7 ms·

So how are these Electric Scooters better than E-Bikes? E-Bike has huge range and make riding the bike at speeds up to 30km/h a breeze.

wilde 8y ago
More people feel comfortable riding scooters than bikes. There’s a stigma around “I can’t ride a bike”. There’s also less regulation on dumping scooters than on bikes. ;)
- kaibee 8y ago
  I would like to know more. I've literally never heard of this stigma.
  - ghaff 8y ago
    I don't think stigma was the intended meaning. I assume the poster meant something like doesn't feel confident enough riding bikes to do so in traffic--especially where bike lanes aren't well delineated and separated. Which certainly rings true for me. I can kinda/sorts ride a bike but I only learned as an adult and would never do so on a road.
andrewla 8y ago
I don't know about "better" across all metrics. Just different. Mounting the scooter is easier, they are cheaper (thus theoretically better suited to this sort of grab one and drop it wherever model), they are lighter (which is maybe more important for scenarios where you own it rather than grab-n-go), they are easier to maneuver at very low speeds, and they don't require that you know how to ride a bike. E-bikes win on another set of axes: they are more comfortable for longer rides, they are faster, they have greater range, they are more maneuverable at higher speeds.
- analogmemory 8y ago
  I took 3 scooters rides on a 3 miles ride to work and it roughly cost me $4 and took ~22 minutes I've taken the Jump bike several times and it usually takes just under 15 min to go the same route for only $2 Faster and cheaper wins! :)
  - andrewla 8y ago
    At some distance there's a crossover, where the speed and comfort of a bike overwhelm most of the other factors. I'm surprised by the price point for the Jump bike; that makes my price concern less of an issue. As it is, as an NYC resident, I have neither Jump bikes nor shareable electric scooters, so my personal experience is limited. I had no idea that Jump bikes were so cheap -- the cheapest you can get here is the CitiBike, which is non-electric and has a half-hour ride for $3 (cheaper as you get memberships and rides in bulk, but that complex pricing is one of the things that makes it annoying). Do you know how much of the Jump price is them burning VC money and passing the savings on to you? It seems like the depreciation on the bike is in excess of that amount.
    - analogmemory 8y ago
      It's $2 for the first 30 minutes and then charged at a per minute rate (varies per city) after that. $0.07 per min in SF. The Ford GoBike which I think it the same program as the CitiBike is rolling out electric assist bikes now too which I believe is $3 for a 30 min ride for the electric. $2 for normal
imgabe 8y ago
Most e-bikes you'll still have to pedal, which in a climate like DC means you will be dripping with sweat in seconds. On a scooter you can just stand and enjoy the breeze.
- mertd 8y ago
  On Jump bikes at least, the pedal is practically a gas pedal. I never came close to putting any effort even on 10+% hills in SF.
djrogers 8y ago
I can fold up a scooter and carry it on the subway or tuck it under my desk. While both of those are kinda possible with e-bikes, if more than a handful of people tried it we’d be out of space rather quickly.
rz2k 8y ago
<rant> The 2000s New York decision to put bike lanes all over the place made the city less livable. For example, Hudson St went from three or four lanes of one-way traffic moving predictably, to two lanes of one-way traffic going a predictable speed and a parallel roadway of bicycles moving at unpredictable speeds and behaving in ways to preserve their momentum. In an environment where the healthy people you see on bikes could have walked where they were going, or taken the subway (pre-Cuomo MTA), they weren't doing anything virtuous compared to all of the other car-less New Yorkers they were shouting at whenever they breezed through an intersection. Biking in New York was recreation when the subways worked, and fun that made sense on places like the long bike paths without pedestrian cross traffic. Intuitively, these electric scooters would not be the same nuisance to people trying to walk somewhere, or just going out for a stroll. They start from a stop more quickly so people don't try to unsafely preserve their momentum, and their lower cruising speed would tend to allow them to avoid obstacles more easily. <end rant> I know I sound like the people in this "Hark! A Vagrant"[1], but bike lanes for the recreation of a small group of people really did make walking around quiet neighborhoods in New York less peaceful and enjoyable. These scooters don't at all sound like they would have the same impact. [1] http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=331 http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=331
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
usaar333 8y ago
Cheaper. An electric scooter is perhaps $100; an e-bike is often 4+. Oddly though, Jump is actually cheaper than Lime once you ride for over 7 minutes.. perhaps that would change. Another slight advantage is lower weight (obstacles), though in practice this is unlikely to be a major issue. Otherwise I agree that an e-bike is superior. I prefer the GoBike e-bikes to Lime/Bird.
- TulliusCicero 8y ago
  These electric scooters being used are thousands of dollars.
  - zootam 8y ago
    Nope, they are around $300-500 https://qz.com/1257198/xiaomi-makes-the-bird-and-spin-scooters-taking-over-san-francisco/ https://qz.com/1257198/xiaomi-makes-the-bird-and-spin-scoote...
- zootam 8y ago
  Show me a decent ebike you can get for $400! Most batteries alone are $150-400. Buying a cheap generic spec ebike is around $900-$1400

wilde 8y ago

More people feel comfortable riding scooters than bikes. There’s a stigma around “I can’t ride a bike”. There’s also less regulation on dumping scooters than on bikes. ;)

kaibee 8y ago
I would like to know more. I've literally never heard of this stigma.
- ghaff 8y ago
  I don't think stigma was the intended meaning. I assume the poster meant something like doesn't feel confident enough riding bikes to do so in traffic--especially where bike lanes aren't well delineated and separated. Which certainly rings true for me. I can kinda/sorts ride a bike but I only learned as an adult and would never do so on a road.

andrewla 8y ago

I don't know about "better" across all metrics. Just different. Mounting the scooter is easier, they are cheaper (thus theoretically better suited to this sort of grab one and drop it wherever model), they are lighter (which is maybe more important for scenarios where you own it rather than grab-n-go), they are easier to maneuver at very low speeds, and they don't require that you know how to ride a bike. E-bikes win on another set of axes: they are more comfortable for longer rides, they are faster, they have greater range, they are more maneuverable at higher speeds.

analogmemory 8y ago
I took 3 scooters rides on a 3 miles ride to work and it roughly cost me $4 and took ~22 minutes I've taken the Jump bike several times and it usually takes just under 15 min to go the same route for only $2 Faster and cheaper wins! :)
- andrewla 8y ago
  At some distance there's a crossover, where the speed and comfort of a bike overwhelm most of the other factors. I'm surprised by the price point for the Jump bike; that makes my price concern less of an issue. As it is, as an NYC resident, I have neither Jump bikes nor shareable electric scooters, so my personal experience is limited. I had no idea that Jump bikes were so cheap -- the cheapest you can get here is the CitiBike, which is non-electric and has a half-hour ride for $3 (cheaper as you get memberships and rides in bulk, but that complex pricing is one of the things that makes it annoying). Do you know how much of the Jump price is them burning VC money and passing the savings on to you? It seems like the depreciation on the bike is in excess of that amount.
  - analogmemory 8y ago
    It's $2 for the first 30 minutes and then charged at a per minute rate (varies per city) after that. $0.07 per min in SF. The Ford GoBike which I think it the same program as the CitiBike is rolling out electric assist bikes now too which I believe is $3 for a 30 min ride for the electric. $2 for normal

imgabe 8y ago

Most e-bikes you'll still have to pedal, which in a climate like DC means you will be dripping with sweat in seconds. On a scooter you can just stand and enjoy the breeze.

mertd 8y ago
On Jump bikes at least, the pedal is practically a gas pedal. I never came close to putting any effort even on 10+% hills in SF.

djrogers 8y ago

I can fold up a scooter and carry it on the subway or tuck it under my desk. While both of those are kinda possible with e-bikes, if more than a handful of people tried it we’d be out of space rather quickly.

rz2k 8y ago

<rant> The 2000s New York decision to put bike lanes all over the place made the city less livable. For example, Hudson St went from three or four lanes of one-way traffic moving predictably, to two lanes of one-way traffic going a predictable speed and a parallel roadway of bicycles moving at unpredictable speeds and behaving in ways to preserve their momentum. In an environment where the healthy people you see on bikes could have walked where they were going, or taken the subway (pre-Cuomo MTA), they weren't doing anything virtuous compared to all of the other car-less New Yorkers they were shouting at whenever they breezed through an intersection. Biking in New York was recreation when the subways worked, and fun that made sense on places like the long bike paths without pedestrian cross traffic. Intuitively, these electric scooters would not be the same nuisance to people trying to walk somewhere, or just going out for a stroll. They start from a stop more quickly so people don't try to unsafely preserve their momentum, and their lower cruising speed would tend to allow them to avoid obstacles more easily. <end rant> I know I sound like the people in this "Hark! A Vagrant"[1], but bike lanes for the recreation of a small group of people really did make walking around quiet neighborhoods in New York less peaceful and enjoyable. These scooters don't at all sound like they would have the same impact. [1] http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=331 http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=331

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

usaar333 8y ago

Cheaper. An electric scooter is perhaps $100; an e-bike is often 4+. Oddly though, Jump is actually cheaper than Lime once you ride for over 7 minutes.. perhaps that would change. Another slight advantage is lower weight (obstacles), though in practice this is unlikely to be a major issue. Otherwise I agree that an e-bike is superior. I prefer the GoBike e-bikes to Lime/Bird.

TulliusCicero 8y ago
These electric scooters being used are thousands of dollars.
- zootam 8y ago
  Nope, they are around $300-500 https://qz.com/1257198/xiaomi-makes-the-bird-and-spin-scooters-taking-over-san-francisco/ https://qz.com/1257198/xiaomi-makes-the-bird-and-spin-scoote...
zootam 8y ago
Show me a decent ebike you can get for $400! Most batteries alone are $150-400. Buying a cheap generic spec ebike is around $900-$1400