Flip Flop Rider

if you want one, get one. Don't let the forum decide for you. Are you seriously concerned with what people on an anonymous internet forum might think??

TheDudeIsHere

Then why not get a Harley, or any other kind of motorcycle.

I'm pretty sure in this world today, they will know you're on an e bike. I get a kick out of people passing me on ebikes pretending to appear as they are pedaling. The secret has been out too long, everyone knows they aren't pedaling those speeds under their own power.

Honestly though, when I am out on the road, I don't get the impression that anybody in a car thinks they are superior to me. Most are very courteous and encouraging.

I really don't think and ebike is going to solve your issues!

CAT7RDR

Just a passing thought: Have you ever considered buying a nice lugged, vintage Reynolds 853 steel road bike with a 52-42 crank and 11-21 cassette? This should be right up your alley being a traditionalist.

sean.hwy

I hike every weekend. I have been on a few trails that I did not think any mountain bike could climb. Turned out it was an EMTB. He still had to work hard for it though.

MarcusT

I was really into hiking, but then the knees and hips could not handle the descents. For this I got the Emtb

sean.hwy

Beautiful photo. I was in motorcycle accident oct 2016. After a year of PT and it getting worse I did knee surgery on both knees oct 2017. More PT; yoga; exercise every day and hike about 10+ miles every sat around 2000ft elevation. I still can't run :/ So now I am trying the bike thing. ha-ha everyone keeps telling me I should switch from hiking/running to biking.

I just purchases a Raleigh Bicycles Redux 2 City Bike ( commuter bike ).

freeranger

I'm a "senior" that has been blessed with good health. An e-bike is not for me (at least not yet). I ride on and off-road, and the hills are a little harder and I'm slower at getting to the top of them than a decade or so ago. But so long as my health holds up, I'll be pedaling. Might be some hills that I may even have to walk part of the way,, but that's ok with me. Hoping for a decade or two before I'm needing an e-bike, but glad they are available for those that still want to cycle, but need the assist.

veganbikes

Thanks, as someone who has ridden a lot of e-bikes and sold a lot of them I have learned a lot and changed a lot of old ancient opinions that I wish I never had. E-bikes are awesome. Being able to go up a hill like it is flat is just pure joy. It is just sad so many people have yet to experience that for themselves.

UniChris

You mean how many people have yet to try riding a motorcycle?

You know what can not only do that, but more safely in rain-proof climate control and hauling your family and groceries too and rolling out one century after another?

A car.

Once you start making intermediate vehicles that fall somewhere between a bicycle and a car with some of the properties of each, you have to carefully consider what is lost vs. what is gained, how that impacts you individually and where it fits into society as a whole.

Let's be realistic, bicycles are human scale devices conceived around the idea of human power. Maybe there's a role for a small motor to help someone do what they no longer can on their own, or accompany their more athletic significant other or younger relative, or arrive at work (albeit only on a nice day) less than sweaty - get some of the outdoor experience and parking simplicity, but none of the fitness reward.

Meanwhile motor vehicles come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and wheel counts with a variety of efficiency, convenience, and safety rates to match. The motorcycle is hardly a new idea.

There are all sort of answers, but let's not pretend one thing is something else.

tim24k

At this point in my med 60s I will not have a E-bike. Maybe when I’m in my med 80s or 90 I may consider it. Bicycles for me are a fun simple way to get exercise and to get around. If I want to get there with a motorized two wheeler I’ll ride one of my motorcycles!

OldTryGuy

GEEZ LOUISE, have you heard Tim McGraw's song ---


I just don't understand the need to justify a purchase unless $$$ spent or a negative impact in some other form is created but then I'll be 70 this year (maybe) and need another scan in 1 week that undoubtedly will show that my prostate cancer is back again only this time metastasized so the phrase "live like you were dying" is more relevant. If the bike will assist in accomplishing a desired goal or just to add greater enjoyment to the bicycling experience then go for it, following the necessary research.

Biked 70 miles yesterday and wished I had an Ebike but am still at the point that testing my own ability is the prime objective for my rides.

Moe Zhoost

I don't, myself, have a compelling reason to have an e-bike; however I have 2 friends that do, and I recently installed a conversion kit with torque sensing on my wife's bike. My wife can now match my speed and distance so we spend more time enjoying riding. One of the friends was a part-time bike commuter who found the distance/time/weather factors to be very challenging. Now with the motor assist he is pretty much a daily commuter and has also integrated other personal errands with cycling. The other friend has some health issues that affect his ability to ride and the e-bike motivates him to ride more.

I retired over a year and a half ago, but was a daily all-weather bike commuter before then. If I were still working, I'd certainly be attracted to convert my bike to a mid-drive torque-sensing system like on my wife's bike.

veganbikes

Not talking about motorcycles. Again for the billionth time we are talking about bicycles with pedals that only go forward with pedaling (yes coasting downhill aside). The goal here should be to get more cars and petrol engines of the road not say "well because the bike has a motor it is a motorcycle now no matter what" because that is just ignorant and backwards thinking.

E-Bikes are fitness vehicles you have to pedal them in order to move and yes you can use more or less assistance but you are still having to pedal. I know plenty of my customers have gotten into better shape on an e-bike. Maybe they could get better exercise on a non-electric bike but if they weren't going to ride it or had issues that prevented them from getting on it then where is the exercise? Some people might not ride at all so if we can get more people riding that is always a good thing. Also maybe the e-bike will help them get to a position they can ride a non-electric bike with confidence. Instead of trying to put up walls and barriers around ourselves and say electric bikes are not real bikes we should embrace the future and be thankful we might get a few cars off the road.

Look I get it, I have 12-14 regular non-electric bikes and I love them and wouldn't give them up (though I do need to sell some stuff and make more room for some new projects) but I recognize e-bikes can be another bike in quiver and a useful tool for a lot of folks. Heck if I can get a cargo e-bike to get groceries or go to the hardware shop and not have to worry about parking or gas or car insurance that sounds pretty good to me. I can ride a bike just about anywhere, a car or motorcycle not so much, I also tend to have a lot more parking restrictions with those vehicles I don't have with a bike.

Sure long distance a car could make more sense but if it is really long distance you have planes and trains and boats (though make sure you know whose boat is that boat before boarding) as well and on those vehicles you can have a bike with you which is pretty neat.

livedarklions

I agree that now all powered bikes are the same thing, but lines need to be drawn concerned the amounts of power used in the assist, otherwise you're asking to set up a loophole where there's an incentive to market what are essentially motorcycle equivalents with pedals in order to skate licensing, inspection and off-road infrastructure limitations.

I definitely see the use of low-powered ebikes as a social good if it increases the number of people able to or willing to cycle, and sharing bicycle paths and lanes with those vehicles really isn't a problem. When you get into high-powered fast bikes or heavy cargo bikes, then you need to keep those off the bicycle infrastructure.

I'm definitely not going to set myself up as some sort of judge as to what kind of vehicle any person SHOULD ride, that's their call. My interest is solely in whether or not it affects the safety of others.

UniChris

Sorry, but the quote I responded to, "Being able to go up a hill like it is flat is just pure joy." is absolutely a motor vehicle perspective.

I get it, riding a motorcycle is fun. But when riding a bicycle, the joy of a hill is that you got up it yourself.

And yes, there are other ways to use a motor-assisted bicycle - but those are really not the "joy" the quote I responded to was advertising - if you'd said "not having to worry about hills as obstacles" that would set a very different tone, but "joy" of what the motor does, is the motor vehicle mindset.

And that's the problem with the whole idea - it doesn't stop at "assist", for most of the consumer (to say nothing of commercial) market inevitably goes on to "motoring" - something there's a century long tradition of doing for pleasure and utility, but as a distinct activity from bicycling.

UniChris

That's exactly what's happening. Around here actual pedal assist setups are rarely seen, it's all motorcycles pretending to be bikes in order to use bike lanes and avoid registration. And even though pedal assist is legal, people whine that they can't (well, couldn't) have a throttle - pedal assist doesn't fill the desire for an unlicensed motorcycle.

The irony is that those who want their motorcycles have now gotten proposed legislation written which in "compromise" will introduce new restrictions banning actual pedal assist from the most heavily used commuter greenway where it used to be allowed.

livedarklions

Can you link that? I would think the people advocating for ebike (Hey, veganbikes !) would actually have common cause with you against that.

Wilfred Laurier

Last fall, my chum's mother in law came along with us on one of our last road rides of the season. We all had our road bikes and she was on an e-assist hybrid. The only downside was that if we got really rockin' along in a tight pace line, we would pretty easily get past the eBike's max assist speed of 32km/h. This was not a problem as we are not a terribly aggressive group, so cruising a bit below max speed does not bother us. Plus, buddy's MIL is a super chill lady and is a real asset to the social flavour of our group. Also, when we turned around into a strong headwind, all us hardcore non-e-assist types tucked in behind mum for a sweet draft.

Pridedog

Up until recently I would have classified my self as a traditionalist. I own many fine road bikes and love the enjoyment I get from pedaling my way around the countryside and the enjoyment it gave me. I thought ebikes were nothing but motor bikes.

But I have not aged well, now 70 years old and in the last 10 years have experienced a heart attack, back surgeries, hip replacement and spinal fusion. Through it all I continued to ride 6-7000 miles a year, but at a lot slower pace and hills and headwinds becoming more challenging. I recently purchased an ebike for my adult son as a gift. His story is that he wants to ride, but life gets in the way of training. I bought the Cannondale Quick Neo ebike for him.

Before I gave it to him I decided to ride it and check it out and make necessary adjustments. Well did it open my eyes.I fell in love with PAS ebikes and now have ordered an ORBEA Gain for myself. Why do I like the ebike, in no order:
1) Allows me to ride in headwinds that I would not consider riding because of the strain on my body (for me, anything over 15 mph was a no go and above 10 was questionable).
2) Hills are no longer a determining factor in which route I choose.
3) I can get a good workout without overly stressing my muscles. My ebikes will go up to 20 mph, but you have to pedal them to get there and they have to be in a large enough gear to attain that speed. You do have to shift down on large hills.
4) I ride year around and I find riding in cold 20+ degree weather is challenging. I have to exert so much energy to attack headwinds or hills that I end up sweating heavily and this is not a good mix for cold weather. The ebike eliminates this over exertion.
5) If I get really tired at the end of a long ride, the ebike allows me to rely more on boost to help me get home with out overdoing it.

For all that are against them, I get it, but understand there are people that it does help. Before you rail against them do yourself a favor and try a good one out, whether an eMtn bike or a good eRoad bike.

alo

Most likely I will get an ebike in the future. I will probably get a kit, and add to a regular bike.

It enables you to go much further, and take it easy when you are tired.

livedarklions

At this point I have no interest in trying them, but I'm happy they're available for people to use and enjoy.

veganbikes

Again not talking about motorcycles. Not sure how you are getting from E-bikes to motorcycles. We are talking about vehicles you pedal vs. vehicles that are run via motors entirely usually powered by petrol. I get that when you here motor you assume a lot of things many people who don't know the difference might say the same thing but you know what an e-bike and should as a long time member of this forum get it. I get it ignorance is bliss but I cannot believe you want to still remain ignorant about another segment of bicycles.

Joy of getting up a hill easier is still joy and doesn't have to be tied to a motor vehicle. I get it yes cars and motorcycles also get up a hill easily but that doesn't really pertain here. Being able to pedal up a hill but not be a knackered at the top is kinda nice. Sure you are getting assistance but you are still having to pedal it is just a heck of a lot easier.

UniChris

Actually that's exactly what you are describing: literally, a motorized cycle, and "joy" of riding it.

veganbikes

An e-bike is a pedal bike with assistance it is not something with a throttle that does the work. In the U.S. the limit on an e-bike is 28mph which is not exceptionally fast considering most roadies could exceed that. You can illegally modify it but you can do anything illegal if you should want to, plenty of people in cars speeding all the time what about restrictions on all cars?

I get people's concerns for multi use paths and bicycle specific paths but the issue is not e-bikes at all it is *******s and *******s can ride any bike of any sort from a tricked out tri bike to a Wally-Mart special to an e-bike. However that is the person on the bike not the bike itself.

Yes safety is important but e-bikes are not exceptionally dangerous they are bikes and if you feel bikes are dangerous, maybe a bicycle forum isn't quite for you. The padded room forum probably is taking new members? Anything you do is dangerous in some way or another but if you use your brain those activities aren't so dangerous. As a human you should be spatially aware and that doesn't mean constantly in fear but just know what is going on around you and react as needed.

veganbikes

No I am talking about a pedal assisted bicycle. Not a motorcycle which uses a throttle.

I get it they do both have motors and if we wanted to be pedantic yes technically you could call a pedal assisted bicycle a "motorcycle" because it does have a motor and is a cycle but let's be real here. I am not discussing throttled cycles but bikes you actually have to pedal to get anywhere. Not quite sure really what is hard to understand and why we as cyclists would want to argue about this all the time. Are we afraid of something? I mean I can understand hating e-bikes if all you see is some nasty heavy throttle monstrosity with cheap tourney or low end SRAM crap but we aren't talking about that.