I recently bought a really nice ebike equivalent to the one in this article for $2200. It was cheaper than my full suspension mountain bike. So more expensive than the $1000 commuter is was gonna buy, but not even close to the most expensive bike I own. And it came with pedals!
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In the case of this e bike I think it’s safe to assume the lights will have power.
- I don’t want to scratch up my seat post
- I’d like to be able to put it back on.
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More like 1/4 to 1/3 the price of a used electric car.
Within 100 miles of me (in NE), there are several used Leaf’s (example,a 2013 with under 40k miles ), a iMiEV, and a Smart ForTwo electric under $8,000. If you up the cap to $10,000 there’s a whole lot more choices.
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But e-bikes on the other hand, are much less environmentally friendly than a normal bike.
I see lots of mopeds and the like (food delivery etc.) replaced by electric variants or e-bikes. This is a good thing (I think, I didn’t really do a cradle-to-cradle analysis of e-bikes). But I also see lots of people using e-bikes instead of normal bikes, just because it still feels like healthy-eco-friendly-bicycling, but you don’t get as tired.
But of course an e-bike is not nearly as eco-friendly as a normal bike, I suspect they’re closer to mopeds and the like.
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a point where beauty and function generally win out over comfort
Comfort is a function.
(Apologies to anyone who already made the point. No time to read 65 responses right now)
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I actually met this guy number of years ago! He was riding around a park on a sunny day, and I talked to him about it, and he let me try it out. IMHO, it wasn’t that easy to ride, and hard to steer, but on the other hand, easier than you might imagine. He was quite a character. I admire his inventiveness.
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Several people noted high cost of the Trek bike reviewed here.
But ebikes come in a range of flavors and prices. Some are quite competitive with regular commuter bicycles, not to mention cars (fuel, registration, repairs, insurance) for short commutes. Here’s a great site if you’re looking: https://electricbikereview.com/best-electric-bikes/
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The bike world is weird and opinionated. One large segment of bike enthusiasts tends to view anything that diverges from UCI racing bike standards as hopelessly uncool.
I subscribe to the “I moved some stuff around and created 2 inches of unused frame space, I can fit another light/bell/bracket/rack/holder/gadget there” school of thought. I’m basically a rolling Christmas tree.
Edited to add: I don’t actually turn them all on at the same time. I don’t want to get sideswiped because I blinded a driver.
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IDK, I always see the spandex ‘serious’ cyclists clicking their derailleur down the path because they have more money than sense. I read an article like this whinging about sacrifice and how it’s supposed to be hard, and I can’t help but think about all of those folks in spandex that have a BMW at home, but can afford a house near the path. Y’know, the people that are riding 3 miles from work, and scoffing at my electric bike while I go 20 miles back home to my non-existent car.
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Even better - hub generator powered light/reflector combos! Never need to worry about charging, can ride all night nonstop, and if there’s a wiring issue or you spend hours slowly climbing a mountain (and not producing enough current to keep the taillight on), the reflector’s still there as a fallback.
Plus, nearly all generator headlights are designed to German standards (by far the largest market for them since they’re required on bikes by law there), meaning you get shaped beams like car headlights. So you can see the road, and drivers can see you, but nobody’s blinded.
They don’t come cheap, but if you ride a lot at night they are totally worth it.
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I would absolutely go for a Copenhagen bike or wheel from Superpedestrian. Road bike setup for $2k, or wheel alone for $1750 and put it on your own bike.
I haven’t tried a lot of the different pedal assists, but at least a couple of years ago it was one of the best in the markets.
I’m a 10-miles-a-day-4-day-a-week bike commuter, riding urban PNW streets to and fro on a stiff-forked, aluminum-framed hybrid with fenders, rack, panniers and 240-lb self.
I’d welcome any ebike, any day, but not for $4k. Waiting for the day supply/demand and expiring tariffs coincide to provide me with comfortable quality at around $1,000.
If I had the cash now, I probably would have sprung for a Rad City on Cyber Monday sale. Perhaps 2019 will be the year!
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It’s hard to find a bike shop that doesn’t want to sell you some 15oz carbon fiber torture device where you can feel every detail of the surface of the road and it requires constant TLC to avoid falling apart.
My commuter bike is some big box store off brand that the author of this article would undoubtedly scoff at. It has shocks on the front fork (shock, horror!) and a shock built into the seat post (but my ergs!) and a wider cushioned seat that doesn’t make my ass bleed. I love it. It was also a hell of a lot cheaper than anything the bike store was going to sell me. I’m not the fastest person on the trail, but so what, I’m not in a race.
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You don’t get free energy, but I believe it’s a torque vs energy trade-off (like in driving cars, there are things you can do to get more torque to accelerate at the expense of energy efficiency). Upright bikes let you stand and use your body to exert more force (making more torque) on the pedals, which is sometimes helpful for short bursts, even though it may be the same or even less efficient use of energy. That’s why when you are struggling to get up a hill, or trying to accelerate quickly, it helps to stand up on the pedals. You don’t get that ability in a recumbent.
You must not ride bikes a lot. Wind resistance is the #1 thing slowing you down once you’re moving at a decent clip. It’s not hard to think about a position where your big body isn’t acting like a drag chute. Sure you can hunch over the handlebars, but then you have to crane your neck to watch where you are going and that gets painful, also your legs end up being crunched up into your abdomen. It’s just not a comfortable pose. The recumbent is like a Barca Lounger with wheels in comparison. It’s a much more natural position for your body.
Downside is that they cost a lot more, are harder to see on roads, can be tricky to mount/dismount (depending on design), and you can’t stand on the pedals for that extra bit of power when going uphill. Also, they look terminally nerdy if that’s a concern for you.
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I didn’t find it that hard, but I live in an area that has a lot of good bike shops. But the last time I went bike shopping I spent a bit of time figuring out what I wanted, test-rode a few options, and the shop I eventually bought from gave me a pretty good deal (it was the recession, so they really wanted to make a sale) on a nice Jamis touring bike that’s done pretty much everything I wanted to do on a bike.
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Do you look both ways before stepping into the path of the cyclist, or do you just start walking across the street? Just curious.
Even though the city I live in has gotten more bike-friendly in recent years, I still don’t feel comfortable unless I’m on quiet side streets or the handful of bike paths. Plus I work about 45 minutes from where I live by car (on a good day), and the layout of the city makes it so a bike wouldn’t really avoid traffic problems.
I do ride for very local trips: the grocery store, some music venues, thrift stores, but that’s not more than once a week on average.
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That’s correct; it’s not like the motor starts to apply braking once the limit is reached.
If you buy an e-bike based on a major motor supplier, like Bosch or Yamaha, there should be upgrades, batteries, and parts available for many years to come. Sort of like a tower PC with an Intel motherboard.
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