Electric Bicycles

[Cornell]

Yesterday I rented an ebike - first time I've ever ridden one. Wow -- an incredible experience. Does anyone own one? I'd love any of your thoughts, advice, opinions.

I have traditionally never enjoyed bike riding. I would want an ebike for running errands, or just bike riding to enjoy the scenery w/o the side-effects of traditional bike riding.

I have an extremely high level of fitness , so am not looking at bike time as a way to get exercise in.

 

[WinniWoman]

I love those! Hubby and I rented them last year when we were at our timeshare vacation. Hubby liked it so much he wants to rent one again this year. We like bike riding for the fun of it. We are not into mountain biking or racing or the fitness element- though that is certainly a benefit. We like to enjoy the scenery.

I enjoy bike riding- just don't have time for it at home so only do it when we are away if there is a recreation path (no road riding for us). We used to have regular bikes and got rid of them because we found it a hassle to take with us. We kept our helmets, though.

The bike manufacturers still have to do something about the uncomfortable seats.. We could ride longer if it weren't for them.

 

[artringwald]

The bike manufacturers still have to do something about the uncomfortable seats.. We could ride longer if it weren't for them.

There are a variety of bike seats you can get from nice comfy gel seats to tractor seats. Unfortunately, your butt can get sore even with the best of them. The good news is that the more you ride, the more numb your butt gets, and the longer you can ride.

I got a free demo ride of two different models of ebikes and both were great. I loved being able to zip across an intersection and getting help going up hills. The only downside is the price, $2,000 and up. For those that don't know, ebikes just add 20% to 50% to whatever power you provide with your own legs. The lower the power setting, the longer the battery life. The models that provide power without pedaling are illegal on most bike trails.

Here's some of the best: https://www.digitaltrends.com/outdoors/best-electric-bikes/

 

[djyamyam]

Yesterday I rented an ebike - first time I've ever ridden one. Wow -- an incredible experience. Does anyone own one? I'd love any of your thoughts, advice, opinions.

I have traditionally never enjoyed bike riding. I would want an ebike for running errands, or just bike riding to enjoy the scenery w/o the side-effects of traditional bike riding.

I have an extremely high level of fitness , so am not looking at bike time as a way to get exercise in.

I bought an ebike 3 years ago for my wife as she biked to work. We had moved farther away so she needed something that gave her some assistance since there was now a big hill in between us and work (about 7 miles). She loves it. She rides it summer and winter. She normally uses the pedal assist - which gives you up to 5 times the assistance of a normal pedal turn (you can adjust the level as you ride) or you can just the battery throttle entirely without pedaling. In the winter, we swap out the tires for winter studded tires since we have ice/snow and that's where you really need the pedal assist. She take the battery inside when she gets to work so the battery doesn't get depleted because of the cold.

It's a heavy bike so if you don't have easy access to park it, you'll need to consider that. It's not as easy to lug up the stairs in an apartment as a regular bike. The battery charge generally lasts pretty good - anywhere from 35-55 miles of usage depending on how much you use the assist modes. It's fast - you can use the throttle to a maximum speed of 20 MPH (you can actually be going faster if pedaling but 20 MPH is the legal limit here if only using throttle).

I got her the "step-through" model as she much prefers that to the mountain bike style which has her hunched over. Her model has her sitting more upright, which she finds much more comfortable. They are more expensive than your traditional bikes. I bought it from the company that supplies the ebikes to the Canadian Costco (or at least they did 3 years ago - don't know if they still do). I bought a demo bike that had about 150 kms (about 90 miles) use on the battery - which is practically still brand new for about $1400 CDN. That would be the way to go in my mind - find a reputable company that has some demo bikes for sale to save you some money. The company we bought it from is in Vancouver, BC, Canada (https://richmondebike.com/) and they shipped it to me for around $75 - which is pretty good in my mind.

 

[SmithOp]

I own an eLux bike, made here in town where I live. I met one of the owners on the beach bike path.

I purchased the Newport Classic because I like the slide in battery under the rear rack. The models with the battery on the down tube need to have the seat removed to get the battery out to charge. I ride it about 20 miles on the beach bike path twice a week, love the beach cruiser style, very comfortable riding position with the pedals forward of the seat. If I ride a mt bike style it cuts off circulation at my wrists and palms tingle with pins/needles. I still have 25% battery left so I figure the range would be 25-30 miles.

https://www.eluxbikes.com


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[Cornell]

My update on this -- I did some research, went to several bike stores and yesterday put a deposit down on a Trek ebike. I'm so excited & learned a TON. Apparently this category of bike has had huge growth. So much so that my bike is backordered and I have to wait for it. I plan on using it for pleasure riding and changing my habits to ride my bike for near by errands. I actually hate driving so want to get out on this bike more for things that I have traditionally driven to. I will be putting a basket on the back for a bag of groceries, etc. Sadly, I live in Chicago so my new baby wont' be used for a good part of the year. Thank you all for your comments, thoughts.

 

[Elan]

I think ebikes are a great idea, but I've never understood where the outrageous pricing comes from. The tech is not sophisticated, and exists elsewhere at reasonable prices.

 

[Cornell]

I learned yesterday that the battery for the bike that I purchased alone costs $800.

 

[Elan]

I learned yesterday that the battery for the bike that I purchased alone costs $800.

There's no doubt that the battery is a large expense. However a 400wH lawnmower battery is around $350.

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[Passepartout]

One part of me really wants one of these- for recreational riding, and to overcome about 6 decades of life, but realistically I know that I'd probably take it out 2 or 3 times after the initial charging of the battery, and my heirs would have one more piece of obsolete crap to get rid of that is gathering dust in a corner of a garage or storage room after I'm gone.

 

[SmithOp]

There's no doubt that the battery is a large expense. However a 400wH lawnmower battery is around $350.

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Yeah but you look funny riding a mower on the bike path.


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[Elan]

I'd stay on the grass.

Yeah but you look funny riding a mower on the bike path.


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[Cornell]

https://www.bicycling.com/skills-tips/a20044021/13-things-about-e-bikes/

A great article for anyone who wants to learn more.

 

[bbodb1]

Yeah but you look funny riding a mower on the bike path.


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But I bet he'd clear the bike path!

 

[Elan]

https://www.bicycling.com/skills-tips/a20044021/13-things-about-e-bikes/

A great article for anyone who wants to learn more.

Nice article. Thanks for posting. It will be interesting to see what effect ebikes will have on reshaping roadways and other transportation infrastructure. I'd love to get one as it would be almost ideal for my work commute, but the inherent danger of riding on roads shared with cars (and their inattentive drivers) doesn't lessen much with an ebike.