rolandk

I'm seriously considering one in a year or two. I'm currently commuting to work by regular bike twice a week (bike and light rail to work, bike all the way home) 7 miles in the morning and 16 in the afternoon with 1500' climbing. I figure with an electric assist I could go both ways every day and get up later in the morning since rush hour traffic won't be an issue.

kickstart

In the context of a commuting forum, function and suitability are the only real considerations, everything else is the trappings of an enthusiasts desires. One doesn't define the other.

Admittedly my experience with E-bikes is limited to a few loops around a parking lot in assist mode, but other than effort, I didn't find it to be any different than a regular bike, and certainly nothing like a scooter or motorcycle.
To give it some perspective, my similarly limited experience with a fixed gear bike was more awkward and off putting than with the E-bike, but that's because my perspective is from a utility, and leisure standpoint as I don't ride for sport or excitement.

350htrr

That is exactly where an E-Assist bike shines (PAS)... It enables one to ride more, and even get more exercise because of it. As long as one uses restraint as to how much assistance one actually chooses to use. Again, if one uses an E-Bike with throttle only, that choice is practically non-existent with a throttle only bike one tends to not pedal as much... JMO

GeneO 

I ride to work out and just for the pleasure of getting myself from A to B on my own power. If I wanted a bike with a motor, I would get a motorcycle.

mconlonx

No.

If I wanted something with a wiring harness, I'd get a scooter or a motorcycle.

I was the tech guy at our shop for Trek's ill-fated Ride+ bikes based on BionX systems and after dealing with the few that we sold, am extremely gunshy about e-bikes.

I like not having to update firmware on my bike. I like not having issues I can't deal with on the side of the road. I like not having to recharge my bike or worry about range/energy use beyond what I know about my abilities and stamina. I like non-e-bikes for their simplicity. I like not having to have a multimeter in my bicycle tools toolbox. I like hubs with relatively even flange spoke hole spacing, and spokes I have a decent chance of finding in stock at a shop. There are enough systems to deal with on regular bikes, I don't need more which will break and/or require maintenance -- e-bikes have three additional systems: motor, battery, controller. I can think of better things on which to spend money than a replacement battery, if one is even available when needed. I like bikes where I don't have to deal with a PC connection, PC issues, software installs and updates.

rolandk

The big advantage of an e-bike vs a car or motorcycle is being able to use bike lanes and MUP's. Rush hour traffic is absolutely horrific here in Portland but it's not a problem on a bike.

350htrr

All good points... Simplicity is better... But, what if having some assistance keeps you riding? What if having some assistance gets you riding...? My wife had a regular bike for 3 years, put about 350Km on it over the 3 years total. I bought her another bike but with an assist set-up, she put 1,200Km on it last year and about 1,100\Km on it this year... Seems like a win/win to me... And yes, I check up on her from time to time to see how much battery power she is using and... Guess what, most of those KMs are pedal power, not E-assist KMs. You just need to have the "right" set up and want to work with it... She had the E-Assist bike for 2 years 2,300Km and it has never been in the shop, I had my E-Assist bike for 4 years 8,500Km and it has been in the shop once... Fixed under warranty.

azav8or

Hi gang. The E-Assist bike can be great for certain riders. I commuted to work fairly regularly until about 2 years ago. Then came 3 heart attacks and a bypass with a side order of multiple organ failure and rehab. I have about a 7 mile commute to work each way. I would like the E-Assist to help me on those days that might be just a little tougher or especially windy. Luckily, most won't to go through what I did, but it's nice to know that the E-Assist option is available. (Unfortunately way too expensive.) Tail winds!

hbok@mac.com

I commute on an e-bike now. It's pedal-assist only. I do it because I really do not want to take a shower after I get to work (for one thing, the shower is very far from my office; for another, I have yet to really figure out how use a blowdryer well.) My commute has just enough of a hill that if I bike it, I end up sweaty, and since I have to (e.g.) lecture to several hundred people twice a week, immediately on arrival, I don't want sweaty. Before I got it, I always commuted by car, though I would much rather have biked. Now, I can bike and still be presentable.

It weighs 39 lbs., so it's not one of those 60lb. monsters. This matters to me: I can use it as an ordinary bike if I want to (and do most of the time.) I don't really have to worry about running out of power, the way I would if I rode something significantly heavier.

Recharging it is no problem: I keep it inside anyways (as I do my non-e-bike; I don't really want either stolen), so I just plug it in when I park it.

I can see why some people might not want to do this, but for me, it's an ideal solution for commuting.

tjspiel

I think the thread demonstrates, like many others threads actually, that we don't all ride our bikes to work for exactly the same reasons. That is often reflected in the bikes we choose to ride, the accessories we buy, and the clothes we wear while riding.

It's perfectly possible for someone to be uninterested in the things we are without they or the culture being flawed in some way.

I have a potential interest in pedal assist for something like a velomobile that I could use in the winter because I see them as perhaps being very difficult to manage in snow without it. But as I said, the human powered nature of the bicycle for me is the major part of the appeal of choosing it for transportation. I can manage my commute just fine without a motor to assist. If my commute was three times as far with 1000 feet of climbing, that would be a different story.

Another takeaway for InTheRain or anyone else pushing e-bikes in the commuting forum is that by and large the majority of people here are already commuting successfully on their traditional bikes. There are some who may struggle with it because of distance or some other factor who'd be interested in an e-bike.

An even more receptive audience are those who aren't commuting on bikes at all who might if it took a little less effort.

Bikerdave222

If they were affordable I think I would not. I like the simplicity of a standard bicycle plus the exercise I get from it. However, I think it would be a good thing for Nashville. There is no way cycling will take off in this town unless it is electric. On my 12 mile ride home from work I counted literally 25 hills I had to climb. Four of which were sort of bad hills. Not many people will put up with that.

loky1179

I've been passed by e-bikes on the MUP. Guess what - I can tell there're e-bikes in about 2 seconds. And it pisses me off. Not because they're going faster than me - but because they're riding a MOTORIZED vehicle on the bike trail! You want to ride a motorized vehicle - get on the road.

This seems to me to be the main attraction for e-bikes - to be able to ride them on infrastructure built for bicycles. And since there are very few e-bikes out there, the rules haven't caught up to them in many cases.

If you want exercise, you'd be riding a normal bike. If you want speed and convenience, you'd get a scooter, motorcycle or automobile. The e-bike seems like a solution in search of a problem.

wolfchild

Or gets you stuck and prevents you from riding, such as during winter time....I got through the past 9 winters with pedal power alone. I don't think an e-bike or power assisted bike would do well during winter time, an e-bike would probably get ruined by road salt and freezing temps...

350htrr

I suspect you are correct, for E-Bike riders... But not so much for E-Assist bike riders. JMO

350htrr

If I wanted to keep riding in the winter I would certainly take off my wheel with the hub motor on it and put the original wheel back on and not take the battery and ride a regular bike. My point was trying to be that E-Assist can be helpful, to get more people riding bikes, not detrimental as most here seem to imply... Once past the need of having one on all the time you can start cutting back and even just ride without the assist, as I do and the wife is starting to ride more without the assist...

Worknomore

What he said. Big diesel truck.

Dacino3

I'm about to buy an E-Bike for myself as a commuter bike in the Chicago area. I have a 40 mile round trip bike ride to work with very few hills and some (paved and dirt) bike paths. I realize many commuters do not require an E-Bike, but I will list the reason's I am interested.

1. Time- An E-Bike will take 1 hour off of my cycling commute. 40 miles round trip at 16 mph is 2 hours and 30 minutes. On an E-bike at 25 mph is 1 hour and 35 minutes.

2. Fuel savings- A savings of $380 a year on gas alone (much more on repairs, oil change, insurance). I don't want to ride my road bike during rain and snow, therefore I often take my car. My car costs $4 round trip and the bike will cost $.20. Given my work schedule, the car costs $400 a year in gas and the bike costs $20 in electricity.

3. Environment- A My E-Bike will use about 5% the energy my car does. An electric bike does use energy, but way less than a car designed to transport 5 people at 55 mph. The EPA estimates that one gallon of gasoline is equal to 33.7 kWh of electricity. My E-bike will use about 2 kWh to make the 40 mile trip.

4. Exercise- My E-Bike only will work on pedal assist. I will get exercise that I would never get taking my car during any day that has possible inclement weather.

These are the main reasons I am buying an electric bike as a commuter bike. I found it funny that when I mentioned this idea to some bikers I was called lazy. These same bikers had never once commuted, let alone for months/years on end, and that is my goal.

bmthom.gis

No interest in one here. If I want to go faster, I feel like I should push myself to be faster. Mostly while commuting I'm happy to make 13 mph, I find that speed/level of effort required to be sustainable throughout the week. I've done it faster, I've done it slower. I'm faster on a bike with no panniers and such. I have weight to lose, and I much prefer to have no extra help.
If I were car free, I might want a cargo bike that has pedal assist. As it is, a 50cc scooter costs less, and doesn't need to be registered in my state. Wouldn't mind owning one but it's still a bit out of my price at the moment

Harhir

I am originally from Europe and they have become very popular over there. Mainly with the 50+ generation. People commute and do their day to day business by bike. Plus lots of folks hit the bike trails on weekends and we have a lot in Gemany.
I am from a little tourist town which is well connected with bike trails to other towns and cities in the area and this town gets flocked with hundreds of cyclists every weekend. Lots of older folks and I would guess at least 50% of the bikes are ebikes.
These "assist" bikes are very popular with folks who like to ride but who are not that fit anymore.
We bought one for my dad about 4 years ago when he turned 70 so that he could still cycle with his heart problems. And last year my mom got one too. Unfortunately my dad passed away last year but my mom just turned 70 and using her ebike on a daily basis to run her errands around town. She puts more miles on her bike than on her car.
Right now I am still fit and I would not get one. Plus it is flat here in Texas but if I would have a lot of hills to commute I would probably seriously thinking about one.
I think they are really great to keep folks on the bike with growing age.

ItsJustMe

I could EASILY afford a very nice e-bike, but I have no interest whatsoever. It would defeat the two main things I ride a bike for - as much physical training and fitness as I can wedge into 90 minutes a day, and environmentalism. If it was a choice of an ebike or driving a car or riding a motorcycle, clearly the ebike would be the winner, but it's still way dirtier than a pedal bike.

InTheRain

Interesting. The worst failure I've had on a bicycle was on my carbon fiber road bike that I was using to commute with one day instead of the e-bike. The screws on the derailleur hanger ripped through the dropouts on the frame. The only thing I could do to deal with the situation was to put the bike on my shoulder and walk back home. The frame was ruined. Cost of a replacement frame? About $2K. (it worked out for me that the manufacturer/LBS provided a new frame at no cost.) So, there is plenty that can go wrong on a bike. I'm not a great wrench, so I'm not going to be able to deal with every problem.

I've been commuting regularly with the e-bike. It's been maintenance free. I've lubed the chain a few times (that will happen more often with the wet weather coming.) I haven't had a flat. If my experience with e-bikes had been as horrible as some people expect, I would not have started this thread. It's because I have had such a good experience that I wonder why it's not catching on as quickly here as it is in Europe or Asia.

My purpose was to discuss e-bikes for commuting, not exercise, fitness, or racing. There are better choices for those purposes.

caloso

Yes, that's the point that I and several others have made. For many of us, exercise and fitness are important aspects of commuting. For some, it might be primary aspect of commuting. If that's the case, a bike that lessens or minimizes the work of riding doesn't hold much appeal.

leicanthrope

Nope. I don't think there's anything at all wrong with them, but it runs counter to most of the reasons that I'm out on a bike to begin with.

InTheRain

There are plenty of folks on the commuting forum that are looking for lighter bikes, looking to carry less, go faster... all looking to minimize the work of riding on their commute. I've done it myself. It's rare that I see a lot of posts where someone is looking to make the work harder. Most people aren't looking for a heavier bike or heavier load for their commute. If that's the case, I don't think you'll find many bikes that have the option of making your work harder than you imagined... but an e-bike can do that. It will weigh between 45-70 lbs. Just turn the motor off... or put it into regen mode and it will feel like your riding with your road bike with the brakes nearly locked up. On an e-bike, it's the rider that decides how much "work" he wants to do... not the bike.

It's the rider's option. I can ride a my carbon fiber road bike on my commute or I can ride my wife's hybrid. The road bike minimizes the amount of work between the two bikes, however, I would choose the road bike each and every time over the hybrid. It definitely has more appeal than riding a hybrid. Would that be considered cheating?

gregf83 

There's also an enjoyment factor. I ride the same route to work every day on lightweight bikes and still enjoy it. I don't know if I'd enjoy riding a 50lb bike. I tested an e-assist pugsley fat tire bike on a soccer field once and didn't like it but that's probably not very representative. I have to bunny hop a number of obstacles on my way. Not sure how easy it is to bunny hop a 50lb bike.