From what I can tell it started with people in their late fifties, sixties, and beyond going electric in order to stay mobile in the face of a degrading body — i.e., to augment the user's strength.
I still think this is the largest group of buyers, but I get the impression — from observing people in traffic — that a good amount of people who use electric bicycles come to depend too much on the engine, hardly providing any power themselves via the pedals. People who cycle along at 15–20 km/h tend to use the battery power as an augmentation, whilst those who pass everyone by at 25 km/h tend to depend on it for at least 90%.
This looks to me like a general loss in healthy exercise.
Then there are the gadget freaks that buy the so-called 'speed pedelecs', which can hit speeds of up to 45 km/h, but because these have recently been relegated to the moped category in Dutch law, these are no longer allowed on bicycle-exclusive cyclepaths, and have to use the main carriage ways instead. Their rise in popularity seems to have stagnated — thankfully! They don't really fit into Dutch traffic as it is, being too fast for cyclepaths, and too exposed to use safely on roads where drivers may expect mopeds, but not souped-up electrical bicycles.
In any case, most people will have owned a normal bicycle before going electric. Some do use it to replace the car for commuting, because a distance of up to 30 km may take much less time on an electric bicycle when traffic is bad, and more healthy to boot — as long as you peddle along!
Almost every dutch person has or had a bicycle, The electric bicycle started out targeting older people so they could keep using a bicycle while getting older. Now they are also targeting young mothers, and commuters. We (dutchies) bought a electric bicycle for my wife because it's easier with a kid in a seat on the back, and it makes the radius where she picks the bicycle over the car bigger.
I have exclusively been driving EVs since 2013 (Renault Zoe and a Tesla Model X), and also use a Brompton folding bicycle on my commute to work (total 6 miles cycling).
I've never understood the appeal of electric bikes. It just seems lazy to me. I'd feel guilty if I relied on the motor instead of burning calories.
I use the cars for transporting the family, or to go long distances quickly. I'm not averse to cycling 25 miles if time allows, and I've also managed to carry all sorts (like IKEA furniture) on my folding bike. I also wear my work clothes (jeans and t-shirt) when cycling on my commute, demonstrating that lycra is totally unnecessary!
I can only assume that electric bikes are for people that wouldn't normally cycle, or whose routes are prohibitively hilly.
Would be keen to hear the use cases of anyone here that uses one.
I've been riding one as my exclusive mode of transport around the city for about 9 months now (though I just got an electric longboard and have been taking it on short excursions). It is just wonderful. The biggest bonus for me is that I'm able to pretty much keep up with traffic to the point that people are not driving dangerously around me in a bid to pass me within inches. I'm also able to get places faster, ride farther out, and use it for trips I may otherwise have not (and didn't) use my bike for. I do live in a pretty hilly area as well, and making 10MPH up a fairly steep hill certainly makes things "closer".
I got one from the same company I got my bike from. I honestly can't recommend it. The parts are cheap and seem pretty off the shelf chinese-made. I expected better. If this thing dies I'll probably go with a more time-tested brand, or roll my own (cheap).
Why would it be lazy? I do not think "you are lazy since you own and use car", just because I can easily live my life without a car doesn't mean you are lazy if you do not.
I do use a e-bike mostly as a way to be able to bike in situations where it would not be possible to bike in other ways. Many times I do it even though it might be inconvenient compared to using a car parked in my front yard. This is the issue when you use a car I use a bicycle, because it's usually easier than renting one or calling a cab. It might not be that much cheaper for me personally since I spend my transport money in other ways, e.g. to get more time with my family (on trains etc).
I bike ~30 km per day, the last 6 months ~40% of that was by e-bike.
I use one, instead of a car. (Driving a car just seems lazy to me. But I do it sometimes, when I'm feeling lazy or when I have to transport my kids.)
Before 2010 or so, I used a traditional manual bike. But today, a non-powered bike seems to me like using a slow, spinning platter magnetic disk instead of an SSD. Or using a desk without a motor to adjust the height on demand. Or a kerosene lamp instead of LED lighting.
Unless you consider your bike to be only a mechanism to get exercise, in which case inefficiency is desired, the only valid argument against an e-bike in my mind is the cost. And that's valid, in some circumstances.
But you can get every bit as much of a workout on an e-bike -- it's just that you will be going faster. Alternatively, if you don't need a workout right now, you can go about as fast as a non-powered bike with minimal effort.
Where I live in Tokyo, it's 45 minutes to the office by train (due to the walking to/from stations, 35 minutes by 1970s bicyle, and 20 minutes on my battery-powered pedal-assist BESV LX-1.
Traditional bikes are a lot cheaper and simpler. Most of the e-bikes I've seen, are very expensive and come with low or mid-range quality components.
Plus, I'd be very wary of investing in a bike with a lot of proprietary components. Traditional bike standards change as well, but you can still ride a 40 year old bike today and get parts for it.
If I were to get an e-bike, I'd definitely go the route of getting a solid, steel, fully rigid mountain bike and putting a mid-drive conversion kit on it.
Not everybody is concerned about riding a bike for decades. Your parent just wrote he saves 30min a day with the ebike. That is 100 hours per year easily. That pays for a new ebike a year at any price you could reasonably assign to your time. The bike lifetime is an absolute sideshow in this example.
I don't own an e-bike, but I can see the appeal for commuting. I have no problem riding hard, I used to ride to class 7 miles each way on my fixed gear. Also, if you have a cargo bike such as a Surly Big Dummy or a Bullitt, having an electric assist would make those much more enjoyable.
But riding at all when it's 90 degrees and 100% humidity is not fun when you're wearing long pants and a backpack, especially if your destination doesn't have a shower.
It’s a shame that the regulations haven’t been updated for electric kick scooters as well.
They are a lot cheaper, more nimble, take up less space and use less energy. I’d love to ride one to work but am worried it will get impounded at first sight :(
Yes please. My commute is by train, and then the last bit by bus. Depending on traffic the bus takes either 2 minutes or 20 minutes and it's infuriating. I'd happily skip the bus by cycling but that either means having a second bike parked where a) there's no space and b) it WILL get stolen sooner or later or I can lug along a bulky folding bike.
17 comments
[ 2.7 ms ] story [ 47.7 ms ] threadI’d be happy if it were the first group but sad if it were the second group because it seems like it would result in a less active population.
I still think this is the largest group of buyers, but I get the impression — from observing people in traffic — that a good amount of people who use electric bicycles come to depend too much on the engine, hardly providing any power themselves via the pedals. People who cycle along at 15–20 km/h tend to use the battery power as an augmentation, whilst those who pass everyone by at 25 km/h tend to depend on it for at least 90%.
This looks to me like a general loss in healthy exercise.
Then there are the gadget freaks that buy the so-called 'speed pedelecs', which can hit speeds of up to 45 km/h, but because these have recently been relegated to the moped category in Dutch law, these are no longer allowed on bicycle-exclusive cyclepaths, and have to use the main carriage ways instead. Their rise in popularity seems to have stagnated — thankfully! They don't really fit into Dutch traffic as it is, being too fast for cyclepaths, and too exposed to use safely on roads where drivers may expect mopeds, but not souped-up electrical bicycles.
In any case, most people will have owned a normal bicycle before going electric. Some do use it to replace the car for commuting, because a distance of up to 30 km may take much less time on an electric bicycle when traffic is bad, and more healthy to boot — as long as you peddle along!
I've never understood the appeal of electric bikes. It just seems lazy to me. I'd feel guilty if I relied on the motor instead of burning calories.
I use the cars for transporting the family, or to go long distances quickly. I'm not averse to cycling 25 miles if time allows, and I've also managed to carry all sorts (like IKEA furniture) on my folding bike. I also wear my work clothes (jeans and t-shirt) when cycling on my commute, demonstrating that lycra is totally unnecessary!
I can only assume that electric bikes are for people that wouldn't normally cycle, or whose routes are prohibitively hilly.
Would be keen to hear the use cases of anyone here that uses one.
I do use a e-bike mostly as a way to be able to bike in situations where it would not be possible to bike in other ways. Many times I do it even though it might be inconvenient compared to using a car parked in my front yard. This is the issue when you use a car I use a bicycle, because it's usually easier than renting one or calling a cab. It might not be that much cheaper for me personally since I spend my transport money in other ways, e.g. to get more time with my family (on trains etc).
I bike ~30 km per day, the last 6 months ~40% of that was by e-bike.
Before 2010 or so, I used a traditional manual bike. But today, a non-powered bike seems to me like using a slow, spinning platter magnetic disk instead of an SSD. Or using a desk without a motor to adjust the height on demand. Or a kerosene lamp instead of LED lighting.
Unless you consider your bike to be only a mechanism to get exercise, in which case inefficiency is desired, the only valid argument against an e-bike in my mind is the cost. And that's valid, in some circumstances.
But you can get every bit as much of a workout on an e-bike -- it's just that you will be going faster. Alternatively, if you don't need a workout right now, you can go about as fast as a non-powered bike with minimal effort.
Where I live in Tokyo, it's 45 minutes to the office by train (due to the walking to/from stations, 35 minutes by 1970s bicyle, and 20 minutes on my battery-powered pedal-assist BESV LX-1.
Plus, I'd be very wary of investing in a bike with a lot of proprietary components. Traditional bike standards change as well, but you can still ride a 40 year old bike today and get parts for it.
If I were to get an e-bike, I'd definitely go the route of getting a solid, steel, fully rigid mountain bike and putting a mid-drive conversion kit on it.
But riding at all when it's 90 degrees and 100% humidity is not fun when you're wearing long pants and a backpack, especially if your destination doesn't have a shower.
But nowadays there are more youngsters and even kids who use the electric bike to get to school.
A big hurdle is still the high price, but as prices come down I expect almost all bikes will be electric some years from now.
They are a lot cheaper, more nimble, take up less space and use less energy. I’d love to ride one to work but am worried it will get impounded at first sight :(
I'd much rather carry an electric kick scooter.