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I don't grok e-bikes. I like them and I'd like to get one but I just don't know how I will manage the charging. I am livinig in a big city and have no garage an

I don't grok e-bikes. I like them and I'd like to get one but I just don't know how I will manage the charging. I am livinig in a big city and have no garage and no wall socket in front of my street door. And 100% of all destinations I ride to don't have wall sockets for charging neither. So, I would need to carry every time the heavy battery upstairs (3 floors)? I am anyway always full-loaded with bags or whatever and don't want to carry every-time this stupid battery as well. Then, the really beautiful e-bikes have an integrated battery in the frame, a bit like the iPhones. How should this now work?? I carry the 17-20kg bike upstairs every time? Ok, only if you have a house with a garage in some suburb you can ride those bikes but then you are usually so far way from the city center that you need a car again. As a final note: These bikes are so much heavier (17kg and up) and I am wondering if it's that much more effort to ride a light 10kg bike without any electrical motor. So, I am really curious about the real use case of e-bikes. Edit: Why the downvote?

cesis 9y ago
You can use bike's motor when pushing it up the stairs so you don't have to carry it.
alfla 9y ago
My battery is easily removable and has a handle. When you are riding a bike you usually don't carry stuff that you have to use your hands to carry. I always have a backpack. In any case I always have at least one hand available to carry other stuff. I charge the battery in my entry at home every day, but I could probably charge it only once or twice a week and that would still be sufficient.
mertd 9y ago
Let's say you weigh 70kg. The 7kg lighter bike only saves you less than 10% weight overall but a 300W motor easily multiplies your power.
chrisseaton 9y ago
> Edit: Why the downvote? Maybe it's because you've said you don't understand e-bikes for the ridiculous reason that they don't fit your very specific living situation like what kind of housing you have, which floor you live on and how many bags you're prepared to carry. Other people have different living situations, and e-bikes suit them. It's not a mystery.
- waytogo 9y ago
  Then again what is the living situation ('use case') where an e-bike works? I also made the example with a house and garage. I don't see any killer use case but are happy to learn relevant use cases.
  - chrisseaton 9y ago
    I mean just to look at one part of the world, but which many of us will understand, look at somewhere like San Mateo, the sub-urban area halfway between San Francisco and San Jose in Silicon Valley. Imagine living in a house with a garage somewhere like Foster City. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@37.5466469,-122.2920167,13z?hl=en https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@37.5466469,-122.2920167,13z?h... A family could get all around this area very nicely on an electric bike. Maybe you bike to an office in Redwood Shores, your wife teaches the College of San Mateo campus up the hill and she can get there on an electric bike there as well. She basically recharges it on the way back on the down hill. Your daughter goes to Hillsdale High School where she can electric bike to and works a part time job at the Whole Foods Market there which can bike to as well. Your suburb example was flawed because not everyone is trying to get into a big city centre.
    - waytogo 9y ago
      (1) Having a town house with some wall socket at the entry or a garage and (2) not trying to get into a big city centre might be a use case, yes. Thanks for elaborating your example but I don't think that this use case is strong or ubiquitous enough (maybe in SF) to lead e-bikes to mass adoption. I still think the concept of an e-bike, in particular the charging, is super flawed. If the battery is removable you can charge this thing but you have to carry a fat battery pack back and forth and your bike looks super clumsy (and yes, all bikes with removable batteries look clumsy) or if it's integrated it looks nice but it's hard to charge that thing. I mean, I see that all bike manufacturer start to produce e-bikes and they form a large part of their revenues because they are much more expensive than normal bikes but if I'd make a mini poll here, how many of you guys have an e-bike, how many a normal bike? I bet the rate is 1:10 (e-bike:bike) or even lower.

cesis 9y ago

You can use bike's motor when pushing it up the stairs so you don't have to carry it.

alfla 9y ago

My battery is easily removable and has a handle. When you are riding a bike you usually don't carry stuff that you have to use your hands to carry. I always have a backpack. In any case I always have at least one hand available to carry other stuff. I charge the battery in my entry at home every day, but I could probably charge it only once or twice a week and that would still be sufficient.

mertd 9y ago

Let's say you weigh 70kg. The 7kg lighter bike only saves you less than 10% weight overall but a 300W motor easily multiplies your power.

chrisseaton 9y ago

> Edit: Why the downvote? Maybe it's because you've said you don't understand e-bikes for the ridiculous reason that they don't fit your very specific living situation like what kind of housing you have, which floor you live on and how many bags you're prepared to carry. Other people have different living situations, and e-bikes suit them. It's not a mystery.

waytogo 9y ago
Then again what is the living situation ('use case') where an e-bike works? I also made the example with a house and garage. I don't see any killer use case but are happy to learn relevant use cases.
- chrisseaton 9y ago
  I mean just to look at one part of the world, but which many of us will understand, look at somewhere like San Mateo, the sub-urban area halfway between San Francisco and San Jose in Silicon Valley. Imagine living in a house with a garage somewhere like Foster City. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@37.5466469,-122.2920167,13z?hl=en https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@37.5466469,-122.2920167,13z?h... A family could get all around this area very nicely on an electric bike. Maybe you bike to an office in Redwood Shores, your wife teaches the College of San Mateo campus up the hill and she can get there on an electric bike there as well. She basically recharges it on the way back on the down hill. Your daughter goes to Hillsdale High School where she can electric bike to and works a part time job at the Whole Foods Market there which can bike to as well. Your suburb example was flawed because not everyone is trying to get into a big city centre.
  - waytogo 9y ago
    (1) Having a town house with some wall socket at the entry or a garage and (2) not trying to get into a big city centre might be a use case, yes. Thanks for elaborating your example but I don't think that this use case is strong or ubiquitous enough (maybe in SF) to lead e-bikes to mass adoption. I still think the concept of an e-bike, in particular the charging, is super flawed. If the battery is removable you can charge this thing but you have to carry a fat battery pack back and forth and your bike looks super clumsy (and yes, all bikes with removable batteries look clumsy) or if it's integrated it looks nice but it's hard to charge that thing. I mean, I see that all bike manufacturer start to produce e-bikes and they form a large part of their revenues because they are much more expensive than normal bikes but if I'd make a mini poll here, how many of you guys have an e-bike, how many a normal bike? I bet the rate is 1:10 (e-bike:bike) or even lower.