e- bikes... the new snob magnet...

karty01
karty01 Posts: 3
edited August 2011 in The bottom bracket
Just going to get something off my chest that spoils cycling for me , snobbery!.. its another ism that i would have thought cyclist would rise above.... i was wrong.. 2010, change work and commute has gone from seven miles each way to around 16 and hilly, have done a few weeks at the new distance but its leaving me tired for doing anything in the evening. Didnt want to take the car everyday it just me on the commute and not very green, looked at scooters and motorcycles, and theyre hardly greener , what to do? I passed 50 cycles in richmond one day, and tried a pedelec Kalkhoff, two tries later and cycle purchased, i still have my other bikes which are mountain, and road race, all quite high end, and very special in their own way, I also discovered for the first time having purchased a specific commuter bike instead of racing machine, the comfort levels are godly, the electric motion can be 3 different levels ( i only use low and tend to max the speed out above the assist level), i like it because when im tired i can still ride, when i want to extend myself i can still feel my legs burn with the effort. Ive read some of the comments with regard to these bikes and really shouldnt understand the snobbery, but i do, its the same when i take my giant xtc carbon to work, the same roadies who wave to me on my madone or tcr ignore me, and some of the mountain bikers the same when im on the road bike. I consider myself to be very lucky to have the oppurtunity to ride all of these from a restored 1984 Pinarello treviso to a Giant tcr advanced, and now the kalkhoff e-Bike because quite simply its keeping me riding ....simple, thats what we all enjoy....

Comments

  • Gazzaputt
    Gazzaputt Posts: 3,227
    Please not again.
  • Homer J
    Homer J Posts: 920
    Did you know, that grey speed fit is not as popular as white.
  • Le Commentateur
    Le Commentateur Posts: 4,099
    Threadvertl! :D
    Un uomo solo al commando
  • Stiff_Orange
    Stiff_Orange Posts: 218
    No it's not snobbery, it the fact that the people who ride them think they are being green.

    Well I've got to break this to you, but you know when you plug it into the wall the extra electrity that your bike uses isn't produced by capturing the energy of spring lambs gambolling through a meadow. No, it's the same stuff produced at gas or coal fired power stations beaching chemicals into the atmosphere, the coal or gas having first been transported half way around the world.

    e-bikes are not green, they are rode by smug, self-satisfied Guardian readers, to make themselves feel better when they fill up their SUV's a the weekend.
  • Yossie
    Yossie Posts: 2,600
    Stiff_Orange wrote:
    No it's not snobbery, it the fact that the people who ride them think they are being green.

    Well I've got to break this to you, but you know when you plug it into the wall the extra electrity that your bike uses isn't produced by capturing the energy of spring lambs gambolling through a meadow. No, it's the same stuff produced at gas or coal fired power stations beaching chemicals into the atmosphere, the coal or gas having first been transported half way around the world.

    e-bikes are not green, they are rode by smug, self-satisfied Guardian readers, to make themselves feel better when they fill up their SUV's a the weekend.

    And they're shyyyt.

    And that's all Yossie has to say on that.
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    Stiff_Orange wrote:
    e-bikes are not green, they are rode by smug, self-satisfied Guardian readers, to make themselves feel better when they fill up their SUV's a the weekend.

    Spoken like a true snob. FWIW my ex only got into cycling via an electric bike. She's since sold it and bought a conventional bike. I reckon a lot of people who cycle now wouldn't had they not got into cycling via e-bikes.

    Obviously, some of them never graduate to proper bikes like some people never graduate from hybrids to road bikes but there are as many smug, self satisfied people slagging off e-bikes as there are riding them.
    Faster than a tent.......
  • karty01
    karty01 Posts: 3
    Thank you for all of the replys, i neither read the guardian, or own an Suv, the e-bike was purchased to reduce my £75.00 weekly car fuel bill and keep me fitter, i really cant understand the need to stereotype, or make others feel bad about their choices.
  • Jez mon
    Jez mon Posts: 3,809
    Stiff_Orange wrote:
    No it's not snobbery, it the fact that the people who ride them think they are being green.

    Well I've got to break this to you, but you know when you plug it into the wall the extra electrity that your bike uses isn't produced by capturing the energy of spring lambs gambolling through a meadow. No, it's the same stuff produced at gas or coal fired power stations beaching chemicals into the atmosphere, the coal or gas having first been transported half way around the world.

    e-bikes are not green, they are rode by smug, self-satisfied Guardian readers, to make themselves feel better when they fill up their SUV's a the weekend.

    Come on man, engage your brain. In comparison to a car/motorbike (whether electric or petrol) an electric assisted bike is pretty green. The amount of work which the battery of an e-bike is doing in assisting the rider is very small in comparison to the amount of work which a car does.

    Plus the IC engine in the average car will have a shockingly low efficiency, whereas the newer coal fired power stations have a reasonably high efficiency.
    You live and learn. At any rate, you live
  • jim453
    jim453 Posts: 1,360
    karty01 wrote:
    Thank you for all of the replys, i neither read the guardian, or own an Suv, the e-bike was purchased to reduce my £75.00 weekly car fuel bill and keep me fitter, i really cant understand the need to stereotype, or make others feel bad about their choices.


    You have a lot of very expensive bikes of one kind or another. That's a hell of a lot of hardware for someone who can't manage a sixteen mile commute.

    In fact I just can't imagine owning all that carbon and then climbing aboard the shopper electric bike from Monday to Friday.

    Fair enough though. Each to their own.

    Are you absolutely sure you don't work for or even own the company that sells these 'bikes'?
  • verylonglegs
    verylonglegs Posts: 4,023
    All those deriding those who use them...how can you tell from looking at them they aren't disabled in some way and need the extra assistance to get about?
  • mfin
    mfin Posts: 6,729
    jim453 wrote:
    Are you absolutely sure you don't work for or even own the company that sells these 'bikes'?

    Naaa, cant be, ...if it was an attempt at a bit of promotion then the company would surely get someone to write the original post who knew how to use paragraphs :) (ironically I'll probably get accused of snobbery for that :) )
  • jim453
    jim453 Posts: 1,360
    verylonglegs wrote:
    All those deriding those who use them...how can you tell from looking at them they aren't disabled in some way and need the extra assistance to get about?

    But we are talking about this particular instance and presumably the guy would have said if he was disabled.

    Do you have a point?
  • Omar Little
    Omar Little Posts: 2,010
    Apparently they are getting really popular in places like Germany (although in saying that so did National Socialism so maybe not the greatest of selling points)
  • Stiff_Orange
    Stiff_Orange Posts: 218
    Rolf F wrote:
    Spoken like a true snob..

    No it's just a reaction to the cynical marketing ploy by manufactures to make people thing that they are being environmentaly friendly. It's like hybrid cars which tend to be less fuel efficient that other similar sized cars, but people assume that they are being eco-friendly

    If you want to be truely green ride a normal bike, it doesn't matter what type, anything from a shopping bike found in a skip to a £7000 Carbon fibre superbike.
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    to the skeptics out there I do not believe this is an advert.

    so you can stop reporting it.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    Stiff_Orange wrote:
    Rolf F wrote:
    Spoken like a true snob..

    No it's just a reaction to the cynical marketing ploy by manufactures to make people thing that they are being environmentaly friendly. It's like hybrid cars which tend to be less fuel efficient that other similar sized cars, but people assume that they are being eco-friendly

    If you want to be truely green ride a normal bike, it doesn't matter what type, anything from a shopping bike found in a skip to a £7000 Carbon fibre superbike.

    Be fair though. Aside from the fact that they are still very green compared to other forms of powered transport (the power is assisting your pedalling and mostly only when going uphill), you'd have to be mad not to push a green angle for marketing anyway - bottom line is that if you don't sell the product you go bust. What is cynical about it? Isn't all advertising cynical? "Look at my product - it's the best because I say so and you'll be cool if you use it" etc etc. Personally, I'm amazed that advertising of any shape or form works. For me all it does is make me aware of the existence of a product - it never, ever makes me buy it; I'm not that stupid.
    Faster than a tent.......
  • ride_whenever
    ride_whenever Posts: 13,279
    I've ridden a fair few electric bikes, personally I'd never have one unless it was on a car replacement utility bike.

    The one thing than is nice is that they're quite easy to wheelie for a very heavy hybrid!
    Neeermad
    Carbon 456
    456 lefty
    Pompino
    White Inbred
  • lvquestpaddler
    lvquestpaddler Posts: 416
    £75 for 160 miles? What kind of car have you got I'd get that sorted first.... My VX Combo would do that mileage in 3 gallons/£19, and it's got roof bars.
    By my calculations at an average £1.35 for a litre of fuel you're getting 13mpg. Hence the guilt and the need for an ebike! :lol:
  • verylonglegs
    verylonglegs Posts: 4,023
    jim453 wrote:
    verylonglegs wrote:
    All those deriding those who use them...how can you tell from looking at them they aren't disabled in some way and need the extra assistance to get about?

    But we are talking about this particular instance and presumably the guy would have said if he was disabled.

    Do you have a point?

    Yes, you are uptight and need to sort it out.
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    lvquestpaddler wrote:
    £75 for 160 miles? What kind of car have you got I'd get that sorted first.... My VX Combo would do that mileage in 3 gallons/£19, and it's got roof bars.
    By my calculations at an average £1.35 for a litre of fuel you're getting 13mpg. Hence the guilt and the need for an ebike! :lol:

    You are making too many assumptions - he's only said his commute is 160 miles and that he wants to reduce his weekly bill. If traffic is heavy you can easily drop below 30mpg even in a modern car so if he is doing a bit at the weekend as well, £75 is very possible. Of course, the OP isn't taking into account the real cost of running a car which is reckoned by AA etc to be about 46p per mile (or at least it was last time I was getting a mileage allowance which was a few years ago!). On that basis, 160 miles alone equates to about £75.
    Faster than a tent.......
  • tigerben
    tigerben Posts: 233
    Where I come from electric bikes seem to be the preserve of drunk drivers who have lost their license and who tend to ride them solely using the motor even on the flat.
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    tigerben wrote:
    Where I come from electric bikes seem to be the preserve of drunk drivers who have lost their license and who tend to ride them solely using the motor even on the flat.

    they they are riding illegal bikes as that is not how they are permitted to work.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • MrChuck
    MrChuck Posts: 1,663
    Stiff_Orange wrote:
    Rolf F wrote:
    Spoken like a true snob..

    No it's just a reaction to the cynical marketing ploy by manufactures to make people thing that they are being environmentaly friendly. It's like hybrid cars which tend to be less fuel efficient that other similar sized cars, but people assume that they are being eco-friendly

    Jez mon is right- they're better than cars by a long way. Do you think that we shouldn't take the gains we can get and just wait for some giant switchover when everything is powered by magic pixie dust and manufacturing has no environmental impact? It's not going to happen.

    I daresay hybrids are not necessarily as effecient as a good small car, but for me that's not really the point- they're a very necessary first step towards something else.
    If you want to be truely green ride a normal bike, it doesn't matter what type, anything from a shopping bike found in a skip to a £7000 Carbon fibre superbike.

    It does matter though doesn't it? Something with all it's manufacturing and transport costs already spent or something made from raw materials shipped halfway around the planet?

    If you want to talk about being truely green you have to recognise that bikes aren't just dreamed into existance either.
  • neilo23
    neilo23 Posts: 783
    Omar Little wrote:
    Apparently they are getting really popular in places like Germany (although in saying that so did National Socialism so maybe not the greatest of selling points)

    Never seen one. However, where I live is too hilly for the type of people (stereotyping, I know) who would use one.

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