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Just admit they're lazy fun and we can all go home.
Why pretend they're anything else?
Ride what you want.
However It's so sad that the only average riders that hold a chance at the top few KOMs in my area are e-bikes riders.
That tells you everything you need to know.
However It’s so sad that the only average riders that hold a chance at the top few KOMs in my area are e-bikes riders.
That tells you everything you need to know.
It tells me nothing. I've no idea what you mean.
Ahh, now we get to the source of the problem, we've got a stava warrior here concerned he's going to get knocked off.
Don't worry, I don't use strava you are safe! 😆 Couldn't give a hoot about KOMs.
Are you going to back up the claims in the article headline you posted? Or are you happy to trade on nonsense?
Assuming the same diet you would be working less.
Burning less calories.
I would definitely be fatter.
Surely calorie burn is dependent on effort? Why would you put in less effort on an ebike? Why not just stay on the ebike till you've burned the same calories?
A tiny symptom is the waving to fellow riders thing. Not that many years ago it was unusual for it not to happen. Now its the exception not the rule. I sometimes think I’m the only one who still does.
Have you ever considered any alternative form of greeting, perhaps a smile or a polite/friendly spoken phrase?
Not every human being who rides a bicycle expects the little wave you think they need to acknowledge.
However It’s so sad that the only average riders that hold a chance at the top few KOMs in my area are e-bikes riders.
That tells you everything you need to know.
It tells me that the non bike riders are slow. No (legal) bike rider is going to be taking any of my KOMs.
However It’s so sad that the only average riders that hold a chance at the top few KOMs in my area are e-bikes riders.
Now [b]that’s[/b] Hilarious.
#stravaqueen 🙄
just admit, strava is just “lazy racing” for people that don’t want to race for real, and we can all go home.
I would like some kind of commuting ebike to enable me to extend my range.
I live in Reading (ish) I used to have a job in didcot but know have a job in London ~36miles.
I've done the commute once but would like to do it more regularly.
To be honest all the ebike are pretty useless as they only help up to 15 miles an hour.
I pretty much spend the whole commute above 15 miles an hour as it is flat.
Ebikes need to be able to help up to ~20 miles an hour maybe a bit more say ~25mph.
nealglover beat me to it. Turner starts with a false premise and develops an argument for it. it’s just a “thin end of the wedge” fallacy.
+1
All this vitriol should be directed into opening up more land, more stuff, more rights of access not getting upset the guy next to you didn’t earn his turns.
It never seems to occur to Americans that their land (mis-)managment system is the root of the problems with access.
One one side they have the land management and on the other side they have everyone else.. be they e-MTBers, non E... people with RV's, hikers or whatever they have successfully created a divide and conquer so a few people control most of the land.
They have created a successful division of everyone who wants to use land for recreation fighting each other.
It reminds me of the gun lobby in many ways...
I think he totally misses the point when he says that it'd be strange for people to buy a pedal bike when you could get a motorised one for the same money. I've been able to buy faster machines for a long time, but still love my push bikes!
One thing people have pointed out on this thread is that the ebike could be the uber money top end. If I can get my next carbon-rich enduro sled for about £2k cos the big halo model is a £10k+ ebike in 5 years or so, I'll be fine with that! For me the power coming from my legs and my legs only is part of it - I feel a bit of a cheat not running a dynamo for lighting (but it's not really practical for helmet lights...). And yes I've done uplift days, and no I don't see an irony with that, as there's still not a motor on my bike.
And re. that road.cc article, I'd far rather see a marginally less fat population all riding to work on ebikes than sat in their cars getting nowhere and clogging up the roads. I also don't care if others want to ride ebikes, they can do that. It's just not for me (not for fun anyway).
I think they are a necessary invention. I can’t do any more arguing about wheel sizes. So a market variation to motorised seems like a lovely place to defend my lifestyle / brand choices.
I like them - I bought a long travel one last year
Ive also just bought a new non ebike
Sometimes I ride one, sometimes the other
I have nothing more to add!
Motors are great for commuting and trips around town, but for recreation I'll stick with cycling.
Also, necessity is not the mother of invention, laziness is.
Zappa is the original and best mother of invention
eBIke discussions invariably become a facsimile of the 1890s discussions of the deleterious effects of the freewheel on fitness and how it would encourage 'coasting' and laziness..
For a commuter an eBike is a practical way to arrive at the office not stinking with sweat.
For the non-cyclist it seems the sensible way to have the fun of cycling without the work. I predict we'll see them outnumber ordinary bikes on our streets within a few years.
There's lots of sensible reasons to get an eBike, but for people who are committed cyclists, forget those.
Let's not be sensible.*
There's a far better reason. They are bloody good fun. Ride one before you form an opinion.
And just like people who ride fixed wheels have not been obliterated by the scourge of the the freewheel, we'll still be running our dinosaur unassisted bikes when the streets are swarming with the z-i-i-i-p of the eBikes. And maybe all the cool kids will want to be like us... 🙂
.
.
*Warning: advice on sensibility from a singlespeeder? May contain nuts... 🙂
I test rode a few e-bikes with my mum, when she wanted to buy one (she loves hers and at 78, it's got her out cycling regularly, which is great). Once you get past the novelty factor of power assisted legs, I don't really understand why an electric bike would be more fun to ride than a non electric bike?
Ebikes need to be able to help up to ~20 miles an hour maybe a bit more say ~25mph
I think this is where it will get interesting, because I bet there will be consumer pressure to change the law and move in this direction as they become more popular and ubiquitous. I believe the Dutch are already looking at the possibility of building high speed lanes for 45kph e-bikes.
If everyone levels up to 25mph we're in a significantly different situation, on or off road.
Same opposing viewpoints, different times...
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Same opposing viewpoints, different times…
And the result of that history is that 69% of car journeys are under 5 miles in length, and cycling is no longer a mainstream form of transport in the UK.
And the result of that history is that 69% of car journeys are under 5 miles in length
That really is incredible.
I cant remember the last time I did ANY car journey less than 5 miles 😳
If everyone levels up to 25mph
in commuting terms the levelling up idea is interesting, particularly if you level down cars to 25mph(not on all roads obv), then all of a sudden cycling and cars start to play on something aproachong a level playing field. Negating the need for separate bike lanes?
But if there's a concerted effort to curtail cars speeds and up cycling speeds. say 30 becomes 25, 40 becomes 30, 60 becomes 40. or something like that, then al of a sudden. cycling become much more attractive and less scary to the general populous (I'm not included in that tbh, I enjoy playing with the traffic! 😆 ), particularly if commuting speeds are sitting about 25mph on the cycle.
epicyclo
Same opposing viewpoints, different times…
Having your saddle on backwards will never catch on
They're very popular over here in the states.
Seems like every other one, certainly in Bend.
The average Emtb rider is not as quick as an elite XC athlete on a normal XC mtb on the flat or uphill and despite the assistance still won’t have the ability to cover the same range. Downhill an emtb is right around the same speed as a similar mtb and the assist cuts out at 15mph. With this taken into consideration how is the assist going to cause a rambler any more harm than a fit rider not paying attetion or riding like a dick?
Your *argument* makes no sense.
Because the last time I saw one, at Greno two weeks ago, some fat bastard was powering up a hill at what was at least 15mph looking like he was just spinning. No one sticks to the legally defined power outputs and they are impossible to police.
Give me a break, Max's comments are more considered than yours.
That really is incredible.
I cant remember the last time I did ANY car journey less than 5 miles
That was a 2005 figure, from a Sustrans document, but I imagine things are no better now:
21% of journeys less than one mile were made by car in 2005. Don't underestimate people's preference for choosing the "easiest" form of transport.
Negating the need for separate bike lanes?
I don't think it's the speed differential that is the problem with mixing motorised and non motorised transport. Even if a cyclist and a motorist are both doing 20mph, one of them is 100kg total weight and the other one is one or two tonnes.
Bringing down speed limits is a good idea, but needs enforcement. Most of Edinburgh's residential areas, and some main roads, are 20 mph now, but my experience is that the limits are routinely ignored by an awful lot of drivers.
Yeah but if you can accelerate and stay in the flow of traffic, it is and feels much safer.
Plus more people out of cars and on to speed pedalecs would see a reduction of the numbers of cars on the streets, it wouldn't take a great deal for that to be very noticeable, considering the size of a car to a bike. Less car traffic would mean safer roads.
are the 20mph limits actual legal limits btw? (I know the police aren't interested) Just wondering about the legality though.
No one sticks to the legally defined power outputs
Wait ... What, nobody at all ?
I might have to change my views on this whole thing in the light of this incredible revelation 🙄
raybanwomble
Because the last time I saw one, at Greno two weeks ago, some fat bastard was powering up a hill at what was at least 15mph looking like he was just spinning. No one sticks to the legally defined power outputs and they are impossible to police.
Give me a break
Give you a break?
For what? Having a go at overweight people cycling? No. infact I think you should apologise. Not that it sounds like you were actually brave enough to say the same to the guy you saw.
For not understanding the legally defined power outputs? ie. On a UK legal pedalec the assisance limit cuts out at 15.5mph, sounds like the guy you saw wasn't breaking it. merely pedalling it just below or at it.
With this taken into consideration how is the assist going to cause a rambler any more harm than a fit rider not paying attetion or riding like a dick?
because the bike is a lot heavier and possibly so is the rider as he needs the assist...
I simply don't think we'll ever seem the mass adoption of commuting by bike (instead of by car) for the simple reason our weather is terrible!
Today, a motorbike costs WAY less than a car, and yet, motorbikes make up less than 3% of the fleet?
tbh I do agree there to a point, but we should atleast aspire to it? I think in the netherlands it's something like 50 odd percent of short journeys are done by bike? but that's taked them 30/40 years to get there. I think we're luck if it is 1%.
At government level we should set long term targets of a 1% increase every year or something like that, and put serious funding and law making clout behind in.
Transport in the country would be revolutionised in 20/30 years time.
because the bike is a lot heavier and possibly so is the rider as he needs the assist…
Maybe you should patrol the countryside with some scales and weigh people and their bike to see if they come in under the designated legal weight.
If they don't you can tell them they're a danger and you're going to stop them riding...
Some of the comments on here are real sky's falling in stuff.
under the designated legal weight.
400kg btw.
Just what I was thinking Stu.
absolute nutters.
Maybe you should patrol the countryside with some scales and weigh people and their bike to see if they come in under the designated legal weight.
mabe you should try reading what I was answering?
The use of assist implies possibly a heavier rider and almost certainly a heavier bike
Yep.
You do think the sky is falling in.😂
You do think the sky is falling in.😂
there's a large girl that commutes down the same canal path as me and rides at full tilt on her e-bike, another commuter I know has had a close encounter with her as she doesn't seem to have the sense to slow down before taking a blind corner to go under the various bridges on the path.
She is certainly going to be carrying a lot more momentum than the other riders I see on that path, I always take the inside line through those bridges in case I meet her as it is not going to be me that's going to sample that canal water...
So she shouldn't be allowed to ride because she hasn't crashed into you and someone you know.
Seems fair that a made up scenario featuring a larger lady who hasn’t crashed into Turnerguy and his made up commuter pal should influence people’s opinions on e-bikes.
A bit like the made up scenarios that the original Turner Guy In the OP used to justify his negative opinion e-bike ramble.
Not sure I would notice the difference in being hit by a 100kg fat bloke on a 20kg e-bike or the same 100kg fat bloke on a 14kg MTB. Being hit is the problem.
So she shouldn’t be allowed to ride because she hasn’t crashed into you and someone you know.
so by extension I should be allowed to speed everywhere in my car because I haven't hit anyone yet ?
so by extension I should be allowed to speed everywhere in my car because I haven’t hit anyone yet ?
Nope. It means you can drive around in a heavier car.
e-bikes are ace, few of my mates have them, perfect for winch and plummet type off piste riding, so much more opportunity to descend than the 'normal' grinding up a fireroad.
I couldn't really give a toss what some industry bod says tbh.