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I built my own ebike and logged over 17k miles in the past 3 yrs, using it for transportation. I have sold my car which I did not need. My wife has hers which we use when it makes sense.
at 25mph my ebike is twice as fast as a normal bike. Sure, I could pedal harder and work up a sweat, but I don't want that in work clothes and distances more than a few miles make that quite harder. The ebike is essentially a true zero emission moped that can keep up with traffic (40mph if I need to. Yes I am safe, I am very experienced and I can out manuevere any motorcycle at that speed.) its easily charged with my solar panel. Or wall outlet which is TX wind power.
Im not impeding traffic, or slowly anyone down for more than a second or two, once in a while.
Its the only solution to urban /congested suburb transport that will work. How long will it take for the US to realize that? Many countries have, or are waking up to it. Some people will bash it because of their ignorance.
Most of all, its so much fun.
At the speed your talking about the move from a bike helmet to a motorcycles helmet makes a lot of sense. Same for other gear. You might be able to maneuver quicker than a motorcycle (depends on the rider) but hitting the ground at 25 and it doesn't really matter what you were on before you hit the pavement.
Groceries is easy on my ebike. A weeks worth for two is easy to fit on my rear rack, 30lbs no problem. If you shop less than once a week, you must not be eating fresh produce. We also gpick up our farm box on Saturdays. Easy on the scooter. My wife does order in bulk on Amazon prime. So that's a bit less to get at the store ourselves.
My cargo ebike and trailer can easily haul the same volume and 300lbs of stuff that would fit in any car. Its easier in fact, since I can roll it into the house. No more dreaded unloading of the car and walking 100ft with heavy bags. My ebike also makes the grocery store parking lot a non issue.
Im sure glad I dont use a car for shopping.
The main drawback to a bike is if you live in an area that gets lots of rain, or has narrow high speed roads and no way to get around safely at human speeds. Then I understand needing a car. I hate towns and states that build roads like that. They have forced everyone into an unsustainable, unhealthy, expensive lifestyle.
At the speed your talking about the move from a bike helmet to a motorcycles helmet makes a lot of sense. Same for other gear. You might be able to maneuver quicker than a motorcycle (depends on the rider) but hitting the ground at 25 and it doesn't really matter what you were on before you hit the pavement.
I once crashed in a bike race at 28mph. Hit my head on the ground. The bike helmet was cracked slightly and I was fine. Got up and finished the race, and rode my bike later that day at home after getting a new helmet.
We hit speeds over 50mph in racing, down hills. I do wear a dot helmet when its cold. But stick with a bike helmet when its hot. Thank you for your concern, but lets not turn this into a helmet debate. There are thousands of those already.
My family and I have been building and riding our own electric bicycles for years, and would eventually like to use our electric cruisers 100% of the time instead of our car. I know the practicality of this depends largely on where you live, but I was wondering what people think in general about using e-bikes on a daily basis.
Pros: they are faster, take you farther, can power you and your groceries up hills, are zero emission, and because you have to pedal too they keep you fit.
What are the cons?
I'd love to have an ebike! I've lived without a car nearly all my adult life so far, so an e-bike would be great! If it's rainy or snowy, one can take the bus. I'm surprised these haven't caught on more than they have. I supposed the ebike industry, such as it is, doesn't have the advertising $$ that the monolithic auto industry (backed by the petroleum industry) has. Consumerism is mainly about who's able to push product most effectively.
There are always pros and cons to any mode of transportation.
You use what you need or want to use to accomplish the goal. If you have a family, that e-bike isn't going to replace a car unless you are the type that when it comes tie to help out with transporting kids to activities you are the one that claims to be green and suck off everyone else while you e-bike your way to the game.
For certain individuals, an e-bike makes sense. For others through, it is nearly impractical to use for anything but perhaps entertainment.
Marin, arguably one of the centers of bike riding in the country along with Portland and other similar minded places, is a haven for bike riders. Ride an e-bike there are get ready for the snobbery, I've seen it myself. What, you're not riding a bike!
Of all the e-vehicles, e-bikes can be the most practical if most of your travel is relatively short duration and distance and you have access to swap or recharge batteries as needed.
E-bikes are just an option, just like a truck is an option if you need to haul lumber or a nice car want to take a drive along the coast with a friend or spouse, a motorcycle if a ride through Oregon with a meet up of similar brand motorcycles is the ticket and so on.
Then there are the DIYers who often build their own e-bikes that out perform most anything you can buy in a store and do so for half the cost. Like the person who buys an old Fiero and reworks it to electric drive, they get closer to real work usable e-technology than most everyone else. These are the real pioneers who extract more potential from a battery than any maker of e-whatever and have fund doing so.
Still, even they might have a car or truck because a bike is a bike. When you get right down to it, walking is better than everything else when it comes to being green.
Groceries is easy on my ebike. A weeks worth for two is easy to fit on my rear rack, 30lbs no problem. If you shop less than once a week, you must not be eating fresh produce. We also gpick up our farm box on Saturdays. Easy on the scooter. My wife does order in bulk on Amazon prime. So that's a bit less to get at the store ourselves.
My cargo ebike and trailer can easily haul the same volume and 300lbs of stuff that would fit in any car. Its easier in fact, since I can roll it into the house. No more dreaded unloading of the car and walking 100ft with heavy bags. My ebike also makes the grocery store parking lot a non issue.
Im sure glad I dont use a car for shopping.
The main drawback to a bike is if you live in an area that gets lots of rain, or has narrow high speed roads and no way to get around safely at human speeds. Then I understand needing a car. I hate towns and states that build roads like that. They have forced everyone into an unsustainable, unhealthy, expensive lifestyle.
You are right! I live in Las Vegas and all the 'fresh' stuff is trucked in from somewhere else and usually looks quite tired by the time it gets here.
Would love to have a bright shiny new cargo e-bike and a trailer. If I had that I might feel differently about the car. 300lbs is very impressive.
Your particular e-bike and trailer is a big investment. I live in an urban area. How would I be able to secure that bike/trailer? And do you have theft insurance on yours? Is that something you can even insure?
Does a bike actually cause any significant wear and tear on a road in the first place, the way cars and trucks do?
The wear and tear on the road isn't the point. There costs are to traffic law enforcement, bike lanes (which cost plenty) and so on.
It costs as much to enforce the laws for bike lanes and laws affecting bike use on public roads as it does for any other vehicular traffic. As more and more bikes use the public roads, it will cost more and more to enforce traffic laws regarding that use. Ignoring that doesn't make sense.
If you use a public roadway, you should share in the costs to maintain not only the roadway surface but the law enforcement and traffic controls that go along with the use.
If bike riders think they shouldn't help pay for those things, then the answer is simple, don't expect to use the public services associated with traffic law enforcement but do expect to be primarily responsible (as a group) for paying for bike lanes.
As more and more people use the public roads while riding bikes, they should expect government to view them as a revenue potential and it isn't if but when that will happen.
In the optimum world for some, most people would ride bikes. Okay, were that to happen, where would the money come from to maintain the roads? You betcha, a bike licensing scheme replete with taxes and fees. There would be speeding tickets for those that think they are immune from traffic laws because they ride a bike and insurance requirements because bike riders have killed pedestrians by colliding with them.
That said, e-bikes are a great thing. They offer capabilities the typical bike does not and comparing them to peddle powered bikes isn't fair. Some people can't peddle bikes for more than a short distance or benefit from a boost of power going up hills. Pound for pound they are very efficient and costs are coming down pretty quick. Having one around is like having anything else, great when you can use it and if not, it really doesn't take up much space, cost a lot of maintain and are a blast to ride.
Around here, city roads are paid for by property taxes. Gas taxes go to state highways (which don't serve bikes 99.99% of the time) and reg fees go towards supporting the DMV mostly.
Cyclists actually pay more than their share for use of roads in Austin TX.
We only need "special" bike lanes because of the dangerous environment created by autos when they took over the roads starting in the 1920s.
I don't mind paying my fair share for using a bike. But its not like the city would even allow me to register it and pay fees. Its not my choice. Instead, its 2500lbs less that is wearing on the roads, polluting the air and not adding to the danger that kills 35,000 people a yr. From a public cost pov, riding a bike is a huge benefit for everyone.
Also... Don't forget about that little problem called traffic congestion and parking....
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