Learning to ride an ebike: How ebiking skills are different from general cycling skills, and how they develop

[indianajo]

What is a good ebike for carrying air conditioners and lawn mowers?

Xtracycle edgerunner, yubabikes spicey curry bosch. Low cargo deck, stretch frame.
I'm happy for sl_duck that he is still 20 something, or younger. Actually, I was never that coordinated. And hopping off curbs is for shoes, not bicycles. No wonder other people break spokes.

 

[AHicks]

What is a good ebike for carrying air conditioners and lawn mowers?

Somebody else's....

 

[christob]

Try practicing the moving-while-boarding technique. My favorite, and if you master it for dismounting while still moving you are instantly cool as you go from riding to walking beside your bike in one fluid motion. This guy demonstrates the boarding at the 1min mark:

The mount shown at 1:32 is crazy! But I can see I'd probably try it if I had that full-suspension jumper!

 

[AHicks]

Try practicing the moving-while-boarding technique. My favorite, and if you master it for dismounting while still moving you are instantly cool as you go from riding to walking beside your bike in one fluid motion. This guy demonstrates the boarding at the 1min mark:

I used to mount/dismount that way, but then I got old and no longer have the confidence in my coordination/balance reflexes. Still find myself doing it on occasion with the right conditions and a bike I know really well.

 

[TForan]

I haven't ever even thought about it. Throw your leg over and go.

 

[harryS]

I haven't ever even thought about it. Throw your leg over and go.

Try it from the other side sometime. Unless you are ambidextrous, you will think a bit about how to do about it. I decided it was impossible from the crank-gear side unless I was south of the equator.

 

[DDBB]

I do the lean over technique because of the bag on my rear rack. My wife laughs as she straddles her step through in a milisecond. The push off and swing your leg over is great and how I always rode when I was younger but if you try it and can't get your leg over, you are doomed

 

[TForan]

Try it from the other side sometime. Unless you are ambidextrous, you will think a bit about how to do about it. I decided it was impossible from the crank-gear side unless I was south of the equator.

Why would I do that ?

 

[Toomanycats]

I used to mount/dismount that way, but then I got old and no longer have the confidence in my coordination/balance reflexes. Still find myself doing it on occasion with the right conditions and a bike I know really well.

I admit to using the curb as a “mounting block” wherever I can. It’s easier on my back. I should really have a step through, but I do love my bike....

 

[harryS]

Why would I do that ?

Agreed, but a fast moving rock bounced off my left ankle a week ago and it it was too painful to do the flying mount off the left foot, but I could still pedal. I wondered if I could mount from the other side. No way. I would have hurt the other foot too. Good to have a bike for all purposes. Dragged out the step-thru.

 

[AHicks]

Damn those fast moving rocks...... so embarassing!

Great topic. Something so simple can be so thought provoking.....

 

[ez3putt]

Swing a leg over this. One of the reasons I wanted a step-thru. I just sit on the saddle with one toe on the ground, nudge the throttle and start pedaling.

 

[MechaNut]

Lessons I've learned:

1) If you have to lift an e-bike (onto a repair stand, bike rack, etc) take the battery off first. It shaves close to 10 pounds off the lift weight. E-bikes are heavy.
2) Direct drive bikes are very tail heavy and have a much different center of balance on the horizontal axis.
3) The motor helps most whenever I would have had the urge to stand up in the pedals and crank hard. Use the correct gear and standing up and pumping hard can be a thing of the past.

 

[TForan]

Lessons I've learned:

1) If you have to lift an e-bike (onto a repair stand, bike rack, etc) take the battery off first. It shaves close to 10 pounds off the lift weight. E-bikes are heavy.
2) Direct drive bikes are very tail heavy and have a much different center of balance on the horizontal axis.
3) The motor helps most whenever I would have had the urge to stand up in the pedals and crank hard. Use the correct gear and standing up and pumping hard can be a thing of the past.

The only time I stand up is to stretch . No need to, even on the steepest hills.

 

[AHicks]

I stand to get the blood circulating in my butt again.....

 

[AlanDB]

Swing a leg over this. One of the reasons I wanted a step-thru. I just sit on the saddle with one toe on the ground, nudge the throttle and start pedaling.

This is the one main reason I wish my e-bike had a throttle (it doesn't), although with the Shimano Nexus IGH, it is easy to shift to a low gear for a smooth pedal-power start even if you forgot to downshift before stopping. That said, it seems to me they could safely put a throttle on a mid-drive bike that has a IGH, and just have an electronic cut off for the throttle if there is too much of torque draw when you try to use it from a stop in too high of a gear. Oh well ... just dreaming about would be ideal. I suspect some day mid-drive ebikes with auto-shifting hubs will have a throttle.

 

[DDBB]

The Yamaha system works great as just slight pedal pressure engages the motor so starting off uphill or in traffic is never a problem as long as you have a foot on a pedal and are pushing down. It's not jumpy either.. Light pressure gives light motor response, firm pressure gives more

 

[vincent]

AlanDB the wattwagon has all that