Acoustic vs Electric bikes.

[classic33]

This is similar to the point we made. Also no-one had a clue what it meant except some of the students.

And limiting it to bicycles does sorta knock tricycles and quaricycles out of it. Not to mention unicycles.

 

[Ian H]

'Bike' is already used illiterately, as in 'quadbike' or even 'three-wheeled bike'.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Wonder how a "No Acoustic Bikes Allowed" sign would be taken/read if they put them in place.

They'd be a lot of noise about it. The e-bike brigade would turn their amps up to 11.

 

[MontyVeda]

I saw this article in road.cc where they refer to normal bikes as acoustic, as opposed to electric bikes. I had never heard the term acoustic applied to a bike, and thought that I was marketing guff invented by Ribble, but it turns out that its been in use for some time, with this Reddit thread discussing it two years ago.

I find it silly to invent a new term for what has always been a bike, and everyone understands what it is. Is it just me?

"Is it an eBike?" is a question I've had a few times in the last few years when i mention riding a bike.
"It's a manual bike." is my reply. People seem surprised, as if they assume everyone is riding eBikes these days.

 

[Alex321]

'Bike' is already used illiterately, as in 'quadbike' or even 'three-wheeled bike'.

That is something that has always annoyed the pedant in me.

 

[Alex321]

"Is it an eBike?" is a question I've had a few times in the last few years when i mention riding a bike.
"It's a manual bike." is my reply. People seem surprised, as if they assume everyone is riding eBikes these days.

Or maybe you just look old and feeble, so they assume you personally can't ride a regular bike? (I have no idea of your looks, so may be entirely wrong in this suggestion, I'm not intending to cast aspersions).

 

[Andy in Germany]

"Is it an eBike?" is a question I've had a few times in the last few years when i mention riding a bike.
"It's a manual bike." is my reply. People seem surprised, as if they assume everyone is riding eBikes these days.

I get the same, quite a lot, actually. People also seem surprised that no-one on the staff at our bike workshop owns an Ebike.

 

[MontyVeda]

Or maybe you just look old and feeble, so they assume you personally can't ride a regular bike? (I have no idea of your looks, so may be entirely wrong in this suggestion, I'm not intending to cast aspersions).

that is very likely
but as far as i can tell... teenagers are hankering after an ebike rather than a regular bike these days.

give it ten years and manual bikes will be as common as penny farthings are today.

 

[kingrollo]

Does anybody really care ?

I call my ebike and ebike - having a brush with the grim reaper earlier in the year - I really couldn't give a toss what anyone thinks.

I did have a roadie going in the opposite direction call me a w@@@r - must have been eagle eyed to spot my hub wheel motor - incredible.

I still only average 13 mph - so if I'm cheating - I'm not very good at it.

 

[PaulSB]

Bike and ebike. I hear what you say @ebikeerwidnes but feel we just have to accept it. This on the same lines as a cyclist I object to being lumped in with d******** kids riding on pavements, pulling wheelies, no lights, head to toe in black, etc. I do accept though drivers see proper cyclists as a PIA.

 

[kingrollo]

that is very likely
but as far as i can tell... teenagers are hankering after an ebike rather than a regular bike these days.

give it ten years and manual bikes will be as common as penny farthings are today.

Highly unlikely imo. E road bikes will always be niche imo

 

[PaulSB]

that is very likely
but as far as i can tell... teenagers are hankering after an ebike rather than a regular bike these days.

give it ten years and manual bikes will be as common as penny farthings are today.

I've seen children on ebikes. I have this as irresponsible parenting from an exercise and safety perspective. In our local park these are 8/9 year olds unable to take evasive action if needed.

 

[ianrauk]

Bike and ebike. I hear what you say @ebikeerwidnes but feel we just have to accept it. This on the same lines as a cyclist I object to being lumped in with d******** kids riding on pavements, pulling wheelies, no lights, head to toe in black, etc. I do accept though drivers see proper cyclists as a PIA.

You're 100% right of course. And its never going to change I'm afraid.

 

[Andy in Germany]

that is very likely
but as far as i can tell... teenagers are hankering after an ebike rather than a regular bike these days.

give it ten years and manual bikes will be as common as penny farthings are today.

People are already getting disappointed by the costs.

We get lots of people asking if we sell used Ebikes, which we don't because of the liability issues. People buy used Ebikes on places like Ebay and then find the battery dies after a few kilometres, and a replacement costs hundreds of Euro.

Other people buy cheap Ebikes online for 800€, and we can't help them because it is a no-name motor. Worse, the other components are unknown as well, so often we can't even fix the brakes, gears or even the tyres, so they end up scrapped.

Even people who buy from the likes of Shimano or Bosch are beginning to find there are no more updates for their computer, or the computer itself is broken and can't be replaced any more, or a replacement battery and transport cost more than a good normal bike.

Interest is certainly still there, but I think people are realising how expensive it is to buy and run an Ebike, so they aren't selling as fast as before.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

"Is it an eBike?"

No it’s A bike 😄