Will Ebikes become a fad in the US?

[ChezCheese:)]

And article in the Seattle Times about ebikes. They're not a fad:

Bike sales are rising faster than expected. While the cause is hard to pin down, most point to high fuel prices.

Seattle’s Rad Power Bikes, Gregg’s Cycle among those riding another e-bike boom

Bike sales are rising faster than expected. While the cause is hard to pin down, most point to high fuel prices.

www.seattletimes.com

 

[sc00ter]

I still see ebikes as a fad. Most Americans want air conditioning and the luxuries of automobiles. I have friends who recently purchased a ebike and I know they won't ride it when the weather gets hot, or there's a threat of rain, cold in the winter and other weak excuses. Think fair weather Harley rider. I predict as the gas prices go back down these ebikes will get ridden less and less. But, this being said, anytime a bicycle of any kind gets ridden its one less car on the road.

 

[fooferdoggie]

I still see ebikes as a fad. Most Americans want air conditioning and the luxuries of automobiles. I have friends who recently purchased a ebike and I know they won't ride it when the weather gets hot, or there's a threat of rain, cold in the winter and other weak excuses. Think fair weather Harley rider. I predict as the gas prices go back down these ebikes will get ridden less and less. But, this being said, anytime a bicycle of any kind gets ridden its one less car on the road.

yep but ebike batteries dont like sitting around and I think we will see a lot of bad batteries in the future.

 

[theemartymac]

Ebikes solve unique transportation (parking, costs, ease of use, etc.) issues. Ebikes are more expensive and complicated than conventional bicycles. The small bicycle shops are disappearing. I am in my sixties and live in New Orleans. I have witnessed the small bike shops disappear, however, I just noticed a new large Trek bike store. It got me wondering if Trek believes they need a new shiny (dealership) to push out the newer pricier Ebikes.

It seems that a large percentage of people who would ride Ebikes are unable (or do not prefer) to perform maintenance on regular bikes, not to mention the complexity of an Ebike. It seems there are business opportunities for people who may be interested in repairing Ebikes. But, are inexpensive Ebikes even repairable if you can find a repair shop and are willing to shell out what may be more expensive hourly rates?

Ebikes certainly are appropriate for those with a touch of mechanical/electrical handiness from a cost and maintenance standpoint. But will Ebikes ever become mainstream?

I have no idea what the future holds for Ebikes in the USA.

The fact that Trek and Specialized in particular are buying out LBS' at alarming rates (discussed in other thread here on EBR) says 2 things at least:

1. They see the need and/or value to remove the competition and complexity of small dealer agreements and support models.
2. They see the value in establishing high-overhead brick and mortar stores, despite the obvious risk in these times of increasing e-commerce.

They can potentially make more money and streamline shipping/service/warranty processes if they have corporate stores, and they can avoid all the training programs required to support LBS mechanics and constant upgrade training for technical advancements. They 'should' be able to improve service consistency (both sales and repair), but there is big risk associated with assuming that huge overhead and holding your own inventory. The big brands wouldn't be doing this if they thought the market would collapse, or their sales numbers would fall below sustainable levels. And this is in a highly seasonal industry in most of the world to boot.

And specific to ebikes, as North American cities increase in density, ebikes have increasing potential value to people. Just try and get a good residential parking spot in downtown Toronto or Vancouver! Those of us that live in bike-friendly cities ('warm' west coast here) see how bikes have been an institutional form of transportation for many, many years, and the heavy investment in expensive bike infrastructure is only drawing more people to it. I see a huge transition to ebikes happening amongst commuters here in Victoria BC, and since this is existing bikers changing from acoustic to electric as much as it is new riders joining the tribe, I think this is a safe bet. I'm a perfect example of someone who simply couldn't commute to work on my acoustic (40km round-trip), but i can on my electric.

I accept there is always a fad element to consumer trends, but bikes are bikes, and good ebikes are harder and harder to differentiate from ordinary bikes. It's not like scooters or Segway's that are more novel and trendy than practical. Bikes have been practical for a hundred years now...

 

[Cowlitz]

I saw another ebike in my sparsely populated town. Don't know what kind, but was hub drive with a battery like my 2017 Radmini has.
We have no bike lanes here. Or trails.

 

[tomjasz]

I still see ebikes as a fad. Most Americans want air conditioning and the luxuries of automobiles. I have friends who recently purchased a ebike and I know they won't ride it when the weather gets hot, or there's a threat of rain, cold in the winter and other weak excuses. Think fair weather Harley rider. I predict as the gas prices go back down these ebikes will get ridden less and less. But, this being said, anytime a bicycle of any kind gets ridden its one less car on the road.

every Winter I see more year round riders in Minnesnowta. In 2014 I saw 1 eBike in winter. Years like this with very little snow and ice and I’ve seen at least a dozen. And it’s a small city, 25,000, and I’m seldom out mornings so I miss the work bike traffic. New security cam will be interesting. I’m excited to see what the Eufy 2C will reveal.

 

[Art Deco]

The fact that Trek and Specialized in particular are buying out LBS' at alarming rates (discussed in other thread here on EBR) says 2 things at least:

1. They see the need and/or value to remove the competition and complexity of small dealer agreements and support models.
2. They see the value in establishing high-overhead brick and mortar stores, despite the obvious risk in these times of increasing e-commerce.

They can potentially make more money and streamline shipping/service/warranty processes if they have corporate stores, and they can avoid all the training programs required to support LBS mechanics and constant upgrade training for technical advancements. They 'should' be able to improve service consistency (both sales and repair), but there is big risk associated with assuming that huge overhead and holding your own inventory. The big brands wouldn't be doing this if they thought the market would collapse, or their sales numbers would fall below sustainable levels. And this is in a highly seasonal industry in most of the world to boot.

And specific to ebikes, as North American cities increase in density, ebikes have increasing potential value to people. Just try and get a good residential parking spot in downtown Toronto or Vancouver! Those of us that live in bike-friendly cities ('warm' west coast here) see how bikes have been an institutional form of transportation for many, many years, and the heavy investment in expensive bike infrastructure is only drawing more people to it. I see a huge transition to ebikes happening amongst commuters here in Victoria BC, and since this is existing bikers changing from acoustic to electric as much as it is new riders joining the tribe, I think this is a safe bet. I'm a perfect example of someone who simply couldn't commute to work on my acoustic (40km round-trip), but i can on my electric.

I accept there is always a fad element to consumer trends, but bikes are bikes, and good ebikes are harder and harder to differentiate from ordinary bikes. It's not like scooters or Segway's that are more novel and trendy than practical. Bikes have been practical for a hundred years now...

Very good post. I see things resembling the early days of the automobile when there were dozens of brands ... Hudson, Hupmobile, Packard, etc ... that disappeared as high volumes of cars first appeared on the roads . From fad to niche quickly.

 

[ChezCheese:)]

Seattle is full of ebikes. I see them all over the place, when I go there. And that's not counting the app rental type (Lime, Jump or whatever the latest survivor is.)

 

[Ken M]

I honestly hope you are right.

Unfortunately, I've already seen ALL e-bikes banned on three of the trails I ride regularly, due to numerous complaints about unruly riders.

Were they riding compliant ebikes?

 

[6zfshdb]

Were they riding compliant ebikes?

According to the posted signs, ALL ebikes are banned and none are "compliant".

 

[Art Deco]

Yeah, it's all or nothing again.

 

[tomjasz]

f*ck em. I ride where I ride. PLEASE ticket me and hang on for the fallout! Fucktards.

 

[Elkman]

The e-bike market is confusing with all the drive types and companies changing motors year to year and even model to model and then the electronics controllers that are proprietary. Over time there will be some standardization of motors and battery packs but that is more than a few years away.

On the other hand there are "good enough" Class I e-bikes that sell for less than $2,000 which is not a lot of money. I paid the equivalent of that amount for my Peugot PX 10 bike in 1970.

 

[tomjasz]

well cages have never been standardized. I don’t see it happening. Many bikes share the same maker of displays but firmware and connectors are different. In a few instance connectors are reversed making the swap a PIA for the riders without soldering skills.

 

[m@Robertson]

f*ck em. I ride where I ride. PLEASE ticket me and hang on for the fallout! Fucktards.

Abso-damn-lutely. I don't ride any more aggressively - less so, in fact - than an ordinary bicycle and I'm happy to go up against a city ordinance etc. As someone who qualifies as having a disability who must have an ebike to ride at all, and who rides for transportation, not recreation, thats a form of discrimination that is (relatively) easy to prosecute. The reality is, as I think I mentioned above, that once the cops start getting into actual trail enforcement its not the ebikers that get the attention. Just last week I saw some jackass on an analog bike dart in between a narrow gap of two groups of pedestrians, undoubtedly scaring the hell out of the little old lady who found herself facing a 200 lb, 10 mph wheeled invader popping up right in her face from behind.