I was in China last year. E-bikes and scooters everywhere. As utilitarian transportation in a city like Beijing, it made a lot more sense than bicycles. It made the long urban distances, heavy cargo, and reasonable speed in inclement weather possible for normal humans. There's about 1% of us in North America that are willing to haul ourselves long distances, over hill and under hill, with or without cargo, on a regular bicycle. E-bikes make things more accessible for those that can't or, significantly, won't.

The ones I usually see are pieces of garbage, and I hate working on them (and I have a degree in computer engineering!), but that's because they are often also used by people with physical disabilities on some form of financial assistance. It sounds like there are a lot of differences between regions in how e-bikes are used and catching on.

But, regardless: one more e-bike means one less car, right? There are certainly issues with sharing infrastructure, etc. (in China, there are basically separate adjacent roadways--think access or service roads--for all 2- or 3- wheeled vehicles instead of just thin bike lanes), but those issues can be dealt with.

If I were picking and choosing bikes that most closely meet the Platonic Ideal of the Utilitarian Bicycle Promoting Transportation Mode Shift in the General Population, I'd kick out fashionable hipster fixies before the e-bikes.

(But I'm not!)

Christopher Chan
Executive Director
Edmonton Bicycle Commuters' Society
10047 80 Ave (entrance in rear lane)
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6E 1T4
edmontonbikes.ca
w: (780) 433-2453  ||  c: (780) 700-5564


On Fri, Jan 4, 2013 at 9:50 AM, Ryan Kragerud <rjkragerud@gmail.com> wrote:
A bike with a motor is a motorbike.

Having said that, I think we need to keep an open mind regarding e-bikes. In Longmont, and I'd expect in other areas of the Southwest and Florida we're all seeing an uptick (albeit small) in people over 60 purchasing e-bikes to get around town. In fact, we have a couple examples of seniors selling their cars and riding e-bikes as an alternative. These folks use our Bike Valet at our local farmer's market. Seniors using our Bike Valet say they prefer the e-bike to pedal bikes because they are easier to get around on. They also prefer e-bikes to their own cars for safety reasons. The seniors we spoke with said they often find themselves driving far slower than the posted speed limits and feel they are becoming less skilled drivers. The e-bike fills the gap for them. The e-bike allows them to still be mobile do small errands and allows them to get some exercise.

In fact once our Bike Garage is up and running I'd like to work with a few active adult facilities to pilot an e-bike program. As for now, we have no policies in place that would allow or discourage e-bike maintenance.


In general though - prior to hearing from these elders I had only approached the e-bike thing from the point of view of a capable cyclist, forgetting that there are those older than myself who could benefit from a little electric assist.

IMO.

Ryan
Bicycle Longmont
Longmont Colorado - www.bicyclelongmont.org


On Fri, Jan 4, 2013 at 8:49 AM, Geoffrey Bercarich <geoff.bercarich@gmail.com> wrote:

My community bike space does not allow the fixing or repairing of electric assist vehicles.

Make signage.

On Jan 4, 2013 2:36 AM, "Wendy Monroe" <wendy.monroe@usermail.com> wrote:
Hello think tankers,

I'm seeing a lot of this sort of talk in the Netherlands…
Is there a broad trend in the States moving this direction, as well?

This Extra Energy organization is not thinking in terms of Cheap chinese made imports but rather of very pricey ( typically ) German products.
Or perhaps German branded products, manufactured in China….

But I see e-bikes in general as somewhat of a threat to those of us who love non electrified bicycles.

Any thoughts on this, fellow Americans?

http://extraenergy.org/main.php?language=en&category=information&subcateg=99&id=31757

Wendy

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