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Electric bike, stupid love of my life

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Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#391

Post by nojvek »

Had an electric skateboard first, then electric bike, then electric scooter

I really love the electric scooter. It folds into a small space. I had a bad fall on the electric skateboard and traded electric bike for a v light weight race bike.

Author is correct, Electric scooter/bike are some kind of magic cheat code. Take very little electricity, cheap to buy and great for the last mile commute.

Although they do suck when it’s rainy or you need to carry more.

I’m looking forward to someone guiding 1-2 passenger, something with A/C mini electric vehicles.

Tesla selling $50k vehicles seems crazy to me, some with other electric car manufacturers.

I think there’s a great niche for light weight personal vehicles meant for city driving.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#392

Post by elzbardico »

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.

This is so universal that I’ve noticed that when I am wearing spandex when cycling, pedestrians seem to be really fearful of antagonizing me and act surprised when I do just what is right, like yielding for them, or breaking when they inadvertently get in my way. They clearly expect to be berated by me, probably because of their former experience with other spandex wearing pretend-pro cyclists

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#393

Post by tacticalturtle »

swader999 wrote: post #287
ohwellhere wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a coworker have his bike stolen on 5th Ave in New York City while thoroughly chained and U-locked to scaffolding at 9am with hundreds of pedestrian passersby in the time it took him to go up the passenger elevator and down the freight elevator.

Portable angle grinders and certain kinds of jacks. A nail clipper with a bic lighter can get through a cable in less than a minute.

Nowadays if you’re willing to spend $300 dollars on a Hiplok D3000 or Litelok x3, you can have a lock that takes 10 minutes to cut with an angle grinder.

So that’s progress at least.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#394

Post by tacticalturtle »

mitthrowaway2 wrote: post #149
kjkjadksj wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

That works if bike theft is a rare condition that strikes a few unlucky people. But if bike theft is really a chronic problem, insurance can't possibly cost less than buying a new bike every time it's stolen. Otherwise the insurance company would lose money.

We’re starting to see more e-bikes have GPS tracking built into the frame, at least with higher end models. See Canyon, VanMoof before they collapsed, etc

If that becomes more widespread, e-bike theft will be a lot riskier, and hopefully easier for companies to insure.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#395

Post by jeffbee »

dghlsakjg wrote: post #353
jeffbee wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> purely for the sake of children. That's not what I said. I think e-bikes with throttles are too dangerous to be on the market for any buyer. It is a bad, dangerous human-machine interface. There is a reason that the big e-bike brands do not offer them. Yamaha doesn't. Specialized doesn't. Trek doesn't. It is a proper use of consumer safety regulatory powers to set requirements for the controls on a dangerous machin…

Why is an ebike with a throttle any more dangerous than any vehicle with a throttle? Why ban them entirely, instead of just limiting them to adults or licensed drivers. In most states you can buy a 49cc scooter which is heavier, faster, more powerful, and has identical controls and operate it without any specialized training. Is that also something we should ban? The human interface for a hand throttle on e-bikes isn…

A scooter has the primary brake on the same hand as the throttle. It is natural to roll off the throttle to reach the brake lever. A scooter has no control lever on the left hand. A bicycle has the primary brake on the left hand, so there is no natural inclination to release the throttle before braking.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#396

Post by allo37 »

SmellTheGlove wrote: post #162
mulmen wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 have a Rad City and I kinda like how stupid looking it is - especially the step through model, which I definitely have. But the nice part is that the bike components are all regular parts. Rad seems to be having serious issues as a company, which is a shame because for the price they’re good frames - but if they go under, it’s not like I relied on them for parts or service anyway. Anyway digression aside, you might…

Funny you mention Rad, they seem to be another golden-boy eBike company that grew too quickly and is struggling. I have a Rover 6+ and am concerned about being able to get parts quickly in the future...

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#397

Post by talldatethrow »

isoprophlex wrote: post #196
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…

If you are a tourist in a Dutch city you will quickly be disabused of the notion that there is no road rage between pedestrians and cyclists. Do not ever idly wander into a Dutch cycle lane, at any cost. You will be treated as invisible, people will cycle straight through you. Should they for some reason take notice of you, they will not slow down one bit, but swerve away imperceptibly, infinitesimally, from a collis…

I once saw a cyclist hit a pedestrian in Salem, OR. The pedestrian then beat up the cyclist to where I'm sure he lost teeth. Others called the police and I eventually left when the ambulance arrived. The cyclist was still laying on the ground, and the pedestrian was long gone.

Let's hope those dutch don't purposely hit an American.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#398

Post by electric_chives »

I'm so torn on my ebike. On one hand, all the good points are true; it's a blast, it opens the city up to you, and its a great way to get around.

All that said, mine has been doing nothing but gathering dust in the basement. Aside from 'pleasure cruise' there is no valid use case for the damned thing, at least in my city. Locking it, especially securing every valuable component on it, is unfeasible and would add ~20 lbs to my pack weight just to lock it. All efforts at creating bike storage lockers have failed, as it became common knowledge that the fragile sheet metal is effectively a lootbox for the taking.

My roadbike on the other hand, cost $100, can be maintained with a small pouch of tools, enjoys effectively infinite range, and is unassuming enough to remain undisturbed at a lock post.

It's a shame, because I'm a big believer in electric micro-mobility vehicles, but the security and usage issues means that the Bird scooters blighting our sidewalks are about the most workable solution we have at the moment.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#399

Post by DANmode »

SmellTheGlove wrote: post #162
mulmen wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 have a Rad City and I kinda like how stupid looking it is - especially the step through model, which I definitely have. But the nice part is that the bike components are all regular parts. Rad seems to be having serious issues as a company, which is a shame because for the price they’re good frames - but if they go under, it’s not like I relied on them for parts or service anyway. Anyway digression aside, you might…

Is REI known to turn away ebikes needing service that they didn't sell you?

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#400

Post by marssaxman »

paulhart wrote: post #12

Pity about Van Moof though - and the owners if the cloud service disappears and they can’t ride their bikes any more. https://electrek.co/2023/07/12/dutch-e-bike-company-vanmoof-... [German]: https://zug.network/@moritzkraehe/110716829137328870

I'm glad to know about this - it would never have occurred to me to ask about such an issue when shopping for an electric bike! One more dumb "smart" feature to avoid...
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