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Electric bike, stupid love of my life

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Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#401

Post by wpietri »

Fricken wrote: post #390
wpietri wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 importan…

Unfortunately, I'm not particularly money motivated. What went out of me wasn't a will to spend. It was will to deal relentlessly with all the nonsense.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#402

Post by wpietri »

pyaamb wrote: post #275
wpietri wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

did u ever put an airtag on it?

This was all before AirTags. But thieves are canny, so I'd expect them to be very good by now at finding and removing AirTags.

Supposing I did have one, though, what do you imagine me doing? If I know where a criminal gang has taken my bike, help me understand what you see as the next step.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#403

Post by wpietri »

tim333 wrote: post #377
wpietri wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Dunno if it would work in SF but in London I have an old rusty bike, left outside with a D lock and not many problems - there are always more saleable looking bikes if the thieves are at it.

I think it depends on the kind of thief. The last one I had stolen was indeed a battered-looking thing with low resale value. But I'm pretty sure it was stolen by some low-end criminals who were not very bright or effective.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#404

Post by Bagged2347 »

shellfishgene wrote: post #369
miketery wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What city are you in? It will get better if more and more people ride.

The pessimistic view would be that it gets better as more people get hurt...

This is my fear as well. My state recently started a program to give people rebates if they buy eBikes, which is great! I have one myself. But I know we're going to experience a lot of collisions between bicycles and cars when there are more bicycles on the road. I find that the biggest issue is confusion on what is appropriate and what's not when you're on a bicycle, and when there is no clearly marked paths/lanes a lot is left up to interpretation. We should be setting people up for success instead of leaving it up to chance. Making mistakes shouldn't cost you your life or health. But it will take a lot of will and money to do that, and I'm not sure if anything expect loss of life will spur that will.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#405

Post by dghlsakjg »

jeffbee wrote: post #395
dghlsakjg wrote: post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Gas powered Vespa style scooters absolutely have a control lever in the left hand. Check out the instruction manual: https://www.vespaforum.com/manuals/Vespa/LX50/LX50%202%20Str...

I’m not talking about little electric folding scooters. I never mentioned those.

49cc scooters have the same controls as throttle equipped e-bikes. One brake on each side, and throttle on the right. The only difference is that rear brake on the scooter is on the left.

The main difference is that the ebike is arguably safer since you can’t apply throttle and brake at the same time due to the cutout.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#406

Post by minitrollster »

parshimers wrote: post #267
abeppu wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You just don't leave it outside at all! How practical is this really? You bring your folding bike into the restaurant where you're eating, into the bar where you're meeting friends, into the gym (it doesn't fit into a locker), into the little corner store with narrow aisles, etc? I feel like taking the folding bike indoors can work for a commute if your office doesn't have dedicated safe bike storage, but I think i…

A Brompton is really small when folded. Smaller than a carry-on suitcase by volume. It rolls on little scooter wheels on the rear rack when folded. I bring mine into all the places you just listed on a regular basis, except for a gym. For a restaurant, it typically will fit under a table. At a bar, if you are at a table the previous thing works. I've also had the bar staff offer to stash it inside the store room. If…

This is one of the most insane things I've ever read.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#407

Post by Phlarp »

twizod wrote: post #384
Phlarp wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

They take steroids and it turns them into narcissists with anger issues. See also: American Cops.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#408

Post by rcpt »

juujian wrote: post #299
rcpt wrote: post #126

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 kn…

> 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. And you get cussed out by either drivers or pedestrians, because street design pits you against either one or the other...

Part of the experience. Some of your neighbors are jerks

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#409

Post by btbuildem »

I like the poetic sing-songy tone of the article -- it does convey the joy of moving through the world on a bike. An electric one, even more so.

My city has a rental bike system (Bixi, or City Bike elsewhere) and they're clunky tanks, made to be abused. In the past couple of years they've expanded their fleet with e-assist bikes. They're amazing. They're still unwieldy tanks, but the boost makes them fly up hills with little effort.

In my limited experience with different types of e-bikes, the ones where you need to pedal to make them go seem better than the ones with some kind of a throttle / lever etc. The act of pedalling engages the rider more completely than sliding some thumb lever, it feels safer and more connected with the ride.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#410

Post by juancn »

"Find a local bike shop that will let you try out several electric bikes"

where I live no shop is going to let you try one. Not even a regular bike, you want to try? Buy it.

Heck, you normally can't even get a test drive when buying a new car.

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