PoorInRichfield

When discussing e-bikes with friends and family , many justify an e-bike purchase as a stepping-stone towards getting in-shape with the intent of riding a regular bike at some point (which seems like a good idea to me). Have you transitioned from an e-bike to a regular bike after your physical conditioning improved from riding the e-bike first?

debade

A friend has moved from bike to ebike and now both depending on ride.

linberl

When I retired at 62 I had not been on a bike in decades. I purchased an ebike online (prodeco) and rode it for about a year. During that time, the ebike allowed me to get used to riding again without any issues of confidence, not wondering if I would get stuck somewhere. I sold the e-bike to another "returning" rider after I owned it for about a year and a half. Purchased my first Bike Friday folder. I have a couple now, and ridden non-motorized for 8 years. About 2 years ago I purchased a small e-assist system (called OneMotor) which only weighs 4.5 lbs and completely comes off the bike in less than 30 seconds. I use it now when there are hills on rides that I no longer can do without suffering knee pain later, or when the headwinds are really bad - it's basically my "no-excuse" attachment. Otherwise I still ride sans motor for exercise and shorter errands. I sold my car a few years ago and use my bike and Burley Travoy as a car. So - Yeah, an e-bike definitely helped me transition to a traditional bike, and now it keeps me riding to places my physical condition would limit but I still ride unmotored 80% of the time.

Doc_Wui

We discovered ebikes when I bought my first new regular bike since 1975. Bought an ebike for my wife, and converted an old Trek to electric. So I had the Trek and my new bike to ride. and I tried to mix them 50-50 but by 2020, I had added other ebikes, so it was about 97% ebilking for me last year. Starting this July, I resolved to get out more on my regular bike with a goal of at least 10%. Started by taking it off the attic hangers, but I've ridden it 4 times this month. Going out now got #5. Bye.

Leisesturm

Sigh. E-bikes have been around for a couple of decades now and are still being treated like a guilty pleasure. Something to 'outgrow'. Something to be a bit ashamed of needing. It matters. Why? Because as long as WE treat e-bikes like some kind of illicit gateway drug to sloth and ruin, the e-bike and e-battery manufacturers can treat the e-biking public like outcast scum deserving of being exploited. Lithium ion cells are now in the $0.07/ea range. That's what Tesla and 'worthy' (laptop, auto, power tool) entities pay for them. E-battery makers pay $1.00/ea and when they build a 50 cell battery they can price it at $1500 and still get takers. Raleigh can take their Redux model hybrid bike (~$500) make an e-bike out of it (Redux IE) and retail it for $3,300. And if I buy a $3300 e-bike I am NOT planning on using it just to get my legs in shape to go (back) to a $500 hybrid! What are some people smoking? Sorry to be the one to tell the o.p. this, but the answer to their question is: the vast majority of e-bike purchasers have ZERO intention of ever riding unpowered again. You don't need to feel sorry for them. Pray for them. Hate them. Or anything other than yield gracefully when they call out "on your left" as they glide by ...

Chuckles1

I added an ebike this year. I enjoy it, another dimension to cycling, and can go to more places in an afternoon. Still prefer road and gravel bikes, but ebike is a good addition. Not better or worse, just different.

fooferdoggie 

I enjoy my ebikes so much. I can keep the speed I want no matter how I feel but still get my workout. faster and farther and faster hill climbing. some days I can actually output 600 watts and I often pop a wheelie starting off when I put out 400 watts.starting. I would not mind having a regular bike but not sure how much I would ride it. my commute would be slower especially if I carry groceries. maybe a high end tandem but I don't know never road a tandem without assist.

Pop N Wood

I don't think ebikes involve a transition. I ride both, depending on my mood and why I am riding. From all the posts I have read a lot of other people do as well.

More important than Leisesturms rant about ebikes being guilty pleasures what I would like to see disappear is the idea of ebikes belonging the old, infirm or crippled. If all one uses a bike for is sport and exercise, then maybe ebikes are cheating and that mindset has some basis in reality. But when people start looking at bikes as transportation than ebikes are an excellent choice.

You need more options in your poll, starting with a more general question.

jon c. 

Assuming this is a fact, do you think the battery makers may be paying more because they're purchasing in much smaller volume? Or do the Li cell manufacturers really base the price they charge on the reputation the end user enjoys online? Are you suggesting that the price of batteries would drop if people who ride motorized bicycles were only given more respect?

andychrist

I transitioned to e-bikes and am never going back.

forresterace

Transition is not a verb!

andychrist

We Americans verb all our nouns.

Pridedog

I transitioned from regular bikes (Over 220,000 miles) to ebikes. Due to health reasons I will not be going back. I have given my stable of regular bikes to my kids and grandchildren. I now have over 10,000 miles on my new stable of 3 ebikes.

forresterace

I see what you did there!

Ed Wiser

Those starting out on e bikes will not be trying to move to a regular bike. I look at ebikes as a way to help me on those days when the legs are not there for the hills Next new bike will be a full ebike as I am not getting any younger.

KPREN

I built an e bike for my disabled wife and got hooked debugging the damned thing within a hundred yards. Built a big fat e bike for myself and started to ride it along with my regular s works Stumpjumper. When I started my mileage was about 6-10 watt hours per mile and I rode the e bike about 1000 miles the first year and my Stumpy the same. Five years later and my mileage is 12-30 watt hours per mile. I ride about 4,000+ miles a year and the dinosaur Stumpy must go. The Stumpy is too much like an exercise bike and not enough like a fun bike. The e bike is a blast. . No one needs to feel sorry for me. I don't feel one damned bit cheated.

ephemere

My regular bike (2013 Salsa Vaya 2) was gathering dust because I was intimidated by the hills around me, so I got an e-bike (BMC Alpenchallenge AMP Cross Ltd). When I started commuting to work I decided to use my regular bike and found that I preferred it to the e-bike. Now I have the regular bike attached to a smart trainer and am using my e-bike as a regular bike. My conditioning has definitely improved.

safetyglasses

Hi, The rules for electric bikes are the same as regular bikes. You don't need a licence to ride one, they don't need to be registered and they don't require vehicle tax or insurance. You can ride e-bikes on all cycle paths and anywhere else you can ride a normal bike.

restlessswind

I went from bike to ebike back to bike. I still ride my ebike occasionally, when I ride further than 10 miles away or so.
My wife went from bike to ebike due to heath and physical limitations.

Robert C

Seeing as this is still active I will comment. I did not vote, and I will not do so, the very question is an insult, as others have spelt out. I do not know if the OP intended to be insulting, however, I suspect as much.

As far as what I ride, I ride what I want.

Some days what I want to ride is my e-bike, some days it isn't. Right now we don't have students in the building, so I have been riding my non-e trike, a catrike. A few days ago I went on a recreational ride, so I rode my Bachetta recumbent. Once school starts again I will be riding my e-bike again. None of them are superior, or inferior to the other, they have different roles in my riding. There is no transition, there is role and choice.