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I'm glad the author likes hers, and it enables her to commute. I don't care who rides what on a street. What I do care about is people riding them on small na

by bbarn 9y ago

I'm glad the author likes hers, and it enables her to commute. I don't care who rides what on a street. What I do care about is people riding them on small narrow paths made for cycling at best speeds, at 24-28 mph. As someone who raced for 10+ years and still rides 120ish miles a week, I don't even ride that fast around bike paths. It's just too dangerous with joggers, strollers, kids on bikes, whatever. When I see e-bikes zip past, I don't get jealous... I get pissed off. I can drop into my small cogs and ride that fast too - I just don't because it's dangerous. And on trails, I'm sorry - I hold the stance that you can just go find a motocross trail. Mountain bikers put too much effort for too many years into getting what few trails we have built, and inexperienced people on motorcycles do nothing for keeping those trails. So, if you want it to replace your car, then great, have it. Whether you just want to be eco-minded or got yourself a DUI - I don't care, have fun. But stop trying to use it in places we've fought to get for bicycles. edit: gender.

closeparen 9y ago
So why not allow them on bike paths as long as they go the same speed as regular bicycles? Typically if a bike path exists, it's because being on 2 wheels on the main road is extremely dangerous. I'm interested in an e-bike, not to go faster, but because they "erase" the difference between hills and flat ground, and most of my routes are too steep to be pleasant on an unpowered bicycle.
anon74574873891 9y ago
The author is not necessarily a 'he'. > ...I was wearing a skirt... > posted by Pam Mandel
- nextlevelwizard 9y ago
  Do you seriously not have better things to do than police comment section for silly typos?
  - cooper12 9y ago
    Well gender is part of someone's identity, so it's important to get it right. If you misgendered a person in real life, it might make them feel insecure about their looks and features and hurt their self-esteem. (a man might for example wonder if he is acting feminine) It's also more important on the internet and communities like this one which are commonly stereotyped as a boys club where male is the default and females are unicorns. (Also since pedantry is the current topic, allow me to point out that a typo refers to an unintentional error while transcribing, not spelling mistakes or using the wrong term, which while mistaken, are done consciously)
    - Houshalter 9y ago
      There isn't any picture of the author in the article, so how would it make them feel insecure about their looks?
      - cooper12 9y ago
        I was speaking in general terms. And there is a thumbnail.
    - nextlevelwizard 9y ago
      If your feelings get hurt because someone somewhere is talking about something you wrote/did and happens to use wrong gender when referring to you, you really need to seek therapy. Sure English sucks as a language since you even have something as stupid as gender specific pronouns, good (and proper) languages do not have such non-sense, but alas we are stuck with shitty language to use while communicating on the Interwebs. Still, you should have something better to contribute than just go around fixing these small mistakes. As for "boys club", I'm sure most men in all fields of engineering would love to have more women be a) interested in it b) working in it, but women seem to be drawn to different fields and it's not going to magically be better if you go policing comment section(s) on online forums. It's even gotten to point where in everything you read these days when people are referring to any imaginary person (like user does something or another) they always talk about "her" and "she" instead of even more ambiguous "their" or "user". What I'm trying to say is that your agenda is already been pushed on multiple fronts, trying to call people out for using wrong gender in a random comment is just silly.
nradov 9y ago
I agree, but it's effectively impossible to enforce. The latest electric bikes are visually almost indistinguishable from regular bikes. And police almost never have the resources to sit by a bike path with a radar gun.
belorn 9y ago
In Sweden there is two requirements that distinguish a electric bike from a electric moped. A electric bike can only assist the rider, and the speed is limited to 15.5 mph. Any vehicle with a motor above that speed require a driver license and registration plate. 28 mph seems way to high for cycling roads, and as a owner of a electric bike I would too get annoyed if someone passed me at those speed.

by bbarn 9y ago

closeparen 9y ago

So why not allow them on bike paths as long as they go the same speed as regular bicycles? Typically if a bike path exists, it's because being on 2 wheels on the main road is extremely dangerous. I'm interested in an e-bike, not to go faster, but because they "erase" the difference between hills and flat ground, and most of my routes are too steep to be pleasant on an unpowered bicycle.

anon74574873891 9y ago

The author is not necessarily a 'he'. > ...I was wearing a skirt... > posted by Pam Mandel

nextlevelwizard 9y ago
Do you seriously not have better things to do than police comment section for silly typos?
- cooper12 9y ago
  Well gender is part of someone's identity, so it's important to get it right. If you misgendered a person in real life, it might make them feel insecure about their looks and features and hurt their self-esteem. (a man might for example wonder if he is acting feminine) It's also more important on the internet and communities like this one which are commonly stereotyped as a boys club where male is the default and females are unicorns. (Also since pedantry is the current topic, allow me to point out that a typo refers to an unintentional error while transcribing, not spelling mistakes or using the wrong term, which while mistaken, are done consciously)
  - Houshalter 9y ago
    There isn't any picture of the author in the article, so how would it make them feel insecure about their looks?
    - cooper12 9y ago
      I was speaking in general terms. And there is a thumbnail.
  - nextlevelwizard 9y ago
    If your feelings get hurt because someone somewhere is talking about something you wrote/did and happens to use wrong gender when referring to you, you really need to seek therapy. Sure English sucks as a language since you even have something as stupid as gender specific pronouns, good (and proper) languages do not have such non-sense, but alas we are stuck with shitty language to use while communicating on the Interwebs. Still, you should have something better to contribute than just go around fixing these small mistakes. As for "boys club", I'm sure most men in all fields of engineering would love to have more women be a) interested in it b) working in it, but women seem to be drawn to different fields and it's not going to magically be better if you go policing comment section(s) on online forums. It's even gotten to point where in everything you read these days when people are referring to any imaginary person (like user does something or another) they always talk about "her" and "she" instead of even more ambiguous "their" or "user". What I'm trying to say is that your agenda is already been pushed on multiple fronts, trying to call people out for using wrong gender in a random comment is just silly.

nradov 9y ago

I agree, but it's effectively impossible to enforce. The latest electric bikes are visually almost indistinguishable from regular bikes. And police almost never have the resources to sit by a bike path with a radar gun.

belorn 9y ago

In Sweden there is two requirements that distinguish a electric bike from a electric moped. A electric bike can only assist the rider, and the speed is limited to 15.5 mph. Any vehicle with a motor above that speed require a driver license and registration plate. 28 mph seems way to high for cycling roads, and as a owner of a electric bike I would too get annoyed if someone passed me at those speed.