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Since we're talking about e-bikes, more and more of them can maintain 20 mph with or without pedal assist and some can get up to 27 mph with pedal assist. But e
by InSteady 3y ago
Since we're talking about e-bikes, more and more of them can maintain 20 mph with or without pedal assist and some can get up to 27 mph with pedal assist. But either way, you'd have to be a snail-pace rider for a 2-minute car ride to take you 20 on a bike, unless you are like 1 block from a freeway that doesn't get backed up routinely and has an exit near your destination.
Nothing wrong with snail paced riding of course. But going fast is pretty damn fun in a city with decent infrastructure that makes it reasonably safe. I routinely keep pace or beat traffic on shorter trips on my road bike. It's not really that hard to maintain 18mph if you do a lot of riding and have a moderately well-maintained bike (mine isn't even nice lol, it was like $400 used and is almost 50 years old, with a few choice part upgrades). And a lot of city traffic is stuck at that speed or lower during congestion hours in many areas. Granted, I'm closer to 12 mph on the trip home if I'm hauling several days worth of groceries.
- estebank 3y agoFor reference, my commute within SF used to take me 45 minutes due to traffic by car. On my bike it was 50. Include finding parking and it was a wash. By bus+wall it took about the same. I didn't drive. If the bus was faster (because it didn't get stuck on traffic), I would have used it exclusively.