adlai

Having owned both a carbon road bike and an ebike, The carbon road bike has a complicated derailleur gear system that needs to be cleaned every hundred miles or so, sometimes less, it also goes out of sync with regularity requiring some form of adjustment, and that adjustment isn't really working well for me because it skips gears. Because the parts of the carbon road bike are optimized for weight they are also kind of fragile and need to be replaced often because of their fragile nature.

The ebike has a belt drive and an IGH. Both are less efficient than a chain system but are gobs of less maintenance. It also can run bigger and less efficient tires for a more comfortable ride. As well, it can take a suspension system too and still maintain speed.

When it runs out of electricity like what happened to me today it is a bear to limp home in.

dedhed

If you have to clean your derailleur and adjust every 100 miles there is something wrong or you're doing something wrong.

Iride01 

They make regular bikes with IGH. So you don't have to have the derailleur drive system if you don't care for it. I agree that IGH is more worry free and lasts a long time.

Less weight and range of gearing is the plus for derailleur systems though over IGH. And many of us find them not as finicky as others do. But they can be more trouble for those that don't quite understand them.

shelbyfv

The greatest "virtue" is that you don't have to sweat the hills! Of course that's been true for most of my motorized vehicles, the 1967 VW Westie being an exception. Hard not to like more motor.

adlai

The motor helps yes but the additional weight makes it help less.

But yes more motor helps with hills and it can keep you in an optimal cadence range more where your body is doing optimal levels of exercise.

badger1

I wonder if the administrators of Bike Forums might consider creating a sub-forum wherein the virtues of electric motorcycles bikes might be discussed, rather than here in 'General Cycling'? It could be called something like 'Electric Bikes'.

Just a thought.

indyfabz

I have a ti frame with what was top of the line Shimano mechanical in 2016. I haven’t replaced one part. What group was your carbon bike built with? Let’s see some photos.

DangerousDanR

What an absolute load of twattle. Before you post, can you please clean up the grammar of you generated text? Thanks, very much.

veganbikes

E-bikes are bicycles they can only move forward with pedaling, there is no throttle You might be accidentally conflating the e-mopeds which have the ability to pedal but let's face it throttling is the point of that with an e-bicycle a lot of people do it unfortunately. There are also e-motorcycles which are purely by a throttle with no ability to pedal. I am unsure if the OP has a throttle or not.

Getting back to the topic, at the OP if you have to adjust that often you probably have done something wrong or you have some really cheap derailleurs like Tourney level stuff. Yes an IGH and a belt tends to be lower maintenance but a chain and derailleurs aren't exceptionally hard to maintain and you don't have to maintain them that often. As others have likely noted you can get an IGH and belt drive on non-electric bikes.

E-bikes are great and the silliness of people who have to dislike them is getting old. I can understand not liking e-mopeds, the crap that poor quality/not UL listed and actual motorcycles and I can understand someone having ridden a quality one saying it is not for me but those who don't like e-bikes (again no throttles only pedaling moves it forward) just because is just is so tiring.

LarrySellerz

Drafted an ebike for about 4 miles today. I ride an acoustic bike bike but love seeing e-bikes out here. Acoustic cyclists who hate e-bikes are slow and their opinions can be readily ignored.

Trakhak

Don't be so ashamed about performance issues. Lashing out can be healthy. Drafting a Viagra bike when you're on a manual bike is better than not riding at all.

TiHabanero

"Viagra bike", oh I like that!

indyfabz

Seek immediate LBS attention for a ride lasting longer than 4 hours.

indyfabz

fify

indyfabz

THIS is the sort of stupidity that SHOULD be readily ignored.

SoSmellyAir

I have heard them referred to as DUI bikes in a nearby beach city.

Maelochs

The OP was doing okay until s/he said these things:
... and ... This is all crap. Hating on pedal bikes is no better than hating on e-bikes.

Trying to explain why trucks are better than trains just sounds silly. Comparing ebikes to pedal bikes is the same sort of silliness. They are different things with different designs, and operating methods.

Neither is good or bad ... but the same cannot be said for posters.

shelbyfv

If an Incel on an acoustic bike drafts a Viagra bike w/o permission would that generate a Me Too moment or a change of luck? We need a poll. Maybe in Ebikes....

CAT7RDR

E-bikes, for those that can't perform when 'tis time to strike while the iron is still hot.

wheelreason

If you are going to make believe you are pedaling, might as well hook up to an indoor contraption and make believe you are going somewhere, or get a Prius or a Tesla already...

freeranger

"Acoustic"? Do you tune the spokes and play it like a harp? I've heard a regular bike referred to as analog (makes more sense to me--mechanical watches have been referred to as analog for years). But acoustic? This may be current slang, but makes no sense to me.

Weogo

I think 'acoustic' comes from the music performance world.

Remember the 'horrors' of Bob Dylan playing an electric Guitar in 1965 at the Newport Folk Festival:

And the flipside, an 'electric' Guitar player, like Eric Clapton, playing an acoustic Guitar:

ScottCommutes

A pedal harp, not a Celtic harp.

PeteHski

Or you could just ride an e-bike if that’s what you had in mind. None of your suggested alternatives above are better choices.

wheelreason

Bettter? No, but less delusional.