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I doubt you read the full article. It's quite a bit more reasoned than you suggest. The author acknowledges his bias, its source, and even that it's not entire
by antonvs 9y ago
I doubt you read the full article.
It's quite a bit more reasoned than you suggest. The author acknowledges his bias, its source, and even that it's not entirely rational. But he's also exploring how e-bikes change the dynamic of pedestrian vs. bike vs. car traffic in a city, what kinds of pros and cons exist, and whether there are any rational sources of objection to the way e-bikes are currently being used.
He acknowledges that e-bikes are fun and useful: "I found the effect narcotic and delightful: on a flat road, I moved faster than I did on a normal bike, with less exertion. [...] Assisted living was so pleasant!"
Commiserating with a friend, they conclude that despite their objections, "for all our shared sense that something was wrong with electric bikes, we agreed that, by any rational measure, they are a force for good. [...] The engines are efficient, they reduce congestion [...] Fewer cars, more bikes."
However, they did identify at least one issue worth considering:
> "if you are not human-powered, you should not be using human-powered infrastructure. You should be in the street. E-bikes being licensed as motorized vehicles is good. E-bikes being in human-powered infrastructure is no good..."
Of course it's not quite that simple - e-bikes mingling with cars seems more dangerous than them mingling with human-powered traffic - but it's a point worth considering, for sure. For example, it's much easier to get up to 20 mph on an e-bike than an ordinary bike, and they tend to be quieter, too, so for pedestrians they can be quite terrifying. As the number of e-bikes increases, it's likely to become necessary to address this kind of thing.
He also notes the increasing difficulty of distinguishing between human-powered and assisted activity in an increasingly machine-assisted world, acknowledging that the distinction in the quote above is becoming less easy to make.
Even if you disagree with his perspective, it ought to be possible to read an article like this and recognize its value, unless you're even more ideologically fixed on a particular perspective than the author is.
- webnrrd2k 9y agoAs far as the danger of mixing e-bikes and regular automotive traffic, I think a similar experiment has already been done.. Any one remember mopeds? The top speed was about 35mph, if I remember correctly, which made them more-or-less the gas-powered equivalent of e-bikes.
- webnrrd2k 9y agoFurther down there are comments about how any gas/electric powered bike that can go over 20 w/power is technically a moped. So I think I'm mistaken about the 35mph top speed of my friends bikes.
- antonvs 9y agoMany e-bikes are restricted to 20 mph for that reason: http://www.evelo.com/blog/why-is-there-a-20mph-speed-limit-on-electric-bikes/ http://www.evelo.com/blog/why-is-there-a-20mph-speed-limit-o... However, it's easy enough to convert an ordinary bike to an e-bike - the necessary motors and other parts are readily available, in fact that's pretty much how the industry started. Many of the bike messengers in NYC etc. have much higher top speeds than 20.
- Kalium 9y agoI disagree with the author's idea that bikes should not be in the street. If you're moving significantly above pedestrian speeds, you shouldn't be using pedestrian infrastructure. His classification of "human-powered" and "not human-powered" strikes me as self-serving.
- euos 9y agoEbikes are not faster then the regular bikes. I am biking on a trail that has a 15mph speed limit. Even when I am allowing myself to go at 20 mph, I am constantly taken over by those elitist cyclists who feel like they are doing so much good by mere cycling that the rules don't apply to them. Assist is "optimized" for 20mph and is capped at like 28 - I believe this is due to European laws. I have yet to breach 24 mph even with a full assist on a straight road.
- masklinn 9y ago> Ebikes are not faster then the regular bikes. No but they do react very differently, mainly at startup. > Assist is "optimized" for 20mph and is capped at like 28 - I believe this is due to European laws. EU classifies ebikes as bicyles if the assistance has cut out by 25km/h (16mph), the ebike must also have an engine under 250W, and must not allow power on demand (only pedaling assistance). Individual countries may have a broader category for bicycle, or may have additional categories between bicycles and mopeds or motorbikes (e.g. s-pedelec in Germany), but the pedelec classification guarantees your ebike is treated as a bicycle (rather than a moped) across the EU.