E-Bike hatred is out there!

[tomjasz]

The only issue I ever have is with cagers. I pulled out into the inside lane and the left track on a 30mph city street. The closet cage was two blocks, 700 feet back in the outside lane. Turns out he was speeding well over the limit and caught up to me in short order. I was running at 20mph. He got behind me and stayed on his horn for two city blocks until I made my left turn. Screaming out the window, unintelligible as I had turned off my hearing aids. This kind of hate is scary.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

I rode by a elementary school about 30 minutes after it was over for the day. There were still a few stragglers riding home. I was going REALLY slow giving everyone plenty of space (these are all my close neighbors). I came up on a young kid riding his bike with training wheels. When he saw me behind him he started pedaling faster. The closer I got, the faster he tried to go. He was determined to stay in front of me although we were going super slow.

When I passed him, he yelled "cheater"

That's brilliant!

 

[ChezCheese:)]

so here is the video. Nothing gets me revving like a tough hill or someone that is using throttle or ghost peddling. I passed him then I saw a jogger glance back so I slowed a bit to make sure she did not run out as the street narrowed and he called a dick for slowing and passed me. so if course I passed him again cause I bet he had the thumb to the metal. the overlay speed and heart rate are way out of sync I noticed. I was doing 24 to 26 passing him and my heart rate peaked at 170bmp man I think that was a first for me.
View attachment 133790

Y'aller blowin' through intersections without even a side glance, it seems. You have more trust in fate than I do.

 

[fooferdoggie]

Y'aller blowin' through intersections without even a side glance, it seems. You have more trust in fate than I do.

actually I checked and you can go through stop signs without stopping in Oregon. though I should have slowed a little bit more but it was really clear.

 

[PedalUma]

actually I checked and you can go through stop signs without stopping in Oregon. though I should have slowed a little bit more but it was really clear.

@fooferdoggie, I love the phrase, "Thumb to the metal"! I do not trust bikes with mirrors. And it is such a pain with a heavy bike when you need to flip it to get to a flat, but first have to remove a bunch of debris from the handlebar. Keep it clean, turn your head. Here is one answer to thumb over exertion. Just dangle a weight under it.

 

[Kayakguy]

Considering all the hatred that even shows up on here, it's not a surprise is it? For two days in a row I've had pickup drivers honk at me in hatred. One for crossing in the crosswalk on a green light, but he was pissed because he could turn right on red. Today it was another pickup when honked at me because I had to ride around islands around the traffic lights and he was pissed because I was in his lane a little instead of bunny hoping up on the island and off to stay in the crosswalk. Lots of anger in any direction these days!

Some people seem to think that free right turn on red trumps all other traffic. (It doesn't, does it?)

 

[Gordon71]

@fooferdoggie, I love the phrase, "Thumb to the metal"! I do not trust bikes with mirrors. And it is such a pain with a heavy bike when you need to flip it to get to a flat, but first have to remove a bunch of debris from the handlebar. Keep it clean, turn your head. Here is one answer to thumb over exertion. Just dangle a weight under it.
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A pair of handlebar jack stands will eliminate that problem.

 

[Solarcabin]

This year I sold 3 of my older ebikes.

I sold 1 to my cousin who is 74 and was not even interested in ebikes until I let him ride mine and then he was hooked. I sold him a Rattan 750 foldable which is a real nice step through ebike with long range and he rides it to town all the time. Still like new and I had a second battery and I let him have it for a great deal.

Then he and I rode our ebikes to the senior center and many of the seniors were asking about our ebikes. One lady rode pedal bike but had moved to where she had to climb a steep hill in to town and asked if I had more ebikes. So I let her ride a Metakoo 350 watt and she fell in love. Also had a second battery and practically gave that ebike away. She now rides it to the center every day where she works.

Then I had a younger guy ask about my Ariel X and wanted to know how much I paid. I told him and I could tell there was no way he could raise that so I showed him a pic of my Freego DK200 which is a similar style and faster ebike and asked if he was interested. I had not planned on selling that one and was keeping it as a backup if the Ariel ever broke down but this young guy just wanted an ebike so bad I let him have it for half what it sells for new. I see him riding all over town with it now.

Long story short, I converted 3 people to ebike lovers this year and hopefully they convert more people and estimates are there will be 1 million ebikes sold in in the US annually.

Ebikes are here to stay and the haters can become converts and usually will if they ever ride an ebike!

 

[6zfshdb]

Ebikes are here to stay and the haters can become converts and usually will if they ever ride an ebike!

Or they develop health issues which hinder their ability to ride a conventional bike.

 

[PedalUma]

The ones I got from Bolten are useless on my bikes, they did arrive fast though.

If I recall, Gordon71 made some nice ones out of wood to fit his bike. I sometimes use blocks of styrene. But some mirrors are long. It is hard to believe how much people put on the HB. Less is more. IMO. And the tech should be there, but invisible, more like the second one.

 

[Gordon71]

https://www.amazon.com/Original-Handlebar-Jack-Portable-Compatible/dp/B0922ZBL8Q/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=2B4WUUXTJXSZY&keywords=handlebar+jack+portable+repair+stand+for+ebikes&qid=1661999432&sprefix=%2Caps%2C74&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&smid=A3QM8VC1B6OJ7T

 

[tomjasz]

Freego DK200

I converted 3 people to ebike lovers

All mini bikes resembling eBikes…

 

[DaveMatthews]

My evangelism has sold 5 Giant ebikes.

 

[ElevenAD]

Too many idiots with throttle eBikes and should be riding motorcycles. Those should be banned.

All my bikes have a throttle and the throttle comes in handy once in a while depending on the bike but im willing to give that up if it will make people pedal, i just dont understand why you would buy an E-Bike to "throttle only" at least ghost pedal FCOL! ...and im not talking about people who cant pedal for physical reasons, that's different, im talking about perfectly healthy people just ripping around throttle only, half of them are not even wearing a helmet, just sad.

 

[Djangodog]

I think that the title could have just been “hatred is out there!”. Some people are just angry creatures looking for a target.

Cyclists of all forms have always needed a thick skin in the US. In general, the US is not a bike friendly place and cyclists have had to stick together. The more inclusive the cycling community is, the more strength we have. That doesn’t mean that we lend support to the behavior that puts a target on our backs. We all need to be good ambassadors if we really want to be respected. It’s a two way street.

There’s plenty of “hatred” and division right here on this forum. Why should we expect to be respected by others if we can’t even respect each other?

 

[teskow]

Bicycle riders need to think about their attitudes and the way they ride. Last week on a normal wide 55 MPH country two lane road with a side lane about six feet wide four riders are abreast with the left bike on the line.
That leaves precious little room for a car or worse a large truck, especially if there is oncoming traffic.
This is a good example of too many bike riders attitude. They may be right but they could be dead right.

 

[Roamers]

At 67 years old, been riding for ~61 years. Although i now ride more on MUP, I have thounds of miles on city streets, country gravel roads, paved 2 lane roads, and a few hundred on 4 lane roads. Most of my riding has been in NY, IL, and IA.

I have never experienced "hatred" towards me or anyone I ride with.

If someone is expressing hatred toward you, may I suggest you might be riding like a dick/douch/a-hole. You may be within your rights, but that doesn’t make it right!

 

[Djangodog]

Like I said, I have not experienced a hater when I am riding but there are sure a few haters on EBR.

Just look through the comments on this post or in the forum especially on new members threads.

They are hating on ebikes that have a throttle, goes faster than 20mph, big motor, looks like a motorcycle, has a hub motor, made in China, wrong style, or you don't ride the way they do.

It is ridiculous and immature and not what I expected to see on an ebike forum.

Go ahead and troll this comment haters.

Water off a ducks back!

I agree. The only ones that I have a problem with are those that make it worse for the rest of us by putting their wants above the good of all. Basically, if someone is a bad representative of an activity, they are doing harm to the activity, (this is a general statement and not a personal dig at anyone).

 

[Zekeer]

I can see how avid bikers who cycle 30-50 miles daily . Would resent Ebikes . Especially those with throttles . In the same respect I don't think it's the electric bike they hate . It's the growth of novices riding . Same way with Golf . 10 years ago players like myself could play 18 holes with a 4 some . We'd average 3 to 4 hours time .
Today you have all these novices on the courses . It's not a problem they play terrible . It's that they don't abide by the rules of play . Especially the one of time constraints, or allowing play to keep moving . They don't repair greens etc . Sometimes it takes us 6 hours to play what used to take 4 hrs . Because people don't abide by rules .

It's the same way with E-bikers. The E-Bike has brought out a vast increase of people . Who either don't know or don't care about educate when riding . Sometime a group will block the whole path with no awareness then need to move over . Or some air head idiot with his throttled mo-peddler. Comes flying up behind you with no idea or concern to warn you he's there . This seems to be getting even worse since covid .

Granted there are some who just don't like E-bikes because Biking is their thing . And we E bikers come along and surpass them .

I've got my Vado setup to give me a work out . With a setting to help if the wind is extra that day . But I'm an exception . It's been 8 days since I last rode . I don't really ride for all my exercise . I have a rope hanging from a Tree, 20 plus feet from the ground. That leads to my kids old tree house . Climb that rope a couple times 3X a week and you don't need to get more of a workout then that . Unless you are training to be the next Arnold . At age 66 I'm not .
And it only takes 20 minutes of time
Just saying

 

[Solarcabin]

The only ebikes that really concern me are the DIY kits I see some people build on pedal bikes not designed for that high torque and speed.

Consumer Ebikes are generally designed for the stresses of higher torque and have stronger frame welding and bracing, torque arms, stronger chains and gear cassettes and hydraulic disk brakes.

I am not against custom builds but if you are going to put a high torque motor on a pedal bike or even an ebike not designed for that you better modify that bike to handle that torque stress and speed or it is an accident waiting to happen IMO.