The notion of costly maintenance and repair of electric bikes is rooted in a lot of possibilities that can occur and affect the performance of your e-bike. Also, despite the disadvantages of electric bikes, they are still reliable vehicles for many people.
Pedal and electric bike sales were on the rise even before the coronavirus pandemic left many consumers spending more time at home, with less need for a car. According to NPD, most of the boom in bike sales due to the pandemic has been for hobby bikes, such as road bikes and mountain bikes.
So, while I disagree with the premise that e-bikes are more dangerous than motorcycles, I think each of the points presented has some validity that needs to be discussed. In three years, I have only encountered one e-bike owner who truly deserved his machine, a man with a spinal injury who otherwise would not have been able to ride.
E-bike riders are often seen as responsible, environmentalists who make the selfless sacrifice of cycling to work to replace cars on the road and benefit us all, while motorcyclists are more commonly derided as reckless organ donors whose mere act of riding a motorcycle is seen as an unnecessary risk.
Micah Toll, who researches the specifics of electric bikes and other battery-powered personal transportation for Electrek, a website dedicated to all things electric, says the budget is an important consideration for electric bike buyers.
Like their pedal-powered counterparts, electric road bikes have thinner, lighter components and require an aerodynamic riding position, both of which are intended to increase efficiency over long distances, with an average life span of 10 years it’s well worth the investment..
Perhaps this is one of the reasons why electric bikes are fast becoming one of the most popular and widely used modes of transportation in the world today, giving more people a reason to get on their bikes and get active. With so many reasons to choose an ebike over driving a car it’s hard to find an excuse not to.
I took the bike to the Lightning in a Bottle music festival, and on the way back I did a quick 36-mile ride on the Monterey Bay Coastal Recreational Trail. Steve Volkers, who lives in suburban Maryland and commutes several miles up hills, says he actually gets to work a little faster on his electric bike because he doesn’t have to sit in downtown Washington.
Sales of e-bikes increased 139 percent during the same period, continuing an upward trend from the previous year. I’ve been riding electric bikes for more than a decade, and in recent years I’ve made small but conscious efforts to upgrade my safety gear. I’ve been that slow e-bike on the side of the road that’s been banged up for my entire commute, and it’s not fun.
