On balance, I still am not a fan of e-bikes (previously known as ‘I just don’t get E bikes’)

[2manyoranges]

I’m just so fed up. In a world where EVERYONE I know in the climbing and cycling world around the globe experienced weird weather and rapidly declining habitats, I just don’t don’t understand the stupid waste of resource which is the e-bike. Rare earths for the batteries, silly amounts of refined metals for the motors, consumption of electricity and bigger and bigger components. And they tear up the trails with all that heavy braking of heavy bikes - speed ripples in singletrack now which is more like the stuff we see on full on DH tracks. What IS wrong with a non-E bike? Nothing. Just eat more and pedal.

 

[Jamesbike]

I’m just so fed up. In a world where EVERYONE I know in the climbing and cycling world around the globe experienced weird weather and rapidly declining habitats, I just don’t don’t understand the stupid waste of resource which is the e-bike. Rare earths for the batteries, silly amounts of refined metals for the motors, consumption of electricity and bigger and bigger components. And they tear up the trails with all that heavy braking of heavy bikes - speed ripples in singletrack now which is more like the stuff we see on full on DH tracks. What IS wrong with a non-E bike? Nothing. Just eat more and pedal.

E bike rider need to eat less and pedal imho!

Not condoning anyone with a genuine need of an E bike. For them it's great and a lifesaver!

 

[novocaine]

because all of the things it takes to make an ebike are cheap to the manufacturer but expensive to the consumer. Look at an ebike, what exactly is amazing new technology that hasn't been around in other fields for many many years being refined and crafted to the point where R&D costs have been soaked away and now they are cheap as chips to make? but as it's a slightly novel use for it, the makers get to claim all of the R&D is ongoing and that's why theirs a premium. have a skeg at some of the ebikes on the market and half of them aren't even full frames anymore, Weight isn't an issue, so instead of nicely welded, carefully constructed frames we get slapped together chunks of iron with holes in the frame.

but hay, they have their place still.

 

[Siish]

As James says, for people that need them, or if they get people out that wouldn't normally ride a bike then they're a good thing, as it all helps with mental health,

 

[d8mok]

Society on a whole are lazy. They want the benefits without the effort. This can be extended to most walks of life and now cycling is one.

 

[Russell]

I know very accomplished, and physically fit cyclists and triathletes who ride e bikes on recovery days or just for fun.

This idea that e-bikes are only for the infirm or people who somehow can't use an analogue bike is just wrong.

 

[greencat]

Surely there are other threads where this has been discussed to death and revealed that the ebike argument is much more nuanced? It's like complaining about mouse shit when there's an elephant in the same room about to drop a load.

They use far less resources and energy than a car or motorbike (and I own neither of those). Mine carries all of my shopping and firewood. After major surgery and removal of a foot of small/large intestine a few years back, I no longer have the energy to cart those back on a push bike (and would actually struggle to eat/digest enough to "just eat more and pedal"). The alternative for me would be to learn to drive and buy a car.

I use a non-electric mountain bike for recreational cycling, but wouldn't hesitate to use an electric one if I was not longer fit enough or even if I was just having a bad day health wise.

 

[mk one]

Agreed, a rather tiresome argument.

Not just about fitness or ability, riding whatever is fun, as it is meant to be.

And people using a computer to make people aware of the environmental impact of a bicycle always makes me smile.

 

[legrandefromage]

Tilting at windmills

What once a great almost endlessly recyclable mode of transport has been monetised and fucked over for as much profit as possible

The question soon will be 'why are you not riding an ebike' - as what was once questioned passes into distant memory and is seen as old fashioned and unsafe

 

[greencat]

And yet, I can go to my bike shed and pull out any one of nearly a dozen non-electric bikes and ride them without anyone stopping me. It's like magic - no one is forcing me to get on an ebike. If I worried about what people said and thought, I'd likely never going cycling at all.

And the energy usage of ebikes v bikes is quite nuanced:

Electric Bikes and the Environment? Carbon Footprint, Energy, Battery Disposal. | eBikesHQ.com

E-bikes are good for the environment! They can help you achieve a reduction in your carbon footprint and it is a form of transportation that does not release dangerous chemicals into the air like a car or bus. The batteries are easily recycled and their health benefits place even less burden...

ebikeshq.com

Electric bikes are a very energy efficient form of transportation. I saw an article recently that it actually used less fuel to charge an electric bike with a petrol generator than to put it into a motorbike and travel the same distance.