also a Billion dollars is chump change in California infrastructure terms. The upgraded eastern span of the bay bridge was 6.5 Billion, and required no land acquisition. I try not to think about the HSR boondoggle.
>education
I don’t see this being realistic at all. AARP will fight any sort of further drivers-ed, and the US already has very lax driving standards. Even in California people resent cyclists.
>enforcement
How does this mesh with (5)equitable? Being able to bike to work is super privileged. It means you have a job where arriving tired and sweaty is okay. It means you have time and energy to bike to and from work, the average US commute is something like 16 miles. It also means you are financially secure enough that you don’t need a backup place to sleep just in case, and you have adequate healthcare as biking is obsentsibly more (especially at fault) injury prone than driving. Enforcement primarily on cars would be a covert regressive income tax.
>equitable
How are we going to restructure the US to make biking equitable? Most of the wealth is concentrated in a dozen or so urban areas. Is the solution for middle class people to sell their house in the burbs so they can rent in the city so they can ride an ebike to work? such equity.
Re: E-bikes could be the electric revolution cities need
#175You could also use a regular bike by moving closer to work.
I've been biking for nearly 9 years to work, church, dentist, and the dr's office. They are all within a 3 mile radius.
It's highly addictive, and a great form of exercise.
It's my understanding that the toxins produced from mining the minerals for batteries, and recycling them isn't great for the environment.
I'm still interested in an e-bike though, or adding a motor to a bike for the days where everyone else's pollution causes an inversion, and I can't breathe too well.
Re: E-bikes could be the electric revolution cities need
#176Earlier quoted context omitted.
Does anyone have head injury statistics? I know falls are a major cause of preventable death in the US, but I don’t even know how those break down between someone on a bike vs an old person falling over.
It's not just about death, it's also about brain damage. A broken bone is NBD compared to a TBI with often permanent damage. You can lock helmets with bikes if you want. I used to lock my helmet with my u-lock on my bike, so if they cut off the helmet, then it isn't a very useful helmet. I now bring it with me in my bag mostly for hygenic reasons although.
Personally I would avoid locking a helmet up like that.
Expanded foam helmets are fragile by design. They are design to be disposable with even small knocks. So even accidentally banging them against your frame, dlock or solid post is a bad idea even if you can’t visibly see any damage.
You’re recommended to replace them at regular intervals also due to sweat damage.
Re: E-bikes could be the electric revolution cities need
#177Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’ve been doing a commute from Cambridge ma to Boston with an ebike this year. I agree it’s big plus is being able to pick up speed rapidly in traffic. The being able to easily keep up with traffic is what I miss when I switch to my regular bike, which I had been comuting with for years. Also I ride it more than my traditional bike because it is easier. (I rode to work today) Parking is easier too though I’m still a…
I've considered doing this; my concern is the windchill. How do you manage that?
My experience is that it's most important to keep your ears, hands, and torso warm, which I achieve with a windbreaker vest or jacket depending on how cold it is. Even if I'm a bit chilly when I leave, I'm certain to be warm when I arrive at my destination -- sometimes a bit too warm, but not nearly as sweaty as I would be if I were riding a regular bike instead of an e-bike.
Re: E-bikes could be the electric revolution cities need
#178Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the biggest reason people don't see a bicycle helmet as necessary is from personal experience. I grew up on the 70's, long before kids helmets were in vogue. And I had several bicycle accidents. Once I hit a curb, went over the handlebars, and skinned up my hands/knees and my wrists hurt pretty bad for a week or so after. Another time I wiped out at the bottom of a hill, tore a huge gash in the side of my kne…
Your anecdotes of falling without hitting your head aren't very relevant. And if you had such an accident, you might not be capable of posting here.
Re: E-bikes could be the electric revolution cities need
#179Earlier quoted context omitted.
you pretty much end your argument with the line For fit people in good weather. The second part is more important than the first. You do leave out convenience and more with regards to carrying goods that these cannot offer.
Many places where people bike a lot like Netherlands and Finland have bad weather. So obviously it’s not correlated. I remember biking a lot while studying despite bad weather (even snow and ice). I think that’s more a fear of newcomers who are not used to outdoor clothes.
Agree...I've been regular-biking year round in SLC for about 9 years. Rain isn't a problem with good gear, and fenders. Snow gets removed or melts quickly. It's the air quality on days with inversions that are the issue for me. I've biked in single digits, and you are quite warm when you push it.
Re: E-bikes could be the electric revolution cities need
#180Whenever I go looking online at e-bikes, I'm always dismayed by what seems like artificially inflated pricing. It's difficult to believe that the engineering and manufacturing of most of these bikes justifies their 100+% premium over standard bikes. There are some very clever e-bikes, and perhaps their prices are reasonable. But there are a lot of bikes which are standard models with an added Bosch motor on the crank…
They're not exactly standard models, a frame design has to be modified to accommodate that Bosch drive.