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Electric bike, stupid love of my life

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Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#31

Post by ndsipa_pomu »

Renaud wrote: post #26
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…

In France, many cities and regions offer non-negligible subsidies to locals wanting to purchase an e-bikes (I think it also works for regular bikes). These schemes have boosted the adoption of e-bikes and most cities, big and small, have been playing catch-up to provide bike lanes in and around city centres. Currently travelling across France along canals and rivers and the network is pretty extensive all over the co…

Here in the UK, I gaze longingly over the Channel at France and their promotion of cycling, especially in Paris.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#32

Post by swader999 »

LoganDark wrote: post #28
swader999 wrote: post #6

E bikes really are the best form of travel. The only issue is how do you get rid of that ridiculous looking grin on your face. You just had a huge rush, got a bit of exercise, paid nothing for parking, eight pennies for 'gas', and beat all your co-workers who were stuck in traffic. The grin is real and not a good look professionally at the office when commuting. Thanks ebikes.ca, endless sphere forums and Sheldon Bro…

> The only issue is how do you get rid of that ridiculous looking grin on your face. You just had a huge rush, got a bit of exercise, paid nothing for parking, eight pennies for 'gas', and beat all your co-workers who were stuck in traffic. The grin is real and not a good look professionally at the office when commuting. This is the most hilarious non-satire comment I've read in a while. The grin is indeed an issue

Thanks, I don't have the tech chops most of you have so I try to help out in odd places wherever I can.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#33

Post by ryukafalz »

zdragnar wrote: post #25
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…

I would love to get some e-bikes for my family. However, they're not terribly useful aside from recreation for us. We don't live in an urban or even suburban area. Bikes are a local thing. If the weather is too hot, or cold, or wet, or snowy, you're out of luck. Cars appeal nationwide. They'll get you hundreds of miles, comfortably, between remote destinations that aren't served by public transport or airports. Or, t…

They're of course not the solution for every transportation need, especially if you live out in the middle of nowhere, but two things:

> If the weather is too hot, or cold, or wet, or snowy, you're out of luck.

I really don't think the weather is as much of a barrier as it's often made out to be. The Netherlands is famously windy and rainy and Oulu, Finland has snow 5 months out of the year, but nevertheless lots of people cycle in both places.

But yes, if your bike lanes and paths are unmaintained (or worse, have all the street's snow plowed into them) it won't be attractive to cycle in the winter. That's a question of infrastructure and priorities though, it's not the weather alone.

> Or, they'll help you get groceries for the whole family.

I ride an Urban Arrow Family, and it works fine for bringing home lots of groceries.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#34

Post by jeffbee »

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)

The sales of e-bikes are not consistent with your statement. The market does not think this is a showstopper.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#35

Post by tjoff »

swader999 wrote: post #6

E bikes really are the best form of travel. The only issue is how do you get rid of that ridiculous looking grin on your face. You just had a huge rush, got a bit of exercise, paid nothing for parking, eight pennies for 'gas', and beat all your co-workers who were stuck in traffic. The grin is real and not a good look professionally at the office when commuting. Thanks ebikes.ca, endless sphere forums and Sheldon Bro…

The problem of thieves is such a downer though. Against all kinds of bikes, really takes both the joy and the utility out of it. Same with owning a scooter and similar vehicles.

And even if you have good and safe parking at home and at the office (great!), which will cover the vast majority of trips it still limits the usefulness of a vehicle to be so tied up.

Yes, there are solutions/mitigations/compromises. But expensive and heavy locks suck and the ever present thought in your head planning a good parking spot etc. kills the joy of it.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#36

Post by bluescrn »

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.

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.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#37

Post by [deleted] »

blamazon wrote: post #11
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…

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.

[deleted]

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#38

Post by PartiallyTyped »

swader999 wrote: post #32
LoganDark wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The only issue is how do you get rid of that ridiculous looking grin on your face. You just had a huge rush, got a bit of exercise, paid nothing for parking, eight pennies for 'gas', and beat all your co-workers who were stuck in traffic. The grin is real and not a good look professionally at the office when commuting. This is the most hilarious non-satire comment I've read in a while. The grin is indeed an issue

Thanks, I don't have the tech chops most of you have so I try to help out in odd places wherever I can.

I haven’t experienced it first hand, but I had one as I read your comment :D

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#39

Post by manmal »

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 can insure my €4k electric cargobike for €7/month. I do have to use a €80 lock, but I‘d do that anyway.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#40

Post by chopsuey5540 »

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.

Where are you getting your numbers from? I got my new e-bike insured for 2 years for 10% of the purchase price
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