Would you buy an e-bike?

Corbett | January 17, 2010 6:08 PM

I did something I haven't had a chance to do in a long time - I took a nice long bike ride with friends along the Keelung River in Taipei. I used to practically live on my bike, from my first red Stingray with a banana seat and flats, to my first Nishiki 10 speed, to the Schwinn paper bike, up to the first edition Specialized Stumpjumper which wheeled me up the East Coast for 3-months in college and took me all over Yangmingshan when I got to Taiwan, to my current old school rickity Flying Pidgeon that gets a flat every week in Shanghai - but there's always a guy squatting along the road that will fix it for 2RMB so it doesn't matter. Anyway, I'm on this little folding clown bike today - quite hi-tech actually - riding along a river that used to be black with soot and chemicals, watching swans diving and fish jumping out of clean water. Taipei has changed.

After the nice 30K ride I'm relaxing in front of the computer and run across this article in the NYT called "Gaining a Toehold for the E-Bike" talking about electric bikes - which are just one of those things that seem like a good idea in theory, but in practice...maybe not. I've toyed with the idea of getting one in China, they're everywhere, but they are so goofy and I hate how riders don't seem to know how to stop and whizz past you with no notice while you are crossing the street making you jump out of you skin.

The writer then says something which I think is just plain dumb. It says "In China, riding an electric bike conveys professional achievement, even a certain degree of wealth..." I don't know about that. I think if you ask someone riding one of these - usually a guy in a baggy suit, smoking a cigarette, legs crossed, whizzing in and out of traffic - if they feel a sense of professional achievement, they'll probably crack a loogie on your shoe. These guys are just trying to make a two hour commute in half the time. For Chinese, any professional achievement would be driving a car. The concept of rich Americans riding electric bikes is a misnomer. At least for now. Maybe the concept of rich Americans is the real misnomer. Maybe China should send all those crappy electric bikes to the US. Then Americans will feel better about themselves, and the Chinese will be able to buy more cars. At least I won't be frightened when crossing the street anymore.

Category: Cool Links

Comments (1)

Comments

---

Charles Duffy

February 23, 2010 5:29 AM

"Legs crossed"? I presume this means that pedaling is impossible, and as an American who commutes (40km round-trip) with an electric bike, this is surprising to me -- while the assist makes cycling practical for me (equal time spent cycling as would otherwise be spent commuting by car and then exercising in the gym), I would feel embarrassed not to pedal with a similar level of effort to that which I use on a conventional bike unless injured.

From what I understand, US-built e-bikes are built with substantially different specs than local-market Chinese ones:

- Lithium-based battery chemistries are increasingly phasing out NiMH; Lead-acid is unheard of.
- US e-bikes are not designed or priced with the intent that they be cheaper than low-end motor scooters; rather, their market positioning is closer to that of mid-range to high-end bicycles (a category ranging from $2K to $13K).
- US e-bikes are built to be pedaled. (This is not true of some imports -- but these are frowned on by the cycling community).

As for reckless drivers, those happen anywhere and on any vehicle -- but I find that riding an e-bike makes me less hesitant to come to a full stop, as it'll be easier to get back up to speed later than if I were doing so with my legs alone.

---

Add a comment

---

---

Name

Email Address

URL

Remember personal info?

Comments

Captcha:

Type the characters you see in the picture above.