rmt wrote:
Define able bodied? I have a friend who is 10kg overweight and very unfit. She would struggle to ride a normal bike to and from work.
With an bike she could commute to work easily, which will give her 30 mins, twice a day, of gentle physical exercise. I don't believe that is not a better for her than being sat in a car for an hour a day?
Since nobody is bothering to read the entirety of my posts, I'll quote it and bold something in your post here.
Myself: "It has legitimate use and potential for commuters."
Isn't that exactly what you were saying? That's the definition of a commuter.
You're not going to get a legit serious B or A or hammer group ride to accept an e-bike. You don't belong there, regardless of what is holding you back, if you can't do it on your own. Sorry, that's life. You're not going to give Gaimon a motor so he can keep up with Cancellara's motor.
I also have said in another topic on here about e-bikes that I'm
ok with it on "pub group no-drop rides" or if you're on a public road, alone or with a friend. That's between you and local laws, not me. Even then, I'm just OK with it. Why? There were already a touch of wheels and a crash EVERY week in the one I used to do before I felt it wasn't a good mix of abilities.
As soon as somebody "isn't allowed" to participate in something, out come the claws. I'm not saying you can't buy one and ride it tomorrow on a public road with your buddy. Or commute to work. Please, do so.
I think the only
real points of disagreement are:
-should e-bikes with a 25mph limit be allowed on greenways
-should e-bikes with a 25mph limit be allowed on
public mtb trails (private is up to the owner)
-should B, A, or hammer group rides allow e-bikes
My opinion on the first item is, yes, if they limit them to 15mph instead.
My opinion on the second item is, yes, if they limit them to 12mph instead.
On the last item, totally forget it. I'd leave the group. Still, up to the group as a whole though.
People always assume that the hardcore roadies want to keep people from getting into cycling because they can't get off the couch and do the TdF tomorrow. No, not at all. But that's the assumption a lot of e-bike advocates jump to when "restrictions" on e-bike usage comes up.
The reality is, we'd love you to get out and ride. The reality is also though that certain equipment and abilities fit certain situations and rules. And that's life, not a roadie being a dick.
If you need to get out and exercise and your local greenway "bans" e-bikes, don't argue with the "dick roadie" about it. I don't ride the greenway on my road bike. I jog it while my children putter along with me on their bikes. The rules are because some dick idiots rolling through at 25mph on an e-bike hit somebody's kid or dog one time and now e-bikes got banned. That's also why roadies who can cruise 20mph shouldn't really ride busy greenways either.
If you have beef with that, take it up with the idiot who was the source of the rules. In other words, the e-bike user, not the roadie.
I'm not keeping your friend with MS from riding an e-bike or saying they shouldn't. He/she should do so. We're bringing up a very minority of target customers to try to make an example of something that's not even the main part of the argument.
The main part of the argument is that in the US hardly anybody commutes by bicycle. Top that with the percentage of actual usage of e-bikes in the US versus the usage of them by people who could really really benefit from it..........and the facts don't align with the butt hurt in this thread. 75% of e-bike purchasers are not MS patients or
It's very anecdotal, but when I'm out running with the kids the e-bikes I've seen were:
-one ridden by a thin/fit guy in cycling kit coming back from a local mtb trail
-a 55ish y/o dude who talked to me and said "I love to get out to my picnic spot at 25mph on the greenway and back in time so I can do xyz each morning".......yeah......pretty much using it like a moped
-another a 250ish lb dude flying about 20mph by on a fat bike looking e-bike, totally unncecessary
The rest were legit commuters. A guy wearing his hi-vis vest with loaded saddle bags religiously going to/from work from somewhere in my neighborhood. I've seen a few of them.
In the US, for the vast majority of customers though........it's a freaking toy.