Do eBikes belong on the mountain?

[Shebeen]

post #997 on this wonderful issue!

 

 

wow that is quite a bit of hardware

 

[SwissVan]

Am I bad if I sniggered to myself and to the dude riding next to me at an E bike rider who lost control on a wet rocky corner and went off the edge during a half marafun this weekend?

 

No ebike riders were hurt, she remounted and passed us about a few km later again.

 

They sure come pass fast on the climbs, heard a few normal riders mumbling as they whirred past

[SwissVan]

Also not allowed on the highway 

 

Last week the police her in Zug stopped this 77 year old lady who thought she could take her E bike onto the highway, they stopped her and lead her off the highway using the emergency lane.

She has been charged and will appear before the local state prosecutor.

 

Unbelievable

 

 

 

[Headshot]

And judging by a recent report in the Uk Mail on Sunday, eBikes are a danger to pedestrians and their riders too...got to love the media in the nanny state UK.

[Chingy182]

Glad to see we made this to 1000 

[SwissVan]

And judging by a recent report in the Uk Mail on Sunday, eBikes are a danger to pedestrians and their riders too...got to love the media in the nanny state UK.

From my experience they are a danger on the footpaths that pedestrians share with cyclists here in switz. Some of them simply ride to fast and when pedestrians see a bicycle they expect it to be slower.

 

Think I even mentioned an accident here somewhere regarding an ebike collision resulting in the death of one rider.... it was on a dead straight path with a narrow footbridge just wide enough for 2 bikes abreast.

[solty]

The new silent killer on the streets, doo-du, doo-du, doo-du

 

https://www.iol.co.za/motoring/bikes/e-bikes-the-new-silent-killers-on-our-streets-17095375

[Chingy182]

The new silent killer on the streets, doo-du, doo-du, doo-du

 

https://www.iol.co.za/motoring/bikes/e-bikes-the-new-silent-killers-on-our-streets-17095375

Agree or Disagree about the whole E-bike thing, but the way this article is written doesn't bode well for public perception of cyclists, in general, sharing the road.

[NGM]

My take on the whole ebike thing:

 

Using fossil fuels to power transport will, inevitably, come to an end. The supply is finite. Since electricity has the potential (pun intended) to be entirely renewable and largely pollution free, people should embrace electrically powered forms of transport in general. Since bikes are light (and therefore need far less charge than a car, say) they represent a viable option. They also take up less space than a car so it would mean less congestion. So, IMO (of course):

 

1. Resistance (pun also intended) to this new trend of eBikes is environmentally irresponsible. 

2. It's also futile, because they are coming whether you like it or not. There's a market for them.

 

Do they belong on the mountain? There are cons, for sure. Single track could get clogged up by wealthy newbies who have not had to sweat, fall, get up (repeat) like so many of us. But in the context of what I've said already, the more people buy into it, the cheaper it could become and the faster this fairly important technology will progress.

 

Don't get me wrong; when a large, unfit person eDrops me on a hill, I swear under my breath. But eBikes are coming and for the most part, I think its a very good thing. 

[Duane_Bosch]

Behold! Something more dangerous than a E-Bike. An idiot journalist.

 

3 deaths from impacts with cyclists. WOW! Out of a population of how many million? I'm willing to bet that more people choked and died on their coffee reading that retarded article.

[Eldron]

My take on the whole ebike thing:

 

Using fossil fuels to power transport will, inevitably, come to an end. The supply is finite. Since electricity has the potential (pun intended) to be entirely renewable and largely pollution free, people should embrace electrically powered forms of transport in general. Since bikes are light (and therefore need far less charge than a car, say) they represent a viable option. They also take up less space than a car so it would mean less congestion. So, IMO (of course):

 

1. Resistance (pun also intended) to this new trend of eBikes is environmentally irresponsible.

2. It's also futile, because they are coming whether you like it or not. There's a market for them.

 

Do they belong on the mountain? There are cons, for sure. Single track could get clogged up by wealthy newbies who have not had to sweat, fall, get up (repeat) like so many of us. But in the context of what I've said already, the more people buy into it, the cheaper it could become and the faster this fairly important technology will progress.

 

Don't get me wrong; when a large, unfit person eDrops me on a hill, I swear under my breath. But eBikes are coming and for the most part, I think its a very good thing.

We have already got the to "ebikes are cool just not at races" point - I'm pretty sure nobody on thread has any issue with ebikes (apart from jerks like me that will think much less of you if you're an able bodied ebike rider).

[Chingy182]

But in the context of what I've said already, the more people buy into it, the cheaper it could become and the faster this fairly important technology will progress.

 

Makes me think of the first PC my mom bought our household in the early 90's.

If memory serves it was a Pentium 486 with about 8 or 16mb RAM and 60mb hard drive space available after windows was installed. Dropped about R10k on that bad boy.

[Eldron]

Makes me think of the first PC my mom bought our household in the early 90's.

If memory serves it was a Pentium 486 with about 8 or 16mb RAM and 60mb hard drive space available after windows was installed. Dropped about R10k on that bad boy.

 

"640K of memory was more than anyone needed"        

[Coolspin]

So some guy on an ebike whirred past me on my roadie the other day, took me by surprise as he cruised past.

 

Didnt worry me too much, actually felt better than if he was on a std 29er.

I said in my head, "holy crap this oke is fast, then, aaaaahhhhh ebike, whew!"

 

He could have said Howzit as he came past, not like he was out of breath.

[Pure Savage]

The new silent killer on the streets, doo-du, doo-du, doo-du

 

https://www.iol.co.za/motoring/bikes/e-bikes-the-new-silent-killers-on-our-streets-17095375

Yeah and cars kill 5 people per week in London... wait till she finds that out!!!

[Coolspin]

With the price of fuel and the emmissions story relating to global warming, the rise of the ebike as a mode of transport (more so than as a leisure activity) is likely to gain a lot more momentum globally.

 

The fact that you dont need a licence for ebikes makes it all that more attractive.

 

The chipping of the speed controls are inevitable, people always going to play with this stuff.

You can do 60 or 80 kph on a pedal bike so why would ebikes need to be limited to 25kph, people clearly think that is redonkulous , ergo the market for chips.

As for the weight of the ebike being heavier than a pedal bike, so what, heavy guy on a pedal bike or light guy on an ebike, same thing.

 

Legislators scrambling to catch up with the trend, some people drive like nutters in their cars, why would ebikes be any different.

People die in car and motorbike accidents all the time, they prob gonna die in bigger numbers on ebikes too as they become more popular, it would be a statistical inevitability.

 

Rules of the road regards speeding and driving on sidewalks, stopping at traffic lights etc should be enforced like they would be for any other vehicle like a vespa or a car.

Dont see why people blowing their blobs just cause its an ebike.

Edited September 22, 2018 by Coolspin