All right. So, let's answer the question. Are electric bikes cheating? Now, I see this a lot. I hear people sometimes when I ride my bike, like, "Oh, you're cheating. You're cheating." And, my answer to it is no, and I want to explain a couple of reasons why. So, number one. Electric bikes are a whole different category. Yes, they're called bikes and you can pedal them. But an electric bike is really a new form of transportation and the way people are using electric bikes is totally different than standard bikes.
Now, not to say some people don't use them the same way, but it's really brought a whole new crop of people out that are out on two wheels that weren't before. And so, you know, electric bikes aren't cheating in the sense that a lot of riders on electric bikes aren't trying to accomplish the same things that they would do if they were on a regular bike and they wouldn't even be on two wheels if it wasn't for this new category of electric bikes.
Of Course eBikes Are Cheating… But They’re Not At The Same Time.
So, I don't believe that electric bikes are cheating. Now, if you were riding next to a friend and you were racing him and you had a motor and he didn't, is that cheating? Of course. But electric bikes are a whole new type of rider for different use cases, opening us to the potential of how we can use two wheels to get us different places. So, I don't think they're cheating. But comment below and tell me what you think. I want to hear what your opinions are out there and what your thought on electric bikes are.
Class 2 e-bikes have the same maximum allowed speed as Class 1 models, which is 20 mph. However, in addition to the pedal-assist function, they also have a throttle. Therefore, they can be ridden both as a pedelec and as an electric scooter.
Fact: This is a myth. Electric-assist bicycles require the same amount of maintenance, most of the time. On a day-to-day basis, all you need to do is clean and lube the chain, inflate the tires, and make sure the brakes and derailleurs are adjusted. Of course, you also need to charge the battery. If you buy a quality e-bike, the electric components rarely need any maintenance or repairs.
If you wish, you can pedal on your own, without any assistance, and then ramp up the assistance level when you come across a steep hill or become tired. Depending on the country and the local laws, electrically-powered bicycles usually have a maximum assisted speed between 15 mph and 28 mph. Electric-assist bicycles usually have power or cadence sensors which allows them to gauge how much power to supplement the rider with, depending on how FAST or how HARD they're pedaling at a given time.
There are many right reasons to get an e-bike and no wrong reasons. There are as many ways of using an electric bike as there are traditional bikes, if not more. You can commute, run errands, haul cargo, get fit, or ride leisurely. One of the main reasons why people get an electric bicycle is because they want to ride farther or go faster than their bodies allow them to on a traditional bike. On an electrified bicycle, you can cover significantly greater distances in the same amount of time while getting much less tired. Who wouldn't like that? Some hardcore cyclists might consider e-bikes to be a way of cheating (which is far from the truth), but they're not primarily intended for performance cyclists anyway. Instead of cheating, we call it "playing smart". Electric bikes can also help you save a lot of money in the long run if you replace your car with one. You'll not only save money on gas but also on car maintenance fees, as well as on medical costs by improving your health and lowering your risks of chronic diseases. Last but not any less important, electric bikes are a blast to ride! Once you feel the push they provide and feel the ease with which you can accelerate and maintain speed, it's hard to go back!
Almost all modern electric bicycles come with lithium-ion batteries. However, in the past, e-bikes used to be powered by lead-acid, nickel-cadmium, or nickel metal hydride batteries. These are now considered to be outdated because they are heavier, less durable, and less eco-friendly. Lithium-ion batteries are the same type that's found in electric cars and most other electronic devices we use every day, including smartphones and laptop computers.
Class 2 e-bikes have the same maximum allowed speed as Class 1 models, which is 20 mph. However, in addition to the pedal-assist function, they also have a throttle. Therefore, they can be ridden both as a pedelec and as an electric scooter. Class 2 electric bicycles are less common than Class 1 models because they are usually more heavily regulated in many countries around the world. The throttle is usually added to cargo bikes and heavier city and mountain bikes to help riders pick up speed more easily when starting from a dead stop. In parts of Europe, Class 2 e-bikes are considered to be motor vehicles, so they are banned from trails and other bicycle infrastructure. Their top speed is also limited to 15 mph, with motor wattage of up to 250W.
Fact: E-bikes don't equal cheating, they equal empowering! If you're riding an e-bike, it does not mean that you're cheating, it means that you're riding past your current abilities, which is the only way for some people to ride. Plus, you can still get a hard workout on an e-bike and lose weight, if that's your goal. Just don't go around stealing people's Strava QOMs/KOMs, pretending you're on a road bike.
The accusation that e-bikes are cheating completely falls apart if the alternative is hopping in a car. A 2017 research paper in Transportation Research offers some insight. First, the authors examined 14 older studies showing that access to e-bikes reduced car trips substantially, with the bikes replacing cars for between 35 and 76 percent of trips. Then the authors set up an original study in which 80 residents of Brighton, England, were loaned e-bikes to use; here they found a more modest effect, with a roughly 20 percent reduction in car miles traveled.
The bike industry has clearly decided that electrified bicycles are the next cash cow that needs milking, and brands are falling over themselves trying to stick motors and batteries in or on everything with two wheels. \nJudging by the comments we get on BikeRadar, some of you don\u2019t consider riding an e-bike to be cycling at all.\nThe bikes themselves are dismissed as \u201cmotorbikes\u201d despite the fact that a) you do actually need to pedal on an e-bike and b) the law (in Great Britain at least) does not differentiate between a limited-to-25kph-e-bike and an un-powered bicycle.\n\n It\u2019s got a motor, but it\u2019s not a motorbike, okay? Matthew Allen \/ Immediate MediaThere is also a tendency to portray riding an e-bike as a form of cheating, and while it\u2019s clear that e-bikes could never be used in competition alongside regular machines (duh), I see no reason why they can\u2019t coexist peacefully for recreational and utility purposes. \nE-bike vs. road bike: clash of the Giants\nE-bikes around the world\nWhile many European countries seem to have wholeheartedly embraced electrical assistance for its practical benefits, we in the UK and US are, as ever, lagging behind. \nThat\u2019s largely a reflection of our generally woeful approach to cycling as a part of everyday life: our infrastructure sucks, our drivers are not properly educated on cyclists\u2019 rights on the road, and cycling as a whole is consistently misrepresented in the media.\nIn the US, land access issues mean there\u2019s considerable (and not wholly unjustified) opposition to e-MTBs, but that\u2019s a very specific problem that needn\u2019t stand in the way of their adoption for more utilitarian purposes. \nThe real problem with e-MTBs\nFundamentally, I can\u2019t see e-bikes as anything but a good thing\u2026\nWhy I think e-bikes matter\nE-bikes sweep aside so many of the excuses people have for not riding bikes and they can also buy ageing or less able riders extra time on two wheels.\nIf they get more people riding we all benefit from the safety-in-numbers effect, and most importantly of all, I think, e-bikes have the potential to make our towns and cities far nicer places. \n\n E-MTBs and fancy road bikes are cool, but it\u2019s sensible commuters that really matter here Russell Eich \/ Immediate Media\nI\u2019m not anti-car by any stretch \u2014 I love driving and I (gasp) actually do it for fun sometimes \u2014 but I\u2019ll be the first to acknowledge that cars are a pretty terrible mode of transport in a crowded urban setting. They take up a lot of space, they\u2019re noisy, and they have an awful effect on air quality. \nImagine if all those single-occupant cars in the city were replaced by people on e-bikes \u2014 where\u2019s the downside?\nI don\u2019t believe e-bikes will ever replace the non-powered variety and I certainly don\u2019t want them to, but I\u2019m very glad they exist. \nI think it\u2019s high time we stopped worrying about whether e-bikes count as proper bicycles and embraced them for the very clear benefits they offer.\u00a0\nOf course, it may be that you agree with me on all this, but you don\u2019t actually want to read about them.\nSo, do you care about e-bikes?","image":"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/21\/2019\/03\/oty-e-bikes-1506688154732-u57u76vhfg6p-f690702.jpg?quality=90&resize=768,574","width":768,"height":574,"headline":"Do you actually care about e-bikes?","author":["@type":"Person","name":"Matthew Loveridge"],"publisher":"@type":"Organization","name":"BikeRadar","url":"https:\/\/www.bikeradar.com","logo":"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/21\/2019\/03\/cropped-White-Orange-da60b0b-04d8ff9.png?quality=90&resize=265,53","width":182,"height":60,"speakable":"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","xpath":["\/html\/head\/title","\/html\/head\/meta[@name='description']\/@content"],"url":"https:\/\/www.bikeradar.com\/features\/do-you-actually-care-about-e-bikes\/","datePublished":"2017-09-29T15:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2019-12-16T12:34:39+00:00"}] Do you actually care about e-bikes? I think you should 2ff7e9595c
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