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Comment by kjkjadksj | Hacker News Reader

When a normal ebike dies you are left with a 50-60lb bike probably not with the gearing you’d want.

That’s still a pretty huge gap from 50lbs of dead weight. This is a horrible and expensive ebike idk why HN is trying to defend it.

I’m not defending it. I’m just saying the idea of pedaling an ebike when it is out of power is not really a meaningful capability. You are best off calling an uber and throwing it in the back instead of suffering.

an emtb with the assist off feels like you’re pedaling out of a black hole.

Well then the normal ebike should spend another pound to add better gearing.

Once I put myself onto the bike I don't care all that much whether it's 15lb or 50lb.

>> Once I put myself onto the bike I don't care all that much whether it's 15lb or 50lb.

This is a really dumb thing to say; it makes absolutely no sense. ALso you typically don't "put yourself onto the bike" but rather pedal it.

If you can't figure out what I mean, maybe don't be so confident it's dumb?

I'm not talking about pedaling, I'm talking about sitting. Because now my weight combines with the bike. The difference between 215 and 250 pounds is not that impactful.

Edit: There are some differences in weight distribution, but I clearly don't mind those because they exist while the bike is powered too. The issue at hand is the pedaling, and that depends on total weight.

Reading this back my wording looks a bit contradictory, so to be extra clear: "put yourself onto the bike" is the part that isn't about pedaling. Pedaling comes in later.

The context is the weight of the bike when it has no battery - i.e. you're going to need to push it. You're not sitting on the bike in that situation.

The comment is about how a normal ebike is bad to ride with a dead battery specifically because of gearing and weight.

As in, if not for those problems you would keep riding and not push it.

So my response is that you should just fix the gearing (or buy one with good gearing), and 50lb isn't an issue for riding.

So both issues are resolved, and you could keep riding a normal design just fine. This means the design of the Rivian is a real detriment.

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