I’ve been an ebike rider for a month now. My initial impressions are first, that this is amazing. Being able to commute a long distance in full winter clothing without needing to shower at either end is game changing.
Secondly, the mass of my bike is worrying huge. With a hub motor and a battery on the seat tube, it is very easy to injure oneself doing “normal bike stuff”. I’m very used to being able to just put the nose of the bike into a space and then lift the tail across to park the bike. I’ve done that a few times with the ebike and come very close to doing my back some serious damage.
Thirdly, in terms of social acceptability it feels like the transport equivalent of vaping. People seem openly interested in the bike but it’s always with a light undertone of something between skepticism and you’re an asshole. Maybe that will change when these become as affordable as push bikes. Until then, in a world where cyclists are already outsiders (the way you have to shut out the world in order to concentrate on the big road picture as a cyclist, while being so physically present in other people’s personal space, always seems to upset non-cyclists) ebike riders are the outsiders’ outsider.
Related to this point, 25km/h — the speed limit for ebikes in my jurisdiction — is too fast for mixed pedestrian/cyclist paths and too slow for roads. I would love to see that limit raised to 30km/h aka 20mph and have all urban routes limited to 20mph for all vehicles. Then I wouldn’t be constantly annoying road traffic for “not using the bike lane” when it’s clogged up with prams, people, and push bikes trundling uphill at walking pace.
I’ve always been the kind of cyclist who is quite comfortable bloody mindedly asserting their right to use anything a car is allowed to use, occupying the whole lane as a car would, much to the irritation of car drivers who 110% of the time would rather I didn’t. When I’m driving my car I also find this kind of “I’m a car too!” cyclist both within their rights and also somewhat selfish. With ebikes it feels you have to use the “fast” lane of share-with-cars rather than share-with-pedestrians, so maybe the upside is that this will nudge transport policy towards genuine bicycle lanes as opposed to these mixed bike/people abominations.
People are ultra lightweight vehicles unencumbered by metal frames and they are (and have the right to be) highly manoeuvrable. They can switch direction at any moment — they should be given dedicated lanes where they can be as chaotic as they want to be. Same for bikes, if slightly heavier. Same for cars, if quite a lot heavier.
Not sure where you from, but 25km/h here in Austria (and most of the EU) is not the speed limit, just the limit to which the motor will assist you. Anything beyond that and you're either on your own or you buy a S-Pedelec that needs a license plate, horn, helmet, and even license plate lights.
Thanks for occupying the whole lane, that's how we should ride bicycles for our own safety.
In practice, the type of bike I ride (a Rad Runner Plus) is optimised for comfort under power rather than efficiency. Power will come almost entirely from the 250W motor with maybe no more than 50W from me. Once the motor tops the bike out at 25km/h, I'm not going to be going any faster without a major change of stance, gear, and expectation of exercise.
"Taking the lane" is the safest approach in dense traffic. If that pisses of car-drivers, then you would appear to be cycling in a place that isn't safe for cycling. Trying to squeeze over to the kerb to leave more room for cars just makes it easier for car-drivers to ignore you, and runs the risk of you being "doored". Also, squeezing over makes it more likely you'll end up in some trucker's blind-spot, or unseated by a pothole.
Secondly, the mass of my bike is worrying huge. With a hub motor and a battery on the seat tube, it is very easy to injure oneself doing “normal bike stuff”. I’m very used to being able to just put the nose of the bike into a space and then lift the tail across to park the bike. I’ve done that a few times with the ebike and come very close to doing my back some serious damage.
Thirdly, in terms of social acceptability it feels like the transport equivalent of vaping. People seem openly interested in the bike but it’s always with a light undertone of something between skepticism and you’re an asshole. Maybe that will change when these become as affordable as push bikes. Until then, in a world where cyclists are already outsiders (the way you have to shut out the world in order to concentrate on the big road picture as a cyclist, while being so physically present in other people’s personal space, always seems to upset non-cyclists) ebike riders are the outsiders’ outsider.
Related to this point, 25km/h — the speed limit for ebikes in my jurisdiction — is too fast for mixed pedestrian/cyclist paths and too slow for roads. I would love to see that limit raised to 30km/h aka 20mph and have all urban routes limited to 20mph for all vehicles. Then I wouldn’t be constantly annoying road traffic for “not using the bike lane” when it’s clogged up with prams, people, and push bikes trundling uphill at walking pace.
I’ve always been the kind of cyclist who is quite comfortable bloody mindedly asserting their right to use anything a car is allowed to use, occupying the whole lane as a car would, much to the irritation of car drivers who 110% of the time would rather I didn’t. When I’m driving my car I also find this kind of “I’m a car too!” cyclist both within their rights and also somewhat selfish. With ebikes it feels you have to use the “fast” lane of share-with-cars rather than share-with-pedestrians, so maybe the upside is that this will nudge transport policy towards genuine bicycle lanes as opposed to these mixed bike/people abominations.
People are ultra lightweight vehicles unencumbered by metal frames and they are (and have the right to be) highly manoeuvrable. They can switch direction at any moment — they should be given dedicated lanes where they can be as chaotic as they want to be. Same for bikes, if slightly heavier. Same for cars, if quite a lot heavier.