Is the end of the push bike coming?

[400bhp]

Ridiculous.

Most things that have been electrified are because there was a need for them to be, mostly to do with labour saving.

You mostly ride a bike to get away from all that crap.

 

[Drago]

People will still be pedalling bikes long after the fossil fuel has run out and we have no more electricity.

 

[Kies]

The humble bicycle is making a comeback in most modern cities, i see it outlasting the current version of the motor car

 

[ufkacbln]

I love the look on people's faces when you tell them what a bike is capable of

We were on our way to a conference in Glasgow, and got into the conversation about driving versus the train. I dropped into the conversation that I had cyled from Glasgow to Portsmouth twice, once along the East Coast and Kent, the other via Lands's End

 

[shouldbeinbed]

Different beasts, they saved laborious chores and made error correction easy respectively for a start. Cycling didn't kill walking off

 

[Jimmy Doug]

I agree with everyone else here. The electric bike will never oust the traditional pushbike. However, I do welcome the development. They enable people who might otherwise be put off cycling because of hills, wind etc to get out and benefit from this great way of transport/leisure activity. Anything that gets people out of their cars, out of their couches and onto a bike has to be a good thing. My wife is one of these people. The slightest sign of a hill or the smallest breath of wind and she hates being on a bike. We're thinking of getting one so that we can cycle-tour together one day.

 

[simon the viking]

If an electric bike helps a person with disabilities or an elderly person get some exercise then I'm all for them, but for regular cyclists I don't think they are the future, I enjoy getting work under my own power and the petrol in my tank lasting a lot longer than it used it to (when I drove to work)

 

[Biker Joe]

Is the end of the push bike coming?

Good grief! NO.
Simples!

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Then we can leave our front doors open again.

And eat dried egg.

Who's going to take over the Queen Mother role of looking at bombed buildings - that Kate Middleton's half way there looking at that picture of her.

 

[P.H]

It's as likely as the Segway replacing walking.
I'm not against electric bikes, if someone doesn't enjoy the effort of cycling it's a great way to get about, especially around towns. There must be lots of people who ride because it's all they can afford, as the price of electric bikes falls they are going to become an option. Unfortunately we're already seeing the electric equivalent of the BSO.
I use a bike as my main means of transport, haven't owned a car for 14 years and can count on my fingers the times last year I was in one. If ever cycling stopped being a pleasure, I'd certainly consider going electric.

 

[youngoldbloke]

I'm not so sure. Sales of e-bikes are outstripping leg-powered ones in China (with an increase in obesity being seen in the population already, apparently), and world wide sales are increasing rapidly. Could be that they will become the standard for anyone who just wants to get around - not so much effort as an old-style bike, but so much cheaper than a car for local trips, and promoted as 'green'. Use of traditional bikes could become restricted to a relatively small number of enthusiastic 'serious', 'real' cyclists, (much as dropped bar road bikes had been in recent years, until fashion and the success of Hoy, Pendleton, Wiggins and the Olympics prompted increased interest of late). Perhaps available on prescription to the overweight. I wouldn't be surprised if pedals began to play less and less a part as the technology improves, so we will be left with a sort of lightweight electric motor(ed)-bike.

 

[gavroche]

I agree with everyone else here. The electric bike will never oust the traditional pushbike. However, I do welcome the development. They enable people who might otherwise be put off cycling because of hills, wind etc to get out and benefit from this great way of transport/leisure activity. Anything that gets people out of their cars, out of their couches and onto a bike has to be a good thing. My wife is one of these people. The slightest sign of a hill or the smallest breath of wind and she hates being on a bike. We're thinking of getting one so that we can cycle-tour together one day.

yeh! and she will leave you behind as well"

 

[Jimmy Doug]

yeh! and she will leave you behind as well"

She probably will - but if that motivates her then I'm willing!

 

[recumbentpanda]

I think e-bikes are inherently problematic, in that they are often bought by non-cyclists who are terrified of hills/headwinds etc. After a few months riding, and conseqently improved fitness, they begin to realise that actually, its not that bad, and they want more exercise anyway, which is what they got the thing for in the first place, so they take the battery out and discover that they have bought a very crap, heavy, cumbersome bicycle.

Disability, whether age-related or not - I can see the point, keeps you on the road. I think everyone else is being 'taken for a ride'!

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

One thing about electric bikes: how do you keep warm on cold days without spending half your journey time putting on layer after layer? At least cycling warms your body (if not the extremities) up.