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Electric bike, stupid love of my life

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Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#381

Post by bjornasm »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #209
wyre wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty sure it needs pedals to be legally classified as a bike, otherwise it is an electric scooter and a whole separate list of laws apply, but this could vary by state and country.

That's unfortunate that that is generally the case. Many people go full-assist — twist the throttle and go. If they had to pedal significantly they would be disinclined to even ride an ebike. When the power is out, actually pedaling an ebike is one of the worst riding experiences ever. Pedals generally mean your seating position is higher, feet not touching the gourd when seated — this too will disincline a larger nu…

Its no longer ebike adoption if its not ebikes. What is the point of getting people to "adopt" what isn't biking?

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#382

Post by bjornasm »

js2 wrote: post #50
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…

> E bikes really are the best form of travel Whether an E bike is the best form of travel is going to depend on a lot of factors. It's certainly less flexible than a car. For one person who doesn't need to carry a lot and who lives somewhere that has dedicated bike lanes or can at least safely share the road with cars and where the weather is neither much too cold nor much too hot and there aren't daily thunderstorms…

>For one person who doesn't need to carry a lot

Transport e-bikes can take several people, furniture etc. No problem bicycling in bad weather either, people regularly bike in ice and snow.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#383

Post by whazor »

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.

A bike with VanMoof looks and software, but with standard components, would be a great bike. Maybe the standard components need to be improved to make this possible.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#384

Post by twizod »

Phlarp wrote: post #351
globular-toast wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know people who can't get around without a car with GPS navigation. They do not know the way to the shops or their friends' houses. It's interesting to me that road rage is non-existent between cyclists and pedestrians. It seems to be a manifestation of the frustration of being reduced to a metal box with a monotone horn, a couple of lights and the ability to go forwards and backwards. On a bike you're still a pers…

You've clearly never been on a bike path in America! Road cyclists wearing spandex suits are the most universally obnoxious group of assholes you'll meet here. They make Tesla and BMW drivers look polite, and will openly roid range on anybody that doesn't dive out of their way while they ride shoulder to shoulder in the middle of the path.

I know a converted railroad paved with asphalt decades ago going through woods for miles and an absolute respite from the chaos of human activity around my area. However, dealing with these "gangs" of spandex laden, wannabe pro-cyclists telling me to "get over" while shoving their way past me has made it stressful and confrontational. They remind me of the entitled suburban mom shoving her way up to the front of the line to grab her caramel macchiato because she's in a hurry to her botox appointment. And since this is Ashburn, VA...we have mega sized datacenters looming over both sides of the path like the heads of sentinels staring at you. I need to move further out :)

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#385

Post by desas »

ndsipa_pomu wrote: post #314
chriswarbo wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The Cycle-to-Work scheme as I remember it is problematic in that you're not buying the bike, but virtually leasing it from your employer for a period of time (1 year?) That's just a technicality, I assume to make it comply with other laws about using company money to buy personal items. Payments are deducted from your pre-tax earnings each month, so the saving come from paying less income tax; you can't give the co…

> It varies per employer, e.g. I got one up to £1500. More annoying is that it must cover the full price: e.g. you can't pay £100 cash to get a £1600 ebike (although some sellers may fiddle the price tag to get around this!) The only time I used cycle-to-work was many years ago, so I might have misremembered. However, I've heard that current schemes tend to just give out vouchers that can be used in certain bike shop…

As of 2019ish the price limit is up to your employer, my employer has a limit of £5k

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#386

Post by jacquesm »

sleepybrett wrote: post #181
mitthrowaway2 wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Coming from a city where bike theft is severe, the biggest culture shock for me in Japan was seeing how they "lock" their bicycles: loop a flimsy metal ring through the back wheel, and walk away. You could easily still wheel the bike away on its front wheel or toss it into the back of a truck. And yet, it will always still be there when you come back. Amazing.

If they use any lock at all. Even in the heart of tokyo you'll see bikes just propped up against a wall or sitting in a rack with no lock at all.

My house and workshop in rural Canada were like that: no locks. Nothing. Massive quantity of expensive tools in a completely unsecured building.

This made for a bit of a tricky scene during title transfer, how do you pass the keys to the new owners if there are no keys...

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#387

Post by freilanzer »

mulmen wrote: post #130
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.

I don't think a Cube Kathmandu, for example, looks ugly.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#388

Post by alphager »

mulmen wrote: post #130
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.

Take a look at Riese+Müller; they are a German brand that is also sold in the US: https://flyridesusa.com/collections/riese-muller-electric-bi...

They offer the same theft-protection/tracking/insurance thing Vanmoof had, but use off-the-shelf bike components. The only thing they lack is the "unlock through Bluetooth"-functionality Vanmoof had.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#389

Post by chriswarbo »

schubart wrote: post #371
chriswarbo wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're useful on the train (my commute's train didn't allow nonfolding bikes, since the line heads to/from London which makes it crowded). I previously left my acoustic bike locked at the station all day; but wouldn't dare with an ebike, so I got a folder.

“Acoustic bike” as opposed to e-bike… I’ll steal that!

I took it from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36748080 but have seen it used occasionally elsewhere (e.g. Reddit's r/fuckcars )

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#390

Post by Fricken »

wpietri wrote: post #78
tjoff wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 exp…

I feel that one for sure. I live in San Francisco and was a dedicated cyclist. I had 6 bikes stolen in my first years here. But I was stubborn, got cannier, and kept the 7th long enough for it to look scruffy. Which let me keep it for years. But then it got stolen while locked up behind a 12-foot fence and something went out of me. I just gave up. I still make occasional trips on the Lyft bikes, which are fine. And I…

Having stuff stolen sucks, but with bikes I try to think of it as just a transportation cost. A year's worth of transit passes in my city will run me $1200, so if I buy a $1200 bike and it lasts me a year before it gets stolen, I'm breaking even.

I've had 6 bikes stolen in a quarter century of commuting, but I've saved about $17k over what it would have cost me to use public transit for the same period. More importantly: cycling is enjoyable, I look forward to my morning commute on a bike. Not so much with other transport options.

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