As an avid cyclist I can understand other cyclist’s discomfort with electric bikes using bike designated paths. I too take issue with people zipping along without actually pedaling. I think about all the time and effort advocates have put into the fight to get safer bike routes. BUT at the same time I ride an electric bike and will continue to use it for my commute.

As noted by BC E-biker, “in the end, i think e bikes open up bicycling to a broader range of people. at very least, they create a transitional vehicle for people who are ready to trade their cars for an honest bicycle. change is incremental. lets be nice.” I agree! Change is incremental.

I don’t generally get worked up about stuff but it’s pretty clear cut to me that when you go nascar on bike paths that families and children are given for recreation it’s the wrong direction completely. I’m also fairly upset that people would ask me to join the club of promoting bicycle/ped paths for non-motorized vehicles and then later those people start promoting motorized vehicles on those trails.

I don’t really care about them in bike lanes on the street or if it’s a truly handicap person though. But some 35 year old guy that wants to use the Greenway in MPLS for his 5 mile commute to work? No way! It’s basically a way to avoid the traffic other motorized vehicles have to face and put your motor on our non-motorized bike/ped trail.

Back to the elitists thing. You know I had a few mopeds when I was kid. I also had a few dirt bikes. I got my first motorbike when I was 5. It was an Arctic Cat. As a teenager I regularly tore the hell out of the Fishbox and Potfin farm fields. I also regularly got shot with salt pellets and ticked by the cops. I got my first 155 mph motorcycle at 19. That thing was f-ing fast as hell. It went from 0 – 60 in about 3.5 seconds on one wheel. That was at about 13,500 rpm’s and before I even shifted to second gear. You want an elitist point of view? Get f-ing real motorcycle.

This is what I see happening in MN with this. 1. Say no them and things stay as they are on non-parkway routes. (Greenway, Three Rivers Trails…)
2. Allow them and things change. There will be user conflicts due to the speed and carelessness of the riders and a speed limit that doesn’t exist will be imposed. Then we get to go back to the streets and hand it over to other people because who wants to ride at 10 mph? This simply isn’t being thought through far enough. As far as me driving to work and you cheating? I don’t even own a car. It’s not about that. It’s about keeping trails that were designated as non-motorized free of motorized vehicles. But, it is cheating. It’s riding a motorcycle.

perhaps neo-ludite pedestrains might agree with you Jim, but let’s get wise to the problems that face our city and the world.

i am able-bodied, and like Jim H, love to pedal. but loads of people (ie. those who prepetuate gas consumption) are not so inclinded.

in the end, i think e bikes open up bicycling to a broader range of people. at very least, they create a transitional vehicle for people who are ready to trade their cars for an honest bicycle.

change is incremental. lets be nice.

Happy, safe cycling everyone (even jim h).

B!

The ignorance of your statements strongly suggest that you are as ignorant on the subject of e-bikes as you are about the people who ride them. I own four bicycles two of which are e-bikes that I use for commuting. Now, I’ve been commuting to and from work by e-bike for three+ years and guess what: I always pedal (as do most of my fellow e-bikers). If I didn’t pedal I wouldn’t have dropped forty+ pounds during my first 10 months of commuting.

Yes, I dropped over forty pounds riding an e-bike.

I find that there have been a number of damned good reasons to go electric besides the fact that e-bikes are fast, fun and make good economic sense. Consider this: I don’t require a shower or change of clothes when I get to work, I can haul significantly more cargo and I’m no longer the least bit bothered biking to work in poor weather. Rain, wind, extreme heat, bring it on! I’m pedaling my bike at a steady pace regardless of environment or geography and I can choose when and how much I increase my exertion levels. Bet you can’t say that. Did I mention fast? I average 35 kmh on the flat, still pedaling of course, fully laden with all my cargo. Hills? Who cares. Bring ’em on!

Another point to consider is that e-bikers have all the same concerns and challenges as any other cyclists and alienating us with your mind-numbingly ignorant stance doesn’t help anyone concerned with issues of bicycling advocacy.

To those who call e-bikers cheaters (and seriously, who and what are we cheating? Last time I checked commuting and pleasure riding weren’t competitive sports) then I say that similar logic dictates that those who use gears, lighter frames, skinny race slicks, wear flamboyant lycra clothes, coast down hills and draft must also be cheaters (but I don’t because I’m not so sadly linear in my thinking).

Lastly, my successes as an e-bike commuter have inspired me to go car free. Hopefully I can unload my car this Summer. Tell you what, jim h, if you’re interested I’ll sell it to you cheap. It’s a sport coupe with a spacious hatchback so you’ll be able to load your bike into the trunk whenever you want to ride trails outside of town.

Happy cycling.

Momentum calls itself “the magazine for self-propelled people.” So what’s the promotion of electric powered vehicles? This is a total sellout.

Quick observations – I do not need to peddle on flats and the motor dose 90% of the work up hill. I cruise @ 20mph and go on sidewalks, roads( dirt/paved) etc. It is so much fun and I love plugging in to charge. No gas stations for me! Now my wife and I will ditch the second car when we retire and have one + 2 e-bikes.

I purchased a kit and new bike, no big deal to assemble. I think that a-lot of people who want to get places fast and reliably without sweating and arriving tired will be into this. It just works!

ENJOY!