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Electric bike, stupid love of my life

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Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#81

Post by hughesjj »

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)

They really don't, at least not in Seattle. I mean maybe if you're using cable locks yeah but the great thing about ebikes is that they have motors-- my big ass fuck off chain isn't a huge deal to carry around in the panier/basket, and it's easier to circular saw through my frame. You can also do the motorcycle integrated wheel locks, or spend like 30 bucks for one that gets set off by the vibrations caused by cutting

Hell even if my bike got stolen every month it's still cheaper to just buy a new one than car ownership once you factor in gas and maintenence, let alone parking.

I hate parking. Not paying for it, but finding a spot. It sucks. And I'd rather deal with someone taking something off my bike than smashing my window again.

Idk man, I encourage anyone to give an ebike a try. They're fantastic.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#82

Post by yokoprime »

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…

I love in Norway and we have studded tires on our Urban Arrow during winter. It can carry probably about a weeks worth of groceries. That being said we have a car too, so it’s about using the right tool for the job: downtown shopping means using the bike, weekend in the mountains we use the car. If it’s a storm outside we usually take the car too.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#83

Post by gerbilly »

Unpopular opinion:

Ride a regular bike.

In terms of theft, just use a beater bike for commuting.

By getting rid of the 'E' part of the bike, you'll get more exercise and won't have to worry about theft.

For years I rode a beater that I found in the garbage and that I fixed up with some parts I had lying around. Later I upgraded to a singlespeed because derailleurs freeze up in the winter.

It's a trek earl. Seriously bikes are so ridiculously efficient why do we need to add batteries and motors and geegaws to them?

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#84

Post by georgeoliver »

manmal wrote: post #39
Filligree wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That rate is quite good. The best I could find with multiple quotes for an 8k USD ebike was 35 USD/month.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#85

Post by analog31 »

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…

A problem with the ridiculous grin is that people somehow assume riding a bike is purely a source of personal gratification or irrational indulgence at the expense of others. Like being cheerful while you're working. Or working from home.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#86

Post by [deleted] »

zimpenfish wrote: post #70
js2 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

I know someone who carries a lot, lives in London (some dedicated bike lanes, not many), the weather is, uh, random at best, and he does the shopping, commutes from SW London to Farringdon, etc. All using an e-bike with detachable cargo trailer. If I didn't live on the 3rd floor[1], or had bike storage downstairs, I'd get one ASAP. [1] I need an e-bike for the same reason I can't carry 20kg up 4 flights - my right kn…

[deleted]

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#87

Post by somerandomqaguy »

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.

Technology improved, but cars one main advantage. To steal a 4000lbs car one needs either a tow truck, or to enable the engine, or a lot of guys to push.

To steal a 15 lbs bicycle, one need only pick it up and walk away.

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#88

Post by blamazon »

ndsipa_pomu wrote: post #61
blamazon wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Social researchers have dubbed this phenomenon "motonormativity"[1] and it is remarkably powerful. [1]: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/17/motonormativit...

Also disparagingly known as car-brain.

Perhaps to defuse the denigrative aspect of the term we should think of it as analogous to the 'lizard brain' as not a disease but something of an interior module we all have within us - on a day to day basis most people can generally introspect on the contributions of the lizard brain to our thoughts and feelings[1] , why not should we similarly introspect on the car brain and think on a similarly higher order level?

[1] Tangential reading: 'Why Buddhism is True' by Robert Wight:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_Buddhism_Is_True

https://www.npr.org/transcripts/541610511

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#89

Post by dazc »

ndsipa_pomu wrote: post #31
Renaud wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Cheeky

Re: Electric bike, stupid love of my life

#90

Post by zdragnar »

ryukafalz wrote: post #33
zdragnar wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> I really don't think the weather is as much of a barrier as it's often made out to be.

I'm not making some wild guess, I'm going based on observations of riders in the nearby metro where I once lived. Bike usage plummets twice a year- very few people want to deal with -40 wind chills or have a shower at work after biking in 90F/33c sun.

Hence, my argument that e-bikes tax breaks make more sense at local levels than they do broadly applied.

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