1.2 million E bikes sold in Germany

[ossie]

I saw this headline on the German TV news on my recent tour abroad. It was sales in the last year and trust me they are absolutely everywhere, being used by absolutely everyone of every age group. Its becoming a massive thing.

Whilst I was loaded with touring kit these things were passing me all of the time, far more so than my last visit down the Rhine in 2015. I would say its actually gone beyond leisure use to an increasingly popular form of transport.

Of course it helps when many roads have a dedicated cycle lane or markings to signify a lane and with the infrastructure in place. It strikes me that the Germans are leading the way in E bike use. This must be taking untold vehicles off the road.

Cycling off the ferry at Harwich this year after a couple of weeks abroad really was a disappointing wake up call. Austerity has hit massively and we are years behind in so many areas.

[kwackers]

Cycling around Liverpool there are times when the only bikes I see are e-bikes.
There are certainly a lot of them, realistically I reckon at least a quarter are e-bikes.

[Ray]

They're catching on here. Last week I was at a café much used by cyclists and, of 7 or 8 bikes parked outside, mine was the only one without an electric motor. The café is at the top of a big hill, but this is a growing trend. Most bike shops of any size now have big displays of e-bikes.

Seems like a good thing, but it's perhaps worth adding that most of the café patrons arrived in big, shiny cars. There's a way to go . . .

[Cyril Haearn]

A long-established cycle shop near me sells '€-bikes (and cycles)'

[Bmblbzzz]

If people are genuinely switching journeys from car, bus, taxi, etc to e-bike, this is good. Similarly if people are using e-assist to enable them to keep up with faster friends as they age, are injured or suffer disabilities; or just to carry on riding in those circumstances. If people are using e-bikes to replace journeys that they previously made "pure pedal" that is not so good.

[Audax67]

A long-established cycle shop near me sells '€-bikes (and cycles)'

If they keep the LBSes alive so much the better.

[roubaixtuesday]

If people are using e-bikes to replace journeys that they previously made "pure pedal" that is not so good.

Why?

[fastpedaller]

If people are using e-bikes to replace journeys that they previously made "pure pedal" that is not so good.

Why?

Obesity and its demands on the NHS?

[roubaixtuesday]

If people are using e-bikes to replace journeys that they previously made "pure pedal" that is not so good.

Why?

Obesity and its demands on the NHS?

I seriously doubt many people routinely making journeys on ebikes are in the obesity population. They're sat on the sofa or in a car.

[mercalia]

wait until the cold wet winter hits then back to the car

[reohn2]

wait until the cold wet winter hits then back to the car

But at least some(most?)of the time they'll be out of their cars and who knows they may even like it enough to get hooked on the convenience of not being caught up in traffic that they stick it out.

[Bmblbzzz]

If people are using e-bikes to replace journeys that they previously made "pure pedal" that is not so good.

Why?

Obesity and its demands on the NHS?

That's an extra reason that hadn't even occurred to me. I was thinking on a more idealistically rigorous level; it's simply replacing human-propulsion with motor-propulsion. It uses extra resources, obviously, but the main thing in my mind is that it starts the slide to abandoning pedalling completely; anyone who doubts that this will happen has only to look at the various illegal or modified e-bikes being ridden today (that complete their entire journeys on battery power alone) or look at the history of the moped.

I'd distinguish these people from those who are using electric assistance to allow them to do things the "reasonable cyclist" of jury mythology might do, such as ride at the pace of friends to the cafe, pull a heavy load, ride up a hill. That's a perfectly good use of e-bikes, and one I dare say I'll be making use of in a couple of decades. And those who are using e-bikes to replace car journeys are to be applauded.

[rbrian]

A long-established cycle shop near me sells '€-bikes (and cycles)'

It always makes me chuckle when I visit the Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative. Their slogan is "the revolution will not be motorised", plastered all over the shop, often right next to the massive ebike display.

[Cyril Haearn]

A long-established cycle shop near me sells '€-bikes (and cycles)'

It always makes me chuckle when I visit the Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative. Their slogan is "the revolution will not be motorised", plastered all over the shop, often right next to the massive ebike display.

Chuckle, laugh and cry at once? Trouble is €bikes are big bu$ine$$

[Sweep]

If people are genuinely switching journeys from car, bus, taxi, etc to e-bike, this is good. Similarly if people are using e-assist to enable them to keep up with faster friends as they age, are injured or suffer disabilities; or just to carry on riding in those circumstances. If people are using e-bikes to replace journeys that they previously made "pure pedal" that is not so good.

+1