People are going to give approving or dirty or indifferent looks no matter where you go or what you ride. Hell, long time posters within this forum site get insulted over what was written to them and so, they get outraged, make a public spectacle of it and then, leave. It's unfortunate we live in a time where we can't be like a Duck and just let the rain drops roll right off the feathers. The last thing I want to concern my day about is what some schmoe, walking down the middle of our local riding path; thinks of what I am riding......the only opinion that counts is my own......
In my travels on bike or car, when I see these moped styled ebikes, the dominant thing that stands out are two things: the operator is using the throttle and not pedaling; and two, they are young enough where I believe they should be pedaling that bike. Or any other styled bike, for that matter.
Facts: The most pedaling efficiencies and the most potential mileage-per-charge, will be accomplished on the traditional triangular framed bicycle (leaving recumbents out of this discussion). Long distance tourers, day trippers, go-to-the-store-and-pick-up-a-quart-of-milk types; all the way to the race across america, tour de france and world traveler types are doing it on the safety framed bike. And not on that moped thing.
My ride pictured below: 4 inch wide Jumbo Jim tires that allow me at 25 psi to travel any roadway the moped does and aired down to 5 psi, sees it go through soft, sugar sand roads that moped would have a hard time doing. Dual suspension for frost heaved roadways or off-camber trails. Dead reliable Yamaha drive system that delivers about 40 miles on the high power setting; while providing day-after-day set-it-and-forget-it reliability. Those front and rear racks I put on it feature a maximum weight capacity of 70 pounds on each rack. That's alot of carrying potential. Those are Ortlieb office bags; I have other bags, front and rear, by Ortlieb, to do a supported tour should I choose to do so. The difference between the OMM racks here and every other rack on the market is that all of the weight carried in the bags, are supported by the through-axle......NOT a small, 5mm, fine thread nut and bolt. And that is a big, big difference.
I guess the moped is okay if you want to go styling down the local boardwalk in summer. But if you really want to go beyond the boardwalk, say, 20-30 plus miles down that unknown trail or road, you need something like this:
Well, that's my biased take on the matter!
