Ebike Sightings | What are you seeing?

[LimboJim]

I see a few on the road and bike paths now & then, but 95% of my riding is on MTB trails since late 2015 when my IGG original Sondors arrived. I got my first "real" eMTB in early 2016, which is when I started riding in the popular 3k acre trail system in my literal backyard a few times a week year round no pavement riding necessary ).

When I saw great deals I bought more so friends whose wives wouldn't let them get their own could join me at eMTB pace - the exception being my ex-enduro racer friend who could keep up on his push bike (he actually smoked me on flat but severely technical terrain - I'm a non-athletic, purely recreational rider).

In 2017 I saw another ebike (that wasn't riding with me) for the first time on trails - turned out to be a downhill racer who said she used her Levo to train on "recovery" rides. Until late 2019, however, I didn't see another ebike on trails not riding with me already - the regional MTB ass'n (NEMBA) had a staunch anti-ebike campaign going since 2013. That ebike rider turned out to be a 72 year old retiree who's been MTBing since the 1980s - he had a Haibike Sduro FatSix and has since become a riding buddy.

PS: I recently learned from an Internat'l MTB Ass'n co-founder that the 20+ year Exec Dir of NEMBA was recently ousted, and rumor has it that it had a LOT to do with his over-the-top anti-eMTB rhetoric. As it happens, much of the membership is AARP-eligible, and want to keep riding their beloved MTB trails into their retirement!

 

[Mr. Coffee]

As for locals, there are about a dozen of us that have e-bikes. About half of them are RadRovers and the other half is an, ahem, eclectic mix. Although I see more Treks (local bike shop is selling them).

When the tourists (tourons?) are here I see a lot of them. Again many many RadRovers.

Pedegos are rented and sold nearby. Rads are rented somewhat further away.

 

[J.R.]

I went for a ride on the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) yesterday, about 43 miles. I don't think I saw a hundred bikes all day, probably closer to 75 and every rider looked over 50 years old. Nothing scientific about any of these observations. The thing that surprised me was just how many ebikes we saw. We didn't have our bikes unloaded when we had our first two ebike sightings. We didn't count the ebikes all day, which was a good thing because I don't have that many fingers and toes. At least 40% of the bikes were ebikes. It wouldn't surprise me if it was 50/50.

We did ride the steepest part of the GAP/C&O trail, the ebikes really made it a joy to ride. I said to my buddy, when we passed a guy really struggling, that I felt a little guilty, but I got over it very quickly

 

[Marci jo]

Same here. Seeing more ebikes along the trails.
Some interesting bikes:
- Lots of Treks, mostly Verve but some Allants lately
- Tons of Specialized. Vados & Comos, which have some unique colors.
- A fair amount of Electra Townies, especially with step thru frames and 26 inch wheels.
- Pedegos with their color matching rims.
- Some Rad folding bikes.
- Aventons. One of the local shops is now a dealer and can't keep them in stock.
- A few huge fat tire ebikes. I'm guessing Rad but maybe Juiced. You can hear them coming due to the tire noise.
- And some very interesting recumbents that have kits installed. These are especially fun and the owners really like explaining the background.
- Of course other brands that I simply catch a glimpse as they fly by a rest stop.

It's all fabulous to see how many people are back into cycling again.

 

[harryS]

Might have seen one today, black bike with a black hub, but that's only about the third one all month, We been riding every day too. Maybe the ebikers are going to more scenic areas.

 

[Dallant]

Not many yet. Lots of folks biking but maybe 3-5% max are ebikes. I generally hear them as i meet them since I’m not really looking.

 

[bikeman242]

Early in 2014 I started looking into ebikes. At that point in time I'd never seen an ebike in the wild. Or if I did, I didn't know it. I was commuting by bike and the hills were getting steeper, the winds were getting stronger and I wanted help. Later in 2014 I purchased my first ebike.

I live in rural Pennsylvania and at that time it was months before I saw another ebike. In the first year I could've counted ebike sightings on one hand. Every year I saw more and more, but the numbers were never great. Last year at this time I really had the feeling 2019 was going to be the year ebikes would hit the big time. They sort of did, but again the numbers weren't what one would call big.

Christmas day 2019. In my travels that day I saw three brand new ebikes, ridden by people that didn't look like the typical cold weather cyclists. Long parkas and knit mittens with wool hats. These ebikes were obviously Christmas presents. I took that as a healthy sign that ebikes were popular enough to be given as gifts. Is that the big time? Maybe!

Monday of this week, February 3, we had an unusually warm day. Temperature was 60°F and sunny. I got together with another ebiker and we decided to ride the Susquehanna River Trail. On a typical weekday in winter you'd be lucky to see a handful of cyclists. I guess there must've been a rash of Monday after the Super Bowl flu cases, because the trail had summertime levels of cyclists in the afternoon. It didn't take long before we had our first ebike sighting. Then another, and another. We stopped counting at around 15! I've never seen 15 ebikes in one day on a rural trail in Pennsylvania.

I'm sure these numbers are nothing to many of you. On a good summer day I might see three to five ebikes. Will 2020 be the year ebikes hit the big time? The roaring 20's?

I was thinking of driving up to the susquehanna river trail. What is your recommended itinerary - parking, bathroom stops, etc.?

 

[Taylor57]

On my daily ride though the touristy section of Palm Springs, I see an average of maybe 20-30 bike riders on a daily basis with around 2 or 3 being electric. We have a bike shop that rents them downtown and I'm guessing a fair % of the ones I see are rentals...

 

[J.R.]

I was thinking of driving up to the susquehanna river trail. What is your recommended itinerary - parking, bathroom stops, etc.?

Sent you a PM on that.

 

[Hectors Ghost]

90% are fat-tire, and/or folding Chinese junk with hub-motors. The remaining 10% are about any ebike being sold today.

 

[Sierratim]

Saw what I'm pretty sure was a pair of Specialized Vado SLs up on the San Juan Ridge last weekend. I was stopped refilling my water bottle when they rode on by, without a wave or a nod I might add! I put myself back together and turned in their direction, not expecting to see them again. I caught sight of them within a couple of miles and was up with them at ~4 miles when they turned off the seemingly endless uphill grade. Go Vado 5!

 

[BigNerd]

I see mostly rear hub drives on different paved trails throughout SoCal.

Mostly fat tires, Lectric XPs, Rads and some Sondors. I don't really see many mid-drives because these are casual routes. Up near a local area where mountain biking is popular, that's where the mid-drive eMTBs show up.

 

[Sierratim]

There's a Pedego dealer in Old Town Sacramento that rents ebikes. You see quite a few of these on the American River trail within maybe 10 miles of Old Town.

More and more I'm seeing what I believe to be overpowered (>1hp/746W) fat tire bikes on the paved American River trail. Why do I believe they're overpowered? They blow by us without pedaling when we're riding at the posted 15mph speed limit. Lots of tire noise!

 

[ElevenAD]

i have been seeing more Fatbikes lately,both FullFat and Folding,Rad,juiced and even a Biktrix.

 

[antboy]

Since the last time I saw this thread, I've noticed that the NCM Moscow (and their fat tire variant) appear to have taken the number one spot away from Amego for the SkipTheDishes/UberEats/DoorDash rider. I'm sure Amego doesn't care TOO much, since they sell the NCM in store.

Other popular hub motor bikes are still from Rad and Rize (I've seen multiple colours, so I know it's not the same guy unless he repaints every couple of days)

For mid-drives, because Amego has their store here, I'm seeing a number of Gazelles (mainly the one with the rear rack battery that has had a sale running this summer). Specialized (Vado 3s and 4s given the colour combos) and Trek (Verve 3s, one Allant 7) also have a showing, as well as a couple of Norcos (Scene VLT and Sight VLT). Oddly, I dont' recall seeing a Giant this year, but I know the local Giant shop has been low on stock for months.

Seen a couple of Cannondales (Tesoro Neo X Remixte, and Canvas Neo), and my guess is that's because MEC (like REI but for Canada) started stocking them earlier in the summer.

There's a few randos I didn't catch the brand of, and an Aventon Pace that's been parked across the street without a battery for a few weeks, because I can see building debris in the uncovered battery slot... trust me I cringe whenever I walk by it.

 

[rdowns]

On the Mickelson Rail Trail this week, maybe about 1/2 of what I saw were ebikes.

 

[Deacon Blues]

Lots of ebikes where I live (Vancouver Island, of the coast of British Columbia), but that's not surprising, since Qualicum Beach/Parksville has the oldest average age of any city/town in Canada. Retirement mecca here.

 

[Art Deco]

Other than an ebike group ride with @J.R., I have only seen 1 ebike in the wild, an eTrike that a neighbor was testing. I do see some conventional bikes on the local rail trail and back roads but very few.

 

[johnriggins410]

i work in NYC and out there its not even close Arrow E-Bikes are all over the place! i see between 5 and 10 on any given day.
second would be RadWagons i see them often also.

im in nyc too and your right, arrow is all over the place. also ancheer!

 

[TForan]

I see more e-bikes than analog since last year. Around 3 to 1.