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

[dyna-ti]

I take it the OP is riding a single speed 26", or has he embraced modernity in other ways.

Discs ?, sus front and or rear ?. more than 3 gears

I mean, whats not to like
Im loving mine, here it is...

 

[Jamesbike]

Probably going to be an unpopular opinion, but I just don't get the hate on Ebikes.

For me the positives far outweigh the negatives

More people riding bikes the better

Allows people who enjoy the speed of downhill to get that fix without having to drive somewhere with hills

Allows people who don't have the fitness/health to enjoy biking off the beaten path.

The argument that Ebikes do slightly more trail damage doesn't wash with me, walking, dogs, pushbikes etc all cause damage and people always seem to want to draw the line just the other side of where they stand.


More needs to be done on battery tech and recycling but overall Ebikes are a good for biking if it gets more people out on the trails

I don't mind e bikes when they are driven considerately.

Many are modified to go far faster than they should be ridden by idiots without any social conscience on busy paths like canal paths.

Others are ridden on moorland much like quad bikes and trail bikes ripping up the countryside.

 

[benjabbi]

A few years back I went on a Bosch training course, I had to so the shop I worked in could buy the diagnostic tools. Was hoping to find out how to change the, frankly shite, BB bearings but no such luck, just 'send it back' if they go. Whilst there we had the lecture on why you shouldn't fit a dongle blah blah blah, followed immediately by him telling us that both of his were chipped 'cos they're just not fast enough'!! I think Bosch have added protocols to stop this now, but still it shows the mentality some people have! Thankfully I don't have to work on them now, we'll repair the normal bike bits but anything battery/motor related gets told to go back to where it was bought.

 

[2manyoranges]

A few years back I went on a Bosch training course, I had to so the shop I worked in could buy the diagnostic tools. Was hoping to find out how to change the, frankly shite, BB bearings but no such luck, just 'send it back' if they go. Whilst there we had the lecture on why you shouldn't fit a dongle blah blah blah, followed immediately by him telling us that both of his were chipped 'cos they're just not fast enough'!! I think Bosch have added protocols to stop this now, but still it shows the mentality some people have! Thankfully I don't have to work on them now, we'll repair the normal bike bits but anything battery/motor related gets told to go back to where it was bought.

Yikes ... no means of changing the BB bearings? Even with a blind bearing puller? That is actually shocking.

 

[2manyoranges]

I take it the OP is riding a single speed 26", or has he embraced modernity in other ways.

Discs ?, sus front and or rear ?. more than 3 gears

I mean, whats not to like
Im loving mine, here it is...

Oh you tinker....current bikes include latest Stantons (Switch9er) and Cotics (BfE Max) and such....(but there indeed is a COTIC Simple 26 lurking somewhere...just felt I had to keep that after I sold my early Bontrager Race OR.)

 

[benjabbi]

Yikes ... no means of changing the BB bearings? Even with a blind bearing puller? That is actually shocking.

Oh, they're definitely replaceable, just not easily by dealers/customers, they really didn't want anyone else opening up those motors! This was 4/5 years ago so not sure if that's changed or not? You'd think though, for the price, they'd fit a decently sealed relatively long lasting bearing, not one that sounds and feels like shite after 6/700 miles.

 

[2manyoranges]

Oh, they're definitely replaceable, just not easily by dealers/customers, they really didn't want anyone else opening up those motors! This was 4/5 years ago so not sure if that's changed or not? You'd think though, for the price, they'd fit a decently sealed relatively long lasting bearing, not one that sounds and feels like shite after 6/700 miles.

Interesting. BB bearings take such a pounding - anything with slow rotation but high loading gets hammered - and then there’s massive side loading, and then there are pedal strikes - huge explosion of energy on a segment of the bearing - not surprising that I put Enduro bearings in my Hope BBs but they can last a month or six years…..

 

[greencat]

Yes, I've definitely got better with BB over the years - probably because I'm not brutalising them as much. I used to go through them at a terrific rate in the early 90s (sometimes as often as 3 months in the days of the old cup and cone ones). Cartridge bearings finally allowed me to have them last as long as a year or more.

It is near criminal they aren't user replaceable on some ebike motors. IIRC, they are on my tongsheng motor.

 

[Chopper the ex Copper]

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.

Im waiting for a hip replacement. Some days im in a lot of pain and if I didn't have my ebike I wouldn't be riding at all a lot of the time.

A friend of mine is 84 and his ebike has given him a new lease of cycling life.

"Just eat more and pedal" is an incredibly arrogant attitude. Just because you don't see the benefits does not mean that there are not millions who do.

Perhaps you'd prefer it if I bought a car and started driving instead?

And if you're so bothered about resources why do you upgrade perfectly workable mobile phones, why do you drive your car?

 

[wynne]

I live in a hilly part of E Sussex. Working in the local bike shop for a few years i saw people, generally injured or older, who had lost the confidence to cycle suddenly regain that confidence and literally find a new lease of life. I saw fat people become thin as ebikes encouraged them to exercise. I even saw some of the same people come in to buy push bikes such was the extent to which their fitness and confidence had grown.

I know people who now hardly use their car because ebikes make commuting/shopping/family days out viable. I think in many cases you'd do better to think of ebikes as saving car use rather than being a cheaty way of cycling. They make more sense than using a car and are cheaper and more convenient for local trips - so much so that i know some people who have sold their car since getting an ebike.

There are nobs on ebikes. In my experience there are nobs on normal bikes too. Don't even get me started on the ones in cars. I'd rather have another person on a bike (ebike or otherwise), raising the visibility of cyclists than another car.

I love the simplicity of a conventional bike. I don't own an ebike but i can definitely see a point at which i might.