Originally Posted by
InTheRain
I appreciate your opinion. However, I think you're a bit off concerning the "electricity bill." It costs all of 7 cents to charge my battery from completely empty to full. I rarely deplete the battery past 50 percent. Most of the time I recharge when there is 60 to 70 percent charge still left. For me, it's convenient. My e-bike sits right next to me at work and it's charging while I work. I figure it costs less than 2 cents in electricity costs to get my daily charge - and I'm using my employer's electricity.
As far as being "simple." My e-bike is so much more simple to ride than my road bike. But yes, I like the exercise aspect of cycling, too. However, I don't commute necessarily for exercise. I get a little bit of a workout. I might burn 150 calories each way on the e-bike commute. I can make it as hard as I want by using less of a pedal assist, or I can make it a real killer workout by putting the e-bike in regen mode where I'm actually pushing against the electric motor and recharging the battery - but, then again, that's not my purpose with the e-bike. It's much more fun to get my exercise with a carbon fiber road bike.
Okay I didn't know it was that cheap. If that's true then it is very economical. But that was never my main concern. I'm still not sure about battery life, both on a daily basis and eventually over long period of time. All batteries that I have owned wear out with time and lose efficiency.
As for simplicity, an e-bike is an electrical machine. It is by default more complicated than 99% of regular bicycles. I don't know about the exercise thing. That's not really what I was thinking about. I hate exercise on bikes. I ride bikes for comfort and simplicity. Part of that comfort and simplicity is knowing that its all you running this thing. An e-bike would just break that bond between me and my bike because I'm no longer the engine.