Comment by icameron | Hacker News Reader

Comment by icameron | Hacker News Reader

I am an amateur e-biker. Luckily I live in a city with bikeshare so I don’t have to own one, I just rent it for my commute. 5 miles each way. It takes half the time as public transit used to. Before the bike share I would waste at least 90 minutes a day waiting for and commuting on public transit. Now it’s no more than 24 minutes door to door each way. I get mild exercise, and it’s fun! I still own a non e-bike (fat tire mountain bike) and I am in the 10-15 MPH range with that, plus it makes me sweat and be out of breath. The small difference of e-assist puts me in the 15-20 MPH range, and as described in the article it’s a night-and-day difference. I feel safe and assured, confident, like on a motorcycle. Almost can keep up with traffic. I don't identify as a cyclist like many of the true bike commuters in the area, but I often pass them on the bike routes. I try to be friendly, but I’m smoking them with my rental bike in my street clothes for 20 cents per minute. Today I got cursed out by a spandexed “real biker” as I passed by with my electric whirrrr. It really feels great to ride these bikes. What a time to be alive!

> Today I got cursed out by a spandexed “real biker” as I passed by with my electric whirrrr.

So, a motorbike a passes a human powered vehicle? That should come as no surprise to neither of you. :)

To be honest, I don't get the appeal of e-bikes for the type of riding you do. Getting up to 15 MPH when you're riding for 8 km in a city when stopping for lights should be no problem without disabilities on a decent bike. An 8 km ride takes 20 minutes at 15 MPH. At 20 MPH it's 15 minutes. You'd add 5 minutes off your ride and get some proper exercise.

As a reference, my grandmother rode her bike 12 miles to school and then back at the age of 10.

E-bikes make a lot of sense for longer rides with cargo bikes packed kids, trash, food and whatnot.

> I don't get the appeal of e-bikes for the type of riding you do

Sweat. I do 2km twice a day for the school run in my unassisted mtb. On anything but a cold day, I work up a mild sweat. I wouldn't want to arrive at work in the state I get back in on a warm day.

Many commuters don't want to get "proper exercise" on the way to work. Hard enough getting secure bike storage, let alone a shower.

You'd add 5 minutes off your ride and get some proper exercise.

But I don't want "proper exercise" to be a part of my commute. I want to get to work or to a client quickly, efficiently and with a minimum of effort. I absolutely do not want to sweat through my shirt or arrive at a meeting in need of shower.

> To be honest, I don't get the appeal of e-bikes for the type of riding you do.

Snow =D I live in Canada and we have quite a bit of snow and ice on the roads in the winter. I'm currently waiting for an electric fat-tire bike (RadRover 6) which should allow me to ride to work without getting soaked in sweat.

> To be honest, I don't get the appeal of e-bikes for the type of riding you do. Getting up to 15 MPH when you're riding for 8 km in a city when stopping for lights should be no problem without disabilities on a decent bike.

I think most people in the North America and Europe live in cities that are so flat biking is just like walking faster. Maybe that's where your frame of mind comes from.

Where I live the hills are so steep that it's impossible to bike them solely human-powered unless you're an actual athlete. And even the more modest inclines will make a regular person give up on the thought of biking since it'd be a workout.

E-bikes are awesome for this, as they make tough inclines much easier.

> Where I live the hills are so steep that it's impossible to bike them solely human-powered unless you're an actual athlete.

or you have (and use) gears?

It will just take a while

Lol, where I'm from(Polish mountains) you can have a proper mountain bike with 30 gears, and even in the lowest gear I can guarantee 90% of people wouldn't be able to cycle up to my house without at the very least standing on the pedals - most people just give up and walk pushing the bike in fact. It took me years of training to comfortably cycle up some of those roads while sitting, and it takes a lot of effort.

Sounds like you're an edge case, ride an ebike!

> To be honest, I don't get the appeal of e-bikes for the type of riding you do. Getting up to 15 MPH when you're riding for 8 km in a city when stopping for lights should be no problem without disabilities on a decent bike. An 8 km ride takes 20 minutes at 15 MPH. At 20 MPH it's 15 minutes. You'd add 5 minutes off your ride and get some proper exercise.

Morning commute is not a moment where I have any interest in exercise, arriving sweaty at work, needing to always carry multiple sets of clothes, ...

I'd rather see it like the dutch, the bike is a tool for moving from A to B. If you want to do this while exercising more power to you, that's not my jam.

>To be honest, I don't get the appeal of e-bikes for the type of riding you do. Getting up to 15 MPH when you're riding for 8 km in a city when stopping for lights should be no problem without disabilities on a decent bike

As mentioned there is more than that. An entire accelerates from stop MUCH more quickly which adds a significant element of safety.

By the way the bike share ebikes are like 30lbs and speed limited so there are plenty of times when my "motorbike" has been passed in the road by a well-geared human powered vehicle, friend.

8km each way on my commute isn't a problem as such, but in summer 'm drenched in sweat in the first couple of minutes. An e-bike lets me skip that. It also lets me cycle 30km leisurely around my city without getting exhausted. I can turn off my motor if I want some exercise, and turn it back on again when I want to sail through the streets.

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