Yeah, cause the only choices are stuffing ones face with junk food whilst laying on a couch, or having your arse carried around with almost no physical effort on an e-bike or e-scooter. Nothing in between. How about just go for a walk instead. Everybody knows how to walk. It's safe, available to everybody at any age. Best form of physical activity. Now, if it is used for commuting to work or to shop instead of using a car, then that's different.
I live in Ireland and having an ebike has virtually eliminated the need for me to use a car (and in most cases it's replaced bus journeys for me) because I can go a lot further and climb hills easily on it, when I want to go on a longer journey I take my bike on a train and finish the journey on my bike, an ebike was literally one of the best purchases I've ever made. I can understand concerns about safety, environmental concerns etc. but I considered those when buying it and bought a road legal 25km/h speed restriction and quite a small battery (to reduce the impact of battery production), yes the bike does have an environmental and ethical footprint but so do cars (even an electric car will have a huge environmental/ethical footprint)
By your own definition, you're a motorized vehicle, and push bikers shouldn't have to share cycling infrastructure with you. What next? Robot assisted basketball players thinking they can enter sports competitions?
@@stephensaines7100 Not really as the maximum speed of motor assistance is 25km/h (about 15 mph) which is about the same speed someone on a non-electric bike could achieve, this means road legal e-bikes don’t really present a threat to push bikers and pedestrians. If anything e-bikes are a good thing for cycling infrastructure as they allow more people to cycle, increasing the demand for good cycle infrastructure and encouraging cities to build it, which is something I myself have seen a lot, especially with people using e-bikes for cargo transport and replacing car journeys.
in my area code , approximately 30% of the bikes on the paths are e bikes . most of them ride dangerously and incredibly fast , simply because they can .
I'm recently diagnosed Type 2 Diabetic. My GP recommended that exercise helps. I was struggling with my push bikes largely due to the very hilly terrain near where I live (South Yorkshire, UK). My ebike helps me out on the hills. I do not use the pedal assist on the flat, it's pointless to do so. It's been a game changer for me.
You are wrong! 99% of the riders of non electrical powered Bikes are also not able (or willing) to service their bikes themselve. Batteries are a very valuable resource, recycling companies are rare because the volume is too low. They last about 1000 cycles with average 50km reach we talk about 50.000km, and your Idea of producing the materials is extremely outdated. It's far more immoral to buy your Coke in a aluminum can. I'm now around 100kg (starting from 120) and I live in the alps, never the less I ride 5000km a year on my 14kg electrical E-Bike and have lots of fun. Without E, it would be 0. I was a road racer 30 years ago and I'm developing in that direction again. It seems you are just a young guy who is disappointed not to be the fastest on the road. Being an asshole does not depend on the Vehicle you are sitting on.
Ha ha, well I will concede that in your personal experience having an e-bike is making your life easier. 😁👍🏻 However you need to check your facts on battery production as I am not incorrect on that matter. Recycling of the battery is not currently economically viable and it still produces plenty of toxic by products. 😕
The best thing I heard here was: "you don't need that". Who are you talking to, this "you"? 🙂 You sound like a person who knows all people and has clue what they need - but you don't know that, do you? My point of view: 1. 27 years of cycling experience, 150 000 miles on many types of bikes, from full sus enduro up to aero road carbon bike, some commuters, hardtails, some experience as a rider participating in some competition (40 events) plus 4 different E-bikes. 2. 15 years experience as mechanic and 6 years experience in dealing with people who are my customers, 10-90 yrs old. For me - you speak/sound as a roadie :) After 19 years on normal bikes I decided to go my electric way. That was the best thing I have ever done for my and my cycling passion. 1. E-bikes will make someone lazy and make someone less fit and cause some potential weight gain. I started in 1997/80 kg bodyweight. 2023, September: 79kg/185cm. The bike doesn't make me less fit /more lazy, it KEEPS me fit. Why? Because I work 10-14 hours per day sometimes and I need cycling to get rid of stress. I live in West Yorkshire where many places arroud me, including my city offer 10-25% climbs. I don't need any challenges, my work and allday are challenges big enough. A normal bike will not allow me to relax and , definitely, won't make me to go outside so many times as my E. I believe there are many people like me. E-bike made me ride again some years ago. 2. Many of my customers started to ride when covid came. They were big, even fat, with mobility and motivation issues. But they belong to some big communities and people love to spend time together. Those ones were unable to ride with fit people but they wanted to spend time together. E-bikes allowed them to do that and that was the only way to do that. They were lazy before having no passion or regular outdoor activity. E- cycling made them move forward. What else? Some of them decided to buy normal bikes, because E-bike activity made them believe they can do that. Riding normal bikes was no joy for them when they considered buying a bike. 3. E-bikes are complicated and difficult to maintain/fix. From my experience: for most of the people a normal bike is too complicated and they can't clean the chain or replace a brake shoe or an inner tube.
I ride with a seniors cycling group where the minimum age is 65. All the new members can obviously ride their push bikes however as time progresses they begin to be not able to keep up. In the past this has resulted in them dropping out of the club due to frustration and embarrassment. With the advent of e-bikes, they are now able to continue to ride with their friends and truly benefit from the exercise and the socialization rewards cycling creates. I'm 75 and still riding a conventional bike (Ti) and have to admit I've looked at road e-bikes as a matter of interest in a possible future acquisition. As far as your comments regarding lithium battery recycling and the use of slave/labour to mine the necessary battery materials, these are old tropes that while they still exist in limited circumstance, in the majority of cases are simply no longer relevant...
I live in a hilly region, so e-bikes are a bless for less sporty and old people who still want to move around, enjoy nature and cycle a bit... it opened a new world to them, else they would stay home.... So I think there are use-cases where e-bikes have their right. I also don't fully agree with the environmental aspect. According to that logic we need to refuse all kind of products with lithium batteries... the battery of an electronic groupset is comparable with a phones battery... e-bikes of course have a bigger one, but also non-electrified cars, motorcycle, etc. have lithium batteries for starting the engine... I know Reginald is a purist, as I am generally as well, but this video I don't agree with, hehe ;-)
@@hellebarde1450 No, they are not old tropes. They are still very relevant. We are being made to believe these things, along with other waste, such as plastics or toxic waste from electronics are being recycled, but oftentimes they are not and just go to landfill, oftentimes shipped to thirds world countries and dumped there.
Lovely comment, however why not have 2 groups? Fast and slow. And if they for whatever reason lost the ability to pedal would they still be welcome in your group on an electric scooter? And if yes then would you be ok with new riders joining on electric scooters until the majority of the riders in your group are no longer peddling? I’m being somewhat facetious but only out of curiosity to the limit of what you might expect in a “cycling club.” 🙂 Also you are misinformed about battery material acquisition. The majority of Cobalt comes from Africa, specifically the Congo and it is all pretty much slave labour open cast mines. I listen to a very interesting expert talk about it on the Joe Rogan experience, he says that any company telling you that they do not get their batteries from these places are lying. We are told the mines on mechanised and modern, but when he personally went to visit them he found men and women and children digging by hand. It’s horrible and it definitely needs to be changed. All the best and excellent choice on the titanium bike. 😉👍🏻
@@82vitt That might be true and I'm against electronic crap as well - basically. But it's not the solution to avoid all electronics at all - there more high efficient recycling stations etc. will need to be built up. My opinion is one should buy high quality stuff of the products one really(!) needs, and just avoid the crap one not really needs... And e-Bikes have their right, they make less sporty and old people more sporty - which is good again for envionment too...
That feeling of being better than others,is also present in the road bike cycling "community"! At least here,in Croatia! My aluminum bike is modest, nothing to look at, doesn't look expensive,and I build it myself, from the used frame! Whenever carbonized roadies pass next to me, they never ever say hi,and they like to send that "I ride a expensive bike,so get out of my way" vibe! Even the guys with the bellies,like to pretend that they know how to ride! Their isn't many E-Bike users here, people love their cars to much!😅 I honestly don't care about speed,all I want is a bike as light as my budget allows,so I don't have to struggle, when turning those pedals! I don't own a car, just few bikes! Greetings from Croatia from Kris 😎
Thanks Kris! Well at least when someone is arrogant on a normal bike they are passing me buy because they are fitter and faster than me and hopefully have some skill to pass safely. 😂 All the best! 🙂
Speed is intoxicating. That's why guys on their lightweight racing bikes feel they're better than more civilized riders! Well, they are, actually! I'll hold my line. They can just skirt around me. If they can't, tough luck!
@@paulmcknight4137 My road ss bike weights 7.5 kg! Everything except the fork is aluminum,even the forks steerer! So, it's not a heavy bike! With the 50:18 gear ratio,I can chase even the slimmest roadies! Hahaha 🤣 Greetings from Kris 😎
I see more E-Bikes on my local MTB trail than I do normal MTB bikes these days. I've nothing against them, but they tend to beat you up the hills but then hold you up on the downhill and technical sections. I've heard all the arguments for E-Bikes, and sometimes they are valid, but 95% of the time it's a laziness issue. My heart sinks a little whenever a potentially healthy person tells me they're getting an E-bike.
Great video and you have some valid points but also some that are slightly off. You are 100% correct, someone young, healthy, and fit such as yourself has no need for an e-bike, and if your video was directed towards that demographic only spot on! You shouldn't be riding an e-bike any more than you should be riding an electric wheelchair. However, there is a demographic that is not young, fit, and healthy that refuses to just sit on the couch and finish dying! I am 60 years old and was diagnosed with bladder cancer in February of 2023 and underwent a rigorous 3 months of chemo that left me wiped out and it will be well over a year before I am back to 100%. It left me unable to ride my regular bike with any enjoyment at all as any hills and I was off pushing. A hemoglobin of 10 tends to do that to you :) I was young and cocky like you at one time and no old and decrepit person ( as you call them) could have told me anything lol. Well here I am old (and praying to get older!) but I refuse to be decrepit and my e-bike has allowed me to enjoy miles and miles of great riding outdoors. I walk as well as ride but somedays there is an out and back trail that is 15 miles long and I can't walk 30 miles. I can ride the e-bike this distance though and get some exercise and enjoy life. I am an experienced rider having ridden for decades longer than you and I obey the speed limits on trails and follow the rules of the road more than many riders I see on regular bikes. Yes, in certain urban areas, e-bike riders go way too fast, and their greater numbers are a hazard. But I also have almost been hit on the boardwalk by Lance Armstrong wannabees in full racing attire on their $5,000 carbon fiber non-e-bike bikes who completely ignore the 10 MPH speed limit. The speed limit is 10MPH no matter what kind of bike you are riding. You don't ban all cars because of ignorant drivers, you ticket and enforce the rules of the road right? Someday you will wake up and not be able to do things you did at this age through no fault of your own. I pray none of this happens to you but you would probably have a different perspective if it did. You are dead on with the lithium batteries and it is a problem. But you are contributing to this yourself as we all are in other ways. You recorded this video on something powered by lithium batteries, you have reviews on lights on your channel that use these batteries, camera reviews that use these batteries, and in this video, I see a cordless screw gun on the workbench. That is a double whammy! You are using batteries plus it's making you lazy! Just use a regular screwdriver and don't be lazy! It will make your grip much stronger and be one less battery in the world (sorry couldn't resist!). I suspect if you see an e-bike there are probably triple the amount of batteries in a 1/4 mile radius around that e-bike in cell phones. So just keep an open mind on this and again, yes, if we see someone like yourself who is young and healthy and fit on an e-bike riding like they own the road we might think what an a-hole (but sometimes we can't tell. Someone could look just like you and have an artificial leg and here we would be judging them and not have the entire story. Plus they could be on a regular bike riding like an a-hole). But if someone is on an e-bike and riding respectively and obeying the rules of the road they might just be refusing to sit on the couch and die! So I am for more enforcement of the rules no matter what the person is riding and I bet there would be just as many regular bike riders getting tickets as e-bike riders because they wrongly believe since they are on a non-powered vehicle they are not a danger. Best to you and I enjoyed the video!
I can’t remember in my video if I mentioned it or not (I did for the e-group set video) that you should only buy something like this if you are disabled. Also many people who are disabled still try to ride normal bikes with slight modifications. But I agree with the sentiment of your comment entirely. As for the argument that some of my items have lithium batteries. Yes they do, but I think it’s justified to have bike lights for safety, the argument being it’s about cost benefit. A bike light is a safety item and required by law, an E-bike is not. Also size, the E-bike battery is probably equivalent to 100s of bike lights. As for my cordless screwdriver, it’s actually a drill, (yes it can also be used for screws) but I think I’d struggle drilling into metal without electric power of some kind. 😁 For wood I’m happy to use a mechanical drill, my farther had some and I really like them. All the best and safe riding! ❤️
Honestly, your arguments don't hold a lot of water. It's obvious you don't actually believe in what you are saying. 1. Most people can't properly maintain, let alone fix, their conventional mechanical bikes either or don't have the time for it. 2. The environmental footprint is the same, if not smaller. If you are living in a contry that genrates electricity with literally anything other than coal, elecrtic vehicles are more efficient than food production. Let's face it: you have to eat very well for you ride a conventional bike, and agriculture is one of the biggest contributor to the environmental issues we are facing. Especially when it comes to meat. But even vegitatables takes a lot of space and water. And fruits you are eating might come from the same places in Africa you speak of. If you don't adjust your diet to your physical load, it will actually be detrimental to your health, but there is no "moral" excuse for that by your standards. 3. There are people who live in areas with relatively rough terrain. Good luck climbing in a single speed urban commuter, and yeah, sure you can do that with a decent mechanical MTB or roadie, but when you reach you destination, you'll smell like a horse, and not everyone has a shower at their work. With an E-Bike you can ride in your zone 2 at zone 4 speed. This might not be very harsh, you won't sweat as much, but still it is beneficial for the endurance. 4. The more vehicles you have, the more idiots you'll have on the road. That's it. There's no inherent "dumbness" to E-bikes, and the speed argument appleis to the road bikes - in fact, these bikes are even faster, and the rider has hell if a lot more reasons to be pissed off putting all the effort to accelerate only to stop, because you signal a left turn. I've actually got hit by a road bike rider as a pedestrian in a park this year precisely for that reason, and spent a month in a plaster thanks to fractured 5th metatarsal. The guy was pissed about braking more than I was pissed about breaking a bone... E-bikers tho? They can slow down at any point, then use their motors to accelerate, and that's it, not a big deal. The only kind of insane E-bikers I see are kicksharing users, and the reason they do that is they are paying for the time instead of riding distance. 5. Chances are, there are not a lot of people who NEED a bike at all. And your health argument is outright ridiculous. The people you are talking about usually can pedal a bike, they just can't pedal with a lot of force and effort due to cardio problems or joints issues or whatever problems they have. These people don't need zone 4 training, and zone 5 might as well kill them. They aren't very strong, so your zone 3 equals their zone 5. But if they set pedal assist properly, they can keep up with you in a group and maintain suitable level of physical load. And yeah, if you ask me, fat people don't need a bike or an e-bile. Fat people need resolve, determination, and knowledge, with some professional help at times. P.S.: I don't have an E-bike, btw. Good old conventional bike XC and trails.
How very dare you Sir! I never carry water in arguments owing to their non-tangible nature, I find a bucket 🪣 works much better. 😉 All the best and safe riding! 👍🏻🙂
I can not possibly agree with you more. A bike with a motor is a motorcycle. What worries me the most is the likely hood of e-bikes will end up needing to be registered and licensed. Once that happens, how long until we will be required to register and license our bicycles? Just think about paying personal property tax on our bicycles. E-bikes are not electric bicycles, they are electric motorcycles , and they should be treated as such. This episode struck a nerve with me. As a bike shop owner, I never want to turn a customer away., I truly believe I can fix anything with two wheels, but like you, I have a hard time supporting something I can not believe in. Keep up the good work, brother.
I eat healthily, I ride often and I don’t have any history of the same in the family. Also, I remember seeing a photo in a museum in Nottingham (my home city) of a gentleman in the 1900s who cycled from Nottingham to Blackpool (137 miles) for his 80th birthday. On a regular steel bike with very few gears, in a suit. 😉
I own three bikes, 2 e-bikes and one older 10 speed. I can relate to some of your content. I'm a 57 years old, male and have always been in slim tone shape. I'm 5' 8" and about 143 lbs. I have a 26" fat tire 36 volt 500 watt e-bike and recently bought a 20" fat tire step through design e-bike with a 750 w 48 volt system. The new e-bike is more zippy and I find it more enjoyable to use as you say like a Moped. My behemoth 26" e-bike I ALWAYS pedal with it and I use assist 3-4 which if you want to go 15-18 mph you're putting in good amount of effort. I seldom use PAS 5 unless i'm in a hurry for whatever reason. Funny thing is I find the 26" e-bike I prefer pedaling to be somewhat more enjoyable then the faster and smaller e-bike! So I use it more often. This brings me to your next topic the WAY people ride e'bikes and I will sadly AGREE with you! Many ride them like total asses and speed through crowded areas almost hitting pedestrians and or causing cars to slam on their brakes etc. I ride often on the boardwalk here in Queens N.Y. and I never go more then 15 mph unless there's few or NO people around. I just stay in Pass 2-3 which is about 11-14 MPH and cautiously ride along and enjoy the ocean and fresh air! This season I noticed that they put signs in yellow on all points of entry that say "NO EBIKES, SCOOTERS or VEHICLES allowed on the Boardwalk" I know WHY these were place at all entry points too! So now the Police or Parks Dept CAN stop any unsafe rider of said means of transport and ticket them without them using the X Card . All the police has to say is there are signs you're not allowed to ride on the boardwalk!!! Now I also noticed if you ride like I do like a human being and a polite safe responsible one the Police don't bother you! It just now protects them from being called out from a rider saying you stopped me cause i'm GAY or because i'm black or because Im Brown or because I'm mexican or because I'm YOUNG etc. NO its because you operated your e-bike like an ASS and unsafe and now are getting a summons! LOL I also find the "tour de France" types with the ultra light alloy bikes and spandex to be generally the MOST ENTITLED and most rude cyclists to be honest! Not all but many. i refer to them as "Tour De Asshole" lolol They also speed past everyone and sometimes ride 2 even 3 next to each other blocking both lanes of the bike lane!
Lots of stuff I agree with here. I understand that an item isn’t bad, it’s always the operator that’s the problem. Just like anything, drugs, guns, knives, cars… non mix well with stupid people. Yes you are correct, Road cyclists are the worst, such stuck-up ass-holes… I’m basically one of them… I’m definitely an ass, but not that stuck up, I wave to anyone on a bike. 😁 Thanks and safe riding! 😁
Thanks Regi safe riding to you too! Oh another thing I didn’t mention is I ALWAYS ALWAYS turn my head when moving left or right of whatever lane I’m in! Say I’m on the boardwalk and I go around a person whom I’d walking IN the bike lane. Just line driving my car I turn my head and give a quick look behind me to my left to make sure I don’t cut off another cyclist or get hit by one who’s going faster and is about to pass me within inches. I noticed cyclists love to do this. Pass you while being 2” away when they have sometimes. 2, 3 even 10 FEET of space. Not sure why but they do! If I’m riding in the street I give a quick look prior to passing any intersection to make sure I don’t have a car coming up on me who’s going to make a fast right turn in front of me! So far past 1.5 years I rode about 2500 miles between both bikes
@@reginaldscot165 I ride a hybrid bike and make a point of nodding or saying a quick hello whenever I pass a cyclist. Not to the racers though! Wot a bunch of miserable supercilious ignorant shts they are! Well OK not all, just most of them. I stopped saying hello to them because I was getting about one response in ten. In contrast it's a far higher response from your ordinary non lycra wearing cyclists that's for sure. As for the e-bikers and ebikes. Must admit I'm a bit conflicted with them. They have the potential to get people out of those motorised tin boxes and of course they can be great for folk who aren't as young and as fit as they once were. I just wish some of the ebikers would slow down on the canal towpaths. It's mixed use but going past pedestrians at 15 mph is a bit out of order.
Hi Reginald. H'm, do I agree? The conditions and politics of mineral extraction for LiPo batteries are terible/reprehensible. Absolutely agree but that is an argument for better treatment for third world people not per-se against battery vehicles. Early pedalecs were NiMh which were better environmentally, if not so good as bikes. Recycling of batteries? A bit like the recycling of many things, not good at first but improves with research and time. That argument counts against carbon fibre, including the forks and wheel rims on your bike and the aeroplanes many people fly in so they should be banned on that argument. People riding eBikes ride badly? So do many on ordinary bikes, it doesn't need an "E" to make a bad rider. You can ride one with the performance of a pro-racer? In the EU and UK, pedalecs are limited to 250W and 25kph. Not quite the figures I've been watching on the Vuelta this week. Of course there are law breakers, but then there are speeding drivers and burgulars. Mopeds, in the UK at least, require a licence, a helmet, a registration, insurance, an MOT test, and so on. More cost and complication which obviously will deter people making the choice. I sort of agree with you that one should have the liberty to do what you like as long as it hurts no one. This is perhaps the best argument in favour of eBikes. Climate change is happening. You may dispute that but in my long life I have noticed the weather changing for the warmer, I remember the hard winters of the 1960s, they are no more. Wherre we live we used to rely on 2 snow events a winter (thats this century) but our last snow event was 2012. Climate change hurts people, droughts starve people. EBikes and other micro mobility solutions can replace car journeys/ delivery vans and so contribute in a small way to reducing the pace of climate change. Perhaps, for the good of the planet, we should ban air travel and cruise ships and ...... but thats an argument for another day. My sister in law is over weight to the extent that she could not even begin to ride an ordinary bike, but an eBike is a way to get started. Personnally I can't see the point of a gym. There is plenty of good exercise to be had walking, cycling or playing sports. Back in 2000, I convert one of my bikes to "E" with a front hub motor kit (legal, 250W, 25kph) and I found it simply did not help on the hills enough so I unconverted. You do make a good argument for teach children the rudiments of how to ride a bike safely, and I would agree whole heartedly with that. So do I agree with "Ebikes should be banned!"? No, no and thrice no.
I also don’t think they should be banned, I just don’t think any able bodied person has any right or excuse to buy one. 😁 And yes I and many credible independent scientists dispute the mainstream climate change narrative. If you look at the ice core data for 1000s of years we are just coming out of an ice age. If you look back far enough places like the UK were so warm they had mangrove swamps and palm trees! More CO2 is also not a bad thing, as a result in a tiny increase in CO2 over 100s of years the planet is greener today. The Great Barrier Reef is growing, there are more trees and the green belts are expanding. This is confirmed by NASA satellites. And currently CO2 is only 0.04% of the atmosphere and all the man made CO2 that we are putting back into the atmosphere was CO2 that used to be available in the atmosphere millions of years ago. Now if you want to reduce Particulate pollution that actually causes cancer and you want to reduce the plastic and chemicals in our water and soil I am 100% behind that! Bit that’s a more complicated subject. 🙂
@@reginaldscot165 I suppose that I disagree with your premise that able bodied should be denied them. I imagine that delivering heavier, bulkier items all day, every day, in a hilly city would be beyond most so a pedalec vehicle of some kind definately has a place. Perhaps you should say that able bodied people should not be allowed a delivery van, or a bus ride or ..... As far as climate change is concerned it seems that we are of diametrically opposed oppinions so we'll have to agree to differ.
The only reason for me to buy an e-bike is to commute to work and not get there drenched in sweat. I live in a tropical country and hilly area, on top of that my work has no showers, so pedaling there becomes a problem. A pedal assisted e-bike removes a lot of the effort and sweat that comes with it. Still better to the environment than driving every day to work. My 0.02 Brazilian money worth of thoughts on the matter.
It’s a good point (although your employer should put showers in! Maybe their is a government grant you can get?) As for if it’s better than the car? I’m not sure about that. Let’s assume CO2 isn’t even a real pollutant. Then you are looking at the particle output of the engine (depending on size) VS the output of the power plant that made the electricity to charge your bike? (In Brazil I believe you use mostly Coal and Oil. Correct if wrong) so basically if you add on top the environmental cost of the toxic batteries then you might be better off in the aircon car! 🤔
@reginaldscot165 Actually Brazil's energy matrix is around 63% hydroelectric. Lately wind and solar are seeing an increased government investment. You must be thinking of Europe and the US where a lot of e-bikes are purchased and the vast majority of energy comes from coal and oil. I'm already doing my fair share to help off-set my carbon footprint, according to Greta's dream.. I'm childfree. Nobody directly associated with my DNA is gonna have a negative impact on the environment for eternity. 😉😉
@@reginaldscot165 [Let’s assume CO2 isn’t even a real pollutant.] Let's assume I'm a fucking power ranger. Yes, lets start an argument with the most retarded premise possible...
The thing is speed kills, but do e-bikes go any faster than a regular bike? Most 26 ,28 and 29 inch rolling wheels will take a bicycle down a steep incline at speeds of close to 50 MPH, but should bicycles be banned?
It’s quite different, first they are significantly heavier. Getting hit by my 6kg bike is very different from a 10kg+ e-bike. Secondly it’s skill, if you are doing 70kph on a normal bike normally you have some experience. Otherwise you wouldn’t be going that fast. E-bike riders often don’t have much experience. Finally it’s context, 70kph down a mountain is very different from 50kph in a crowded city. Pedestrians aren’t expecting a silent e-bike to come wizzing by at a crosswalk without warning. A cyclist needs way more time to build up that speed, even a pro cycling needs a bit of distance to hit 50, No so with a powerful electric motor.
It's also worth noting that cheap bikes are perfectly fine for commuting. I do a fairly hilly 5 mile commute on a £600 mountain bike with a 1x groupset that weighs nearly 15 kg. At first it would completely exhaust me and initially it took me over half an hour to get to work. Nowadays if traffic isn't too bad I can get to work in under 15 minutes taking the same 5 mile route. That's about a years worth of progress cycling to and from work every day. In that time I'd also taught myself how to maintain my bike after a crap experience with a large LBS (they told me I needed a whole new cassette when only the final sprocket was excessively worn on a Shimano Deore 11s cassette).
Excellent that’s really good to hear! I did the same when I started out but I sold the MTB and got a hybrid that I loved! It was a lovely bike, unfortunately got stolen and that’s how I moved to a road bike. 🙂 my first MTB bike was $150 my hybrid was $300 and my first road bike was $125. 😂 All New! All the best my friend and keep it up!👍🏻😁
@@RobertAdams-ly5ku 5 miles distance in cycling terms is virtually nothing and if you do the exact same thing twice every day for a year you will undoubtedly get much better at it.
Thank you for this video. You have covered many concerns many of us cyclists have been attempting to bring out to the open. Many E-bike websites claim that E-bikes are "...better for the environment!" yet they won't give a proper comparison. They also lie stating that E-bikes are "...faster than conventional bikes!" without providing factual comparative data. Many of us cyclists view E-bikes as a riding option rather than a "...popular new bicycle revolution...better than non-electric bicycles/bikes...blah, blah, blah..!" I've been riding for over 23 years and have never used a motorized bicycle, until a while back when I began test riding E-bikes. Sure, they're torquey and as fast as a road bike (depending on ride mode). I believe they're great for those where a conventional bicycle is too hard to ride in many situations. Like many of us cyclists, we're getting tired of the healthy athletic types using E-bikes (esp. delimited motosports/motorcycle type) as an excuse to not pedal, yet to takeover bicycle infrastructure so they can cheap out on licensing. The E-bike riders I have the most respect for are those who appreciate cycling for what it is and do so by not letting egotism persuade them to purchase an E-bike.
You really enjoy stirring the pot. Agree with you in that I too find them a waste. The part of the video where you spoke about the ladies at the gym ingesting more calories than they were working off.. so true. Too many persons forget the real purpose of exercise.
I was listening to a guy who studied tribes around the world and many don’t have a word for exercise… because their everyday activities keep them very fit. 🙂
E-bikes are generally a necessity in the US, but it would be very ludicrous to call e-bikes a necessity in the UK, Germany, or Luxembourg. There should be a law in place where people who are in possession of an electric bike in an extremely dense city must have their e-bikes impounded and demolished. The worst part about electric bikes is how unaffordable they are. For people who make less than a dollar a day, it could take literally 10 years to just afford one e-bike.
my e-bike's fitted with left/right/hazard signal lights including front & rear/brake light .. upgraded the rear mechanical disc brake to hydraulic brake .. most importantly, I ride following road rules & regulations as when i was driving .. o ya, a good helmet & high visibility vest ..
I am over 60 and ride an annual average mileage of over 11,000 miles a year on my flatbar and roadbike, all recorded on my Garmin and Strava. I am not ready for e-bikes yet. My bikes are aluminium and the roadbike has 105 mechanical gears. E-bikes have their uses, but depends how they are used. Self built e-bikes using unregulated components that are also fire risk! Also some food delivery riders use these illegal e-bikes with 1000w motors with throttle power, basically electric motorbikes. This is so they think to get around insurance, MOT, and any other expenses related to running a motor vehicle. The police especially City of London police have stamped down and confiscated these illegal e-bikes. Also some of the workers don't ride safely and follow the traffic rules trying to make fast deliveries. E-bikes and E-scooters are similar in that they are convenient, regardless if they are legal or not.
Your views of batteries are a bit skewed in my opinion, but our opinions certainly don't need to align on that. However, as the world keeps moving towards alternative energy storage I hope that the recycling and reuse of old bicycle batteries take up as well. My father-in-law works in a bike shop and he is always on the lookout for places to recycle the batteries. As for the mining of Cobalt, as more car manufacturers transition over to EVs the importance of their material sourcing goes through more and more audits, and as a result, more L-ion batteries using less or even no Cobalt is becoming available. It is up to the bicycle manufacturers to make sure they specify appropriate battery chemistries, which they do since they mostly use LMO which contains no Cobalt. ie. Every smartphone and laptop has LCO batteries which have a significantly larger proportion in % of Cobalt per kg compared to NMC or non when compared to LFP. Batties are simply more complex, as is your whole argument in this video, but you can not just though the whole category ''Batteries'' into one container and list the negatives of different ones and apply them over all of them, in my opinion. It would be the same when someone says toilet water is just as drinkable as bottled water, which is a true fact, it is a fluid, it is based on water but everyone knows it is not the same thing. Anyway, love the video just wanted to add my 2c on the topic of batteries since you were very harsh in an unrealistic way.
Well the batteries in your EVs are identical to the batteries in your E-bike… and they suffer from all the same problems unfortunately. Also if you have your ear to the ground with regards to the EV market, you will be aware that that industry is rapidly heading for oblivion! The intrest and sales have plummeted and people are waking up to it just being another scam… I only hope the political class can catch up with the rest of us, before more damage is done to our economy and environment.
I think 90% if not more of E bike riders are either… A. Fat. B. lazy. C. Both. They predominantly appeal to people who like the idea of doing exercise, without actually putting in the work. I see it time and time again. People want instant gratification and want to do be able to just do a 20 mile ride without any prior training or fitness level. Just a get a motorbike and be done with it. I think anyone with a heart condition may see the benefit of an E bike. But all of the fat lazy folk, have no excuse other than being fat and lazy IMO. As for the speed. A standard E bike tops out at 15 mph and then the assist cuts off makes them even more pointless. I’m a lot faster than that under my own power and overtake E bikers regularly. They also have limited range. You couldn’t go bike packing as an example on an E bike. Sadly they are just becoming more and more popular.
For the UK yes 15mph but I hear that there are plenty of Chinese bikes flooding the market that are not limited to this? Also some other places don’t have the same rules. I agree with your comment, it’s certainly my feelings on the matter. I understand if you have some terrible medical condition and you still want to have the feeling of riding, then they may have a point for a very small group. All the best and safe riding!
I kind of agree AND disagree with you. First of all: it´s much better that people ride e-bikes than drive a car to work. Some people (like somone in my close family) would 100% get out more and actually ride a bike if they had an e-bike instead of just sitting inside in an armchair or laying on the sofa. Not everyone has the facilities at work like a wardrobe or the possibility to have a shower. Riding an e-bike you don´t necessarily break any sweat, but you get outside in fresh air and you don´t drive a car. Some people are absolutely able to ride a bike, but when the hills get long and/or steep they struggle. Some of these might be 60-80 years old and might even have been quite strong cyclists when they were younger. They still enjoy cylcling, but hills and/or their health condition (often heart related) prevents them from going everywhere they want to or ride with their friends on club rides. An e-bike solves that problem (specifically thinking about quire lightweight (and quite expensive) road e-bikes here). Saying that noone needs an e-bike if you live somewhere where every road is flat might be true, but if you live somehere where hills are quite common, or if you actually want to go cycling in a hilly place on your holiday, then I think your opinion is quite ignorant and condacending to be honest.
E-bikes are the result of hypercapitalism. And this form of capitalism created a toxic bike industry and culture. The bike monopoly cannot create substantial revenue by manufacturing durable steel or aluminum bikes. If you have plenty of idiotic customers who are willing to spend on expensive e-bikes, you meet the demands. Unfortunately, some people also convert their beautiful steel bikes into e-bikes. I just do solo cycling in remote countryside and cycling in urban areas in the UK became a painful activity because of the idiots who show off their carbon bikes or stupid e-bikes.
Yep, that’s why bicycles have gears. Nice low ones if needed, to save your knees and such like. Batteries are poison, and as for all this fancy electronic tech, remember “KISS”, “keep it simple stupid”.
Love my ebike. To each their own. And I can work on mine easily. Very simple set up really. You have added a controller and motor. A torque sensor actually does give exercise. You don't like ebikes so just don't buy one.
I am 57 and have no ebike. I live in germany and go everywhere on my roadbike, from getting to work, making shopping tours to trips to italy :) In winter time I ride a fixie because its nice and simple! When you are used to ride a singlespeed for many years, riding fixed is only a small step and a pleasant change :) Although here in germany ebikes are very popular and bike discounters are filled with hundreds of them, I hold on to my steel frame roadbikes and build them up on my own🥰
An e-bike riders are high speed ran into my back while I was walking on the footpath in the uk and had sped off leaving me with multiple fractures including my nose and I struggle and suffer till now. I will only supplicate god to send him what he deserves for the harms caused me. Till now it’s a nightmare to me.
I understand the needs for e bikes, I went in depth about that in another comment. But due to several of the reasons you mentioned, I don't want one. I want to work on my bike my self. I want to fix anything on my bike easily, not have to send in for service. replace motors and so on.
As always it’s not about the bike, it’s about the tool riding it , and there’s no shortage of ratbags on bikes without motors either , and you certainly don’t need a motor to go fast enough to injure yourself or die on a bike or to possibly do the same to someone else if you have an accident.
One comment regarding obesity: I know it's tempting to think of obese people as if they are just too dumb to do the math of energy intake vs expenditure. They are not. I'm pretty sure 100% of all really obese people are addicted to overeating. Sugar and fat act like a drug. You'll get a food high after each cake/chocoloate/sweet drink. And why do people get addicted? Well they try to compensate e.g. psychological issues with the wrong thing. Like inferiority complexes or childhood trauma, loneliness. So "just eat less and bike more" won't help. It's like advise alcoholics to "just don't drink that much". And while this in theory may work with some drugs (going cold turkey), one has to eat and drink. You can't become a "noneater". For the same reason body shaming/bullying is not a useful strategy because the people are already traumatized. On the other side an extreme "body positive" position can do a lot of harm in the long run. People need to address *their own* cause for obesity and not listen to some "friendly advice".
@@reginaldscot165 The same goes for old but healthy people. Some German scientists published a study, they say people wouldn't be able to ride a muscle bike and quit after short distances while the motor will increase range and usability - for people with preconditions. doi: 10.1136/bmjsem-2021-001275 Of course this has nothing to do with reckless driving etc.
Regarding E-Bikes for delivery: I suspect that one big reason for not using a full fledged motorbike (electrical or gas powered) might be the mandatory insurance and drivers licence in some places. Btw, I also often see small scooters (limited to 25 km/h) used for delivery. Where I live, these count as a bicycle. And often times these scooters and E-Bikes are given out by the delivery companies to their riders.
Thanks for making this video!! I used to ride hundreds of kilometers on my local bike path every week because I thought that was the safest place to ride my "normal bicycle". Since then I've seen some of these new riders on ebikes doing of the most dangerous riding I've ever seen out there. It's just not safe anymore. You made some really good points. IMHO they are 100% useless to anyone with common sense but I guess common sense just isn't so common anymore.
At least the e bike/ scooter rider will become the target of scorn in countries not liking cyclists. When one of them comes into contact with a cyclist/pedestrian it can have some bad outcomes.
Where I live they have banned e-bikes on all cycling trails. I completely agree with the bans, too many e-bikes are causing too many accidents with cyclists, and hikers. They also police the trails to chase off e-bikes, make sure the trails are safe.
@@reginaldscot165 Ontario, Canada, the E-bike bans are community controlled. Because of the speed and popularity of e-bikes they will very likely need to be licensed and insured, that will slow down the adoption of e-bikes tremendously.
As many other people here have commented, I think the best use-case for e-bikes is that they are brilliant for the elderly to get around and get outside. I drew this conclusion many years ago cycling in The Netherlands. I was on a conventional bike cycling along the beautiful seaside dunes, and I noticed how happy and alive the elderly looked on their e-bikes. Yes, the elderly have to peddle anyway, but an e-bike allows elderly people to make a long distant journey to the beach whereas a non e-bike only gets them as far as their supermarket. And c'mon: you can't *really* compare an elderly lifetime cycling enthusiast with the average elderly punter. Ironically, in the US I see most e-bikes ridden by teenagers in affluent suburbia.
In the end it's all a user problem: Here in Germany Pedelecs are very popular and often used by elderly people 50y+. They usually have not ridden a bike since their childhood and are not skilled to ride a powered bike in a safe way. We see a lot of deaths due to rider errors. Almost all are 55y+. But this is also the case with old people and cars except that they hurt others more easily. For younger people we all failed in learning and teaching the people to shift and pedal right (cadence). Actually I learned it in my late 30s because during my teenage years nobody told me and we never used the bike for longer distance. We hat soreness for days due to bad egonomic settings and gear choice when we tried 30km. So we never tried again. Most people experience the same even when we had a hype during the pandemic boom.
Im 51, and am absolutely decrepit. So i got me a Felt AR advance ultagra. An incredible aero weapon. Will probably die riding it but will have a smile on my face hopefully
Was about to write the same about Pedelecs in Germany (which I think account for 80% of total bike traffic outside of big flat cities these days). Pedelecs are almost exclusively ridden by elderly people. But then again younger poeple don't use bikes anyway these days except for commuting in flat urban areas if not using scooters. Now the problem with those elderly Pedelec riders isn't just their lack of bike handling skills (I mean, even maintaining a straight trajectory on a flat smooth road is a challenge for many) but their inability to abide by basic traffic laws like riding in the correct lane, giving way, not cutting corners, checking what's going on behind before swerving or turning or simply looking ahead instead of watching birds fly by.
By the looks of it from the video clips, the people doing most of the dangerous overtaking have derestricted the max speed of their e-bikes, making them legally mopeds, which require a licence and insurance. Not needing any of this is the reason you see food delivery people using them, as it's by far the cheapest way to get on the road delivering food all day. The EU, for example, has a max assistance limit of 25 km/h for pedelec bikes and a power limit of 250 W, so I can easily keep up with or overtake them on a MTB. Many of the e-bikes bought directly from China do not qualify as pedelecs - as a guideline, if an e-bike has a hand throttle, it's not a pedelec to begin with and a huge number of the Chinese bikes and after market DIY bike motorisation kits come this way. E-MTB's also occupy a sneaky grey area, where they can claim they don't need to be road legal since they're made for off road use, and so often have significantly more power than the 250 W limit. What really amazed me was that the damage an e-bike does off road is visible on before and after pictures of gravelled trails. I saw it first hand when I was riding loops of a local (Sadly closed now) bikepark to set the one day record for unassisted laps on the trails. There were 2 climb options and 10 descent options, with both climbs being variants of the same route, so most of the trail was shared, so about 10 laps in, I knew exactly what both climb options looked like and how they were riding, but I started seeing loads of freshly displaced gravel on the climbs that I hadn't seen in previous laps (So not me, and almost everybody else was using the uplift service anyway, so the climbs were very quiet). A couple of laps later a guy on an e-bike passed me, and as soon as I saw the amount of gravel flicking off the tyre I realised what was going on. If you see every e-bike as one less car on the road it's a lot easier to live with them though. A good test of whether an e-bike is legal or not is whether a reasonably fit cyclist can still overtake it.
My daughter, an experienced cyclist, commutes to her job by bike and has for many years. Her return commute is somewhat arduous because she ascends several hundred feet in a series of long hills. She switched to an e-bike for her commute last year and finds it a great help since she gets home earlier and with more energy left for household chores, gardening, etc.. her commute had become a grind but now it’s fun again.
I can certainly see the argument. However for the price of a new E-bike perhaps upgrading her current bike with lighter components and better gears would have also helped at less cost to both her wallet and the environment? Glad she enjoys cycling again. 🙂👍🏻
@@reginaldscot165 She rides another bike, a gravel bike with 2x gearing, for recreational purposes, the e-bike is for her daily commute. She has over 1000 miles on it. She’ll never give it up.
@@galootlovestools Excellent. But unless one is medically certified partially or wholly disabled, they should be using their motorized vehicle in the motorized vehicle lanes. Not those meant for pedestrians and/or cyclists.
I agree on all points you made here. exept for one . I live in the Netherlands, and ebikes are becoming the norm here. They even feed them to 10 year old scolars for the commute to school. All those people who switch to an e-bike, basicsally an electric moped with rotary throttle controll, will never ride a normal bike again. it is a one way trap.
In the UK at least e-bikes must be (hypothetically) restricted to 15.5mph and 250w to be street legal, above which the motor disengages and any higher speed is achieved with your legs only. It is also, again only hypothetically, illegal to ride those on public footpaths. Hypotheticaly, because they can easily be de-restricted and I regularly see yobs (often balaclava wearing) on enduro style e-bikes, like the K5, going 30mph and above, worse yet, in the late evening when it is dark, with no lights and wearing dark clothes. Those are in fact quite powerful motorbikes, capable of accelerating much faster than regular motorbikes, disguised as bicycles so the owners (and the unsuspecting public) think they don't have to register them with the DVLA and pay insurance which is required for motorbikes. They also ride those things wherever they want and how they want and nobody is enforcing the above restrictions as the police, getting de-funded and de-staffed year upon year, haven't got the resources to police and besides the offenders are too numerous so they get away with it as they know they will never get caught. I almost crashed with one two days ago when riding my bicycle late in the evening on a parkland gravel path. The guy was wearing a balaclava and was easily going 30mph through an tight overgrown corner. The only way to stay safe is to just avoid places where they are likely to be riding, so shitty suburban residential areas and parks. I just stick to quiet countryside roads and ride through my town via the wealthy neighbourhoods where those knobheads don't venture. As for the take away couriers, those jobs are mostly done by the recently arrived middle eastern or african asylum seakers who are all slim already as they come from poverty and couldn't give a monkey's about wanting to get fit.
Excellent points! The only thing I would disagree with is the police being under staffed and under funded. The UK have more police than ever, (they all come out for the over time pay at football matches In Nottingham but you don’t see any of them during the week) it’s just they don’t prioritise real crime anymore. They are all too busy arresting people for what they said on Twitter or enforcing LGBTQAWXZ rights! 😂 one of my best friends became a police officer…
I also think that e-bikes are generally unnecessary, but I know of elderly members of my cycling club who have or are considering e-bikes in order to continue their enjoyment of riding with their friends in the slowest group ride which averages 15mph. They do not affect the rest of us fitter guys as they usually only engage the electrics on uphills. I am unlikely to follow suit as I consider them dangerous to charge, environmentally bad and ridiculously expensive.
Dear Reg, by about 90% your words could be coming of my mouth as well and not on this subject alone. Your observations on e-bikers are nothing but the truth. Over here in Germany the rate of accidents with e-bikers involved has virtually exploded. Many can not handle the thing properly, misjudge traffic and so on. BMW-mentality: "I can afford this car/this expensive e-bike, I am better because of this!" Poor personalities. Two years ago on a 50 mile sunday run I did a short, 12% steep climb I did dozens of times. I pedalled up there at 13, 14 miles per hour with a cadence of 105, wattage near 300, when suddenly a 130-150 Kilogramm guy passed by me with a ridiculously low cadence of maybe 40 at appr. 25-30 miles per hour, sitting upright, knees slightly outwards. He must already have spotted me on the long flat before the climb, hands in the drops doing, 26, 27 mph, wearing FDJ-kit on a Lapierre Xelius ex-pro bike, doing high cadence, sleek silhouette. The roadbike he sat on, was "fat" as well, one of those Canyon E-Roadbikes which multiply your input-wattage by 3,5 after the restriction illegaly removed. So let him have done 150 or even 200 watts momentarily, he flew by me with north of 500 to 700 watts. No pro rider could keep up with him only one-mile climb in earnest. Ridiculous and he was fooling himself, not me in fact. A proof for cycling for a lifetime can be very advantageous was my dad. He did run 5 miles twice or three times a week, except when snow was on the ground, for many decades until his mid-seventies. He started cycling road bikes at the age of 40 and did so until he was 81. Until that moement, his doctors were clapping their hands in applause after examining him. His neurologic doctor compared him to many 40-year old patients he encountered. At 84 he died, being sick for the last 6 weeks of his life only, his health state really dropping very fast. At maybe 79 or eighty years, him and me went for an ice-cream and a coffee to a place 20 miles away and we arrived there after an hour ten minutes. He even went off-saddle on short ramps. His nature was to move his body from childhood on with joy. I come after him with road cycling most of my life, swimming in the really sporty manner since decades. In French Flanders I spent some short holidays, cycling with a local club. In the ranks of the club are some 60-70 year old slim and smiling chaps who go really fast, joining 60 mile sunday rides around Calais in groups of 20-23 riders aged 20-70 and on the flat stretches on my speedometer I could see a "4" as first digit all the time over miles and miles. (40-45 kms/ 25 - 28 mph).
Thank you Sir, it’s nice to hear that your experiences matched my views in the video. It’s good to have confirmation that I’m not talking complete nonsense. 😅
Don't ever try to become a stand up comedian!! I'm 65 and I bought an e mtb earlier this year as I was struggling with riding my human powered fs mtb. I use the e-mtb for longer rides which i used to do on the other bike. I also ride a gravel bike and do some longer rides on that (70 miles the best so far). I don't train, just ride to enjoy the scenery and exercise is secondary. . Also where do these bikes that travel over 15 mph in the UK get ridden? I've not seen any around my way except for the illegal food delivery bikes, which I would like to see banned as the operators ignore every road rule including riding on the pavement.
Didn’t know this was an application to become a comedian? 😂 Little confused as to why you bought the E-bike when you only ride for pleasure and you seem fine on your other non E-bikes? Also why an E-MTB for road use? Doesn’t seem like the wise choice considering they are the most expensive, heaviest and come with tyres not made for road use? (You must have a reason?) 🤔🙂 All the best and safe riding! ❤️
@@reginaldscot165 I bought the e-mtb as I had lay off over the winter and also heath problems. It's an Orbea Rise and only ridden offroad on longer rides. It means I can get out and enjoy riding as I did. I tried static bikes at a gym and cannot understand how anyone could enjoy being so bored. I also have a gravel bike which I do the longer rides on. Knee problems over the summer meant less riding. The e MTB has kept me riding rather than having to give up. I probably won't keep it once I get my fitness back. BTW. I'm in Devon, so either going up or down.
@@UKMitchy Well done with your cycling at the age of 65, and with health problems, it can't be easy, but the people you are explaining this to are to young, and fit to understand, but their day will come, make no mistake about it, mark my words
I had never seen an E bike, don’t live near the city. I was visiting a city, passenger in a cab. I get a bit anxious when someone else drives, so head on a swivel. In this case, glad someone else was driving… we were at a stoplight, crossing traffic, at the crest of a hill. light turned yellow. A bike was coming up the hill from the opposite direction. As the light turned, the bicyclist stopped pedaling. I- not knowing about ebikes- took that as a signal that the cab should go- the bike was stopping for the light and we needed to clear the intersection. I would have gone. I would have run right into the path of the bike- who began accelerating up the last of the hill without pedaling and bombed through the yellow light. It really didn’t make any sense- how could he accelerate?! The take away is: e bikes have strange behavior that motorists aren’t used to. Watch your neck.
One more comment from me, as you hit another nail straight on Reg.: You brought in efficiency of human organism. One liter of pump-petrol is the equivalent of appr. 13.500 kilocalories. On a roadbike a pro-tour cyclist travelling the high speeds he is used to, will at least travel around 400 kilometres on the energetic equivalent of one liter pump petrol. Going in a relaxed speed it may last for 500 or more kilometers. You mentioned those overweight females on treadmills in fitness-studios, drinking a quadruple "whatsoever" drinks containing 700 calories during their, well, workout. That amount of energy to get metabolised by cycling requires a pro-rider to cover at least 25 kilometers on the flat in 30-35 minutes. That fatty female with a less trained metabolism going at say 20 kms will likely have to ride 50 kms in 2,5 hours but is hardly capacitated to do so at all.
One more observation of mine: at temperatures down to 15 or 16 degrees celsius I ride in short/short kit. As long as I put out a good wattage, do not stop too long and go, lets say on the flat with 35 - 40 kms/hour (22 - 25 mph), I even sweat ligthly and feel not cold at all. All e-bikers, even at 20 degrees celsius, wear long trousers, thin quilted jackets. I would completely overheat in such clothing, while they must be freezing, thus indicating they just spend a minimum of energy. Long/long and lightly insulated is my kit for winter down to freezing temps and even then I sweat, sometimes heavy, while my toes fall off by chill-factor and limit duration of rides. That is a proof for your statements "they do not strain themselves they gain no health advantage, no fitness" To my female roadbiking companion I once said on such a sight: "They do not like cycling, it is just a stroll on wheels instead of feet, as they are too lazy to walk the distance."
Genetical dispositions and being massively overweight are another good point. Men was a hunter and collector for thousands of years. Tribes without too much contact with civilization, remain more or less slim. Aboriginies used to have so called runners in their groups, who have, as I saw reported, in an emergency covered distances of 420 kilometers in 4 days! Over 100 kms per day!!! Without shoes in difficult terrain and not much food carried along. Generally Aboriginies repeatedly had numerous days in a row without food except some berries or similar, then had a successful hunt, ate as much kangaroo as they could stuff in. Next again come days with very little food. No diabetes, no caries, no fat people at all across all ages with those tribes. That is what we are designed for by nature, not for over-civilisation.
That’s 100% true. Modern people are much weaker than our ancestors, much sicker as well. Just looking at the day from the 1950s is honestly frightening🫣
A battery for a non-logical electric automobile, can easily be make 100+ E-bike batteries. "Speed limit" on bicycle path would effect both E-assist and non-assisted bicycles. Class one, Class 2 E-bikes should be the limits of E-assist ON bicycle paths. 70-year-old, limited mobility, handicapper here. My Hase Lepus recumbent delta planform trike IS my mobility. Not 'driving' for over 5-years now!!! 25-inch seat height is slide on/off from wheelchair and forearm crutches. 7-12mph is my speed on bicycle paths. 17mph is my never exceed speed! See E-bikes turning bicycle paths into bicycle Expressways! All E-bikes should NOT be banned!!!
What nonsense. I've been riding MTB's all my life. I am 70 now and still rather fit. I bought an E-bike a few months ago and I will never look back. The FUN and FREEDOM you feel while riding them (off road) is so exhilarating, that there is just no comparison. I put in more the double the mileage I used to. Why do you deride E-bikes when you have electric cars all over the road? That's just ridiculous. Your criticism is that of a closed-minded person. Let people have their fun under the sun (as long as they follow the laws) and stick to whatever you like to do.
I also don’t agree with electric cars. Don’t worry, as a dedicated road cyclist I couldn’t care less what you do on your MTB, but my points on safety and environment are still fully valid. All the best!
7:55 The point is to assists pedalling. So riders with muscle loss after injury, surgery can ride again. Handicapped riders and riders with various issues. Some have fatigue illnesses, like Hardtail Party, as his name channel name suggests he loves riding hardtails, but due to his diagnosis,myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS, just riding a bicycle fatigues him so much he's drained for weeks. So he has to use an E bike now, so he rides a regular bike less. And then there are 3 and 4 wheeled hand cycles with a motor, I met a guy with MS once he could not ride a regular bike anymore. 8:17 Then there are cargo bikes with a motor, meant to have massive loads. You mentioned delivery drivers, kind of like that but to much larger scale, a regular bike won't fit massive loads, big objects, so those are bikes that can fit what you can fit in a large trunk or a big station wagon or big SUV. But those bikes are very impractical if you don't require such bike. But if you have a business and pick up massive packages or something then it makes sense. Like several frames being picked up at once ridden to the bike shop. But if you don't need to carry heavy loads I guess a regular cargo bike is fine.
I think e-bikes should be more regulated in the US. Most of these e-bikes come from China, and they don't care about safety or regulations in the US- they really just care about selling you things. . Someone with no cycling experience just shouldn't be able to reach tour de France speeds, especially without a helmet and protective clothing, and the potential to crash into people without helmets and protecting clothing. Bike lanes are always an unpredictable area, they are usually in the door zone of cars in the US, which means you are always at risk of getting doored. It's hard enough avoiding a can door going at slow speeds.
The thing I don't like about them is if anything will tip the governments hand towards taxing, numberplates, mandatory insurance Etc. on ALL bikes its E-Bikes and Scooters. BUT what I do like on the other hand is, I believe the only thing that will force the same governments to improve infrastructure, education, and properly punish/penalise motorists who engager, harm or kill cyclists (and generally improve relations between motorists and cyclists) is more people on bikes. The sad but true fact is when someone like me goes under the wheels of a blacked out BMW driven by some wannabe "Alpha" compensating for his tiny wee-wee, half the population will find a way to blame ME for it, because deep down they believe I shouldn't be there. E-bikes put average people in the same situations wait until they start killing "normal" people who they can relate to in higher numbers, the outrage will come thick and fast because "that could of been me"
15:10 That's stupid people buying a vesicle and not learning to use it properly, and going full send, or hitting the gnar if a mountain bike. But that's not a problem caused by the vehicle. I saw a guy with a electric kick scooter that can go 100Km/h. Absolute madness. But but at least that guy did not completely bonkers in the city centre. But once I saw a scooter blast downhill on a bike path, no helmet or any protection, not sure how fast, but looked way too fast.
There is nothing wrong with using e-bikes for commuting or for work. Can't believe you are against that. However, E-bikes (E-MTB) should be banned on trails.
Turns out pedal bikers are some of America's most bigoted and discriminatory people. Pedal bikers want to discriminate against and ban people with disabilities from enjoying the same trails and bike paths that they do. One of these pedal bikers recently berated a guy who struggles with MS for enjoying the trail on his e-bike "nice motorcycle" - "you don't belong here".....these pedal bikers are are prejudice.
I hear from MTB riders that E-Bikes damage the trails for everyone. I also have a friend who builds the trails and I understand his frustration. So in that case I would have to agree with the “pedal biker” the E-bike rider doesn’t belong there. Perhaps they should have a separate trail for power bikes? My main issue is with non-disabled people buying them.
Are you fit or are you just skinny? Listen, i understand that you want fat people to get in shape, but not every fit person is like a cyclist who weights 58Kg, and uses a wool jacket when it's 25 °C and going uphill. I built my ebike to be able to go places in half the time with one tenth of the sweat.
Funnily enough I am hearing this video and thinking “It is a matter between instant gratification and working for payoff”. Obviously, e-bikes can make accessibility and convenience better for many but the main issue that arises like anything is when your technology falls into unsuitable hands. I live in the southern United States and it’s mainly seen as a right to have your drivers license, but there are many who don’t deserve to even have a drivers license because of how they drive. I believe like you a government shouldn’t be able to tell you how to spend your money or outright banning something from being possessed but they should have the ability to persuade people away from using them irresponsibly.
Those Uber eats riders on their 10k e caliber Treks are so annoying. Should have gone full enduro to be even more misleading with the clickbait thumbnail.
E bike weight: where the weight is placed is important, if it's placed close to centre of gravity the bike will feel lighter than if it's a heavy hub motor, I tried a department store junk bike with hub motor once, it was so heavy to ride I barely got it moving, and it had a massive chain ring and tiny cassette or freehub, so impossible to ride on a steep hill. So need the motor to ride it normally, which defeats the purpose of an e bike. But a proper e bike will handle much better, so a mountain bike e bike will be much nicer to ride offroad than that department store bike. In the case of that department store bike a lighter bike with proper gearing would be much better. Of course the kid regretting owning that bike.
E-bikes combine the cons of bicycles and motorbikes but have almost none of the pros. I guess you could still enjoy a ride on an e-bike. It's heavy and expensive like a proper😂 motorbike but additionally you have to worry about the range. So even a con that is unique to e-bikes. There is a place for motorbikes and even for cars. You can walk to your car in the winter with a t-shirt on or in a suit and you won't be affected by weather or sweating.
I love my e-bike and I respect everybody around me, putting myself last. Just like an automobile where you have a foot pedal, you don't have to push the foot pedal all the way down and break the speed limit which all cars can do. The Dynamics you are speaking of are true, yet like anything else in the world regarding transportation, it lies in the hands of the operator. That's why you do not have a case to make.
My case (although I remember saying I don’t really believe in banning anything) is that most people don’t need one and that it’s not beneficial to the wider society to buy one when a normal bike is just as good. My argument is that unless you are very old or sick you are better off with a regular bike and you have no justification to buy an e-bike. But again, I believe in the rights of freedom and choice for the individual, so if want one go for it. But I just think it’s a bad decision. 😁👍🏻
You provide Misinformation about how Lithium batteries are recycled. You make lots of judgement about other people's fitness and decisions, you promote the use of fossil fuels
95% of lithium batteries aren’t recycled. And out of that only a small % is useful materials, not to mention the process is not clean and requires a large amount of energy made with non-renewables. So…
Always the hottest takes, love the channel.... but yeah, Im with you, neither own electronic groupsets nor ebikes and dont think I will any time soon... Im a guy that drives stick shift and owns mechanical watches....
A true man then. I have an automatic (because all cars in Brunei are auto) but I miss my UK manual gear box. And yes definitely mechanical watches if you can afford them. I have 2 that I use on special occasions. 😁
I'm 70 and can't imagine having an e-bike in the future. I ride around 10-20km daily on my old hybrids. When I started 13 years ago, I weighed 230 lbs and am now around 186. I mostly used my bike for commuting when I worked and for daily chores like shopping. Yes, I recently had one set to a elder-friendly crankset at nominal cost (existing crankset was at EOL anyway). A couple more points against.e-bikes: first, the batteries are regarded as hazardous cargo , and you would find it very expensive and maybe untimely if you ever want to move or fly with your bike; and second, when that bettery inevitably fails, good luck finding a replacement because there are no standards. If they want to go fast, fine; I wish I could go a bit faster too but a slightly inefficient bike is consistent with my incidental fitness goals. My curmudgeonly grievance is only with the latest generation of e-mobility devides that end up randomly littering the middle of the bike path. Hoping eventually folks will pick up the basic courtesies if riding and parking.
Oh and forgot to add, if these are too dangerous to put on a plane, how could I convince my wife it's oerfectly safe right inside the single entryway space of our apartment? I've seen closeup what a fire looks like in a high rise apartment, the unit was totally gutted.
10:51 Cus that would make it illegal on the trails. In Norway at least, a class 1 e bike is considered a regular bicycle by law. So can ride it on any trail a regular bicycle can ride on, which is any hiking trail or mountain bike trail. Unless it's protected land where you can't ride anyway, or land owner forbids access to a trail on bicycle which is rare.
In Norway if the e bike goes past the legal limit to be considered a bicycle you can't ride it on a bike path, nor any trails, and it has to have a licence plate. I think you might even need a moped licence. But I think what is called Class 1 is trail legal.
I don't ride for sport, I ride my e bike for convenience and that's all. There is no dick contest between types of bike users. Coming back to your bmw analogy, It sure as hell isn't only for ebikes. Here in Paris, there is now a ban on public escooters as a large enough part of their user base were an uneducated scourge on the roads.
I can totally imagine that! Especially younger men I’m guessing? In the uk they are used for “snatch and grab” robbery! They come by and grab your bag or your phone.
I agree for the most part and can understand the problems it presents in a big city with a lot of idiot e-bikers. They should require some kind of license if you don´t already have a drivers license although that does not cure idiots from being idiots. I would never get myself an e-bike and very much like to overtake them with pure muscle power when commuting. There is a big ignorance towards obese people in the video because you never know how they got there, sure the sad persons with the drinks on the treadmill is just hilarious and some of them may not understand how stupid they are. There are those who has been fit and healthy but for reasons like injury, depression or illness may get obese and then the e-bike can be a way to get back to an active lifestyle and get a routine with commuting by bicycle and when they are fit enough can make the transition to a normal bike.
Good reasoning and thought. Thanks for your comment. I can’t help but think of people I’ve seen who are fitter than me and who have no legs, but don’t give up, they still ride hand cycles and they don’t use motors or complain about hills. Yesterday I saw a video of a man with no arms wiring an electrical cabinet with such dexterity with his feet… I guess most people on E-bikes need to exercise their minds more than they need assistance with their legs. 😉
You should have to earn where you pedal on bike trails. People with the least amount of riding skill going so fast just as dangerous and usually they're elderly and not capable of evading collision it's just not a good practice
My fear is that e-bikes are going to start filling the bike lanes, e-bike markets will demand faster e-bikes that last longer, people will replace their primary mode of transportation with fast long lasting e-bikes, and the end result will be bike and pedestrian friendly areas full of electric motorcycles with riders wearing backpacks full of sour IPAs and pickleball rackets. Your bmw reference is SPOT ON! I guess thats a global phenomen. Bmw, Mercedes, and Audi drivers, though. My state just offered e-bike tax rebates and they were all claimed almost immediately. I think a lot of people who cant have a driver license, for what ever reason, get an e-bike. I just got my wife a trek domane al 5 and the guy at the shop tried to convince her to get an e-bike. It was a bit insulting. I know you love Trek bikes 😊
Ha ha indeed trek had some fantastic bikes! Especially the ones made by Litespeed and repainted as TREK. 😂 You know while I was making the video a song came to me that kind of hints at the future you describe. It’s a 1960s song by Zager and Evens called “In the Year 2525.” One part goes: “In the year 5555 Your arms hangin' limp at your sides Your legs got nothin' to do Some machine's doin' that for you…”
Ukraine reporting. Our law treats a bicycle as a vehicle. We have virtually nonexistent velo-infrastructure, which is a source for many scandals and shit-hit-the-fan talks on riders being killed by motorists. Also, there's already an abundance of motorized personal transport machines like monowheels, scooters, and of course bikes with motor hubs. Pedelec-type of bike is too expensive for our average consumer, so you don't see those on the streets at all. As a very experienced road biker I am glad we have this "wild west/you are on your own" situation because as a roadie I can comfortably ride in traffic even as hectic as in Kyiv. If you saw New Yorkers riding around cars like nobody's business, this type of shenanigans does not fly here - you're dead in no time. Smashed by a 40-ton lorry or split into pieces by Lamborghini missile. Other cyclists, especially ones on motorized bikes aren't as brave, so they choose to ride on sidewalks (which is illegal by law, but police does nothing on that front). The sheer quantity of cyclists is rapidly declining, because those, who used to pedal on their own steam have settled on monowheels, scooters and whatever they see fit to get to the point B. ????? PROFIT!!!! Motorists (car drivers and moto riders) are accustomed to cyclists on the road. They see us, they recognize us. But monowheelers, scooter riders and some motorized bikes are an eyesore for them. Getting from point A to point B is relatively okay on a normal bicycle, if you know what you're doing. But using those electric contraptions WITHOUT bike infrastructure is like having a death wish. And will continue being so until the bike infrastructure will be finally built. What will happen... never. Or in the year of 2144.
Goodness! What a tragic mess! I don’t know what I can offer as it seems there are many deep problems with cycling in Ukraine. I feel your frustration. All the best and stay safe! 🙏🏻❤️
Seen a fair few of your posts. Even when I agree with you, I have to say that your reasoning/justification for it is often so biased (in what you leave out as much as what you say) that I sometimes wonder if you are just taking the piss out of people!
I agree 👍🏾. Many of the e-bike clowns in my area don’t have a clue about cycling properly/respectfully/safely and use them primarily because they’re fashionable
It's refreshing to hear a presenter tell it like it is. I own an ebike; I bought it to bridge the gap from very unfit and having knee issues to getting back onto my regular bikes. It worked, and after fewer then 50 miles on the e-bike, I got back to analog bikes and never ride the e-bike anymore. A few weeks ago I thought I had it sold, but the buyer backed out. The biggest down of e-bikes is their ability to invite and facilitate assholism. Lots of information is out there teaching people how to modify e-bikes to lift their performance completely out of spec and render them not only illegal but unsafe. And lots of e-bike "riders" do it. Many of those in your e-bike recklessness montage may well be in that group. From the morality perspective, if e-bikes and powered shifting are bad, then so are lights, computers head units, etc., not to even mention laptop computers, cordless power tools, cameras (used for making RUclips videos), and anything that uses a rechargeable battery. In short, the "morality" argument falls flat.
Some good points here. 🙂👍🏻 I unfortunately don’t agree with your final point. By that logic then you might say “well smoking weed is ok so I might as well do crack and Meth.” You see? Indeed the battery in my bike light is a problem, but I really need a bike light for my survival. The battery is small. Yes I’d prefer to not have it come from slavery. But that doesn’t mean it makes it ok to buy a battery 10x the size for an e-bike that nobody actually “needs.” Hopefully I explained this well? Thank you and safe riding! ❤️
@@reginaldscot165 But I argued against the morality perspective, not the need perspective. If slave labor helped make my e-bike battery, it helped make all those other batteries as well. From a morality standpoint, there is NO difference. That you "need" a thing and that it's "small" doesn't justify having it if being anti-slave labor is your thing. If you're truly, deeply anti-slave labor, you don't use anything with a rechargeable lithium battery, full stop. Otherwise, you're cherry picking. But nobody in the Western world doesn't use rechargeable batteries, so we should all just shut up about slave labor until we're willing to give up using anything that relies on it. So far, we're not.
Well I would say certain type of e-bikes should be banned, my orbea has helped become fitter because of the system they use, they should restrict the speed they can go. Nice vid
I'm always telling people how an Ebike saved my life. After being diagnosed with congestive heart failure. Plus scheduled for another open heart surgery . I bought a Ebike to strengthen my body for the coming body truma. Well, riding that Ebike three days a week for a month. When it came down to the day of my surgery, my doctors check my heart functions and sent me home the next day ,telling I didn't need it anymore. @13:45 - I do agree with learning the skill sets. After three years of riding my ebike. I find that I can corner as well as I could when I rode a standard 21 speed bike like I had when I was in my 20's. I still can't do a "Deadman's turn yet. But I don't really need to.
Reginald: I enjoyed the video and agree with many of your points against pedal-assist e-bikes. Your most compelling argument is the one about lack of skill and experience; and I used to be very opposed to e-bikes for that very reason. However, the same argument applies to those who ride conventional bikes. As cycling has become more popular where I live (due to more bike lanes and rail trails) I encounter more inexperienced cyclists on all types of bikes. On an e-bike or a conventional bike any inexperienced cyclist can pose a significant danger to themselves and to others. Similarly, an experienced cyclist who is careless / reckless and/or does not follow basic etiquette is also extremely dangerous. I have personally had numerous "close-calls" with cyclists on conventional bikes in group ride situations. These "close calls" have happened while participating in group rides in which other riders in the group were careless and/or not focused. I have also had "close calls" with groups while on solo training rides. Just a week ago I was nearly mowed down by a group of 15 cyclists traveling the opposite direction who came into my lane on a local rail trail to pass some pedestrians. They were going 20+ miles per hour, I was going about 22 mph, and their ride leader thought it was a better move to put everyone's life at risk (theirs, mine, and the pedestrians) rather than slowing down to ensure safe passage for all. I have several friends who have been involved in crashes this year, one who suffered a double pelvic fracture, and all of the incidents were caused by riders on conventional bikes during group rides. I'm all for safety, skills and experience, I just think your argument is more powerful when placed into a broader context. If everyone had basic bike handling skills, followed the rules of the road, and showed basic courtesy to others, the debate about conventional bikes vs. e-bikes would be a non-issue.
I am doing deliveries in my city and the colleague is wondering when will I "upgrade" to an ebike,he himself rides 20 inch ebike and am saying that I enjoy riding and maintaining my 26 inch steel bike.I don't feel passionate about smaller wheels or escooters. I agree the worst part of the ebikes are arrogancy and reckless riding,in fact in the last 2 years the only collision I had was due to a reckless ebike ramming into me.Thanks god I had thick coat which saved my spine
In the mountains for elderly people it's great instead of a car for short trips. I live in a big city in a valley and my mom in the mountain countryside. She likes to visit when she is shopping in the city. She likes shopping in the city because there are more choices and the fruit and vegetables are generally more fresh. It's like 800 meters of elevation gain over 30 kilometers, without an E-Bike she couldn't make the journey back, not even considering when fully loaded.
Lets stop using gsm, remotes, basically all electronics, not to mention e-car. One of the stupiest argument regarding battery. I saw you using garmin...and camera while bicycling...what's up with that?
It’s not a Garmin. But the horrific batteries in E-bikes and E-Cars are utterly devastating to the environment. It’s about the scale of production and the amount of damage the larger batteries cause. I’d gladly give up my bike computer, just like people with e-bikes I don’t need it.
@@reginaldscot165 my point is, making shifter batteries like real enviromental issue is laughable (compare this one battery to tons of batteries you are using at home). Ebike, escooter etc...if anything, is far better than ICV. I personaly dont own any of those, because im fit enough to do without help of a e-motor, but I recognise, there is a place for that products.
I have an Autoimmune Disease (Psoriasis). I also have deteriorating joints throughout my body (my doctor suspects Psoriatic Arthritis). Plenty of places within a couple of blocks of where I recently moved. I tend to walk to those places. It's mobility reasons. I'd absolutely ride a standard bicycle if it weren't for this Arthritic condition.
@@reginaldscot165 A $350 standard bicycle would be plenty enough to do stuff in town. I had a $300 BMX when I moved out on my own in 2005. I rode that bike all the time in town. I have a Monday Motorbikes ANZA 750S now. Just about everything I need is within a half mile. I have no problems walking that. I needed to run to the pharmacy this morning. I took my E-Bike as it's roughly a 6 mile round trip. I think people are making mountains out of mole hills with the battery fires. Education, and common sense go a long way in properly caring for lithium batteries. I'm not concerned at all with my ANZA going up like fireworks on the 4th of July.
You really should have done research before making this vid. Kinda hard to believe this came from the same guy that not long ago shut up hambini. 1) Ebikes are likely the best means we have to get people out of petrol cars. On average, an ebike emits 1/12 the g/km of CO2 compared to a petrol car. Most trips made are short distance. On a large scale, those emissions savings are huge. And yes, CO2 is a real pollutant. 2) Mineral pollutants derived from batteries are a vastly different type of pollutant than carbon emissions. This shouldn't need to be said, but here we are. They have different scales, different assimilation rates, different everything. And, having multiple pollutants that sit within the environmental buffer capacity is better than having one pollutant that blows past that buffer causing environmental damage on a global scale. Batteries in a land fill are bad, but that's a point pollutant of minimal magnitude. Not global climate patterns. 3) The largest exporter of lithium is Australia, and its not close. They may complain about their wages but I doubt you'd be able to credibly argue Aussies are slave labor. Cobalt is the issue. But if we go that route then you have to address the ethical issues of petroleum extraction. Which "batteries are bad" people love to ignore. 4) Its easier to regulate/modify/upgrade a single point source than the diffuse end point. Its also significantly more cost effective. 5) Cargo bike and ebike are not mutually exclusive categories. 6) NED is flat. 7) People are lazy. You are not going to convince the planet to switch to Dutch bikes as a car replacement. The infrastructure isn't there. And convenience is primary driver for people. Telling people to just get a normal bike is as stupid as telling people to stop having sex. Its policy pulled from a fucking fantasy world. 8) The comparison that we currently sit in is ebike vs gas engine. Thinking about anything else, right now, is idiotic. Ebikes are the transitionary tech to get out of cars while driving demand for infrastructure development of regular bike infrastructure, public transit, etc. 9) Motorcycles are also fast and dangerous. So what. We aren't telling people not to drive them because they have a cager mentality themselves. People adapt as they gain experience and, crucially, the culture of the community evolves. But you actually have to go through that evolutionary period.
I agree with you. What a stupid video. Get out on a bike, any bike is better than carbon fueled vehicles, or even EVs. There's nothing wrong with ebikes. There are plenty of crap riders on e- and analog bikes, just search on youtube and go nuts! You don't blame an analog bike when you see a bad rider. Really Reginald, be better than this.
Well to sum up. CO2 isn’t a pollutant. So… batteries are much worse. You breath in CO2 every day and you are fine. Try doing the same with cobalt and lithium and see what happens. 🤣 Sorry I don’t buy into the CO2 scam, I did my research and listened to scientists who aren’t funded by the governments pushing the CO2 agenda. CO2 is wonderful stuff, the planet is getting greener as a result of more CO2 for example. Lithium might come from Australia (most of it comes from South America actually, yes I did my research, less than half is from Australia.) but the cobalt comes from the Congo! And yes it’s all slave labour in terrible conditions.
"Telling people to just get a normal bike is as stupid as telling people to stop having sex." Well, fitness derived from riding a bike enhances sexual performance, didn't you know? Of course, it also refers to e-bike riders.
Hi Reginald, We agree on one thing - your video is clickbait!! Ebikes shouldn’t be banned: In summary - your argument is a bit like saying modern bikes should be banned and we should all be riding the original “draisienne” bikes of 1817. Once upon a time bikes had no pedals, no chains, no gears etc. Most of your arguments still apply. Please don’t promote this message of bigotry - some riders prefer rim brakes and others discs - that’s fine - but don’t criticise others or try to get them banned if they don’t agree! Taking each of your points in turn: Irresponsible riding - sorry but I’ve seen this from all kinds of road user and it’s simply down to the user and not the form of transport they’re using. Difficult maintenance which should be cheap and accessible to all - I know many people who don’t have a clue when it comes to bicycle maintenance of a standard bicycle. Also, some regular bikes have very expensive parts or require very expensive tools to maintain them. I’ve found ebikes no more complicated to work on. Unfortunately things like motors and batteries are pretty much maintenance free (or not serviceable - if you like) but this is also true of some normal bike components. So like these normal bike components things like motors and batteries can be replaced when they fail or wear out. And removing them/re-fitting is pretty easy. Environmental impact - normal bikes have an environmental impact also. Electric motors can be recycled - 100%. Lithium batteries like everything else on a bike can be recycled if done properly. Mining & exploitation - it’s sad that in a modern world exploitation still exists - but I’m sure that this is not only limited to people involved in Lithium mining. What is the point? - I am lucky enough to own several bikes including a motorcycle, road ebike, eMTB and normal MTB. All are fun. All can be used for transport. They are all different weights and provide different levels of assistance to the rider. I don’t really ride for the sole purpose of getting fit but all of them are better than doing nothing. Like your treadmill example it’s not really the equipment that you use but how you use it that determines how much effect it has on your fitness. I find that an ebike allows you to go riding more than a normal bike - that’s more miles more often. If you enjoy riding that makes sense. For the same reason that a normal bike feels more enjoyable when riding with a tail wind that is why an ebike feels more enjoyable. If you’re struggling on hills or in those last few miles from home and wish they were over - an ebike lets you do that more easily. If you want to get really fit then why ride the lightest most aero bike you can get? People in the Netherlands are fitter because they all ride normal bikes - The Netherlands is flat - there’s a clue. And their normal bikes couldn’t be more different from the average UK club rider road bike! Ebike is faster - this can come in handy if you struggle to keep with a group uphill but can keep up on the flat. However, as most ebikes are limited to support only up to 15.5mph I find that on the flat a normal bike can be easier to go fast on! You use less energy on an ebike - If burning calories is not your goal but getting some exercise, fresh air and enjoying the ride is then why is this a problem? If it’s less painful than being on a regular bike then why not? More pain doesn’t always mean more gain - in fact it can do the opposite. Some people are not trying to win races all the time. But if you want/can ride over the assistance limit - that will burn more calories than a normal bike! Ebikers can’t ride - I have ridden bikes for 53 years during which time I have ridden in a road club, taken part in road racing, cyclocross racing and MTB racing. I bought my first ebike 5 years ago and I’ve loved every minute. My eMTB has allowed me to learn new skills more quickly as it allows me to session trails more. MY eRoad bike allows me to ride with faster riders without asking them to wait and without the suffering they seem to love so much! Given the 15.5mph speed limit I’m not sure an ebike turns the average rider into Pro as you suggested! New riders coming to ebikes will need to build experience just like on a normal bike. Ebikers have BMW mentality - sorry but I’ve seen this from all kinds of road user and it’s simply down to the user and not the form of transport they’re using. Fat/Disabled people don’t need ebikes - no but they’d probably go out more on their ebikes. Normal bike riders can be old, can do lots of miles, can go slower, can have fun, can keep fit - newsflash - so can ebikers! Normal bikes allow you to be fitter/healthier - an ebike can also do this and allow you to manage over training more easily. Even with the same amount of riding an ebike can give you 90% of that fitness - isn’t that enough? Not everyone’s main objective is to be as fit/healthy as possible - it’s quite laughable that many club riders have the latest lightest bikes in the pursuit of fitness but would a heavier bike make you fitter? Eat less/exercise more - ebikers can to do this too! Bicycle is efficient - so that means it will go faster and easier with less energy right? Exactly your argument against ebikes! QED. Ride safe and encourage all riders to continue/start riding whatever they want to ride! Brian
I’m sure we agree on many things Brian. 🙂 Just a few counter points: I disagree that my argument is an argument against progress. (Often used against me) I don’t think you can say that because I’m against e-bikes that’s the same as being against the modern bike Vs the bikes of history. Because firstly I’m not and secondly an e-bike is very different from all bikes that came before. Since the invention of the chain all bikes have essentially been the same, 100% man/woman powered. Another point, you can’t compare the level of environmental damage a say traditionally made steel bike causes Vs an electric bike. They are on a completely different level! Even steel Vs carbon is a 40% pollution difference. The batteries are horrendous for the environment and the production involves open cast mines full of poor abused people. Not so with steel mining. And you claim that the batteries are “100% recyclable” not true. No process give you 100% return. And recycling is way lower than that, maybe 50% if you are lucky. Also only 5% of the batteries made are recycled! So in the end it’s a terrible situation to add more batteries too so some able bodied middle aged guy with too much money can wiz about the MTB trials stealing KOMs. 😂 All the best and safe riding!
@@reginaldscot165Thanks for the response. Hahaha, that's me! I know but it's fun!!! I'm not so much after KOM's as improving/learning new skills and EMTBs allow you to ride-repeat. I think it's very hard to buy many things, in the modern global capitalist economy, in which we find ourselves, which doesn't exploit someone somewhere in the world and lithium/cobalt mining etc. is one of the latest stand-outs. It is very difficult as a consumer to see when the only products available to buy are ethically produced with minimal environmental impact. The industrial revolution, although it has provided many modern conveniences - like massed produced bicycles - has not exactly been a shining example of healthy & safety and environmental protection but to reverse that would be - challenging? Hopefully, improvements should come in time to the relatively new battery production in response to Amnesty International , pressure from manufacturers etc.. Agree - ebikes are not 100% human powered but what cyclist doesn't enjoy the benefit of a tailwind? As my ebikes are charged by 100% renewable energy (ahem!) courtesy of Octopus Energy then my batteries are effectively being powered by a tailwind. As a result I use less human energy and produce less CO2. How environmentally friendly is that! Unless of course I then ride more - doh! Also agree - batteries are not all recycled. Whilst I don't think all steel products are recycled either, the figure is probably higher but the reason is purely a commerical one - its cheaper than refining iron ore. One day, soon hopefully, someone will work out a cheap/safe way of commercially viably recycling batteries too! We have a great ability as humans to rationalise arguments that justify our own choices. What a boring world it would be if we were all the same! Disc brakes rule!😂
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If an e-bike is the difference between someone sitting on the sofa eating KFC and getting outside, then I’m all for e-bikes 👍
Not me. I'd rather not ride around people like that.
@@brianmurray8943 Ride around people like what
People eating KFC on their sofa.
Yeah I’m not sure about that, kind of feel like the other guy. Seems a little dangerous to give such a person a 50kph e-bike 😂
Yeah, cause the only choices are stuffing ones face with junk food whilst laying on a couch, or having your arse carried around with almost no physical effort on an e-bike or e-scooter. Nothing in between. How about just go for a walk instead. Everybody knows how to walk. It's safe, available to everybody at any age. Best form of physical activity. Now, if it is used for commuting to work or to shop instead of using a car, then that's different.
I live in Ireland and having an ebike has virtually eliminated the need for me to use a car (and in most cases it's replaced bus journeys for me) because I can go a lot further and climb hills easily on it, when I want to go on a longer journey I take my bike on a train and finish the journey on my bike, an ebike was literally one of the best purchases I've ever made. I can understand concerns about safety, environmental concerns etc. but I considered those when buying it and bought a road legal 25km/h speed restriction and quite a small battery (to reduce the impact of battery production), yes the bike does have an environmental and ethical footprint but so do cars (even an electric car will have a huge environmental/ethical footprint)
Nice comment! Thanks 🙏🏻 (I love Ireland, been a long time since I saw my friends there. Terrible what the government are doing to the Irish people. 😔)
By your own definition, you're a motorized vehicle, and push bikers shouldn't have to share cycling infrastructure with you.
What next? Robot assisted basketball players thinking they can enter sports competitions?
@@stephensaines7100 Not really as the maximum speed of motor assistance is 25km/h (about 15 mph) which is about the same speed someone on a non-electric bike could achieve, this means road legal e-bikes don’t really present a threat to push bikers and pedestrians. If anything e-bikes are a good thing for cycling infrastructure as they allow more people to cycle, increasing the demand for good cycle infrastructure and encouraging cities to build it, which is something I myself have seen a lot, especially with people using e-bikes for cargo transport and replacing car journeys.
in my area code , approximately 30% of the bikes on the paths are e bikes . most of them ride dangerously and incredibly fast , simply because they can .
That’s right, they can so they do. And often without the skill of a normal riders.
I'm recently diagnosed Type 2 Diabetic. My GP recommended that exercise helps. I was struggling with my push bikes largely due to the very hilly terrain near where I live (South Yorkshire, UK). My ebike helps me out on the hills. I do not use the pedal assist on the flat, it's pointless to do so. It's been a game changer for me.
Wonderful! Try swimming also. 🙂👍🏻
@@reginaldscot165 Why don't you
Dude... Stop eating sugar and go Keto and intermittent fasting, you type 2 diabete will go away pretty quickly...
Might as well ride the escalator at your local mall for "exercise."
@@RobertAdams-ly5ku Because Reginald is not using a *motorized vehicle*.
You are wrong!
99% of the riders of non electrical powered Bikes are also not able (or willing) to service their bikes themselve.
Batteries are a very valuable resource, recycling companies are rare because the volume is too low.
They last about 1000 cycles with average 50km reach we talk about 50.000km, and your Idea of producing the materials is extremely outdated.
It's far more immoral to buy your Coke in a aluminum can.
I'm now around 100kg (starting from 120) and I live in the alps, never the less I ride 5000km a year on my 14kg electrical E-Bike and have lots of fun.
Without E, it would be 0. I was a road racer 30 years ago and I'm developing in that direction again.
It seems you are just a young guy who is disappointed not to be the fastest on the road.
Being an asshole does not depend on the Vehicle you are sitting on.
Ha ha, well I will concede that in your personal experience having an e-bike is making your life easier. 😁👍🏻 However you need to check your facts on battery production as I am not incorrect on that matter. Recycling of the battery is not currently economically viable and it still produces plenty of toxic by products. 😕
The best thing I heard here was: "you don't need that". Who are you talking to, this "you"? 🙂
You sound like a person who knows all people and has clue what they need - but you don't know that, do you?
My point of view:
1. 27 years of cycling experience, 150 000 miles on many types of bikes, from full sus enduro up to aero road carbon bike, some commuters, hardtails, some experience as a rider participating in some competition (40 events) plus 4 different E-bikes.
2. 15 years experience as mechanic and 6 years experience in dealing with people who are my customers, 10-90 yrs old.
For me - you speak/sound as a roadie :)
After 19 years on normal bikes I decided to go my electric way. That was the best thing I have ever done for my and my cycling passion.
1. E-bikes will make someone lazy and make someone less fit and cause some potential weight gain. I started in 1997/80 kg bodyweight. 2023, September: 79kg/185cm. The bike doesn't make me less fit /more lazy, it KEEPS me fit. Why? Because I work 10-14 hours per day sometimes and I need cycling to get rid of stress. I live in West Yorkshire where many places arroud me, including my city offer 10-25% climbs. I don't need any challenges, my work and allday are challenges big enough. A normal bike will not allow me to relax and , definitely, won't make me to go outside so many times as my E.
I believe there are many people like me.
E-bike made me ride again some years ago.
2. Many of my customers started to ride when covid came. They were big, even fat, with mobility and motivation issues. But they belong to some big communities and people love to spend time together. Those ones were unable to ride with fit people but they wanted to spend time together. E-bikes allowed them to do that and that was the only way to do that. They were lazy before having no passion or regular outdoor activity. E- cycling made them move forward. What else? Some of them decided to buy normal bikes, because E-bike activity made them believe they can do that. Riding normal bikes was no joy for them when they considered buying a bike.
3. E-bikes are complicated and difficult to maintain/fix. From my experience: for most of the people a normal bike is too complicated and they can't clean the chain or replace a brake shoe or an inner tube.
Yes I am a roadie. 🙂
Yh, people aren't that clever, are they?😂😂
I ride with a seniors cycling group where the minimum age is 65. All the new members can obviously ride their push bikes however as time progresses they begin to be not able to keep up. In the past this has resulted in them dropping out of the club due to frustration and embarrassment. With the advent of e-bikes, they are now able to continue to ride with their friends and truly benefit from the exercise and the socialization rewards cycling creates. I'm 75 and still riding a conventional bike (Ti) and have to admit I've looked at road e-bikes as a matter of interest in a possible future acquisition.
As far as your comments regarding lithium battery recycling and the use of slave/labour to mine the necessary battery materials, these are old tropes that while they still exist in limited circumstance, in the majority of cases are simply no longer relevant...
I live in a hilly region, so e-bikes are a bless for less sporty and old people who still want to move around, enjoy nature and cycle a bit... it opened a new world to them, else they would stay home.... So I think there are use-cases where e-bikes have their right.
I also don't fully agree with the environmental aspect. According to that logic we need to refuse all kind of products with lithium batteries... the battery of an electronic groupset is comparable with a phones battery... e-bikes of course have a bigger one, but also non-electrified cars, motorcycle, etc. have lithium batteries for starting the engine...
I know Reginald is a purist, as I am generally as well, but this video I don't agree with, hehe ;-)
@@hellebarde1450 No, they are not old tropes. They are still very relevant. We are being made to believe these things, along with other waste, such as plastics or toxic waste from electronics are being recycled, but oftentimes they are not and just go to landfill, oftentimes shipped to thirds world countries and dumped there.
e bikers should ride with e bikers and should not mix up with real riders
Lovely comment, however why not have 2 groups? Fast and slow. And if they for whatever reason lost the ability to pedal would they still be welcome in your group on an electric scooter? And if yes then would you be ok with new riders joining on electric scooters until the majority of the riders in your group are no longer peddling? I’m being somewhat facetious but only out of curiosity to the limit of what you might expect in a “cycling club.” 🙂
Also you are misinformed about battery material acquisition. The majority of Cobalt comes from Africa, specifically the Congo and it is all pretty much slave labour open cast mines. I listen to a very interesting expert talk about it on the Joe Rogan experience, he says that any company telling you that they do not get their batteries from these places are lying. We are told the mines on mechanised and modern, but when he personally went to visit them he found men and women and children digging by hand. It’s horrible and it definitely needs to be changed.
All the best and excellent choice on the titanium bike. 😉👍🏻
@@82vitt That might be true and I'm against electronic crap as well - basically. But it's not the solution to avoid all electronics at all - there more high efficient recycling stations etc. will need to be built up.
My opinion is one should buy high quality stuff of the products one really(!) needs, and just avoid the crap one not really needs...
And e-Bikes have their right, they make less sporty and old people more sporty - which is good again for envionment too...
That feeling of being better than others,is also present in the road bike cycling "community"! At least here,in Croatia! My aluminum bike is modest, nothing to look at, doesn't look expensive,and I build it myself, from the used frame! Whenever carbonized roadies pass next to me, they never ever say hi,and they like to send that "I ride a expensive bike,so get out of my way" vibe! Even the guys with the bellies,like to pretend that they know how to ride! Their isn't many E-Bike users here, people love their cars to much!😅
I honestly don't care about speed,all I want is a bike as light as my budget allows,so I don't have to struggle, when turning those pedals! I don't own a car, just few bikes!
Greetings from Croatia from Kris 😎
Thanks Kris! Well at least when someone is arrogant on a normal bike they are passing me buy because they are fitter and faster than me and hopefully have some skill to pass safely. 😂
All the best! 🙂
Speed is intoxicating. That's why guys on their lightweight racing bikes feel they're better than more civilized riders! Well, they are, actually! I'll hold my line. They can just skirt around me. If they can't, tough luck!
@@reginaldscot165Thank you!
Have a safe and interesting rides!😊
@@paulmcknight4137
My road ss bike weights 7.5 kg! Everything except the fork is aluminum,even the forks steerer! So, it's not a heavy bike! With the 50:18 gear ratio,I can chase even the slimmest roadies! Hahaha 🤣
Greetings from Kris 😎
I see more E-Bikes on my local MTB trail than I do normal MTB bikes these days. I've nothing against them, but they tend to beat you up the hills but then hold you up on the downhill and technical sections. I've heard all the arguments for E-Bikes, and sometimes they are valid, but 95% of the time it's a laziness issue. My heart sinks a little whenever a potentially healthy person tells me they're getting an E-bike.
Agreed 👍🏻
Great video and you have some valid points but also some that are slightly off. You are 100% correct, someone young, healthy, and fit such as yourself has no need for an e-bike, and if your video was directed towards that demographic only spot on! You shouldn't be riding an e-bike any more than you should be riding an electric wheelchair. However, there is a demographic that is not young, fit, and healthy that refuses to just sit on the couch and finish dying!
I am 60 years old and was diagnosed with bladder cancer in February of 2023 and underwent a rigorous 3 months of chemo that left me wiped out and it will be well over a year before I am back to 100%. It left me unable to ride my regular bike with any enjoyment at all as any hills and I was off pushing. A hemoglobin of 10 tends to do that to you :)
I was young and cocky like you at one time and no old and decrepit person ( as you call them) could have told me anything lol. Well here I am old (and praying to get older!) but I refuse to be decrepit and my e-bike has allowed me to enjoy miles and miles of great riding outdoors. I walk as well as ride but somedays there is an out and back trail that is 15 miles long and I can't walk 30 miles. I can ride the e-bike this distance though and get some exercise and enjoy life. I am an experienced rider having ridden for decades longer than you and I obey the speed limits on trails and follow the rules of the road more than many riders I see on regular bikes. Yes, in certain urban areas, e-bike riders go way too fast, and their greater numbers are a hazard. But I also have almost been hit on the boardwalk by Lance Armstrong wannabees in full racing attire on their $5,000 carbon fiber non-e-bike bikes who completely ignore the 10 MPH speed limit. The speed limit is 10MPH no matter what kind of bike you are riding. You don't ban all cars because of ignorant drivers, you ticket and enforce the rules of the road right?
Someday you will wake up and not be able to do things you did at this age through no fault of your own. I pray none of this happens to you but you would probably have a different perspective if it did.
You are dead on with the lithium batteries and it is a problem. But you are contributing to this yourself as we all are in other ways. You recorded this video on something powered by lithium batteries, you have reviews on lights on your channel that use these batteries, camera reviews that use these batteries, and in this video, I see a cordless screw gun on the workbench. That is a double whammy! You are using batteries plus it's making you lazy! Just use a regular screwdriver and don't be lazy! It will make your grip much stronger and be one less battery in the world (sorry couldn't resist!). I suspect if you see an e-bike there are probably triple the amount of batteries in a 1/4 mile radius around that e-bike in cell phones.
So just keep an open mind on this and again, yes, if we see someone like yourself who is young and healthy and fit on an e-bike riding like they own the road we might think what an a-hole (but sometimes we can't tell. Someone could look just like you and have an artificial leg and here we would be judging them and not have the entire story. Plus they could be on a regular bike riding like an a-hole). But if someone is on an e-bike and riding respectively and obeying the rules of the road they might just be refusing to sit on the couch and die! So I am for more enforcement of the rules no matter what the person is riding and I bet there would be just as many regular bike riders getting tickets as e-bike riders because they wrongly believe since they are on a non-powered vehicle they are not a danger. Best to you and I enjoyed the video!
I can’t remember in my video if I mentioned it or not (I did for the e-group set video) that you should only buy something like this if you are disabled. Also many people who are disabled still try to ride normal bikes with slight modifications. But I agree with the sentiment of your comment entirely.
As for the argument that some of my items have lithium batteries. Yes they do, but I think it’s justified to have bike lights for safety, the argument being it’s about cost benefit. A bike light is a safety item and required by law, an E-bike is not. Also size, the E-bike battery is probably equivalent to 100s of bike lights.
As for my cordless screwdriver, it’s actually a drill, (yes it can also be used for screws) but I think I’d struggle drilling into metal without electric power of some kind. 😁 For wood I’m happy to use a mechanical drill, my farther had some and I really like them.
All the best and safe riding! ❤️
Honestly, your arguments don't hold a lot of water. It's obvious you don't actually believe in what you are saying.
1. Most people can't properly maintain, let alone fix, their conventional mechanical bikes either or don't have the time for it.
2. The environmental footprint is the same, if not smaller. If you are living in a contry that genrates electricity with literally anything other than coal, elecrtic vehicles are more efficient than food production. Let's face it: you have to eat very well for you ride a conventional bike, and agriculture is one of the biggest contributor to the environmental issues we are facing. Especially when it comes to meat. But even vegitatables takes a lot of space and water. And fruits you are eating might come from the same places in Africa you speak of. If you don't adjust your diet to your physical load, it will actually be detrimental to your health, but there is no "moral" excuse for that by your standards.
3. There are people who live in areas with relatively rough terrain. Good luck climbing in a single speed urban commuter, and yeah, sure you can do that with a decent mechanical MTB or roadie, but when you reach you destination, you'll smell like a horse, and not everyone has a shower at their work. With an E-Bike you can ride in your zone 2 at zone 4 speed. This might not be very harsh, you won't sweat as much, but still it is beneficial for the endurance.
4. The more vehicles you have, the more idiots you'll have on the road. That's it. There's no inherent "dumbness" to E-bikes, and the speed argument appleis to the road bikes - in fact, these bikes are even faster, and the rider has hell if a lot more reasons to be pissed off putting all the effort to accelerate only to stop, because you signal a left turn. I've actually got hit by a road bike rider as a pedestrian in a park this year precisely for that reason, and spent a month in a plaster thanks to fractured 5th metatarsal. The guy was pissed about braking more than I was pissed about breaking a bone... E-bikers tho? They can slow down at any point, then use their motors to accelerate, and that's it, not a big deal. The only kind of insane E-bikers I see are kicksharing users, and the reason they do that is they are paying for the time instead of riding distance.
5. Chances are, there are not a lot of people who NEED a bike at all. And your health argument is outright ridiculous. The people you are talking about usually can pedal a bike, they just can't pedal with a lot of force and effort due to cardio problems or joints issues or whatever problems they have. These people don't need zone 4 training, and zone 5 might as well kill them. They aren't very strong, so your zone 3 equals their zone 5. But if they set pedal assist properly, they can keep up with you in a group and maintain suitable level of physical load. And yeah, if you ask me, fat people don't need a bike or an e-bile. Fat people need resolve, determination, and knowledge, with some professional help at times.
P.S.: I don't have an E-bike, btw. Good old conventional bike XC and trails.
How very dare you Sir! I never carry water in arguments owing to their non-tangible nature, I find a bucket 🪣 works much better.
😉
All the best and safe riding! 👍🏻🙂
I can not possibly agree with you more. A bike with a motor is a motorcycle. What worries me the most is the likely hood of e-bikes will end up needing to be registered and licensed. Once that happens, how long until we will be required to register and license our bicycles? Just think about paying personal property tax on our bicycles.
E-bikes are not electric bicycles, they are electric motorcycles , and they should be treated as such. This episode struck a nerve with me. As a bike shop owner, I never want to turn a customer away., I truly believe I can fix anything with two wheels, but like you, I have a hard time supporting something I can not believe in.
Keep up the good work, brother.
Thank you, it’s good to hear from a fellow shop owner and passionate cyclist. 🙏🏻
I wanna see if you feel the same when you reach 70 and get diagnosed with arthritis, brittle bones, heart murmur.
I eat healthily, I ride often and I don’t have any history of the same in the family. Also, I remember seeing a photo in a museum in Nottingham (my home city) of a gentleman in the 1900s who cycled from Nottingham to Blackpool (137 miles) for his 80th birthday. On a regular steel bike with very few gears, in a suit. 😉
We're all different but what's the point of trying to get fit and strong using an e bike?
I own three bikes, 2 e-bikes and one older 10 speed. I can relate to some of your content. I'm a 57 years old, male and have always been in slim tone shape. I'm 5' 8" and about 143 lbs. I have a 26" fat tire 36 volt 500 watt e-bike and recently bought a 20" fat tire step through design e-bike with a 750 w 48 volt system. The new e-bike is more zippy and I find it more enjoyable to use as you say like a Moped. My behemoth 26" e-bike I ALWAYS pedal with it and I use assist 3-4 which if you want to go 15-18 mph you're putting in good amount of effort. I seldom use PAS 5 unless i'm in a hurry for whatever reason. Funny thing is I find the 26" e-bike I prefer pedaling to be somewhat more enjoyable then the faster and smaller e-bike! So I use it more often. This brings me to your next topic the WAY people ride e'bikes and I will sadly AGREE with you! Many ride them like total asses and speed through crowded areas almost hitting pedestrians and or causing cars to slam on their brakes etc. I ride often on the boardwalk here in Queens N.Y. and I never go more then 15 mph unless there's few or NO people around. I just stay in Pass 2-3 which is about 11-14 MPH and cautiously ride along and enjoy the ocean and fresh air! This season I noticed that they put signs in yellow on all points of entry that say "NO EBIKES, SCOOTERS or VEHICLES allowed on the Boardwalk" I know WHY these were place at all entry points too! So now the Police or Parks Dept CAN stop any unsafe rider of said means of transport and ticket them without them using the X Card . All the police has to say is there are signs you're not allowed to ride on the boardwalk!!! Now I also noticed if you ride like I do like a human being and a polite safe responsible one the Police don't bother you! It just now protects them from being called out from a rider saying you stopped me cause i'm GAY or because i'm black or because Im Brown or because I'm mexican or because I'm YOUNG etc. NO its because you operated your e-bike like an ASS and unsafe and now are getting a summons! LOL I also find the "tour de France" types with the ultra light alloy bikes and spandex to be generally the MOST ENTITLED and most rude cyclists to be honest! Not all but many. i refer to them as "Tour De Asshole" lolol They also speed past everyone and sometimes ride 2 even 3 next to each other blocking both lanes of the bike lane!
Lots of stuff I agree with here. I understand that an item isn’t bad, it’s always the operator that’s the problem. Just like anything, drugs, guns, knives, cars… non mix well with stupid people.
Yes you are correct, Road cyclists are the worst, such stuck-up ass-holes… I’m basically one of them… I’m definitely an ass, but not that stuck up, I wave to anyone on a bike. 😁
Thanks and safe riding! 😁
Thanks Regi safe riding to you too! Oh another thing I didn’t mention is I ALWAYS ALWAYS turn my head when moving left or right of whatever lane I’m in! Say I’m on the boardwalk and I go around a person whom I’d walking IN the bike lane. Just line driving my car I turn my head and give a quick look behind me to my left to make sure I don’t cut off another cyclist or get hit by one who’s going faster and is about to pass me within inches. I noticed cyclists love to do this. Pass you while being 2” away when they have sometimes. 2, 3 even 10 FEET of space. Not sure why but they do!
If I’m riding in the street I give a quick look prior to passing any intersection to make sure I don’t have a car coming up on me who’s going to make a fast right turn in front of me! So far past 1.5 years I rode about 2500 miles between both bikes
@@reginaldscot165 I ride a hybrid bike and make a point of nodding or saying a quick hello whenever I pass a cyclist. Not to the racers though! Wot a bunch of miserable supercilious ignorant shts they are! Well OK not all, just most of them. I stopped saying hello to them because I was getting about one response in ten. In contrast it's a far higher response from your ordinary non lycra wearing cyclists that's for sure.
As for the e-bikers and ebikes. Must admit I'm a bit conflicted with them. They have the potential to get people out of those motorised tin boxes and of course they can be great for folk who aren't as young and as fit as they once were. I just wish some of the ebikers would slow down on the canal towpaths. It's mixed use but going past pedestrians at 15 mph is a bit out of order.
Hi Reginald. H'm, do I agree? The conditions and politics of mineral extraction for LiPo batteries are terible/reprehensible. Absolutely agree but that is an argument for better treatment for third world people not per-se against battery vehicles. Early pedalecs were NiMh which were better environmentally, if not so good as bikes. Recycling of batteries? A bit like the recycling of many things, not good at first but improves with research and time. That argument counts against carbon fibre, including the forks and wheel rims on your bike and the aeroplanes many people fly in so they should be banned on that argument.
People riding eBikes ride badly? So do many on ordinary bikes, it doesn't need an "E" to make a bad rider.
You can ride one with the performance of a pro-racer? In the EU and UK, pedalecs are limited to 250W and 25kph. Not quite the figures I've been watching on the Vuelta this week. Of course there are law breakers, but then there are speeding drivers and burgulars.
Mopeds, in the UK at least, require a licence, a helmet, a registration, insurance, an MOT test, and so on. More cost and complication which obviously will deter people making the choice.
I sort of agree with you that one should have the liberty to do what you like as long as it hurts no one. This is perhaps the best argument in favour of eBikes. Climate change is happening. You may dispute that but in my long life I have noticed the weather changing for the warmer, I remember the hard winters of the 1960s, they are no more. Wherre we live we used to rely on 2 snow events a winter (thats this century) but our last snow event was 2012. Climate change hurts people, droughts starve people. EBikes and other micro mobility solutions can replace car journeys/ delivery vans and so contribute in a small way to reducing the pace of climate change.
Perhaps, for the good of the planet, we should ban air travel and cruise ships and ...... but thats an argument for another day.
My sister in law is over weight to the extent that she could not even begin to ride an ordinary bike, but an eBike is a way to get started.
Personnally I can't see the point of a gym. There is plenty of good exercise to be had walking, cycling or playing sports.
Back in 2000, I convert one of my bikes to "E" with a front hub motor kit (legal, 250W, 25kph) and I found it simply did not help on the hills enough so I unconverted.
You do make a good argument for teach children the rudiments of how to ride a bike safely, and I would agree whole heartedly with that.
So do I agree with "Ebikes should be banned!"? No, no and thrice no.
I also don’t think they should be banned, I just don’t think any able bodied person has any right or excuse to buy one. 😁
And yes I and many credible independent scientists dispute the mainstream climate change narrative. If you look at the ice core data for 1000s of years we are just coming out of an ice age. If you look back far enough places like the UK were so warm they had mangrove swamps and palm trees! More CO2 is also not a bad thing, as a result in a tiny increase in CO2 over 100s of years the planet is greener today. The Great Barrier Reef is growing, there are more trees and the green belts are expanding. This is confirmed by NASA satellites. And currently CO2 is only 0.04% of the atmosphere and all the man made CO2 that we are putting back into the atmosphere was CO2 that used to be available in the atmosphere millions of years ago.
Now if you want to reduce Particulate pollution that actually causes cancer and you want to reduce the plastic and chemicals in our water and soil I am 100% behind that! Bit that’s a more complicated subject. 🙂
@@reginaldscot165 I suppose that I disagree with your premise that able bodied should be denied them. I imagine that delivering heavier, bulkier items all day, every day, in a hilly city would be beyond most so a pedalec vehicle of some kind definately has a place.
Perhaps you should say that able bodied people should not be allowed a delivery van, or a bus ride or .....
As far as climate change is concerned it seems that we are of diametrically opposed oppinions so we'll have to agree to differ.
The only reason for me to buy an e-bike is to commute to work and not get there drenched in sweat. I live in a tropical country and hilly area, on top of that my work has no showers, so pedaling there becomes a problem. A pedal assisted e-bike removes a lot of the effort and sweat that comes with it. Still better to the environment than driving every day to work.
My 0.02 Brazilian money worth of thoughts on the matter.
It’s a good point (although your employer should put showers in! Maybe their is a government grant you can get?)
As for if it’s better than the car? I’m not sure about that. Let’s assume CO2 isn’t even a real pollutant. Then you are looking at the particle output of the engine (depending on size) VS the output of the power plant that made the electricity to charge your bike? (In Brazil I believe you use mostly Coal and Oil. Correct if wrong) so basically if you add on top the environmental cost of the toxic batteries then you might be better off in the aircon car! 🤔
@reginaldscot165 Actually Brazil's energy matrix is around 63% hydroelectric. Lately wind and solar are seeing an increased government investment. You must be thinking of Europe and the US where a lot of e-bikes are purchased and the vast majority of energy comes from coal and oil.
I'm already doing my fair share to help off-set my carbon footprint, according to Greta's dream.. I'm childfree. Nobody directly associated with my DNA is gonna have a negative impact on the environment for eternity. 😉😉
@@reginaldscot165 Maybe he's driving an electric car
@@reginaldscot165 [Let’s assume CO2 isn’t even a real pollutant.] Let's assume I'm a fucking power ranger. Yes, lets start an argument with the most retarded premise possible...
Another matter where you're totally wrong :)
It’s unlikely, nay impossible I’m “Totally wrong.” 😂 But thank you for the feedback anyway. 🙂👍🏻
All the best and ride safe!
@@reginaldscot165 Just don't think about the HORROR of some manufacturer making a carbon fiber e-bike!!!
The thing is speed kills, but do e-bikes go any faster than a regular bike? Most 26 ,28 and 29 inch rolling wheels will take a bicycle down a steep incline at speeds of close to 50 MPH, but should bicycles be banned?
It’s quite different, first they are significantly heavier. Getting hit by my 6kg bike is very different from a 10kg+ e-bike.
Secondly it’s skill, if you are doing 70kph on a normal bike normally you have some experience. Otherwise you wouldn’t be going that fast. E-bike riders often don’t have much experience.
Finally it’s context, 70kph down a mountain is very different from 50kph in a crowded city. Pedestrians aren’t expecting a silent e-bike to come wizzing by at a crosswalk without warning. A cyclist needs way more time to build up that speed, even a pro cycling needs a bit of distance to hit 50, No so with a powerful electric motor.
And if you take that bike on a train going 200 kmh, then what? Your analogy is a nonsense.
It's also worth noting that cheap bikes are perfectly fine for commuting. I do a fairly hilly 5 mile commute on a £600 mountain bike with a 1x groupset that weighs nearly 15 kg. At first it would completely exhaust me and initially it took me over half an hour to get to work. Nowadays if traffic isn't too bad I can get to work in under 15 minutes taking the same 5 mile route. That's about a years worth of progress cycling to and from work every day. In that time I'd also taught myself how to maintain my bike after a crap experience with a large LBS (they told me I needed a whole new cassette when only the final sprocket was excessively worn on a Shimano Deore 11s cassette).
Excellent that’s really good to hear! I did the same when I started out but I sold the MTB and got a hybrid that I loved! It was a lovely bike, unfortunately got stolen and that’s how I moved to a road bike. 🙂 my first MTB bike was $150 my hybrid was $300 and my first road bike was $125. 😂 All New!
All the best my friend and keep it up!👍🏻😁
So you are averaging over 20 mph, on a mountain bike, in light traffic, sounds like bullshit to me
@@RobertAdams-ly5ku 5 miles distance in cycling terms is virtually nothing and if you do the exact same thing twice every day for a year you will undoubtedly get much better at it.
Thank you for this video. You have covered many concerns many of us cyclists have been attempting to bring out to the open. Many E-bike websites claim that E-bikes are "...better for the environment!" yet they won't give a proper comparison. They also lie stating that E-bikes are "...faster than conventional bikes!" without providing factual comparative data. Many of us cyclists view E-bikes as a riding option rather than a "...popular new bicycle revolution...better than non-electric bicycles/bikes...blah, blah, blah..!" I've been riding for over 23 years and have never used a motorized bicycle, until a while back when I began test riding E-bikes. Sure, they're torquey and as fast as a road bike (depending on ride mode). I believe they're great for those where a conventional bicycle is too hard to ride in many situations. Like many of us cyclists, we're getting tired of the healthy athletic types using E-bikes (esp. delimited motosports/motorcycle type) as an excuse to not pedal, yet to takeover bicycle infrastructure so they can cheap out on licensing. The E-bike riders I have the most respect for are those who appreciate cycling for what it is and do so by not letting egotism persuade them to purchase an E-bike.
Excellent comment. Thank you 🙏🏻 ❤️
I feel pedal assist is great, but twist and go should be band!
Isn’t that the same as just having a motorcycle?
You really enjoy stirring the pot. Agree with you in that I too find them a waste. The part of the video where you spoke about the ladies at the gym ingesting more calories than they were working off.. so true. Too many persons forget the real purpose of exercise.
I was listening to a guy who studied tribes around the world and many don’t have a word for exercise… because their everyday activities keep them very fit. 🙂
E-bikes are generally a necessity in the US, but it would be very ludicrous to call e-bikes a necessity in the UK, Germany, or Luxembourg. There should be a law in place where people who are in possession of an electric bike in an extremely dense city must have their e-bikes impounded and demolished. The worst part about electric bikes is how unaffordable they are. For people who make less than a dollar a day, it could take literally 10 years to just afford one e-bike.
Are they a necessity in the US because 75% of the population is over weight or is it for some other reason?
my e-bike's fitted with left/right/hazard signal lights including front & rear/brake light .. upgraded the rear mechanical disc brake to hydraulic brake .. most importantly, I ride following road rules & regulations as when i was driving .. o ya, a good helmet & high visibility vest ..
Sounds like you should have just bought a motorcycle 🏍️ 😜
I am over 60 and ride an annual average mileage of over 11,000 miles a year on my flatbar and roadbike, all recorded on my Garmin and Strava. I am not ready for e-bikes yet. My bikes are aluminium and the roadbike has 105 mechanical gears.
E-bikes have their uses, but depends how they are used. Self built e-bikes using unregulated components that are also fire risk! Also some food delivery riders use these illegal e-bikes with 1000w motors with throttle power, basically electric motorbikes. This is so they think to get around insurance, MOT, and any other expenses related to running a motor vehicle. The police especially City of London police have stamped down and confiscated these illegal e-bikes. Also some of the workers don't ride safely and follow the traffic rules trying to make fast deliveries. E-bikes and E-scooters are similar in that they are convenient, regardless if they are legal or not.
Excellent! I wish you many more years of happy riding. Stay safe. 🙂👍🏻
Your views of batteries are a bit skewed in my opinion, but our opinions certainly don't need to align on that. However, as the world keeps moving towards alternative energy storage I hope that the recycling and reuse of old bicycle batteries take up as well. My father-in-law works in a bike shop and he is always on the lookout for places to recycle the batteries.
As for the mining of Cobalt, as more car manufacturers transition over to EVs the importance of their material sourcing goes through more and more audits, and as a result, more L-ion batteries using less or even no Cobalt is becoming available. It is up to the bicycle manufacturers to make sure they specify appropriate battery chemistries, which they do since they mostly use LMO which contains no Cobalt. ie. Every smartphone and laptop has LCO batteries which have a significantly larger proportion in % of Cobalt per kg compared to NMC or non when compared to LFP.
Batties are simply more complex, as is your whole argument in this video, but you can not just though the whole category ''Batteries'' into one container and list the negatives of different ones and apply them over all of them, in my opinion. It would be the same when someone says toilet water is just as drinkable as bottled water, which is a true fact, it is a fluid, it is based on water but everyone knows it is not the same thing.
Anyway, love the video just wanted to add my 2c on the topic of batteries since you were very harsh in an unrealistic way.
Well the batteries in your EVs are identical to the batteries in your E-bike… and they suffer from all the same problems unfortunately. Also if you have your ear to the ground with regards to the EV market, you will be aware that that industry is rapidly heading for oblivion! The intrest and sales have plummeted and people are waking up to it just being another scam… I only hope the political class can catch up with the rest of us, before more damage is done to our economy and environment.
I think 90% if not more of E bike riders are either…
A. Fat.
B. lazy.
C. Both.
They predominantly appeal to people who like the idea of doing exercise, without actually putting in the work. I see it time and time again. People want instant gratification and want to do be able to just do a 20 mile ride without any prior training or fitness level. Just a get a motorbike and be done with it.
I think anyone with a heart condition may see the benefit of an E bike. But all of the fat lazy folk, have no excuse other than being fat and lazy IMO.
As for the speed. A standard E bike tops out at 15 mph and then the assist cuts off makes them even more pointless. I’m a lot faster than that under my own power and overtake E bikers regularly. They also have limited range. You couldn’t go bike packing as an example on an E bike.
Sadly they are just becoming more and more popular.
For the UK yes 15mph but I hear that there are plenty of Chinese bikes flooding the market that are not limited to this? Also some other places don’t have the same rules. I agree with your comment, it’s certainly my feelings on the matter. I understand if you have some terrible medical condition and you still want to have the feeling of riding, then they may have a point for a very small group.
All the best and safe riding!
I kind of agree AND disagree with you.
First of all: it´s much better that people ride e-bikes than drive a car to work. Some people (like somone in my close family) would 100% get out more and actually ride a bike if they had an e-bike instead of just sitting inside in an armchair or laying on the sofa.
Not everyone has the facilities at work like a wardrobe or the possibility to have a shower.
Riding an e-bike you don´t necessarily break any sweat, but you get outside in fresh air and you don´t drive a car.
Some people are absolutely able to ride a bike, but when the hills get long and/or steep they struggle. Some of these might be 60-80 years old and might even have been quite strong cyclists when they were younger. They still enjoy cylcling, but hills and/or their health condition (often heart related) prevents them from going everywhere they want to or ride with their friends on club rides. An e-bike solves that problem (specifically thinking about quire lightweight (and quite expensive) road e-bikes here).
Saying that noone needs an e-bike if you live somewhere where every road is flat might be true, but if you live somehere where hills are quite common, or if you actually want to go cycling in a hilly place on your holiday, then I think your opinion is quite ignorant and condacending to be honest.
I always endeavour to be ignorant and condescending, I find it inspires people to add to the conversation. 😁
E-bikes are the result of hypercapitalism. And this form of capitalism created a toxic bike industry and culture. The bike monopoly cannot create substantial revenue by manufacturing durable steel or aluminum bikes. If you have plenty of idiotic customers who are willing to spend on expensive e-bikes, you meet the demands. Unfortunately, some people also convert their beautiful steel bikes into e-bikes. I just do solo cycling in remote countryside and cycling in urban areas in the UK became a painful activity because of the idiots who show off their carbon bikes or stupid e-bikes.
This guy is 100% correct. 👍🏻
Sadly… 😕
Yep, that’s why bicycles have gears. Nice low ones if needed, to save your knees and such like. Batteries are poison, and as for all this fancy electronic tech, remember “KISS”, “keep it simple stupid”.
Agreed! 👍🏻🙂
Love my ebike. To each their own. And I can work on mine easily. Very simple set up really. You have added a controller and motor. A torque sensor actually does give exercise. You don't like ebikes so just don't buy one.
I hope you have many good rides on your bike. 🙂👍🏻
I am 57 and have no ebike. I live in germany and go everywhere on my roadbike, from getting to work, making shopping tours to trips to italy :) In winter time I ride a fixie because its nice and simple! When you are used to ride a singlespeed for many years, riding fixed is only a small step and a pleasant change :)
Although here in germany ebikes are very popular and bike discounters are filled with hundreds of them, I hold on to my steel frame roadbikes and build them up on my own🥰
Fantastic ❤️👍🏻
for me bicycle equals "sport". And e-bikes are different category. It is "motorsport" 🤷♂
True. 👍🏻
An e-bike riders are high speed ran into my back while I was walking on the footpath in the uk and had sped off leaving me with multiple fractures including my nose and I struggle and suffer till now. I will only supplicate god to send him what he deserves for the harms caused me. Till now it’s a nightmare to me.
That’s horrible! I hope you can recover in time. 🙏🏻
my good sir Mr. Reginald Scot .. are you a e-bike rider? if not .. with all due respect .. please keep your voice down a little bit .. thank you.
No 🤣
My friend if you think Electric bike is causing problem with environment.Wait until you see electric car.
Agreed
I understand the needs for e bikes, I went in depth about that in another comment. But due to several of the reasons you mentioned, I don't want one. I want to work on my bike my self. I want to fix anything on my bike easily, not have to send in for service. replace motors and so on.
Seems sensible to me my friend 🙂👍🏻
As always it’s not about the bike, it’s about the tool riding it , and there’s no shortage of ratbags on bikes without motors either , and you certainly don’t need a motor to go fast enough to injure yourself or die on a bike or to possibly do the same to someone else if you have an accident.
Good point 👍🏻
Man, I find myself agreeing with you wholeheartedly on this one…which is concerning🤣
Oh good heavens no! 😅
One comment regarding obesity: I know it's tempting to think of obese people as if they are just too dumb to do the math of energy intake vs expenditure. They are not. I'm pretty sure 100% of all really obese people are addicted to overeating. Sugar and fat act like a drug. You'll get a food high after each cake/chocoloate/sweet drink. And why do people get addicted? Well they try to compensate e.g. psychological issues with the wrong thing. Like inferiority complexes or childhood trauma, loneliness. So "just eat less and bike more" won't help. It's like advise alcoholics to "just don't drink that much". And while this in theory may work with some drugs (going cold turkey), one has to eat and drink. You can't become a "noneater". For the same reason body shaming/bullying is not a useful strategy because the people are already traumatized. On the other side an extreme "body positive" position can do a lot of harm in the long run. People need to address *their own* cause for obesity and not listen to some "friendly advice".
I’m sure the struggle is real, but making technology so they can do even less physical activity is certainly not helping any of them.
@@reginaldscot165 The same goes for old but healthy people. Some German scientists published a study, they say people wouldn't be able to ride a muscle bike and quit after short distances while the motor will increase range and usability - for people with preconditions. doi: 10.1136/bmjsem-2021-001275
Of course this has nothing to do with reckless driving etc.
Regarding E-Bikes for delivery: I suspect that one big reason for not using a full fledged motorbike (electrical or gas powered) might be the mandatory insurance and drivers licence in some places.
Btw, I also often see small scooters (limited to 25 km/h) used for delivery. Where I live, these count as a bicycle. And often times these scooters and E-Bikes are given out by the delivery companies to their riders.
Good point
Should be banned in the park. Should be limited to 10
mph/16 kmh.
Agreed 👍🏻
Thanks for making this video!! I used to ride hundreds of kilometers on my local bike path every week because I thought that was the safest place to ride my "normal bicycle". Since then I've seen some of these new riders on ebikes doing of the most dangerous riding I've ever seen out there. It's just not safe anymore. You made some really good points. IMHO they are 100% useless to anyone with common sense but I guess common sense just isn't so common anymore.
That’s so true!
At least the e bike/ scooter rider will become the target of scorn in countries not liking cyclists. When one of them comes into contact with a cyclist/pedestrian it can have some bad outcomes.
Very bad, they are moving fast and they are heavy!
Where I live they have banned e-bikes on all cycling trails. I completely agree with the bans, too many e-bikes are causing too many accidents with cyclists, and hikers. They also police the trails to chase off e-bikes, make sure the trails are safe.
Interesting, where do you live?
@@reginaldscot165 Ontario, Canada, the E-bike bans are community controlled. Because of the speed and popularity of e-bikes they will very likely need to be licensed and insured, that will slow down the adoption of e-bikes tremendously.
As many other people here have commented, I think the best use-case for e-bikes is that they are brilliant for the elderly to get around and get outside. I drew this conclusion many years ago cycling in The Netherlands. I was on a conventional bike cycling along the beautiful seaside dunes, and I noticed how happy and alive the elderly looked on their e-bikes. Yes, the elderly have to peddle anyway, but an e-bike allows elderly people to make a long distant journey to the beach whereas a non e-bike only gets them as far as their supermarket. And c'mon: you can't *really* compare an elderly lifetime cycling enthusiast with the average elderly punter. Ironically, in the US I see most e-bikes ridden by teenagers in affluent suburbia.
Yes your last sentence is indeed my issue. 👍🏻
In the end it's all a user problem: Here in Germany Pedelecs are very popular and often used by elderly people 50y+. They usually have not ridden a bike since their childhood and are not skilled to ride a powered bike in a safe way. We see a lot of deaths due to rider errors. Almost all are 55y+. But this is also the case with old people and cars except that they hurt others more easily. For younger people we all failed in learning and teaching the people to shift and pedal right (cadence). Actually I learned it in my late 30s because during my teenage years nobody told me and we never used the bike for longer distance. We hat soreness for days due to bad egonomic settings and gear choice when we tried 30km. So we never tried again. Most people experience the same even when we had a hype during the pandemic boom.
Im 51, and am absolutely decrepit. So i got me a Felt AR advance ultagra. An incredible aero weapon. Will probably die riding it but will have a smile on my face hopefully
Excellent points. Safe riding 🙏🏻
Was about to write the same about Pedelecs in Germany (which I think account for 80% of total bike traffic outside of big flat cities these days). Pedelecs are almost exclusively ridden by elderly people. But then again younger poeple don't use bikes anyway these days except for commuting in flat urban areas if not using scooters.
Now the problem with those elderly Pedelec riders isn't just their lack of bike handling skills (I mean, even maintaining a straight trajectory on a flat smooth road is a challenge for many) but their inability to abide by basic traffic laws like riding in the correct lane, giving way, not cutting corners, checking what's going on behind before swerving or turning or simply looking ahead instead of watching birds fly by.
A really poor vid. One cringe moment after another.
Cool 😎
By the looks of it from the video clips, the people doing most of the dangerous overtaking have derestricted the max speed of their e-bikes, making them legally mopeds, which require a licence and insurance. Not needing any of this is the reason you see food delivery people using them, as it's by far the cheapest way to get on the road delivering food all day. The EU, for example, has a max assistance limit of 25 km/h for pedelec bikes and a power limit of 250 W, so I can easily keep up with or overtake them on a MTB.
Many of the e-bikes bought directly from China do not qualify as pedelecs - as a guideline, if an e-bike has a hand throttle, it's not a pedelec to begin with and a huge number of the Chinese bikes and after market DIY bike motorisation kits come this way. E-MTB's also occupy a sneaky grey area, where they can claim they don't need to be road legal since they're made for off road use, and so often have significantly more power than the 250 W limit.
What really amazed me was that the damage an e-bike does off road is visible on before and after pictures of gravelled trails. I saw it first hand when I was riding loops of a local (Sadly closed now) bikepark to set the one day record for unassisted laps on the trails. There were 2 climb options and 10 descent options, with both climbs being variants of the same route, so most of the trail was shared, so about 10 laps in, I knew exactly what both climb options looked like and how they were riding, but I started seeing loads of freshly displaced gravel on the climbs that I hadn't seen in previous laps (So not me, and almost everybody else was using the uplift service anyway, so the climbs were very quiet). A couple of laps later a guy on an e-bike passed me, and as soon as I saw the amount of gravel flicking off the tyre I realised what was going on.
If you see every e-bike as one less car on the road it's a lot easier to live with them though. A good test of whether an e-bike is legal or not is whether a reasonably fit cyclist can still overtake it.
Some good food for thought here. Thanks 😊
i am an experinced rider and i dont respect most of the things you say
Well I’m 39 so I’ve got plenty of experience with people disagreeing with me. 😁
My daughter, an experienced cyclist, commutes to her job by bike and has for many years. Her return commute is somewhat arduous because she ascends several hundred feet in a series of long hills. She switched to an e-bike for her commute last year and finds it a great help since she gets home earlier and with more energy left for household chores, gardening, etc.. her commute had become a grind but now it’s fun again.
I can certainly see the argument. However for the price of a new E-bike perhaps upgrading her current bike with lighter components and better gears would have also helped at less cost to both her wallet and the environment? Glad she enjoys cycling again. 🙂👍🏻
@@reginaldscot165 She rides another bike, a gravel bike with 2x gearing, for recreational purposes, the e-bike is for her daily commute. She has over 1000 miles on it. She’ll never give it up.
@@galootlovestoolsbet she's overweight by now
@@TheTrailRabbit You lost that bet. She’s at the ideal weight for her height.
@@galootlovestools Excellent. But unless one is medically certified partially or wholly disabled, they should be using their motorized vehicle in the motorized vehicle lanes. Not those meant for pedestrians and/or cyclists.
I'm nearly 59 and I deliver on a fixed gear bike.
Excellent! Good man! ❤️👍🏻
I agree on all points you made here. exept for one . I live in the Netherlands, and ebikes are becoming the norm here. They even feed them to 10 year old scolars for the commute to school. All those people who switch to an e-bike, basicsally an electric moped with rotary throttle controll, will never ride a normal bike again. it is a one way trap.
Yes I was speaking old history as I haven’t been to Holland in like 12 years. 😁
In the UK at least e-bikes must be (hypothetically) restricted to 15.5mph and 250w to be street legal, above which the motor disengages and any higher speed is achieved with your legs only. It is also, again only hypothetically, illegal to ride those on public footpaths. Hypotheticaly, because they can easily be de-restricted and I regularly see yobs (often balaclava wearing) on enduro style e-bikes, like the K5, going 30mph and above, worse yet, in the late evening when it is dark, with no lights and wearing dark clothes. Those are in fact quite powerful motorbikes, capable of accelerating much faster than regular motorbikes, disguised as bicycles so the owners (and the unsuspecting public) think they don't have to register them with the DVLA and pay insurance which is required for motorbikes. They also ride those things wherever they want and how they want and nobody is enforcing the above restrictions as the police, getting de-funded and de-staffed year upon year, haven't got the resources to police and besides the offenders are too numerous so they get away with it as they know they will never get caught. I almost crashed with one two days ago when riding my bicycle late in the evening on a parkland gravel path. The guy was wearing a balaclava and was easily going 30mph through an tight overgrown corner.
The only way to stay safe is to just avoid places where they are likely to be riding, so shitty suburban residential areas and parks. I just stick to quiet countryside roads and ride through my town via the wealthy neighbourhoods where those knobheads don't venture.
As for the take away couriers, those jobs are mostly done by the recently arrived middle eastern or african asylum seakers who are all slim already as they come from poverty and couldn't give a monkey's about wanting to get fit.
Excellent points!
The only thing I would disagree with is the police being under staffed and under funded. The UK have more police than ever, (they all come out for the over time pay at football matches In Nottingham but you don’t see any of them during the week) it’s just they don’t prioritise real crime anymore. They are all too busy arresting people for what they said on Twitter or enforcing LGBTQAWXZ rights! 😂 one of my best friends became a police officer…
I also think that e-bikes are generally unnecessary, but I know of elderly members of my cycling club who have or are considering e-bikes in order to continue their enjoyment of riding with their friends in the slowest group ride which averages 15mph. They do not affect the rest of us fitter guys as they usually only engage the electrics on uphills. I am unlikely to follow suit as I consider them dangerous to charge, environmentally bad and ridiculously expensive.
Agreed 👍🏻
Dear Reg, by about 90% your words could be coming of my mouth as well and not on this subject alone.
Your observations on e-bikers are nothing but the truth.
Over here in Germany the rate of accidents with e-bikers involved has virtually exploded.
Many can not handle the thing properly, misjudge traffic and so on.
BMW-mentality: "I can afford this car/this expensive e-bike, I am better because of this!" Poor personalities.
Two years ago on a 50 mile sunday run I did a short, 12% steep climb I did dozens of times.
I pedalled up there at 13, 14 miles per hour with a cadence of 105, wattage near 300, when suddenly a 130-150 Kilogramm guy passed by me with a ridiculously low cadence of maybe 40 at appr. 25-30 miles per hour, sitting upright, knees slightly outwards.
He must already have spotted me on the long flat before the climb, hands in the drops doing, 26, 27 mph, wearing FDJ-kit on a Lapierre Xelius ex-pro bike, doing high cadence, sleek silhouette.
The roadbike he sat on, was "fat" as well, one of those Canyon E-Roadbikes which multiply your input-wattage by 3,5 after the restriction illegaly removed. So let him have done 150 or even 200 watts momentarily, he flew by me with north of 500 to 700 watts.
No pro rider could keep up with him only one-mile climb in earnest.
Ridiculous and he was fooling himself, not me in fact.
A proof for cycling for a lifetime can be very advantageous was my dad. He did run 5 miles twice or three times a week, except when snow was on the ground, for many decades until his mid-seventies.
He started cycling road bikes at the age of 40 and did so until he was 81. Until that moement, his doctors were clapping their hands in applause after examining him. His neurologic doctor compared him to many 40-year old patients he encountered. At 84 he died, being sick for the last 6 weeks of his life only, his health state really dropping very fast.
At maybe 79 or eighty years, him and me went for an ice-cream and a coffee to a place 20 miles away and we arrived there after an hour ten minutes. He even went off-saddle on short ramps.
His nature was to move his body from childhood on with joy.
I come after him with road cycling most of my life, swimming in the really sporty manner since decades.
In French Flanders I spent some short holidays, cycling with a local club.
In the ranks of the club are some 60-70 year old slim and smiling chaps who go really fast, joining 60 mile sunday rides around Calais in groups of 20-23 riders aged 20-70 and on the flat stretches on my speedometer I could see a "4" as first digit all the time over miles and miles. (40-45 kms/ 25 - 28 mph).
Thank you Sir, it’s nice to hear that your experiences matched my views in the video. It’s good to have confirmation that I’m not talking complete nonsense. 😅
Don't ever try to become a stand up comedian!! I'm 65 and I bought an e mtb earlier this year as I was struggling with riding my human powered fs mtb. I use the e-mtb for longer rides which i used to do on the other bike. I also ride a gravel bike and do some longer rides on that (70 miles the best so far). I don't train, just ride to enjoy the scenery and exercise is secondary. . Also where do these bikes that travel over 15 mph in the UK get ridden? I've not seen any around my way except for the illegal food delivery bikes, which I would like to see banned as the operators ignore every road rule including riding on the pavement.
Didn’t know this was an application to become a comedian? 😂
Little confused as to why you bought the E-bike when you only ride for pleasure and you seem fine on your other non E-bikes? Also why an E-MTB for road use? Doesn’t seem like the wise choice considering they are the most expensive, heaviest and come with tyres not made for road use? (You must have a reason?) 🤔🙂
All the best and safe riding! ❤️
@@reginaldscot165 I bought the e-mtb as I had lay off over the winter and also heath problems. It's an Orbea Rise and only ridden offroad on longer rides. It means I can get out and enjoy riding as I did. I tried static bikes at a gym and cannot understand how anyone could enjoy being so bored. I also have a gravel bike which I do the longer rides on. Knee problems over the summer meant less riding. The e MTB has kept me riding rather than having to give up. I probably won't keep it once I get my fitness back. BTW. I'm in Devon, so either going up or down.
@@UKMitchy Well done with your cycling at the age of 65, and with health problems, it can't be easy, but the people you are explaining this to are to young, and fit to understand, but their day will come, make no mistake about it, mark my words
I had never seen an E bike, don’t live near the city. I was visiting a city, passenger in a cab. I get a bit anxious when someone else drives, so head on a swivel. In this case, glad someone else was driving… we were at a stoplight, crossing traffic, at the crest of a hill. light turned yellow. A bike was coming up the hill from the opposite direction. As the light turned, the bicyclist stopped pedaling. I- not knowing about ebikes- took that as a signal that the cab should go- the bike was stopping for the light and we needed to clear the intersection. I would have gone. I would have run right into the path of the bike- who began accelerating up the last of the hill without pedaling and bombed through the yellow light. It really didn’t make any sense- how could he accelerate?! The take away is: e bikes have strange behavior that motorists aren’t used to. Watch your neck.
Good point! 🙂
I have the right to go as fast as the fastest land animal. I identify as a cheetah 🐆
Why stop there? Why not go as fast as the fastest bird? 😁
@@reginaldscot165 The Peregrine falcon🤭🙂
One more comment from me, as you hit another nail straight on Reg.: You brought in efficiency of human organism.
One liter of pump-petrol is the equivalent of appr. 13.500 kilocalories.
On a roadbike a pro-tour cyclist travelling the high speeds he is used to, will at least travel around 400 kilometres on the energetic equivalent of one liter pump petrol.
Going in a relaxed speed it may last for 500 or more kilometers.
You mentioned those overweight females on treadmills in fitness-studios, drinking a quadruple "whatsoever" drinks containing 700 calories during their, well, workout.
That amount of energy to get metabolised by cycling requires a pro-rider to cover at least 25 kilometers on the flat in 30-35 minutes. That fatty female with a less trained metabolism going at say 20 kms will likely have to ride 50 kms in 2,5 hours but is hardly capacitated to do so at all.
Great points🙂👍🏻
One more observation of mine:
at temperatures down to 15 or 16 degrees celsius I ride in short/short kit. As long as I put out a good wattage, do not stop too long and go, lets say on the flat with 35 - 40 kms/hour (22 - 25 mph), I even sweat ligthly and feel not cold at all.
All e-bikers, even at 20 degrees celsius, wear long trousers, thin quilted jackets. I would completely overheat in such clothing, while they must be freezing, thus indicating they just spend a minimum of energy.
Long/long and lightly insulated is my kit for winter down to freezing temps and even then I sweat, sometimes heavy, while my toes fall off by chill-factor and limit duration of rides.
That is a proof for your statements "they do not strain themselves they gain no health advantage, no fitness"
To my female roadbiking companion I once said on such a sight: "They do not like cycling, it is just a stroll on wheels instead of feet, as they are too lazy to walk the distance."
Thank you, yes I think you are spot on. 👍🏻🙂
Genetical dispositions and being massively overweight are another good point.
Men was a hunter and collector for thousands of years. Tribes without too much contact with civilization, remain more or less slim. Aboriginies used to have so called runners in their groups, who have, as I saw reported, in an emergency covered distances of 420 kilometers in 4 days! Over 100 kms per day!!!
Without shoes in difficult terrain and not much food carried along. Generally Aboriginies repeatedly had numerous days in a row without food except some berries or similar, then had a successful hunt, ate as much kangaroo as they could stuff in. Next again come days with very little food.
No diabetes, no caries, no fat people at all across all ages with those tribes.
That is what we are designed for by nature, not for over-civilisation.
That’s 100% true. Modern people are much weaker than our ancestors, much sicker as well. Just looking at the day from the 1950s is honestly frightening🫣
A battery for a non-logical electric automobile, can easily be make 100+ E-bike batteries.
"Speed limit" on bicycle path would effect both E-assist and non-assisted bicycles.
Class one, Class 2 E-bikes should be the limits of E-assist ON bicycle paths.
70-year-old, limited mobility, handicapper here.
My Hase Lepus recumbent delta planform trike IS my mobility. Not 'driving' for over 5-years now!!!
25-inch seat height is slide on/off from wheelchair and forearm crutches.
7-12mph is my speed on bicycle paths. 17mph is my never exceed speed!
See E-bikes turning bicycle paths into bicycle Expressways!
All E-bikes should NOT be banned!!!
Noted 🙂👍🏻
What nonsense. I've been riding MTB's all my life. I am 70 now and still rather fit. I bought an E-bike a few months ago and I will never look back. The FUN and FREEDOM you feel while riding them (off road) is so exhilarating, that there is just no comparison. I put in more the double the mileage I used to. Why do you deride E-bikes when you have electric cars all over the road? That's just ridiculous. Your criticism is that of a closed-minded person. Let people have their fun under the sun (as long as they follow the laws) and stick to whatever you like to do.
I also don’t agree with electric cars.
Don’t worry, as a dedicated road cyclist I couldn’t care less what you do on your MTB, but my points on safety and environment are still fully valid.
All the best!
7:55 The point is to assists pedalling.
So riders with muscle loss after injury, surgery can ride again.
Handicapped riders and riders with various issues. Some have fatigue illnesses, like Hardtail Party, as his name channel name suggests he loves riding hardtails, but due to his diagnosis,myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS, just riding a bicycle fatigues him so much he's drained for weeks. So he has to use an E bike now, so he rides a regular bike less.
And then there are 3 and 4 wheeled hand cycles with a motor, I met a guy with MS once he could not ride a regular bike anymore.
8:17 Then there are cargo bikes with a motor, meant to have massive loads. You mentioned delivery drivers, kind of like that but to much larger scale, a regular bike won't fit massive loads, big objects, so those are bikes that can fit what you can fit in a large trunk or a big station wagon or big SUV. But those bikes are very impractical if you don't require such bike. But if you have a business and pick up massive packages or something then it makes sense. Like several frames being picked up at once ridden to the bike shop. But if you don't need to carry heavy loads I guess a regular cargo bike is fine.
There are very good reasons to have them, like there are good reasons to own an anti-tank rifle… but very few people need one. 😅
I think e-bikes should be more regulated in the US. Most of these e-bikes come from China, and they don't care about safety or regulations in the US- they really just care about selling you things. . Someone with no cycling experience just shouldn't be able to reach tour de France speeds, especially without a helmet and protective clothing, and the potential to crash into people without helmets and protecting clothing. Bike lanes are always an unpredictable area, they are usually in the door zone of cars in the US, which means you are always at risk of getting doored. It's hard enough avoiding a can door going at slow speeds.
Agreed 👍🏻
The thing I don't like about them is if anything will tip the governments hand towards taxing, numberplates, mandatory insurance Etc. on ALL bikes its E-Bikes and Scooters.
BUT what I do like on the other hand is, I believe the only thing that will force the same governments to improve infrastructure, education, and properly punish/penalise motorists who engager, harm or kill cyclists (and generally improve relations between motorists and cyclists) is more people on bikes. The sad but true fact is when someone like me goes under the wheels of a blacked out BMW driven by some wannabe "Alpha" compensating for his tiny wee-wee, half the population will find a way to blame ME for it, because deep down they believe I shouldn't be there. E-bikes put average people in the same situations wait until they start killing "normal" people who they can relate to in higher numbers, the outrage will come thick and fast because "that could of been me"
Excellent points 👍🏻
15:10 That's stupid people buying a vesicle and not learning to use it properly, and going full send, or hitting the gnar if a mountain bike. But that's not a problem caused by the vehicle. I saw a guy with a electric kick scooter that can go 100Km/h. Absolute madness.
But but at least that guy did not completely bonkers in the city centre.
But once I saw a scooter blast downhill on a bike path, no helmet or any protection, not sure how fast, but looked way too fast.
Yup, crazy people. 🤷🏻♂️
There is nothing wrong with using e-bikes for commuting or for work. Can't believe you are against that. However, E-bikes (E-MTB) should be banned on trails.
We will have to disagree. 😁 I don’t think any should be banned, however I don’t approve of their usage. 🙂
Turns out pedal bikers are some of America's most bigoted and discriminatory people. Pedal bikers want to discriminate against and ban people with disabilities from enjoying the same trails and bike paths that they do. One of these pedal bikers recently berated a guy who struggles with MS for enjoying the trail on his e-bike "nice motorcycle" - "you don't belong here".....these pedal bikers are are prejudice.
I hear from MTB riders that E-Bikes damage the trails for everyone. I also have a friend who builds the trails and I understand his frustration.
So in that case I would have to agree with the “pedal biker” the E-bike rider doesn’t belong there. Perhaps they should have a separate trail for power bikes? My main issue is with non-disabled people buying them.
Are you fit or are you just skinny? Listen, i understand that you want fat people to get in shape, but not every fit person is like a cyclist who weights 58Kg, and uses a wool jacket when it's 25 °C and going uphill.
I built my ebike to be able to go places in half the time with one tenth of the sweat.
I bought a car for the same reason. Not the same feeling I have about cycling.
Funnily enough I am hearing this video and thinking “It is a matter between instant gratification and working for payoff”. Obviously, e-bikes can make accessibility and convenience better for many but the main issue that arises like anything is when your technology falls into unsuitable hands. I live in the southern United States and it’s mainly seen as a right to have your drivers license, but there are many who don’t deserve to even have a drivers license because of how they drive. I believe like you a government shouldn’t be able to tell you how to spend your money or outright banning something from being possessed but they should have the ability to persuade people away from using them irresponsibly.
Great comment, very sensible. 🙂👍🏻
Those Uber eats riders on their 10k e caliber Treks are so annoying. Should have gone full enduro to be even more misleading with the clickbait thumbnail.
Will do next time! 😁
E bike weight:
where the weight is placed is important, if it's placed close to centre of gravity the bike will feel lighter than if it's a heavy hub motor, I tried a department store junk bike with hub motor once, it was so heavy to ride I barely got it moving, and it had a massive chain ring and tiny cassette or freehub, so impossible to ride on a steep hill. So need the motor to ride it normally, which defeats the purpose of an e bike.
But a proper e bike will handle much better, so a mountain bike e bike will be much nicer to ride offroad than that department store bike. In the case of that department store bike a lighter bike with proper gearing would be much better. Of course the kid regretting owning that bike.
Good information. 🙂👍🏻
E-bikes combine the cons of bicycles and motorbikes but have almost none of the pros. I guess you could still enjoy a ride on an e-bike. It's heavy and expensive like a proper😂 motorbike but additionally you have to worry about the range. So even a con that is unique to e-bikes. There is a place for motorbikes and even for cars. You can walk to your car in the winter with a t-shirt on or in a suit and you won't be affected by weather or sweating.
Yes honestly I don’t see the point? I’d rather buy a motorcycle or rent a car when I need it if I lived in a big city. 🤷🏻♂️
I love my e-bike and I respect everybody around me, putting myself last. Just like an automobile where you have a foot pedal, you don't have to push the foot pedal all the way down and break the speed limit which all cars can do. The Dynamics you are speaking of are true, yet like anything else in the world regarding transportation, it lies in the hands of the operator. That's why you do not have a case to make.
My case (although I remember saying I don’t really believe in banning anything) is that most people don’t need one and that it’s not beneficial to the wider society to buy one when a normal bike is just as good. My argument is that unless you are very old or sick you are better off with a regular bike and you have no justification to buy an e-bike. But again, I believe in the rights of freedom and choice for the individual, so if want one go for it. But I just think it’s a bad decision. 😁👍🏻
You provide Misinformation about how Lithium batteries are recycled. You make lots of judgement about other people's fitness and decisions, you promote the use of fossil fuels
95% of lithium batteries aren’t recycled. And out of that only a small % is useful materials, not to mention the process is not clean and requires a large amount of energy made with non-renewables. So…
Always the hottest takes, love the channel.... but yeah, Im with you, neither own electronic groupsets nor ebikes and dont think I will any time soon... Im a guy that drives stick shift and owns mechanical watches....
A true man then. I have an automatic (because all cars in Brunei are auto) but I miss my UK manual gear box. And yes definitely mechanical watches if you can afford them. I have 2 that I use on special occasions. 😁
Playing the Devil's Advocate🤔.... Ignorantia juris non excusat...guilty as charged.
Interesting 🧐
I'm 70 and can't imagine having an e-bike in the future. I ride around 10-20km daily on my old hybrids. When I started 13 years ago, I weighed 230 lbs and am now around 186. I mostly used my bike for commuting when I worked and for daily chores like shopping. Yes, I recently had one set to a elder-friendly crankset at nominal cost (existing crankset was at EOL anyway). A couple more points against.e-bikes: first, the batteries are regarded as hazardous cargo , and you would find it very expensive and maybe untimely if you ever want to move or fly with your bike; and second, when that bettery inevitably fails, good luck finding a replacement because there are no standards. If they want to go fast, fine; I wish I could go a bit faster too but a slightly inefficient bike is consistent with my incidental fitness goals. My curmudgeonly grievance is only with the latest generation of e-mobility devides that end up randomly littering the middle of the bike path. Hoping eventually folks will pick up the basic courtesies if riding and parking.
Oh and forgot to add, if these are too dangerous to put on a plane, how could I convince my wife it's oerfectly safe right inside the single entryway space of our apartment? I've seen closeup what a fire looks like in a high rise apartment, the unit was totally gutted.
I agree, tis a silly Idea. 😆
10:51 Cus that would make it illegal on the trails. In Norway at least, a class 1 e bike is considered a regular bicycle by law. So can ride it on any trail a regular bicycle can ride on, which is any hiking trail or mountain bike trail. Unless it's protected land where you can't ride anyway, or land owner forbids access to a trail on bicycle which is rare.
Good info 🙂👍🏻
In Norway if the e bike goes past the legal limit to be considered a bicycle you can't ride it on a bike path, nor any trails, and it has to have a licence plate. I think you might even need a moped licence. But I think what is called Class 1 is trail legal.
Interesting 🤔 👍🏻
I don't ride for sport, I ride my e bike for convenience and that's all. There is no dick contest between types of bike users. Coming back to your bmw analogy, It sure as hell isn't only for ebikes. Here in Paris, there is now a ban on public escooters as a large enough part of their user base were an uneducated scourge on the roads.
I can totally imagine that! Especially younger men I’m guessing? In the uk they are used for “snatch and grab” robbery! They come by and grab your bag or your phone.
I agree for the most part and can understand the problems it presents in a big city with a lot of idiot e-bikers. They should require some kind of license if you don´t already have a drivers license although that does not cure idiots from being idiots. I would never get myself an e-bike and very much like to overtake them with pure muscle power when commuting. There is a big ignorance towards obese people in the video because you never know how they got there, sure the sad persons with the drinks on the treadmill is just hilarious and some of them may not understand how stupid they are. There are those who has been fit and healthy but for reasons like injury, depression or illness may get obese and then the e-bike can be a way to get back to an active lifestyle and get a routine with commuting by bicycle and when they are fit enough can make the transition to a normal bike.
Good reasoning and thought. Thanks for your comment.
I can’t help but think of people I’ve seen who are fitter than me and who have no legs, but don’t give up, they still ride hand cycles and they don’t use motors or complain about hills. Yesterday I saw a video of a man with no arms wiring an electrical cabinet with such dexterity with his feet…
I guess most people on E-bikes need to exercise their minds more than they need assistance with their legs. 😉
You should have to earn where you pedal on bike trails. People with the least amount of riding skill going so fast just as dangerous and usually they're elderly and not capable of evading collision it's just not a good practice
True.
My fear is that e-bikes are going to start filling the bike lanes, e-bike markets will demand faster e-bikes that last longer, people will replace their primary mode of transportation with fast long lasting e-bikes, and the end result will be bike and pedestrian friendly areas full of electric motorcycles with riders wearing backpacks full of sour IPAs and pickleball rackets.
Your bmw reference is SPOT ON! I guess thats a global phenomen. Bmw, Mercedes, and Audi drivers, though.
My state just offered e-bike tax rebates and they were all claimed almost immediately. I think a lot of people who cant have a driver license, for what ever reason, get an e-bike.
I just got my wife a trek domane al 5 and the guy at the shop tried to convince her to get an e-bike. It was a bit insulting. I know you love Trek bikes 😊
Ha ha indeed trek had some fantastic bikes! Especially the ones made by Litespeed and repainted as TREK. 😂
You know while I was making the video a song came to me that kind of hints at the future you describe.
It’s a 1960s song by Zager and Evens called “In the Year 2525.”
One part goes: “In the year 5555
Your arms hangin' limp at your sides
Your legs got nothin' to do
Some machine's doin' that for you…”
Ukraine reporting. Our law treats a bicycle as a vehicle. We have virtually nonexistent velo-infrastructure, which is a source for many scandals and shit-hit-the-fan talks on riders being killed by motorists. Also, there's already an abundance of motorized personal transport machines like monowheels, scooters, and of course bikes with motor hubs. Pedelec-type of bike is too expensive for our average consumer, so you don't see those on the streets at all.
As a very experienced road biker I am glad we have this "wild west/you are on your own" situation because as a roadie I can comfortably ride in traffic even as hectic as in Kyiv. If you saw New Yorkers riding around cars like nobody's business, this type of shenanigans does not fly here - you're dead in no time. Smashed by a 40-ton lorry or split into pieces by Lamborghini missile. Other cyclists, especially ones on motorized bikes aren't as brave, so they choose to ride on sidewalks (which is illegal by law, but police does nothing on that front). The sheer quantity of cyclists is rapidly declining, because those, who used to pedal on their own steam have settled on monowheels, scooters and whatever they see fit to get to the point B.
?????
PROFIT!!!!
Motorists (car drivers and moto riders) are accustomed to cyclists on the road. They see us, they recognize us. But monowheelers, scooter riders and some motorized bikes are an eyesore for them. Getting from point A to point B is relatively okay on a normal bicycle, if you know what you're doing. But using those electric contraptions WITHOUT bike infrastructure is like having a death wish. And will continue being so until the bike infrastructure will be finally built. What will happen... never. Or in the year of 2144.
Goodness! What a tragic mess! I don’t know what I can offer as it seems there are many deep problems with cycling in Ukraine. I feel your frustration.
All the best and stay safe! 🙏🏻❤️
Seen a fair few of your posts. Even when I agree with you, I have to say that your reasoning/justification for it is often so biased (in what you leave out as much as what you say) that I sometimes wonder if you are just taking the piss out of people!
I’m always taking the piss out of people. It’s literally my 2nd favourite hobby. 😂
I agree 👍🏾. Many of the e-bike clowns in my area don’t have a clue about cycling properly/respectfully/safely and use them primarily because they’re fashionable
Indeed they do. 👍🏻
It's refreshing to hear a presenter tell it like it is. I own an ebike; I bought it to bridge the gap from very unfit and having knee issues to getting back onto my regular bikes. It worked, and after fewer then 50 miles on the e-bike, I got back to analog bikes and never ride the e-bike anymore. A few weeks ago I thought I had it sold, but the buyer backed out.
The biggest down of e-bikes is their ability to invite and facilitate assholism. Lots of information is out there teaching people how to modify e-bikes to lift their performance completely out of spec and render them not only illegal but unsafe. And lots of e-bike "riders" do it. Many of those in your e-bike recklessness montage may well be in that group.
From the morality perspective, if e-bikes and powered shifting are bad, then so are lights, computers head units, etc., not to even mention laptop computers, cordless power tools, cameras (used for making RUclips videos), and anything that uses a rechargeable battery. In short, the "morality" argument falls flat.
Some good points here. 🙂👍🏻
I unfortunately don’t agree with your final point. By that logic then you might say “well smoking weed is ok so I might as well do crack and Meth.” You see? Indeed the battery in my bike light is a problem, but I really need a bike light for my survival. The battery is small. Yes I’d prefer to not have it come from slavery. But that doesn’t mean it makes it ok to buy a battery 10x the size for an e-bike that nobody actually “needs.” Hopefully I explained this well?
Thank you and safe riding! ❤️
@@reginaldscot165 But I argued against the morality perspective, not the need perspective. If slave labor helped make my e-bike battery, it helped make all those other batteries as well. From a morality standpoint, there is NO difference. That you "need" a thing and that it's "small" doesn't justify having it if being anti-slave labor is your thing. If you're truly, deeply anti-slave labor, you don't use anything with a rechargeable lithium battery, full stop. Otherwise, you're cherry picking. But nobody in the Western world doesn't use rechargeable batteries, so we should all just shut up about slave labor until we're willing to give up using anything that relies on it. So far, we're not.
@@reginaldscot165 what a stupid comment
Well I would say certain type of e-bikes should be banned, my orbea has helped become fitter because of the system they use, they should restrict the speed they can go. Nice vid
Thank you.
I'm always telling people how an Ebike saved my life. After being diagnosed with congestive heart failure. Plus scheduled for another open heart surgery . I bought a Ebike to strengthen my body for the coming body truma. Well, riding that Ebike three days a week for a month. When it came down to the day of my surgery, my doctors check my heart functions and sent me home the next day ,telling I didn't need it anymore.
@13:45 - I do agree with learning the skill sets. After three years of riding my ebike. I find that I can corner as well as I could when I rode a standard 21 speed bike like I had when I was in my 20's. I still can't do a "Deadman's turn yet. But I don't really need to.
I think if you have a serious medical problem it’s totally justifiable. 🙂👍🏻
@@reginaldscot165 I was born with a small heart value. It got worse as I got older.
Reginald: I enjoyed the video and agree with many of your points against pedal-assist e-bikes. Your most compelling argument is the one about lack of skill and experience; and I used to be very opposed to e-bikes for that very reason. However, the same argument applies to those who ride conventional bikes. As cycling has become more popular where I live (due to more bike lanes and rail trails) I encounter more inexperienced cyclists on all types of bikes. On an e-bike or a conventional bike any inexperienced cyclist can pose a significant danger to themselves and to others.
Similarly, an experienced cyclist who is careless / reckless and/or does not follow basic etiquette is also extremely dangerous. I have personally had numerous "close-calls" with cyclists on conventional bikes in group ride situations. These "close calls" have happened while participating in group rides in which other riders in the group were careless and/or not focused. I have also had "close calls" with groups while on solo training rides. Just a week ago I was nearly mowed down by a group of 15 cyclists traveling the opposite direction who came into my lane on a local rail trail to pass some pedestrians. They were going 20+ miles per hour, I was going about 22 mph, and their ride leader thought it was a better move to put everyone's life at risk (theirs, mine, and the pedestrians) rather than slowing down to ensure safe passage for all. I have several friends who have been involved in crashes this year, one who suffered a double pelvic fracture, and all of the incidents were caused by riders on conventional bikes during group rides.
I'm all for safety, skills and experience, I just think your argument is more powerful when placed into a broader context. If everyone had basic bike handling skills, followed the rules of the road, and showed basic courtesy to others, the debate about conventional bikes vs. e-bikes would be a non-issue.
Very interesting comment, thank you. Sorry about your friend that sounds awful! Hope they make a speedy recovery! ❤️
I am doing deliveries in my city and the colleague is wondering when will I "upgrade" to an ebike,he himself rides 20 inch ebike and am saying that I enjoy riding and maintaining my 26 inch steel bike.I don't feel passionate about smaller wheels or escooters. I agree the worst part of the ebikes are arrogancy and reckless riding,in fact in the last 2 years the only collision I had was due to a reckless ebike ramming into me.Thanks god I had thick coat which saved my spine
Glad to hear you are ok and didn’t suffer any serious injuries! Be safe out there! 👍🏻🙏🏻
In the mountains for elderly people it's great instead of a car for short trips. I live in a big city in a valley and my mom in the mountain countryside. She likes to visit when she is shopping in the city. She likes shopping in the city because there are more choices and the fruit and vegetables are generally more fresh. It's like 800 meters of elevation gain over 30 kilometers, without an E-Bike she couldn't make the journey back, not even considering when fully loaded.
Nice! All the best to her! Safe riding! 🙂👍🏻
Lets stop using gsm, remotes, basically all electronics, not to mention e-car. One of the stupiest argument regarding battery. I saw you using garmin...and camera while bicycling...what's up with that?
It’s not a Garmin. But the horrific batteries in E-bikes and E-Cars are utterly devastating to the environment. It’s about the scale of production and the amount of damage the larger batteries cause. I’d gladly give up my bike computer, just like people with e-bikes I don’t need it.
@@reginaldscot165 my point is, making shifter batteries like real enviromental issue is laughable (compare this one battery to tons of batteries you are using at home). Ebike, escooter etc...if anything, is far better than ICV. I personaly dont own any of those, because im fit enough to do without help of a e-motor, but I recognise, there is a place for that products.
I have an Autoimmune Disease (Psoriasis). I also have deteriorating joints throughout my body (my doctor suspects Psoriatic Arthritis). Plenty of places within a couple of blocks of where I recently moved. I tend to walk to those places. It's mobility reasons. I'd absolutely ride a standard bicycle if it weren't for this Arthritic condition.
That’s completely understandable. My issue is with perfectly fit and healthy people using e-bikes for literally no good reason. 😅
@@reginaldscot165 A $350 standard bicycle would be plenty enough to do stuff in town. I had a $300 BMX when I moved out on my own in 2005. I rode that bike all the time in town. I have a Monday Motorbikes ANZA 750S now. Just about everything I need is within a half mile. I have no problems walking that. I needed to run to the pharmacy this morning. I took my E-Bike as it's roughly a 6 mile round trip.
I think people are making mountains out of mole hills with the battery fires. Education, and common sense go a long way in properly caring for lithium batteries. I'm not concerned at all with my ANZA going up like fireworks on the 4th of July.
Cars should be banned.We ride horses again. That's like this topic...
Horses? God no! 😅
You really should have done research before making this vid. Kinda hard to believe this came from the same guy that not long ago shut up hambini.
1) Ebikes are likely the best means we have to get people out of petrol cars. On average, an ebike emits 1/12 the g/km of CO2 compared to a petrol car. Most trips made are short distance. On a large scale, those emissions savings are huge. And yes, CO2 is a real pollutant.
2) Mineral pollutants derived from batteries are a vastly different type of pollutant than carbon emissions. This shouldn't need to be said, but here we are. They have different scales, different assimilation rates, different everything. And, having multiple pollutants that sit within the environmental buffer capacity is better than having one pollutant that blows past that buffer causing environmental damage on a global scale. Batteries in a land fill are bad, but that's a point pollutant of minimal magnitude. Not global climate patterns.
3) The largest exporter of lithium is Australia, and its not close. They may complain about their wages but I doubt you'd be able to credibly argue Aussies are slave labor. Cobalt is the issue. But if we go that route then you have to address the ethical issues of petroleum extraction. Which "batteries are bad" people love to ignore.
4) Its easier to regulate/modify/upgrade a single point source than the diffuse end point. Its also significantly more cost effective.
5) Cargo bike and ebike are not mutually exclusive categories.
6) NED is flat.
7) People are lazy. You are not going to convince the planet to switch to Dutch bikes as a car replacement. The infrastructure isn't there. And convenience is primary driver for people. Telling people to just get a normal bike is as stupid as telling people to stop having sex. Its policy pulled from a fucking fantasy world.
8) The comparison that we currently sit in is ebike vs gas engine. Thinking about anything else, right now, is idiotic. Ebikes are the transitionary tech to get out of cars while driving demand for infrastructure development of regular bike infrastructure, public transit, etc.
9) Motorcycles are also fast and dangerous. So what. We aren't telling people not to drive them because they have a cager mentality themselves. People adapt as they gain experience and, crucially, the culture of the community evolves. But you actually have to go through that evolutionary period.
I agree with you. What a stupid video. Get out on a bike, any bike is better than carbon fueled vehicles, or even EVs. There's nothing wrong with ebikes. There are plenty of crap riders on e- and analog bikes, just search on youtube and go nuts! You don't blame an analog bike when you see a bad rider. Really Reginald, be better than this.
Well to sum up.
CO2 isn’t a pollutant. So… batteries are much worse. You breath in CO2 every day and you are fine. Try doing the same with cobalt and lithium and see what happens. 🤣 Sorry I don’t buy into the CO2 scam, I did my research and listened to scientists who aren’t funded by the governments pushing the CO2 agenda. CO2 is wonderful stuff, the planet is getting greener as a result of more CO2 for example.
Lithium might come from Australia (most of it comes from South America actually, yes I did my research, less than half is from Australia.) but the cobalt comes from the Congo! And yes it’s all slave labour in terrible conditions.
"Telling people to just get a normal bike is as stupid as telling people to stop having sex." Well, fitness derived from riding a bike enhances sexual performance, didn't you know? Of course, it also refers to e-bike riders.
Hi Reginald,
We agree on one thing - your video is clickbait!!
Ebikes shouldn’t be banned:
In summary - your argument is a bit like saying modern bikes should be banned and we should all be riding the original “draisienne” bikes of 1817. Once upon a time bikes had no pedals, no chains, no gears etc. Most of your arguments still apply. Please don’t promote this message of bigotry - some riders prefer rim brakes and others discs - that’s fine - but don’t criticise others or try to get them banned if they don’t agree!
Taking each of your points in turn:
Irresponsible riding - sorry but I’ve seen this from all kinds of road user and it’s simply down to the user and not the form of transport they’re using.
Difficult maintenance which should be cheap and accessible to all - I know many people who don’t have a clue when it comes to bicycle maintenance of a standard bicycle. Also, some regular bikes have very expensive parts or require very expensive tools to maintain them. I’ve found ebikes no more complicated to work on. Unfortunately things like motors and batteries are pretty much maintenance free (or not serviceable - if you like) but this is also true of some normal bike components. So like these normal bike components things like motors and batteries can be replaced when they fail or wear out. And removing them/re-fitting is pretty easy.
Environmental impact - normal bikes have an environmental impact also. Electric motors can be recycled - 100%. Lithium batteries like everything else on a bike can be recycled if done properly.
Mining & exploitation - it’s sad that in a modern world exploitation still exists - but I’m sure that this is not only limited to people involved in Lithium mining.
What is the point? - I am lucky enough to own several bikes including a motorcycle, road ebike, eMTB and normal MTB. All are fun. All can be used for transport. They are all different weights and provide different levels of assistance to the rider. I don’t really ride for the sole purpose of getting fit but all of them are better than doing nothing. Like your treadmill example it’s not really the equipment that you use but how you use it that determines how much effect it has on your fitness. I find that an ebike allows you to go riding more than a normal bike - that’s more miles more often. If you enjoy riding that makes sense. For the same reason that a normal bike feels more enjoyable when riding with a tail wind that is why an ebike feels more enjoyable. If you’re struggling on hills or in those last few miles from home and wish they were over - an ebike lets you do that more easily. If you want to get really fit then why ride the lightest most aero bike you can get?
People in the Netherlands are fitter because they all ride normal bikes - The Netherlands is flat - there’s a clue. And their normal bikes couldn’t be more different from the average UK club rider road bike!
Ebike is faster - this can come in handy if you struggle to keep with a group uphill but can keep up on the flat. However, as most ebikes are limited to support only up to 15.5mph I find that on the flat a normal bike can be easier to go fast on!
You use less energy on an ebike - If burning calories is not your goal but getting some exercise, fresh air and enjoying the ride is then why is this a problem? If it’s less painful than being on a regular bike then why not? More pain doesn’t always mean more gain - in fact it can do the opposite. Some people are not trying to win races all the time. But if you want/can ride over the assistance limit - that will burn more calories than a normal bike!
Ebikers can’t ride - I have ridden bikes for 53 years during which time I have ridden in a road club, taken part in road racing, cyclocross racing and MTB racing. I bought my first ebike 5 years ago and I’ve loved every minute. My eMTB has allowed me to learn new skills more quickly as it allows me to session trails more. MY eRoad bike allows me to ride with faster riders without asking them to wait and without the suffering they seem to love so much! Given the 15.5mph speed limit I’m not sure an ebike turns the average rider into Pro as you suggested! New riders coming to ebikes will need to build experience just like on a normal bike.
Ebikers have BMW mentality - sorry but I’ve seen this from all kinds of road user and it’s simply down to the user and not the form of transport they’re using.
Fat/Disabled people don’t need ebikes - no but they’d probably go out more on their ebikes.
Normal bike riders can be old, can do lots of miles, can go slower, can have fun, can keep fit - newsflash - so can ebikers!
Normal bikes allow you to be fitter/healthier - an ebike can also do this and allow you to manage over training more easily. Even with the same amount of riding an ebike can give you 90% of that fitness - isn’t that enough? Not everyone’s main objective is to be as fit/healthy as possible - it’s quite laughable that many club riders have the latest lightest bikes in the pursuit of fitness but would a heavier bike make you fitter?
Eat less/exercise more - ebikers can to do this too!
Bicycle is efficient - so that means it will go faster and easier with less energy right? Exactly your argument against ebikes! QED.
Ride safe and encourage all riders to continue/start riding whatever they want to ride!
Brian
I’m sure we agree on many things Brian. 🙂
Just a few counter points: I disagree that my argument is an argument against progress. (Often used against me) I don’t think you can say that because I’m against e-bikes that’s the same as being against the modern bike Vs the bikes of history. Because firstly I’m not and secondly an e-bike is very different from all bikes that came before. Since the invention of the chain all bikes have essentially been the same, 100% man/woman powered.
Another point, you can’t compare the level of environmental damage a say traditionally made steel bike causes Vs an electric bike. They are on a completely different level! Even steel Vs carbon is a 40% pollution difference. The batteries are horrendous for the environment and the production involves open cast mines full of poor abused people. Not so with steel mining. And you claim that the batteries are “100% recyclable” not true. No process give you 100% return. And recycling is way lower than that, maybe 50% if you are lucky. Also only 5% of the batteries made are recycled! So in the end it’s a terrible situation to add more batteries too so some able bodied middle aged guy with too much money can wiz about the MTB trials stealing KOMs. 😂
All the best and safe riding!
@@reginaldscot165Thanks for the response. Hahaha, that's me! I know but it's fun!!! I'm not so much after KOM's as improving/learning new skills and EMTBs allow you to ride-repeat. I think it's very hard to buy many things, in the modern global capitalist economy, in which we find ourselves, which doesn't exploit someone somewhere in the world and lithium/cobalt mining etc. is one of the latest stand-outs. It is very difficult as a consumer to see when the only products available to buy are ethically produced with minimal environmental impact. The industrial revolution, although it has provided many modern conveniences - like massed produced bicycles - has not exactly been a shining example of healthy & safety and environmental protection but to reverse that would be - challenging? Hopefully, improvements should come in time to the relatively new battery production in response to Amnesty International , pressure from manufacturers etc.. Agree - ebikes are not 100% human powered but what cyclist doesn't enjoy the benefit of a tailwind? As my ebikes are charged by 100% renewable energy (ahem!) courtesy of Octopus Energy then my batteries are effectively being powered by a tailwind. As a result I use less human energy and produce less CO2. How environmentally friendly is that! Unless of course I then ride more - doh! Also agree - batteries are not all recycled. Whilst I don't think all steel products are recycled either, the figure is probably higher but the reason is purely a commerical one - its cheaper than refining iron ore. One day, soon hopefully, someone will work out a cheap/safe way of commercially viably recycling batteries too! We have a great ability as humans to rationalise arguments that justify our own choices. What a boring world it would be if we were all the same! Disc brakes rule!😂