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Comment by EngineerBetter | Hacker News Reader

I have exclusively been driving EVs since 2013 (Renault Zoe and a Tesla Model X), and also use a Brompton folding bicycle on my commute to work (total 6 miles cycling).

I've never understood the appeal of electric bikes. It just seems lazy to me. I'd feel guilty if I relied on the motor instead of burning calories.

I use the cars for transporting the family, or to go long distances quickly. I'm not averse to cycling 25 miles if time allows, and I've also managed to carry all sorts (like IKEA furniture) on my folding bike. I also wear my work clothes (jeans and t-shirt) when cycling on my commute, demonstrating that lycra is totally unnecessary!

I can only assume that electric bikes are for people that wouldn't normally cycle, or whose routes are prohibitively hilly.

Would be keen to hear the use cases of anyone here that uses one.

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I use one, instead of a car. (Driving a car just seems lazy to me. But I do it sometimes, when I'm feeling lazy or when I have to transport my kids.)

Before 2010 or so, I used a traditional manual bike. But today, a non-powered bike seems to me like using a slow, spinning platter magnetic disk instead of an SSD. Or using a desk without a motor to adjust the height on demand. Or a kerosene lamp instead of LED lighting.

Unless you consider your bike to be only a mechanism to get exercise, in which case inefficiency is desired, the only valid argument against an e-bike in my mind is the cost. And that's valid, in some circumstances.

But you can get every bit as much of a workout on an e-bike -- it's just that you will be going faster. Alternatively, if you don't need a workout right now, you can go about as fast as a non-powered bike with minimal effort.

Where I live in Tokyo, it's 45 minutes to the office by train (due to the walking to/from stations, 35 minutes by 1970s bicyle, and 20 minutes on my battery-powered pedal-assist BESV LX-1.

Traditional bikes are a lot cheaper and simpler. Most of the e-bikes I've seen, are very expensive and come with low or mid-range quality components.

Plus, I'd be very wary of investing in a bike with a lot of proprietary components. Traditional bike standards change as well, but you can still ride a 40 year old bike today and get parts for it.

If I were to get an e-bike, I'd definitely go the route of getting a solid, steel, fully rigid mountain bike and putting a mid-drive conversion kit on it.

Not everybody is concerned about riding a bike for decades. Your parent just wrote he saves 30min a day with the ebike. That is 100 hours per year easily. That pays for a new ebike a year at any price you could reasonably assign to your time. The bike lifetime is an absolute sideshow in this example.

I've been riding one as my exclusive mode of transport around the city for about 9 months now (though I just got an electric longboard and have been taking it on short excursions). It is just wonderful. The biggest bonus for me is that I'm able to pretty much keep up with traffic to the point that people are not driving dangerously around me in a bid to pass me within inches. I'm also able to get places faster, ride farther out, and use it for trips I may otherwise have not (and didn't) use my bike for. I do live in a pretty hilly area as well, and making 10MPH up a fairly steep hill certainly makes things "closer".

What longboard did you get? I am considering getting an offroad board mostly to limit risk of injury.

I got one from the same company I got my bike from. I honestly can't recommend it. The parts are cheap and seem pretty off the shelf chinese-made. I expected better. If this thing dies I'll probably go with a more time-tested brand, or roll my own (cheap).

Why would it be lazy? I do not think "you are lazy since you own and use car", just because I can easily live my life without a car doesn't mean you are lazy if you do not.

I do use a e-bike mostly as a way to be able to bike in situations where it would not be possible to bike in other ways. Many times I do it even though it might be inconvenient compared to using a car parked in my front yard. This is the issue when you use a car I use a bicycle, because it's usually easier than renting one or calling a cab. It might not be that much cheaper for me personally since I spend my transport money in other ways, e.g. to get more time with my family (on trains etc).

I bike ~30 km per day, the last 6 months ~40% of that was by e-bike.

I don't own an e-bike, but I can see the appeal for commuting. I have no problem riding hard, I used to ride to class 7 miles each way on my fixed gear. Also, if you have a cargo bike such as a Surly Big Dummy or a Bullitt, having an electric assist would make those much more enjoyable.

But riding at all when it's 90 degrees and 100% humidity is not fun when you're wearing long pants and a backpack, especially if your destination doesn't have a shower.

Love your moxie! How do you deal with mud spatter on your business clothes? Sweat when you get to work?

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