Cycling UK Forum

reohn2 wrote:

Phil Fouracre wrote:I do love these ebike threads, I just can’t get my head around how, otherwise, hopefully, intelligent people, can talk so much utter rubbish about ebikes!! but, please carry on

I'm afraid it's all due to prejudice,such people simply see e-bikes as "cheating",that's at the bottom of all of it.
They'll wrap it up in rape of the planet,that they're dangerous,that they cause accidents,etc,etc,or any number of other unfounded and plainly ridiculous excuses to hide that prejudice either from peoples they're spouting off to or even themselves,in some instances it's just downright jealousy.

Jealousy? More likely just a regurgitation of the shock-horror stories of The Daily Frightener.

Perhaps we should set up a group willing to lend our e-bike to the sceptics so that they can at least speak from experience - assuming they have the breath left after realising they have to pedal quite hard to get the e-bike to work. And that they can't go 'round the circuit of 25 miles in ten minutes; or even two hours for those more feeble i' the quad&glute.

Why do folk feel they have to have an opinion about everything, especially things they know nowt about?

Cugel

Phil Fouracre wrote:I do love these ebike threads, I just can’t get my head around how, otherwise, hopefully, intelligent people, can talk so much utter rubbish about ebikes!! but, please carry on

With you there!

e bikes are the future and my well be the saving grace for some independent bike shops if they are willing to accept them.
A part from a few niche areas like roadies or mtb, we are not a nation of cyclists. Pre the 60's mid 70's it was utility use, then ICE took over and =utility riding declined heavily which also had a knock on with leisure cycling.


I myself for 25 years barely road a cycle until 7 years ago when I converted my cycle with a kit, now I cycle as much as I can and only about 10 -15% of my annual road use is in my car.

hemo wrote:e bikes are the future and my well be the saving grace for some independent bike shops if they are willing to accept them.
A part from a few niche areas like roadies or mtb, we are not a nation of cyclists. Pre the 60's mid 70's it was utility use, then ICE took over and =utility riding declined heavily which also had a knock on with leisure cycling.


I myself for 25 years barely road a cycle until 7 years ago when I converted my cycle with a kit, now I cycle as much as I can and only about 10 -15% of my annual road use is in my car.

This is a fundamental aspect of e-bikes: they appeal more to car users who would like an alternative than they do to traditional cyclists. Not to say that traditional cyclists won't find a use for them too but the vast majority seem to be bought by those previously put-off by the sweaty effort needed to be made by the relatively unfit if they want to go to shop or work or pub or .... anywhere on a bike.

If the e-bike is largely a replacement for the car (electric or otherwise) in a significant number of households then that is surely a great improvement in terms of reduction in resource-use and pollution. Thy're also very much safer than cars, with a much smaller tyre-print and road-damaging aspect. Even if the car is retained but used much less, that's an improvement.

Traditional cyclists (like me and most here) will continue to use their human-powered bikes because we like the sweaty effort required. Some of us will eventually continue to make sweaty efforts with an e-bike, when we might otherwise have given up because of the degradations of age or illness.

What's not to like about all this? We could ask Ivor Tingting but he will only emit an inchoate rant.

Cugel

al_yrpal wrote:

Cyril Haearn wrote:I cycle to work through town with lots of motrons emerging/crossing the cycle path, I go slowly for safety reasons
Many others, with and without motors, cycle too fast
I think 12 kmh would suffice actually

That argument is absurd because on a Pedelec you can cycle as fast as you like, and with that other absurd thread started with your other moderated

Al

What a shame this was moderated, but I think I know what you mean, I read it before moderation
Nothing to do with sledging, I am fighting terror by pressing buttons to slow down the mortons for the good of all
Perhaps you should leave your leafy fastness sometime and observe the traffic, even in a small town, at 07:30 on a weekday

I saw a man on what was clearly an electric motorcycle, since he wasn't pedalling, with no number plate. In its place was a notice which said something like "this is an E bike and is perfectly legal to ride without a number". Wrong, obviously, although it wasn't very fast.

My club has a few ebike riders and they are no problem as long as they take care to recognise that their bikes have different characteristics to a non assisted bike, principally that they go quicker up hills, and ride accordingly. We've had no incidents and those with chronic injuries and heart problems can now ride the same routes as the rest of us. Our riders seem to set them at a low level of assistance just sufficient to ease their pain or maintain a safe heart rate. That way they get a good work out and the extra 4 or 5kg means they do work out.

My club has a few ebike riders and they are no problem as long as they take care to recognise that their bikes have different characteristics to a non assisted bike, principally that they go quicker up hills, and ride accordingly. We've had no incidents and those with chronic injuries and heart problems can now ride the same routes as the rest of us. Our riders seem to set them at a low level of assistance just sufficient to ease their pain or maintain a safe heart rate. That way they get a good work out and the extra 4 or 5kg means they do work out.

Same with our club "beginners and oldies" group (officially the Easyriders - ironic reference to the film?).

It's not unusual for half the group to be on e-bikes and we have never had a problem with them. In fact it has enabled some of our older riders to get back to riding with us and increase the pool of ride leaders.

On my commute to & from work these days, I see many more cyclists than 5 or 6 years ago. Some days, it is ten times as many. Many days, it is four times as many. Most of them are e-bikes.

Vorpal wrote:On my commute to & from work these days, I see many more cyclists than 5 or 6 years ago. Some days, it is ten times as many. Many days, it is four times as many. Most of them are e-bikes.

And what's so galling about that is that some people on the forum think that's a bad thing.
Whereas from a positive POV,for every pedelec you see it's one less 1+ tonne box on the road not producing CO2 and needing 4m2 of room to park in,clogging up town and city centres and causing kms of traffic jams.

Just home from 65km in the hilly Scottish Borders. Sweaty and exhausted despite some help on the hills. Still struggled up some hills even with max power and lowest gear. We ebike users try to use as little power as possible because we need the battery charge to last as long as possible. Otherwise we might not get home!

One of my friends has an ebike on which the Heart Rate monitor feeds back to the motor control to keep his heart rate at the selected (safe) level. How cool is that?
Something we perhaps are not aware of is the drag of different road surfaces. Another friend described how on tar and stone overlays the battery uses appreciably more energy. This had to be factored in on a recent ride across France.