Originally Posted by
JoeyBike
I live on flat land so I really don't get the whole eBike thing. But if I had one or more formidable hills to climb on the way to work I guess I could see it. As was stated above by ILTB, the weight of the things almost necessitates special parking privileges. My house is 6 feet off the ground. My conventional bikes are enough to schlepp up and down the steps several times a day. And the bike I use for utility errands and appointments is CHEAP in case it gets pinched.
My other issue with eBikes is they are too fast for the bike lane and too slow for the auto lane adjacent to the bike lane. Many of them are limited to 20mph but some will do 40mph.I don't see many where I live so not an issue so far. I believe the price will limit the sales of these things.
People aren't exactly wealthy where I live, but a significant fraction of the bikes I see lately are e-bikes. Many days, over half of the bikes out there are e-bikes, and the majority of these e-bike riders are obviously new to cycling.
I am of the opinion that e-bikes will boom over the next four or five years. That's really a good thing, because I'm watching cycling in my city decline at an alarming rate; we're on track to have zero cyclists by 2024 if trends continue. I see e-bikes as the only way we reverse that trend. Sadly, if my city continues to build cycling infrastructure as though there is one right way to ride (8 mph, very short distances and mostly at city-sponsored events) that boom will be short lived.