e-Bikes – Let’s talk
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@cvcalhoun 168729 wrote:
Yes, but the same principle applies to shorter rides. People generally decide whether to bike based on time it takes, not distance. So a faster bike is likely to convince more people to ride.
And the “life is too fast paced” argument is beside the point. For someone for whom biking is transportation, making the commute faster may well give them more time at home to smell the roses (or spend time with family, pursue hobbies, etc.). Making them choose between spending more time or driving to work is not going to make their lives any less fast paced.
For short rides, though, the time to get ready to ride, put a helmet on, unlock, find a place to lock up, lock up, take the helmet off, etc reduces the significance of actual speed – which I suspect leads many short distance transportation riders to make different choices of route, of type of bike, etc than longer distance ones generally do. For them the main benefit (and its potentially very big) of ebikes is the ability to ride in “regular” clothes, and lesser need to shower/freshen up at the end of the ride. But a class 1 or 2 ebike easily gets them that.
To the extent that we add more bikes to the trails that enable more long distance riders to ride faster than current average trail speeds, I suspect the less attractive we make the trails to shorter distance riders (and also to pedestrians, though I guess most of those on most trails are recreational), whether human powered, or cautious users of class 1 and 2 ebikes. OTOH very short distance riders may be less likely to rely on trails, simply because going a mile out of your way to get to a trail is more of an issue for them.
OTOH, note also, when you are off trail, if you are even halfway lawful, the stop signs and traffic signals are going to be enough of an issue that a higher maximum speed will be less of an issue. If you are doing a short commute that will be particularly important. As for someone like CvaCalhoun, with a 12.5 mile commute down a MUT, an ebike that enables an average speed of 14MPH (no higher than 15 on the CCT, of course
) would do pretty much what she wants. I think the combo of Hozns and MStone’s points therefore stand – not that the existence of ebikes is a problem, but that the marketing of them around speed does us as advocates more harm than good.@NovaEbike 173682 wrote:
Welcome! I bought a refurbished e-bike back in June to start commuting from Vienna to SW DC and lose some weight (about 20 miles each way). It’s been great and I’ve lost ~60 lbs since I started in July. I’d suggest using 11 or 12 gauge spokes for the rear wheel and checking tension every couple weeks as the torque places a lot of stress on them. I’ve broken about 10 so far. Also, since you’re retrofitting an existing bike, ensure that a torque arm is included in the “sundry” items. It will spread torque from just the axle nuts at the rear stays to a second fixed point on the stay. For battery, I got a 17.4AH battery with my bike and that allows me to go back and forth to work on a single charge easily. As I’ve been dropping the amount of assist it gives me, I can actually stretch it out to 2 days back and forth, but I have terrible range anxiety.
That’s impressive weight loss and probably fitness gains to go with it. Good on you. Weren’t you the guy trying to figure out how to haul your required wardrobe on the bike? How’d that work out?
I’m interested in your rig and whatever phog comes up with. I have an old Kona mountain bike that would be a decent platform and a fatbike that is so heavy its like riding in slow motion.
I’ve been watching the Global Cycling Network spin off YouTube channel, Electric Mountain Bike Channel. Both the presenters are accomplished cyclists and motorcyclists, like me. Although the “accomplished” part is questionable.
Seems like I would find a good electric motor on the fat bike a fun half step in between the two. Or put racks and fenders on the Kona and it would be a decent car replacement for short trips to the store or whatever. I’ve been eyeballing the Luna Cycles kits now and then. I balk at the cost, but I spent more than the cost of one of the kits on the rear shock of my motorcycle and forgot all about the expense after the first ride.@anomad 173747 wrote:
That’s impressive weight loss and probably fitness gains to go with it. Good on you. Weren’t you the guy trying to figure out how to haul your required wardrobe on the bike? How’d that work out?
I’m interested in your rig and whatever phog comes up with. I have an old Kona mountain bike that would be a decent platform and a fatbike that is so heavy its like riding in slow motion.
I’ve been watching the Global Cycling Network spin off YouTube channel, Electric Mountain Bike Channel. Both the presenters are accomplished cyclists and motorcyclists, like me. Although the “accomplished” part is questionable.
Seems like I would find a good electric motor on the fat bike a fun half step in between the two. Or put racks and fenders on the Kona and it would be a decent car replacement for short trips to the store or whatever. I’ve been eyeballing the Luna Cycles kits now and then. I balk at the cost, but I spent more than the cost of one of the kits on the rear shock of my motorcycle and forgot all about the expense after the first ride.Yep, that was me. I ended up just rolling some dress shirts carefully and bringing them in. When I need to do the full suit dry cleaning, I’ve employed the use of my brother-in-law who works nearby to bring them back in for me in his car.
My bike is a Juiced Cross Current. They don’t make it anymore, but now have the Cross Current S which is better/upgraded. It’s a good bike at a really good price compared to the e-bikes you see in store around here. The downside is that you have to buy direct and with no dealer network on this coast, after-sales support can be tough, but it’s getting better.
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