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E-bikes! They're amazing. Bicycle with small assist engine. You start pedaling, and the bike engine helps you, so going up hills is easy. Riding one feels lik

E-bikes! They're amazing. Bicycle with small assist engine. You start pedaling, and the bike engine helps you, so going up hills is easy. Riding one feels like you have super-strength.

IshKebab 7y ago
Ebikes still cost way too much. You can get a really great bike for £500. An ebike is going to set you back £1500 or more. I think the price will come down but I don't think they're a great solution yet. Fortunately they don't need to be a great solution. In all but the hilliest places plenty of people will bike if the cycle lanes are there. Loads of people cycle in Bristol despite it being quite hilly and not really cycle friendly (but they are very slowly improving). Flatness definitely helps but it isn't the only thing that matters. The Netherlands was completely car based until the 70s for example, and it was just as flat then.
- Steltek 7y ago
  Sure but an e-bike is allowing one to replace a car, not a bike. In that case, L1500 is a steal.
- rovolo 7y ago
  Why does the difference cost £1000? The electric assist bike conversion kits I see in the US are $300-500. Are the purpose-built ebikes tons better than the conversion kits?
  - adwww 7y ago
    Because it's not an honest comparison. A £500 bike is still a relatively budget adult bike, and an ebike is a relatively luxury product still and is probably more comparable to a £1,000 normal bike. Decathlon (giant French sports chain) sell an ebike for £650.
- jillesvangurp 7y ago
  https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/02/e-bike-sales-continue-to-soar-total-bike-bill-hit-e1-2bn-last-year/ https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/02/e-bike-sales-continue-... The market for ebikes has overtaken that for regular bikes in the Netherlands. It was a billion euro market last year and the average price is around 2K euros. There are a lot of company sponsored programs & tax benefits as well. Cheaper bikes are available but they generally have less range, comfort, and build quality. I'm currently in Athens for a short vacation and what strikes me here is the insane number of petrol run scooters that are loud, take up lots of space, and pollute the city. Most of these could be replaced e-bikes easily and it would probably transform cities like this (this is a thing all over southern Europe). This is more or less exactly what's already well underway in Asia and these things are being mass produced by the millions already. Of course, Greece is a lot poorer and it will probably take quite long for them to catch up. A lot of the scooters here are obviously very old and I imagine their second hand value is very low. Of course fuel cost is a thing but they run quite far for just a few euros.

E-bikes! They're amazing. Bicycle with small assist engine. You start pedaling, and the bike engine helps you, so going up hills is easy. Riding one feels like you have super-strength.

IshKebab 7y ago

Ebikes still cost way too much. You can get a really great bike for £500. An ebike is going to set you back £1500 or more. I think the price will come down but I don't think they're a great solution yet. Fortunately they don't need to be a great solution. In all but the hilliest places plenty of people will bike if the cycle lanes are there. Loads of people cycle in Bristol despite it being quite hilly and not really cycle friendly (but they are very slowly improving). Flatness definitely helps but it isn't the only thing that matters. The Netherlands was completely car based until the 70s for example, and it was just as flat then.

Steltek 7y ago
Sure but an e-bike is allowing one to replace a car, not a bike. In that case, L1500 is a steal.
rovolo 7y ago
Why does the difference cost £1000? The electric assist bike conversion kits I see in the US are $300-500. Are the purpose-built ebikes tons better than the conversion kits?
- adwww 7y ago
  Because it's not an honest comparison. A £500 bike is still a relatively budget adult bike, and an ebike is a relatively luxury product still and is probably more comparable to a £1,000 normal bike. Decathlon (giant French sports chain) sell an ebike for £650.
jillesvangurp 7y ago
https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/02/e-bike-sales-continue-to-soar-total-bike-bill-hit-e1-2bn-last-year/ https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/02/e-bike-sales-continue-... The market for ebikes has overtaken that for regular bikes in the Netherlands. It was a billion euro market last year and the average price is around 2K euros. There are a lot of company sponsored programs & tax benefits as well. Cheaper bikes are available but they generally have less range, comfort, and build quality. I'm currently in Athens for a short vacation and what strikes me here is the insane number of petrol run scooters that are loud, take up lots of space, and pollute the city. Most of these could be replaced e-bikes easily and it would probably transform cities like this (this is a thing all over southern Europe). This is more or less exactly what's already well underway in Asia and these things are being mass produced by the millions already. Of course, Greece is a lot poorer and it will probably take quite long for them to catch up. A lot of the scooters here are obviously very old and I imagine their second hand value is very low. Of course fuel cost is a thing but they run quite far for just a few euros.