91–100 of 188 posts
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> in a bike-friendly city also, many bike friendly paths don't allow electric bikes (sometimes not enforced and it will probably change in the future though)
Is this still really that common?
I am an amateur e-biker. Luckily I live in a city with bikeshare so I don’t have to own one, I just rent it for my commute. 5 miles each way. It takes half the time as public transit used to. Before the bike share I would waste at least 90 minutes a day waiting for and commuting on public transit. Now it’s no more than 24 minutes door to door each way. I get mild exercise, and it’s fun! I still own a non e-bike (fat…
> Today I got cursed out by a spandexed “real biker” as I passed by with my electric whirrrr. So, a motorbike a passes a human powered vehicle? That should come as no surprise to neither of you. :) To be honest, I don't get the appeal of e-bikes for the type of riding you do. Getting up to 15 MPH when you're riding for 8 km in a city when stopping for lights should be no problem without disabilities on a decent bike.…
As mentioned there is more than that. An entire accelerates from stop MUCH more quickly which adds a significant element of safety.
By the way the bike share ebikes are like 30lbs and speed limited so there are plenty of times when my "motorbike" has been passed in the road by a well-geared human powered vehicle, friend.
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There is clearly a pain point in need of an innovative solution, might be a sizeable market.
iPhones had a similar theft problem till they implemented decent anti-theft DRM. Now it's rare to see iPhones stolen. Ebikes could do the same. It would be a shame for the 'hacker' crowd, but with locked down firmware and all parts cryptographically linked by serial number, there would be no valuable parts to strip from a stolen bike.
This sounds great in theory, but I don't find it convincing. Motorcyclists say the same thing about speed being a benefit and maybe it is in some cases, but if you look at the stats, the faster the bike, the more likely you will die. Speeding is a factor in 32% of fatalities. I'd be surprised if it's significantly different on an e-bike.
There's a pretty big difference between going 20 mph vs going 60 or whatever on a motorcycle.
I would assume the same about motorcycles and ebikes, but presumably the threshold would be lower due to lack of protection (motorcycle helmet and armour not as safe as a metal shell with airbags).
So I wonder where that curve starts to rise up on bicycles and ebikes considering they wear just a bicycle helmet and no armoured clothing usually.
(I loved riding ebikes in China (Kunshan) with wide protected lanes that were totally separate from traffic outside of city center (where speeds were low and congestion high, negating they need)).
> Previously, you had to be a serious cyclist to access this speed (and corresponding ability to simply exist on car-dominated roads), but now almost everyone can. Wow, interesting that they frame this as a positive. I'm a general advocate for e-bikes but this has been the absolute biggest drawback I've noticed with them: e-bike riders suddenly get all of the speed of a very fit cyclist but absolutely none of the roa…
You’ve put your finger on a real problem for me. I live in the UK countryside, and we get a lot of serious cyclists visiting here. The most dangerous pattern I see is occupying the middle of the road - which is fine when they’re doing 25mph in a 30mph road. But they stay there in 60mph sections, causing drivers to accelerate and veer round them. If we had more riders doing the same thing on ebikes, I imagine there’d…
Also, e-bikes are typically ridden by people who would never think of riding a bicycle in the middle of an A-road, so no need to worry.
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The article had people on cargo bikes doing the weekly groceries, and riding with four kids.
It's amazing how many people think bikes only work if you're a fit single person with no kids in a big city. On some level they're aware of ebikes existing, or, y'know, the Dutch, but for some reason the thoughts of "the Dutch bike everywhere" and "the Dutch have children" never quite connect in their heads.
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> in a bike-friendly city also, many bike friendly paths don't allow electric bikes (sometimes not enforced and it will probably change in the future though)
Is this still really that common?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
HN will hate this but the solution is likely to serial number every part on the bike and software lock it down so if you take a battery or something from one bike, it becomes bricked when you stick it in another bike. This would get hard with non electronic parts like wheels though.
That wouldn’t eliminate theft but it would only make it worse for the consumer.
I don't see any way the rental company is going to stop that. its certainly not like the police here are going to be anything but abusive if you called them about a bike or scooter that you left out for anyone to get at.
I am an amateur e-biker. Luckily I live in a city with bikeshare so I don’t have to own one, I just rent it for my commute. 5 miles each way. It takes half the time as public transit used to. Before the bike share I would waste at least 90 minutes a day waiting for and commuting on public transit. Now it’s no more than 24 minutes door to door each way. I get mild exercise, and it’s fun! I still own a non e-bike (fat…
> Today I got cursed out by a spandexed “real biker” as I passed by with my electric whirrrr. So, a motorbike a passes a human powered vehicle? That should come as no surprise to neither of you. :) To be honest, I don't get the appeal of e-bikes for the type of riding you do. Getting up to 15 MPH when you're riding for 8 km in a city when stopping for lights should be no problem without disabilities on a decent bike.…
IMO, the number one hurdle for ebikes is theft. The things cost a decent chunk of money and there is basically no way to secure them properly. I have owned an ebike and it's such a fun way to get around, but I quickly sold it because I was in constant fear of it being stolen. And shortly after, one of my cheap non ebikes was stolen while locked inside my apartments bike storage area. I think electric scooters might h…
There is clearly a pain point in need of an innovative solution, might be a sizeable market.