5doomslayer4

Helps preserve the environment: reduces air contamination, ecological footprint, is healthy and very inexpensive! Bicycles are a wonderful means of transportation that helps preserve the environment: it reduces air contamination, ecological footprints, carbon emissions, is healthy and very inexpensive!

Walter S

Does not Help. Harms less than many things. Harms more than a pedal-power bicycle. Harms more than walking. Harms less than driving.

Machka 

Pedal-power bicycles are the best.

Or walking ... walking is good too.


(What's with the weird bolding?)

ironwood

E bikes are better than cars and for some people they are a good introduction, or re-introduction to cycling. I recently talked to a woman who said she loved biking when young, but got away from it, and is now on an e bike. Perhaps she'll get back to a regular bike.

E-bikes have become very popular in Europe. I was in a town in France recently and more people are using bikes, including e-bikes, in town because it is just not possible to park a car much of the day.





















e-bike,

Walter S

In other words nothing is best. It depends on the budget, personality, fitness, family, desires, age, etc etc. When there was one kind of bicycle long ago, that one was best. The question is increasingly ill-defined since then.

Khb

Good points about "nothing is best" and etc. elided.

If we agree on a goal, there may be something which is optimal.

I suggest the appropriate goal is to replace the maximum number of errand/commuting (to/from work, school, store) trips. An ebike is far more efficient than an ecar; and is usable by a wider range of people than purely pedal powered bike.

In my context (greater Denver area), I can get downtown from my home by ebike faster than by light rail. With a trailer I can hit Costco and make the trip worthwhile. Enough of what I need to do is within 20miles (1 way) and thus ebikable ... so much so that I got rid of my car nearly 2 years ago. I think a majority of adults *could* do the same, or at least for a substantial fraction of their trips.

The same cannot be said of a non-power assisted bike (hills, loads, longer trip duration/schedule pressure). So I concur with the OP, that ebikes may be "best" in the sense of maximizing the number of utility trips that can be displaced.

350htrr

Riding an E-Bike (if you want to ride a bicycle as transportation OR for fun) IS the best way to...

1; Get where you want to go faster.
2; Get there less sweaty.
3; Get there and carry more load.
4; Get up hills with the same amount of effort as riding on level ground.
5; Ride like if the wind was behind you all the time.
6; Ride/pedal like normal, or get to rest/ease back and still keep moving at a normal pace.
7; If you get the "right type" of E-Assist E-Bike, you can pick from no assist at all and ride the bike like a normal bicycle, or a % of assist added onto your pedaling effort...

350htrr

Could, not will, make you weak/weaker... That part depends totally on how you use it... Every time I start to think, WOW I am getting so fit while riding my E-Assist bike I just turn the assist off and I get put in my place real quick and start to use the assist less and pedal more. So it's not the E-Bike that is a problem per say it's how you "can" use it...

Rollfast

I've never seen an e-bike with a decent horn tank.

linberl

It's all in how you use it. It can be (1) a re-entry to cycling, leading to purchase of a standard bike (like me!), (2) an occasional assist when using your bike instead of a car to carry cargo, (3) a confidence boosting backup when riding longer distances than one normally does, etc. Pedaling longer on an ebike compared to shorter rides on a standard bike - which one improves fitness the most? Using assist (not full on throttle) for 30 miles could easily be a better workout than riding unassisted for 10 miles. And, yes, riding unassisted 30 miles is the best workout, but maybe that e-assist helps you get there but you wouldn't consider it on a traditional bike. So - no it does not make you weak unless you use it like a moped. And - for some folks, it actually keeps them riding past the time in their physical lives when a regular bike is a no go due to health issues.

Walter S

Rollfast

When in San Francisco I'd rather take a cable car.

Sir Lunch-a-lot

The way I see it, if you want to be a human-powered-purist, all the power to you. With my low fitness level, eBiking has made commuting to work by bike every day totally feasible. I briefly worried about the fact that I was relying on an expensive machine to help me get to work, but then I realized that this was no different than relying on my car (an expensive machine) to get to work, plus it has the benefit that it is a bike.

For me, for riding to work, eBikes are the best. For riding to my local grocery store or to church or anywhere else nearby, a regular bike is "the best".

350htrr

Have you ever actually ridden an E-Bike.? Because...

350htrr

Yes, pedal power IS best, except, when one starts to NOT, ride as much as one used to as/when one gets older... and then, the E-Assist allows one to ride more/farther, and more often, then the E-assist becomes a big plus+++.

linberl

Except....a car has major environmental consequences versus very limited consequences from an ebike. And some ebikes can also be regular bikes, via a wheel swap or just removing some QR components so you have BOTH when desired. You don't really prefer people drive when they could ride an ebike do you? I see parents taking kids to school all the time on long-tail e bikes. It's good that they are not using their car but they would not be doing that on a traditional bike. And ebikes are a lot easier to park than a car and cheaper to maintain.....so, no, a car does not do the same better in every case.

350htrr

While I agree 100% in your "theory", FOR PERSONAL use. No, a car is Not the same, or even come's close to an E-Bike to "get the job done" for the masses, as when you start to consider the "impact on the environment" when everyone starts to use one, considering the inherent downfalls/future problem's it is starting to be causing , IMO. Yes, a car is a TOTAL fail at what it does, "in the long run, once you start to consider the cost to the environment, YES, it is a TOTAL FAIL, in the long run, as a sustainable way of transport for the masses, ( ICE type of vehicles anyways)... IMO

Rollfast

Wait until you are done, highlight and apply bolding etc.where needed.

Rollfast

I like pedaling, just not on the freeway to eat turkey dinner for the holidaze 40 miles away at Mom's.

fietsbob

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-45317025

linberl

Maybe not on the freeway, but let's be honest, pedaling would be a smart thing after pigging out on Thanksgiving dinner!

indyfabz

I have cycled on Interstate Highways. It's not always bad.

deephate

That right there is some wisdom..

spofosho

I've wanted an e bike for a long time. Not as a bike replacement (I wouldn't want that even if I could) but as a car replacement. I'm currently not car free but aspire to be. For me having an e bike would increase the distance I'd be willing to travel and things I'd be willing to carry on two wheels. In my life it would definitely replace more car trips than bike trips.

TiHabanero

Hacked and hopped up ebikes are better.