E-whine

[ColinJ]

As for the hills and trikes thing. This is nonsense. Trikes are a rare sight and electric ones even rarer. I doubt any trike rider would want to be out on serious climbs.

I saw some once...

I was once taking a break after an extremely hard climb over the summit of Fleet Moss above Hawes in the Yorkshire Dales and I was looking down to the south when I saw some strange shaped objects on the road in the distance. They came quickly up the hill towards me and I soon discovered that it was a group of very fit-looking disabled men on hand-cranked recumbent trikes. Very impressive to see them in action!

 

[Andy in Germany]

I was talking to Jannie about this today. Mostly, the people who whinge have never been on an ebike, so are talking about something they know nothing about. They are often 35 or younger. They have no idea that Jonas Vingegaard also has an e bike. They don't understand how many bike shops would close if they did not sell or service ebike. This is all before you start talking about people and how it extends their cycling lives. They may not want an e bike. But who cares?

Most local shops are trying to offload ebikes at the moment: the price is in the toilet. We have almost no enquiries about Ebikes but we can't restore used bikes quickly enough to keep up with demand. Of course, we're an unusual case: Normal shops don't generally sell used bikes.

Having ridden Ebikes for tests, I don't get along with them because I naturally ride a bit faster than the 25km/h legal limit.

 

[Andy in Germany]

My legal ebike has certainly passed pure pedal powered cyclists on hills. Last week weighed down by a heavy pannier and middling rucksack I overtook a couple of cyclists on the steep climb of NCN67 through the Harrogate showground. They had made good progress up it but as the gradient steepened I gained on them.

I frequently leapfrog Ebikes on my regular ride: they pass me on uphill sections, especially when I'm carrying the shopping, and then I pass them on downhill or flat sections.

 

[rogerzilla]

I worry about how quickly e-bikes will head fo landfill once the batteries lose range.

 

[Andy in Germany]

I worry about how quickly e-bikes will head fo landfill once the batteries lose range.

I think we'll be finding out soon. We are getting a lot of first generation and "no-name" cheapo bikes which can't be repaired because of non-standard parts.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Im seeing a lot of what I call E-whine about those riding E-bikes and trikes. First of all, out on the trails, Im seeing a lot more people out for rides on E-bikes. I feel that this is a good thing. A lot of them are husband and wife teams, that wouldnt be out if it wasnt for E-bikes. People getting out and exercising in the fresh air is good.

Some of the whine comes from people that complain about young kids on high powered E-bikes burning up the trails, riding much faster than is good for safety. They have a point. The other big whine comes from the head down, ride as fast as you can would be racer boys. They absolutely hate it when some old guy on a trike is riding up a big hill into a big wind faster than they can. They think it makes them look bad.

One issue I've noticed, and this may be a German thing, is that a lot of ebike riders think riding on a cycleway is like driving a car; it isn't. Pedestrians and other vehicles don't have to move out of your way so you can drive as fast as possible. There are a few cycleways near Stuttgart I avoid after about 10am on weekends because it's so stressful with families getting shouted at by (mostly) ebike riders who think it's an Autobahn.