E-bike snobbery

robj20 said:
Definitely not true at all.
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To be honest I hated them back in 2011, I believed they shouldn't exist.
I started to have mobility issues so somebody suggested I try one but I laughed.
It took about 4 months and worse issues before I plucked the courage to to test ride one and within 50 yards I was smitten, I was now able to continue commuting.
I have never drove to work since 2011.
 
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SexyGreyFox said:
To be honest I hated them back in 2011, I believed they shouldn't exist.
I started to have mobility issues so somebody suggested I try one but I laughed.
It took about 4 months and worse issues before I plucked the courage to to test ride one and within 50 yards I was smitten, I was now able to continue commuting.
I have never drove to work since 2011.
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Which is fine. I don't commute on mine it's just for fitness and fun.
No e-bike on the planet comes close to doing what I want from a bike.
I have never hated e-bikes they're great for people that need our want one, but to suggest that we're all hating them purely because we haven't tried one is silly.

Make me an e-bike that I can home service and maintain, build from the frame up with a somewhat universal motor/battery mount and I'll start considering them when I look at a new bike.
It's not just e-bikes, I rule out shocks and forks if I can't work on them at home. If I can't buy frame only it's off my list.
 
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robj20 said:
Make me an e-bike that I can home service and maintain, build from the frame up with a somewhat universal motor/battery mount and I'll start considering them when I look at a new bike.
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Both mine are conversions.
£150 bikes bought off Gumtree and £400 electrics so I can maintain everything.
 
I can't knock it till I've tried it. I've refused buying a new bike for years stubbornly due to what I feel are very high costs, let alone an e-mtb. Got one ordered now so we will see. Will be able to go back out with my mates who all bought them years ago! For me (and my mates) that ride, the idea of having loads of energy to do multiple downhill runs and having assistance on the hills is the big seller really. Or to be able to ride to the woods, do runs, and get home without having to use the car at all.
For me it's going to be about whether or not it still feels fun to ride fast down trails. If it feels like a barge then I don't know. I have been reliably informed they're a hoot so... let's see.
 
I have two groups of friends that are then very differently.
You have one group that are fair weather riders who love the full fat emtbs it lets then basically ride and have fun.
Then you have the others that ended up being less thrilled these are similar fitness to me in that basically fitness doesn't hold them back.
All they have found is it's easier or they can ride insane distances they actually don't do anyway, few of these have now got the lighter weight emtbs and much prefer them, though I can see a couple still have buffets remorse, it's like all bikes though you can just jump on the trend you have to buy what suits your riding, that might not be an e-bike at all.

I like the way some of the light e-bikes ride, and it'll let me do more elevation in a day. But I don't have huge elevation round me and I can already stay out all day if I want so it doesn't really help me there. I could ride faster but not by much if I'm staying legal on the flat.
 
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arknor said:
there's supposed to be consultations underway to change the power limit to 500w and allow throttle assist.

seems to be happening purely based on cargo bikes being difficult under the current laws
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I can't see it happening with normal eBikes, 500 watt gets you to 24mph easily while 1000 watt will go to 30mph (I have experimented with both).
24mph is way too fast for normal use.
I still have throttles but I'm using the Grandaddy laws because both my conversion kits are from 2011.
 
SexyGreyFox said:
can't see it happening with normal eBikes, 500 watt gets you to 24mph easily while 1000 watt will go to 30mph (I have experimented with both).
24mph is way too fast for normal use.
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they arennt changing the speed limit though just potentially the watts.
Even a Bosch gen4 CX can hit 28mph if derestricted btw and they fit the current laws.

Cargo bikes probably struggle on hills with the current laws
www.gov.uk

Smarter regulation: proposed changes to legislation for electrically assisted pedal cycles

Seeks views on proposed changes to the regulations on electrically assisted pedal cycles (EAPCs or e-cycles).
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk

The government proposes 2 changes to the regulations on electrically assisted pedal cycles (EAPCs or e-cycles):

  • to amend the legal definition of EAPCs, so that the maximum continuous power output of the electric motor is 500 watts instead of 250 watts
  • to allow ‘twist and go’ EAPCs to have throttle assistance up to 15.5mph (25km/h) without the need for type approval


Seems the consultation ended but there's no outcome yet
 
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arknor said:
they arennt changing the speed limit though just potentially the watts.

I guess cargo bikes struggle on hills or are hard to get going, I've never ridden one just saw a few around
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Ah fair enough.
I haven't tried one either.

I did have a 1000 watt motor on my bike for about a month and I replaced it with my 250 watt, it was just dangerous doing 30mph on the throttle on a bike that isn't intended to go that fast. It is a Trek MTB and the fastest I could cycle on the flat was 22mph without the conversion on :)
 
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robj20 said:
Definitely need more than 250w that's nothing. Is that really the minor at the minute?
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On a normal eBike that gets you to 15.5mph easily and the Govt give us that for free.
I have no interest going faster unless I pedal harder and I don't want to start paying like a motorbike/Moped.
 
SexyGreyFox said:
I have no interest going faster unless I pedal harder and I don't want to start paying like a motorbike/Moped.
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I'd like 20mph as it would be much safer in urbanised areas where traffic is often moving at 20mph.


Some of my routes would be very different if my limit was 20mph, nearly every Deliveroo driver I see seems to be flying at 20-25mph :mad:
cops don't seem to really care much... I saw the local cops bragging on facebook about seizing illegal ebikes the other month.,.. all the comments were asking why they don't seize the deliveroo bikes that are often the exact same models...

met with a wall of silence
 
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degen said:
Who said anything about riding it with the motor off?
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So why did you buy an e-bike? Was your rationale that you wanted a workout whilst you commuted and you decided buying a heavy full suspension e-bike was the right choice?

I feel like a prerequisite to owning an e-bike is to tell everyone “nah, it’s just as hard if not harder than a regular bike”.

If e-bikes don’t add an element of ease for the user then what is the point?!
 
I think e-bikes are amazing.

I'm 60 years, very unfit and 15-20kg overweight. Without an e-bike I wouldn't be able to ride for very long off-road and I can't really ride uphill at all without assistance.

With an ebike, my wife and I have had some fantastic long off-road bike rides in the Dolomites (50k), Cumbria, Croatia and Spain. In Spain this year, after 20 min of cycling up hill, our super-fit son decided that he'd made a bad call in getting a regular bike, so rode back down to the town to swap it for an e-bike. Without the e-baike, he would not have made the tiring but extremely enjoyable 6 hour family ride that we did together, most of which which off-road. Still had a reasonable amount of juice left when we got back, despite the bike having to drag my 100kg arse uphill for long periods.
 
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robj20 said:
I understand it's continuous 250w isn't much continuous power. I always thought it was a lot higher.
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I guess once the bikes already moving it doesn't take that much watts to maintain it.
Your also getting some input from the user, on my bike its 140-340% of my effort.

340% feels like being pulled along.

Mines a massive heavy mountain bike at 26kg and I usually weigh around 95-105kg
feels more than powerful enough, even on really steep hills it doesn't drop speed.
just the 15mph assist limit sucks.
with a motor your probably +3-5 gears from what you would normally use, then when the motor cuts out you feel it.
I can maintain about 18-20mph on mine on a flat straight but it takes massive effort
 
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arknor said:
I guess once the bikes already moving it doesn't take that much watts to maintain it.
Your also getting some input from the user, on my bike its 140-340% of my effort.

340% feels like being pulled along.

Mines a massive heavy mountain bike at 26kg and I usually weigh around 95-105kg
feels more than powerful enough, even on really steep hills it doesn't drop speed.
just the 15mph assist limit sucks.
with a motor your probably +3-5 gears from what you would normally use, then when the motor cuts out you feel it.
I can maintain about 18-20mph on mine on a flat straight but it takes massive effort
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I could have wrote this but after 14 years of eBiking I think the 15.5mph is correct.
However if my commuting was on 90% roads I might agree but my commute is 90% paths, bike lanes and pavements where safe and no pedestrians around.
I probably have 500 yards of road at most and need to slow down anyway.
 
SexyGreyFox said:
eBiking I think the 15.5mph is correct.
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until you mix with cars and your going 25% slower than they are on a narrow road

It kinda makes no sense to have ebikes that are slower than a normal bike.,

on a commute you'd hjave to be an idiot to ever use an ebike, it's quicker on an analog bike and you can match speed with inner city traffic

So what are they for? how are they going to get more cars off the road and encourage use of something that's inferior. The only good use for ebikes is going up a hill
 
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