E-Bikes?
This is part of an article I read on CNN...
Like Lemier-Elmore, e-bikers in the relatively bike-friendly state of Colorado are butting heads with tradition. In city halls, e-bikers are lobbying to gain access to bike lanes, bike paths and bike parks -- where motorized vehicles including e-bikes are often banned.
Residents acknowledge occasional roadway confrontations between e-bikers and non-motorized bicyclists -- ranging from friendly teasing to outright animosity.
Dean Keyek-Franssen, co-owner of Pete's eBikes stores in the Colorado towns of Boulder, Aspen and Frisco, describes bicyclists with skintight bike clothing as "Lycra-bound."
"You will have a Lycra-bound person passing an electric bike rider, telling her to get out of the bike lane," says Keyek-Franssen. "And it's just this elitist biking community that we have here in Boulder -- and that's great, it's a biking community -- as is Portland and Minneapolis -- and it comes with the territory."
Turned off by showroom price tags on factory-made bikes -- some as high as $3,500 -- many e-bike hackers are turned on by building their own rigs that are often faster and more powerful.
I'd have a lot more than "outright animosity" if one of these things bump into me in the bike lane.
Views: 116
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on
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Speaking of E-bikes I just got a Spam E-mail this morning from "John" at chicagoelectricbicycles@googlemail.com. Apparently they have a store on Grand and they somehow got my email. I'm not really interested in an electric bike with the price and complexity of today's technology. I might as well be riding my motorcycle. I'd just be moving my tailpipe emissions from the bike to the dirty coal-burning smokestacks of the local power generation stations.
Don't know how they got my email. Harvested from some local bicycle list I'm sure...
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Permalink Reply by Juan 2-3 or more mi. on
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Talked to one of those guys on critical mass, he was not too thrilled at me checking out the operation. He just kept spamming me with just visiting the website.
James Baum said:Speaking of E-bikes I just got a Spam E-mail this morning from "John" at chicagoelectricbicycles@googlemail.com. Apparently they have a store on Grand and they somehow got my email. I'm not really interested in an electric bike with the price and complexity of today's technology. I might as well be riding my motorcycle. I'd just be moving my tailpipe emissions from the bike to the dirty coal-burning smokestacks of the local power generation stations.
Don't know how they got my email. Harvested from some local bicycle list I'm sure...
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Permalink Reply by Maria Boustead on
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I agree that electric bikes shouldn't be demonized across the board. I could see them coming in handy in really hilly places too. In Chicago, not so much.
Jeff Schneider said:If E-bike sellers can convince some current non-bikers to use a bike for transportation, maybe that's good. In the long run, more bikers on the road would increase political leverage for improved bike infrastructure.
I know these things are popular in China (where they are seen as an alternative to a car), but I don't see them getting much interest yet in Europe or the US. Commute distances in Europe are usually short enough that human power alone will suffice, so there's no point in adding expense and complexity to a bike; in the US, most people are just plain afraid to ride a bike on our car-centric streets. I don't see people being any less afraid just because they don't have to pedal.
Still, I can think of certain people for whom an E-bike might be a good thing. For example, if you like to bike but have some kind of health condition that makes a normal bike too difficult to push around, an E-bike might be useful.
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I am concerned that people will be bombing down the bike lane at 30MPH or whatever the top speed on these infernal things, and buzzing real bicycles like they are still driving their cars -just now they'll be allowed to legally ride down the bike lane and buzz us.
I see a lot of mopeds and some A-holes on Harleys and those ridiculously stretched ghetto-sportbikes already doing this in the bike lanes. They think the bike lane is a passing zone whenever there is a car in front of them. It's not right, and I don't really look forward to more of them riding at higher speeds than the peddlers -IC or electric engine notwithstanding.
AFAIC an electric bike is no different than a motorized motorcycle and shouldn't be in the bike lane.
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Permalink Reply by Todd Allen on
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James I don't think you have much to worry about. Federal law says that only e-bikes with a maximum top speed of 20 mph and less than 750 watts of power are to be considered bicycles. Bikes with more power and higher speed are considered motor vehicles.
Because of this no major manufacturer produces fast e-bikes. There are a few Vespa like sit down electric scooters that will do 30+ mph but they don't have pedals. These tend to be plated, licensed, insured, etc. and are typically ridden out in the traffic lanes with other motorized vehicles.
There are some home builders building fast electric bikes, but if they make the mistake of regularly riding in the bicycle lanes at 30 mph they won't last too long. Visibility in bike lanes is poor when riding adjacent to parked cars and there are so many hazards from car doors and cars pulling in/out at drives and intersections, to potholes, sewer grates and all the debris that tends to collect in the bike lanes. Finally drivers don't expect bikes in bike lanes to accelerate hard or ride fast and any one who does will likely get taken out by a driver turning into a Dunkin' Donuts who can't imagine that the cyclist they saw at the previous intersection might still be hanging with them - and so they don't even bother to look again before turning in across the bike lane.
Even fast roadies understand this pretty well and it is rare to see a pace line at 30 mph buzzing hapless commuters in a bike lane. When riders ride at high speeds they will tend to ride in a faster traffic lane.
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According to my CatEye speedo I tend to hold a pace of about 18-20MPH around town on my 25 year old heavy steel-framed MTB. I can't seem to hold any speeds greater than about 22-24MPH for any length of time but even so that puts me going WAY faster than most of the other bikes out there. Even 20MPH has me passing most people on the road but a few of the hard-core fixies and the occasional lycra-wearing dudes which are few and far between in my neck of the woods.
I'm afraid that 20MPH without any effort put into it by the "rider" will still be fast enough to be buzzing many riders out there. For the most part many bicyclists I see riding up and down Milwaukee street are averaging more like 13-14MPH. That's still a pretty fast buzz.
I personally don't like the idea of any electric bikes in the bike lanes. I know that the the average joe will probably disagree with me as electric bike prices start really coming down and upgrade motorized wheels become really cheap and available. Throwing a motorized front wheel on a regular bike and hooking it to a frame-mounted battery will become common in the next few years I suspect and E-bikes will be here for good. I don't think anything will be able to keep such things out of the bike lanes at that point so my fears are going to come true regardless.
I still don't like it. But at least it might bring more people out on bikes and more bikes is a good thing right? people keep telling me that...
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James, as Lance Armstrong says, it's not about the bike. Or e-bike. It's about the rider. And for far too long cycling has been the exception in our society where the young and fit could prevail over the old and rich.
And this is so wrong to our American sensibilities. We all know that it is the rich that deserve to make all the rules, win the game and get all the hot women. But with conventional bikes there's very little performance difference between a $15,000.00 Tour De France limited edition bike for the elite and the $1,000 mail order racing bike that any commoner might buy.
Ebikes can correct this travesty such that youth, training, fitness and will power are going to be put back in their place and finally pure unadulterated wealth will again reign supreme. You don't need to fear hordes of the unworthy zipping by on their ebikes because they won't be able to afford the batteries needed to go the distance at speed.
No, it will only be the better men, the corporate lawyers, specialty doctors, bought politicians and bailed out investment bankers who will be bombing past at speed on their flashy new ebikes that the girls all love.
So rest easy, there's nothing to fear here, you'll see that e-bikes are every bit as American as apple pie and Ferraris.
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Ah, snarcasm. I'm a motorcycle rider too. I know all about this.
In the motorcycle world they buy either Harleys or BMW's.
Want to be a "rider?" -just put 'er on your second mortgage and you are an instant rider -Just add check book!
Todd Allen said:James, as Lance Armstrong says, it's not about the bike. Or e-bike. It's about the rider. And for far too long cycling has been the exception in our society where the young and fit could prevail over the old and rich.
And this is so wrong to our American sensibilities. We all know that it is the rich that deserve to make all the rules, win the game and get all the hot women. But with conventional bikes there's very little performance difference between a $15,000.00 Tour De France limited edition bike for the elite and the $1,000 mail order racing bike that any commoner might buy.
Ebikes can correct this travesty such that youth, training, fitness and will power are going to be put back in their place and finally pure unadulterated wealth will again reign supreme. You don't need to fear hordes of the unworthy zipping by on their ebikes because they won't be able to afford the batteries needed to go the distance at speed.
No, it will only be the better men, the corporate lawyers, specialty doctors, bought politicians and bailed out investment bankers who will be bombing past at speed on their flashy new ebikes that the girls all love.
So rest easy, there's nothing to fear here, you'll see that e-bikes are every bit as American as apple pie and Ferraris.
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98,000 RPM? Designed for unmanned radio-controlled airplanes?
Can you say "no thank you?" -I don't want a mini A380
bomb 6 inches from my testicles and femoral artery...
Michael A said:
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Permalink Reply by Jason W on
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I agree with James about not wanting these in the bike lanes. 20 MPH is pretty fast. I guess you guys are all in better shape then me (plus me knees aren't so good these days). My average speed when I ran a computer was 12-14 MPH on my commute from East village to the loop. I do not want people on ebikes passing me at 50%+ more speed then I'm riding. That is a fast rate of closure, and people are reckless. Bike lanes really aren't big enough to pass in, considering the bike lane is really about 80% door zone on average. And if they are supposed to go 20MPH, some will no doubt modify them to go faster. "Make it better" like that idiot Jesse James would say... I say if you can push yourself at 20mph, then go for it. I just think there are going to be a lot of lazy idiots that probably don't have a lot of experience on these things driving them recklessly. I think as someone starts riding (a normal bike) in the city and getting in better shape they have a learning experience before they are hitting 20mph. This will not happen with ebikes.
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Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on
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I have a feeling some jackass doing 20 down the bike lane on what's essentially a scooter would catch so much hell from actual bicycle riders at lights that he or she would quickly think twice about doing it again. Or a taste of door would change their minds in a flash.
James Baum said:According to my CatEye speedo I tend to hold a pace of about 18-20MPH around town on my 25 year old heavy steel-framed MTB. I can't seem to hold any speeds greater than about 22-24MPH for any length of time but even so that puts me going WAY faster than most of the other bikes out there. Even 20MPH has me passing most people on the road but a few of the hard-core fixies and the occasional lycra-wearing dudes which are few and far between in my neck of the woods.
I'm afraid that 20MPH without any effort put into it by the "rider" will still be fast enough to be buzzing many riders out there. For the most part many bicyclists I see riding up and down Milwaukee street are averaging more like 13-14MPH. That's still a pretty fast buzz.
I personally don't like the idea of any electric bikes in the bike lanes. I know that the the average joe will probably disagree with me as electric bike prices start really coming down and upgrade motorized wheels become really cheap and available. Throwing a motorized front wheel on a regular bike and hooking it to a frame-mounted battery will become common in the next few years I suspect and E-bikes will be here for good. I don't think anything will be able to keep such things out of the bike lanes at that point so my fears are going to come true regardless.
I still don't like it. But at least it might bring more people out on bikes and more bikes is a good thing right? people keep telling me that...
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