E bikes - do you secretly want one?

[Dave W]

Should they be frowned upon or embraced?
Would you buy one if it meant you could still cycle up that goddam hill you've been struggling with with old age?
Could you tour on one?
Or is it simply cheating?

[[XAP]Bob]

Not so secretly.

I just can't justify one. If I was commuting more like 15 than 5 miles each way then I'd consider a front wheel kit for the back of the raptobike...

[gaz]

Similar position.

My current five/six mile commute is on the border line for being too hot/sweaty for ordinary clothes. I'd expect an e-bike to change that but I cannot justify the cost to find out.

[mjr]

They should be embraced - they help get another group of people out of cars or armchairs and into the open air, as well as helping those who already cycle to keep cycling despite failing health. We've had a few ride with KLWNBUG over the last few years and they've gone from simple battery packs on the pannier rack to slick batteries integrated in the frame.

I'd buy one if I felt I needed one, but a tricycle is more of a secret want and I don't plan to have one of those soon either.

I think you could tour on one, but I think you'd have to plan some of your accommodation to have recharging.

It's only cheating if you're racing on an undeclared one IMO... we'll hear the ruling of the cyclocrosser in a few weeks?

[Vantage]

When my glucose levels plummeted 12 miles from home today and knowing I had a good 6 of them to go on a 50mph hilly bendy road I'd have given almost anything for an ebike.
One day when my legs are close to falling off I'll consider one.
I don't think its cheating though. Better an ebike than stuck indoors on the couch.

[Mick F]

They should be embraced - they help get another group of people out of cars or armchairs and into the open air, as well as helping those who already cycle to keep cycling despite failing health.

+1

Personally, I don't want or need one, but I have no objection to them existing for those folk who need and want one. Yes, embrace them. They are better than cars.

[beardy]

They are better than cars.

Not if you want to carry a couple of kids, shopping, a lawnmower and go 100 miles, in the rain, in the dark.

There is only so much room in the garage, do I want one enough to get rid of one of my existing bikes? Probably not.

[whoof]

I think they have a positive impact on transport. I know a few people who ride one to work who would otherwise drive.

Personally I hope that I would never need one in the same way I hope I never need a stair-lift. But in both cases if it meant by getting one I could either respectively cycle or go up stairs I would get one.

You can tour on any bike with each 'type' having plus and minus points so I can't see why an electric one would be any different.

It's only cheating if you are in some way claiming to be powering the bike under your own effort when you are not. Having a light bike or low gearing isn't cheating

[mjr]

Not if you want to carry a couple of kids, shopping, a lawnmower and go 100 miles, in the rain, in the dark.

This sort of guff always comes up. What % of the traffic jam sat on the A10 outside my window this Friday afternoon (like most Friday afternoons) are those sorts of journeys? By far the most common is the single-occupancy private car and I would bet the vast majority are doing short hops between the town and nearby villages, not multi-purpose kids and shopping and lawnmowing centuries. But anyway, for those trips, use a car. For the far more frequent short hops, cycle. And then the improved road usage efficiency of cycling means it'll be easier for all the child-mowing shopper centurions to get along the roads, too.

[beardy]

But that is what I use my car for.

Otherwise I use my bicycle without electric assist.

[al_yrpal]

I think they are great, and when the time comes I will be getting one, but not yet. When I was in Beijing about 5 years ago I would say 4 out of 5 people on two wheels was riding one. The polution there is awful. But… I suppose there was a coal fired power station somewhere belching out smoke and fumes to charge them up.

Al

[iandriver]

My commute is 14.8 miles. I confess to chickening out when the wind is over about 25 MPH, which lately has been about twice a week. That hidden system for my CX bike looks just the job.

[Mick F]

I've been into town twice today .......... by car.
5miles each way. 800ft of ascent going in, and 700ft of ascent coming back.
Hard work by bike, and if I'd had the time I'd have cycled both times. 25mins or so each way by "normal non-electric" bike.

[beardy]

I often suggest them to parents of would be new car drivers. There the financial cost of a car is in the thousands per year but a pedelec is no more costly for them than it is for me.
I am also fairly sure that they would all rather pay those thousands, or walk, rather than be seen on any bike.

[eileithyia]

Do I secretly want one, No. Not in current circumstances.
If it meant i could keep cycling in the future, I would certainly embrace it. I can certainly see the value of them for those who need them, inc the owner of our bike hire firm in Mallorca who uses one in the height of summer to commute to his workshop so he does not arrive dripping in sweat, but still means one less car.