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Old 10-26-19, 08:34 PM
  #95  
KraneXL
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: La-la Land, CA
Posts: 3,623

Bikes: Cannondale Quick SL1 Bike - 2014

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Originally Posted by GlennR
Here's my take on pedal assist.

My 29 year old son currently can drop me at any moment, but we do ride together at times.I'm 63 and hope to do many rides in the future. But there will come a time that I simply can not keep up with him or ride as far. A pedal assist bike will allow me to still ride with him.

For a semi-serious cyclist, a pedal assist makes a "C" rider a "B" and a "B" rider a "A".

If you buy one to claim KOMs, you're a poor example of a human being.


The problem with e-bikes is that the natural tendency is to make the ride as easy as possible. As the ride gets more difficult will you pedal harder or just "switch" to a higher assist mode? Its just too tempting to simply push a button and zip up the hill rather than bog down and grind up the hill like you used to before on your standard bike.

Even the strongest of us that start off with the best of intention can be temped to lighten the load That's especially true if you have an ailment that allow you to rationalize doing so. When some joint goes bad you need to increase the force not deny it. That will only accelerate the decay.

The only way to combat that temptation is to preset and lock the assist, or have it monitored so that you know how much of the effort is you and how much you're getting from the bike motor. At least that way you know if you're still getting a good workout. The "feeling" is just not enough.

On the other hand, if you're out riding it for transportation or just for enjoyment then none of the above applies and you can just ride and have fun..

Originally Posted by Miele Man
What I don't like about most of the E-bike riders I've encountered is that very few of them seem to have any knowledge of the rules of the road, MUP etiquette or even decent common sense. I've had a number of very close calls with E-bike riders passing me on the right where I do NOT expect someone to be passing. Plus, those E-bike riders were moving at a high rate of speed so that any collision would have been quite severe to me.

Cheers
You get the instant gratification of speed and power of a champion without putting in any of the time, training and effort it took them to get there. For example, a responsible racing bike cyclist would never ride his bike fast on the sidewalk.

An e-bike rider capable of the same speeds (and faster) will. This isn't an e-bike hate post. Rather, a responsible cyclist reminder -- with greater speed comes greater responsibility.
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