E Bikes-abuse and rhetoric posted about ebikes and their riders

[youngoldbloke]

That's what they should be used for, Not keeping up with club cyclist's on proper bikes.

I assume this is a wind-up. I can't help thinking this is directed at me, given my previous posts. As I've said before, I feel I've served my cycling apprenticeship, riding 'proper bikes' for well over 50 years. Now by a quirk of fate I am unable to ride those bikes. I have been and still am a member of a cycling club, in fact I still organise the leisure rides programme. Am I wrong to wish to take part and continue riding with those riders? Should I give up doing so? The assistance offered by an Orbea Gain allows me to continue taking part, and fortunately the people I ride with do not have such closed minds as some posters on this forum.

 

[CXRAndy]

That's what they should be used for, Not keeping up with club cyclist's on proper bikes.

I dont see the issue with being used for club runs. We have two or three older riders who like to part of the club run but find it difficult especially on the longer hills. An ebike could provide a solution to them

 

[T4tomo]

The are quite a good solution for the age old conundrum of how does a fat lazy downhill mountain biker get to the top of the trail, where there isn't a ski lift style set up to take him up there, apparently.

 

[classic33]

Why only bikes? I'd have had one of these on the ferry back if the limit allowed them at the time.

DHL have e-assist quads in use now. Under the old restrictions they weren't allowed. But for close on two years, I sent the local test station and DVLA office nuts trying to get my quad passed. Started at parlimentary level in 2008, along with a load of others.

The DHL ones appear to be suited for use on/in flat areas when loaded.

 

[T4tomo]

All the cycle Rickshaws in London appear to have converted to electric assist now.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

All the cycle Rickshaws in London appear to have converted to electric assist now.

Makes sense to me.

 

[Scaleyback]

I assume this is a wind-up. I can't help thinking this is directed at me, given my previous posts.

Peter, rise above the people who think the only way is their way. Keep doing what you enjoy doing.

 

[Lee_M]

agreed. the chairman fo my ex cycling club had one following a diving accident which meant he could no longer ride a "proper" bike.

what is a proper bike anyway? an aero, a cx, a gravel, a recumbent?

surely its whatever you want to ride, and of that has assistance then fine, just turn off strava

 

[youngoldbloke]

Strava? Never used it.

 

[derrick]

I dont see the issue with being used for club runs. We have two or three older riders who like to part of the club run but find it difficult especially on the longer hills. An ebike could provide a solution to them

If everyone in the club is happy to ride with Ebikes it's not a problem. It's good you encourage the older riders, nothing wrong with that, when i get old i will probably get one but at 67 i have a few years to go before that happens.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Mod note:

I've just had a read through of the latest posts (over the last day) on here and it appears that we have ended up in the same position as the closed thread that spawned it ie with some poor taste personal remarks and unproductive dialogue in evidence.

This thread will now be closed until such time as it can be cleaned up. The previously closed thread took around 1.5 hours to clean up and to take the appropriate action with certain members and tbh I do not have the time or inclination right now to spend the same again on this one. My guess is that one of us (Mods) will get around to it some time over the weekend although this is not a certainty.

This is a sorry state of affairs as the discourse around ebikes is of interest to a number of our members and the actions of a few are spoiling the threads for them.

On a similar note this is a relatively benign area of the forum where problems are few and far between and it is disappointing to note this type of behaviour within this sub-section.

Further: the threads combined have generated large numbers of reports, all of which have had to be read and have had to be acted upon if required. This has also consumed a large amount of time for several of the Mods which has been onerous amongst all the other forum maintenance tasks that we deal with.

So... the ploy of starting a new thread that, in thinly veiled fashion, merely carries over the argumentative discussions of a closed thread will not be welcome once this thread is closed. If someone decides to go down this route then we will delete the thread and put the OP into moderation ie limiting their access to the forum on a post pre-approval basis.

I'm sorry to have to have made this post this but enough is enough and I hope that we can continue to discuss ebikes and the benefits and issues etc relating to them in a productive and civilised manner.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Mod Note:
After a clean up of personal attacks and quotes thereof, this thread is now reopened.
Some posts have been edited so the thread could still make sense after removing said personal attacks.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

It is clear there is a perception that E-bikes are for the old, infirm, overweight or the feckless, where does that perception come from? I'd like to think we could have an adult discussion about it, is it the manufacturers advertisements, is it the press, is it the competitive nature of the sport bearing in mind very few of us compete, but alas I doubt we can have that discussion all sat behind our keyboards in relative anonymity, would be far different if we were all sat in the pub.

 

[winjim]

If we had better infrastructure and ebikes were cheaper, my wife would get one and use it instead of the car for many trips. As it is she doesn't want to cycle on roads or struggle up the Sheffield hills on a regular bike.

 

[Heltor Chasca]

When I read somewhere that 53% of bike sales in the NL are e bikes that made me sit up.

The souped up bikes require a licence and there is talk of getting them and mopeds off the fietspads. They are frighteningly fast. Until you have ridden through Den Haag or Utrecht during rush hour, I don’t think you can appreciate that it isn’t an entirely rose-tinted experience. It is surprisingly difficult and you need to be a decent cyclist. If you were hit by a super-e bike you would know all about it.

Normal E bikes fit perfectly into the flow and have earned their place. They make a lot of sense if you are traveling frequently and far and you won’t arrive in a sweating heap. They aren’t silly fast, so if you are so inclined, Puritans on their road bikes can still pass them. And can I just say, I was passing them on my tourer, 4 bags up and a tent. Had to slip that in for egotistical reasons known only to myself.