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I'm always confused by people of working age who ride bikes like this. What's the attraction of a more expensive and heavier bike that's no faster than pedaling

I'm always confused by people of working age who ride bikes like this. What's the attraction of a more expensive and heavier bike that's no faster than pedaling yourself?

ginko 6y ago
You don't have to pedal yourself.
- madeofpalk 6y ago
  For what it's worth, you do have to pedal yourself (its e-assist), but you just don't have to pedal as hard.
  - kazinator 6y ago
    This is not what I see; these things go-go-go, even if the rider puts out no effort. I see people going over 40 km/h on e-bikes while basically just barely pretending to pedal.
    - madeofpalk 6y ago
      This is not true. Have you ever used one? I own one and cycle with it daily. It takes less effort to cycle, and so you can get faster speeds easier - my Vanmook would get it 30kmph with medium effort effort on flat roads, but then i can coast on that for a bit as it slows down (its not maintaining this speed through a motor). But you still have to cycle - it's not a motorbike.
jeffbee 6y ago
A typical bicycle rider only exerts about 100W. A bike with a 250W motor will more than triple your output. I don't know why this rig is limited to 20 MPH, other than they must have wanted to qualify for "class 2" regulation. It is probably powerful enough to act as a class 3 bike, with a software change.
globular-toast 6y ago
Having the electric motor for assistance up hills makes cycling significantly easier and more accessible. It's claimed that you can turn up at work without breaking a sweat. Also laziness.
- fmajid 6y ago
  In a place like San Francisco, being able to eat hills with electric assist is a game-changer.
compiler-guy 6y ago
Lower effort means easier commutes and less sweat. That can be very useful for an office worker without a shower or time for a shower at the other end. Easier to take hills and such as well.
technofiend 6y ago
Yeah excellent question. Hot and humid climates make this appealing if you don't need to pedal; perhaps you can get to work without needing a shower. But considering the likely cost due to name, weight and components it feels very niche nonetheless. It's difficult to justify a bike that's thousands when an annual bus pass might be a few hundred.
- masklinn 6y ago
  > It's difficult to justify a bike that's thousands when an annual bus pass might be a few hundred. 2000 is table stakes for quality ebikes.
  - reportingsjr 6y ago
    This is not true, radpower has a pretty dang nice ebike for ~$1100.
- kazinator 6y ago
  > It's difficult to justify a bike that's thousands when an annual bus pass might be a few hundred. - A bike is not annually thousands. A good quality bike will last you a decade or more. Not with $0 maintenance, but not hundreds per year. - Commute times on a bike are shorter than the bus. I'm not even talking e-bike now. Due to traffic congestion effects (that hardly affect bicycles at all), you can beat even automobile commuting on a plain human-powered bike. With the e-bike in the equation, it can be no contest. You can go 40-50 km/h for most of the commute, and zip around bumper-to-bumper traffic like it's not there. - Convenience: hop on it and go anywhere you want, at any time. No waiting. E.g. go out for lunch in the middle of the workday. - Transit is a good place to catch viruses from people. Complete non-starter in this pandemic. - Transit is a good place to be assaulted, robbed and exposed to cigarette smoke. - The bike offers freedom from irritating and depressing exposure to people from socially incompatible classes. (Well almost; there are some drivers out there: but you're not sitting next to them for 30 minutes.)
  - johnwatson11218 6y ago
knolan 6y ago
Distance. I travel 25 km to work. In my previous job I only cycled 7 km, it was easy and took about 15 mins. Then when I changed job my commute was 18 km, it was manageable, and better than the two infrequent buses I would have to try and catch but you would be pretty tired at the end of the week. It would take between 45 and 55 minutes depending on weather and traffic. We recently bought our first home and this meant we had to move a little further away resulting in my current 25 km commute. The 90 minute bus trip is exhausting and you arrive at work and return home groggy. On my ebike I can get to work in 50 minutes and still feel like I’ve exercised without depleting too much energy.
kazinator 6y ago
The speed restrictions are a complete lie, and only in the firmware. Users are obviously working around them. I've never seen an e-bike rider who was not whooping ass. They usually go at least 40 km/h, which most pedal cyclists can barely reach, let alone sustain, and the e-cyclists can keep up the pace going up hills. E-bikes are pedal-assist, which means you get the combined wattage from your legs and the motor. You have more combined wattage than a Tour de France competitor.
reportingsjr 6y ago
I ride bikes a reasonable amount, half for leisure, half for getting to places and I can tell you the main reason why one of my next bikes is going to be an e bike: sweat. I sweat more than most people unfortunately, and I live in a moderately hilly city (300ft hills all around the area) that is very humid and hot in the summer. I absolutely love biking to work, the store, etc, but it's uncomfortable and embarrassing to be drenched with sweat after a 10 minute bike ride.
johnwatson11218 6y ago
For me it has been no need for a recovery day. The barrier to entry for doing a ride is much lower, even if I'm tired I can do a quick 1 hour ride on the eBike. It gets my heartrate up and my blood pumping. If I want I can push my self harder and get more or less of a workout, it is up to me. Also, no matter how hot it gets I find I can still do rides on my eBike. So long as I have enough water and am dressed appropriately I can ride in the summer heat.

I'm always confused by people of working age who ride bikes like this. What's the attraction of a more expensive and heavier bike that's no faster than pedaling yourself?

ginko 6y ago

You don't have to pedal yourself.

madeofpalk 6y ago
For what it's worth, you do have to pedal yourself (its e-assist), but you just don't have to pedal as hard.
- kazinator 6y ago
  This is not what I see; these things go-go-go, even if the rider puts out no effort. I see people going over 40 km/h on e-bikes while basically just barely pretending to pedal.
  - madeofpalk 6y ago
    This is not true. Have you ever used one? I own one and cycle with it daily. It takes less effort to cycle, and so you can get faster speeds easier - my Vanmook would get it 30kmph with medium effort effort on flat roads, but then i can coast on that for a bit as it slows down (its not maintaining this speed through a motor). But you still have to cycle - it's not a motorbike.

jeffbee 6y ago

A typical bicycle rider only exerts about 100W. A bike with a 250W motor will more than triple your output. I don't know why this rig is limited to 20 MPH, other than they must have wanted to qualify for "class 2" regulation. It is probably powerful enough to act as a class 3 bike, with a software change.

globular-toast 6y ago

Having the electric motor for assistance up hills makes cycling significantly easier and more accessible. It's claimed that you can turn up at work without breaking a sweat. Also laziness.

fmajid 6y ago
In a place like San Francisco, being able to eat hills with electric assist is a game-changer.

compiler-guy 6y ago

Lower effort means easier commutes and less sweat. That can be very useful for an office worker without a shower or time for a shower at the other end. Easier to take hills and such as well.

technofiend 6y ago

Yeah excellent question. Hot and humid climates make this appealing if you don't need to pedal; perhaps you can get to work without needing a shower. But considering the likely cost due to name, weight and components it feels very niche nonetheless. It's difficult to justify a bike that's thousands when an annual bus pass might be a few hundred.

masklinn 6y ago
> It's difficult to justify a bike that's thousands when an annual bus pass might be a few hundred. 2000 is table stakes for quality ebikes.
- reportingsjr 6y ago
  This is not true, radpower has a pretty dang nice ebike for ~$1100.
kazinator 6y ago
> It's difficult to justify a bike that's thousands when an annual bus pass might be a few hundred. - A bike is not annually thousands. A good quality bike will last you a decade or more. Not with $0 maintenance, but not hundreds per year. - Commute times on a bike are shorter than the bus. I'm not even talking e-bike now. Due to traffic congestion effects (that hardly affect bicycles at all), you can beat even automobile commuting on a plain human-powered bike. With the e-bike in the equation, it can be no contest. You can go 40-50 km/h for most of the commute, and zip around bumper-to-bumper traffic like it's not there. - Convenience: hop on it and go anywhere you want, at any time. No waiting. E.g. go out for lunch in the middle of the workday. - Transit is a good place to catch viruses from people. Complete non-starter in this pandemic. - Transit is a good place to be assaulted, robbed and exposed to cigarette smoke. - The bike offers freedom from irritating and depressing exposure to people from socially incompatible classes. (Well almost; there are some drivers out there: but you're not sitting next to them for 30 minutes.)
- johnwatson11218 6y ago

knolan 6y ago

Distance. I travel 25 km to work. In my previous job I only cycled 7 km, it was easy and took about 15 mins. Then when I changed job my commute was 18 km, it was manageable, and better than the two infrequent buses I would have to try and catch but you would be pretty tired at the end of the week. It would take between 45 and 55 minutes depending on weather and traffic. We recently bought our first home and this meant we had to move a little further away resulting in my current 25 km commute. The 90 minute bus trip is exhausting and you arrive at work and return home groggy. On my ebike I can get to work in 50 minutes and still feel like I’ve exercised without depleting too much energy.

kazinator 6y ago

The speed restrictions are a complete lie, and only in the firmware. Users are obviously working around them. I've never seen an e-bike rider who was not whooping ass. They usually go at least 40 km/h, which most pedal cyclists can barely reach, let alone sustain, and the e-cyclists can keep up the pace going up hills. E-bikes are pedal-assist, which means you get the combined wattage from your legs and the motor. You have more combined wattage than a Tour de France competitor.

reportingsjr 6y ago

I ride bikes a reasonable amount, half for leisure, half for getting to places and I can tell you the main reason why one of my next bikes is going to be an e bike: sweat. I sweat more than most people unfortunately, and I live in a moderately hilly city (300ft hills all around the area) that is very humid and hot in the summer. I absolutely love biking to work, the store, etc, but it's uncomfortable and embarrassing to be drenched with sweat after a 10 minute bike ride.

johnwatson11218 6y ago

For me it has been no need for a recovery day. The barrier to entry for doing a ride is much lower, even if I'm tired I can do a quick 1 hour ride on the eBike. It gets my heartrate up and my blood pumping. If I want I can push my self harder and get more or less of a workout, it is up to me. Also, no matter how hot it gets I find I can still do rides on my eBike. So long as I have enough water and am dressed appropriately I can ride in the summer heat.