Doge

I think it is more about who you are and what you plan to do. An e-bike can open up opportunity and challenges that a rider would not do otherwise.

I was surprised to see my wife using fins and paddles in the pool (I know - not a motor, but some have attitudes about them). She did this so she could do the group pool workouts. I expect she is working just as hard with her fins and paddles as without. She just goes faster, farther in the hour or so she swims - couple times a week last 40 years.

OBoile

I see two to three e-bikes a week on my commute. Frankly, I don't see why they would upset people. It's far better for the environment than someone taking a car.

Shimagnolo

I was climbing a 5% grade into a 20mph headwind one day when a skateboard cruised by me at ~15mph.
Funny thing was that it looked like an ordinary skateboard.
The guy was wearing a backpack which is where I assume the batteries must have been.

Abe_Froman

I despise E-Bikes and the people that ride them. It's ****ing cheating, and indicative of a poorly aligned moral compass and lack of motivation and self respect.

I still want one though. They look fun.

Seattle Forrest

I saw a lot of e-bikes over the summer and in the beginning of the fall. Now there aren't many bikes of any kind out. Just the die hards are left.

There's a shop in Ballard that sells them.

Mostly it's obvious when you get passed by a fat bike whose rider is barely pedaling, going up a minor hill.

I saw a post on a local forum, the lady loves hers, she pedals sometimes, and gets out for long rides in hilly Seattle.

Seattle Forrest

Roadies are often fit people with bikes that are made for going fast. So it's not uncommon for us to go fast. But most people on bikes aren't roadies. And cars don't expect bikes to go fast. Drivers make decisions about whether or not based on how fast they expect traffic around them to move, and that gets us in trouble sometimes. E-bikes are a good thing for us if they change this.

popeye

On October 7, 2015, California Governor Jerry Brown signed A.B. 1096, legislation that clarifies the regulation of electric bicycles (e-bikes) in California. This new law is the result of a coordinated campaign between PeopleForBikes, the Bicycle Product Suppliers Association (BPSA), and the California Bicycle Coalition (CalBike) to refine how and where cyclists can ride electric bicycles. A.B. 1096 will encourage the safe use of e-bikes by providing clear rules with respect to how they must be equipped and operated. The bill passed the Legislature with unanimous support in both chambers and takes effect on January 1, 2016.
Aside from modernizing e-bike law, A.B. 1096 fills in many of the gaps left by existing federal law and California state law with respect to electric bicycles. Most importantly, e-bikes will no longer be regulated like mopeds and the same rules of the road will apply to both e-bikes and human-powered bicycles. E-bikes will not be subject to the registration, licensing, or insurance requirements that apply to motor vehicles.
The bill designates three classes of e-bikes, and distinguishes lower speed electric bicycles that reach motor-assisted speeds of up to 20 miles per hour, from higher “speed pedelecs” which have motors that provide assistance up to 28 miles per hour. This class system allows the use of lower-speed e-bikes on bicycle paths, and also provides local municipalities the flexibility to regulate different types of e-bikes based on their local needs. The bill can serve as a model for progressive e-bike legislation in the rest of the country.

Doge

Thank you for looking that up. It seems my memory was correct this time. I'll try one more that illustrates legislation based on means of propulsion, and how in some areas - this kinda thing is messy.

A gas powered bike (like a gas powered skate board) that goes under 20mph (although most don't) is a motor cycle (in CA) and requires a rider of any age have a CA class 3 license and wear a helmet.

A faster electric bicycle is as above and does not require an adult to wear a helmet, or to have a drivers license etc.

This is all more interesting for me as I live surrounded 360 by a golf course with cart paths, cross walks and we have bicycles, gas carts, roller skaters, electric carts, skate boarders, gas skate boards, electric skate board things, segways (rare), gas and electric bikes and scooters. Only one in that list has the right-of-way in the cross walks, and almost all act like they do. Then most intersections are void of signs and paint.

So around here, locally, laws pretty much mean nothing and are ignored, or just not known. We just pay attention. I really like it that way.

Maelochs

I don't see where getting passed by an e-bike is any different than getting passed by any other machine-powered vehicle.

But then, I don't gauge my value and worth by how fast I ride a bicycle.

This thread isn't about e-bikes---it is about people with deep-seated psychological problems whose drug of choice (Strava PRs and being quickest on the road) is made less effective because in their own minds they have to be the fastest things with pedals. Man I might be pathetically slow ... but those folks are pathetically weak.

Seek help. Learn you value yourself as yourself. Stop depending on mental crutches. Stop worshiping at the alter of the bulging guad.

Learn to accept "The Look."

autonomy

I definitely see more and more of them around Boston. Saw someone recently on an assisted Xtracycle with kids - totally makes sense. My latest encounter was a middle-aged lady passing me on the MUP while ringing her bell with a sort-of "get out of my way, coming through fast" vibe. I thought about it and came to a conclusion that you rarely ever see e-bikers going slow. They're always going fast, so that may paint a picture of 'recklessness' in your head. Add to that the fact that you don't need much skill to ride an e-bike, so now you've got the picture of inexperienced users who aren't capable of handling the bike properly riding fast on shared paths. Is that a misconception? I don't know. But it's a plausible explanation for why some may feel disdain towards e-bikes (plus the whole 'you're cheating' thing).

I think e-bikes are great, they let people get out there - unless they get in my way or endanger people on the MUP But then again, I have disdain for anyone who gets on my way or endangers people (especially those pedestrians walking on the wrong side of the path!)

P.S. I was accused of riding an e-bike when I passed a middle-aged lycra-clad couple on MTBs and of 'making them look bad'. I was riding my MTB with my 2yo daughter in the back. It was rather funny as it was my only workout of the week so I was haulin' @ss.

tyrion

I don't let them pass me. With aggressive maneuvering you can seal off passing lanes. And if they do manage to slip through, while they're alongside and passing, a good kick will take them down - it's important to place the kick high and forward, aim for the head tube or the stem. And there's always the old pump through the spokes trick.

In short: I use my superior skills to compensate for their superior horsepower.

draganm

thanks for posting that, but like someone else said these laws are almost meaningless and impossible to enforce. I just can't see a cop chasing down someone on a bike path because they're riding an E-bike with 28mph top speed instead of 20, short of a radar gun how could they even prove it? I guess the one instance where this law would apply is in the case of a serious or fatal accident resulting from very high speeds on a MUP, and that's assuming the E-bike rider doesn't flee the scene like most motorists do. I like progressive laws but this one is just in that " well we gotta do something" category.

thanks for clearing that up, now we know it's everyone else who has a chip on their shoulder

no, it's not a misconception, it's spot-on. People who were slow and harmless are now fast and dangerous, and they're feeling " empowered" because they can pass people who are actually riding a bicycle.

Reynolds 

Exactly!

draganm

that's exactly what Tyrion Lannister would do, I love that character

Reynolds 

Do you look like Lance?

tyrion

I learned those techniques from my good buddy Bronn.

benadrian

My wife has an eBike. She really only turns on the motor to flatten out bigger hills. We live in a hilly area, and it's extremely nice to get around Los Angeles by bike and not have to worry about being a sweaty mess every time we ride home.

It's nice to take our bikes to see the ballet in formal wear. It's fantastic to go to dinner downtown and be able to have free and easy parking, and then ride home at night and not feel gross climbing a hill on a full stomach. My wife (e)Bikes to spin class, which is delightfully funny to me. She takes her bike to physical therapy, which is rad.

Every so often we'll pass a cyclist going uphill and they'll see he bike and say something like "cheater". It's usually in good fun. Like everyone says, I'd take an eBike or two on the road if it means one less car. For the record, I converted my Surly Cross Check to an eBike, but recently reverted it back to a commuter/touring bike with a triple in front. Sometimes I miss the power

Doge

Not entirely. This may be a local (SoCal beach world) thing only, but for me it is about crowds and road safety as posted above.
I have no doubt there will be more local mishaps because of the changes in "riding".

They are also starting to creep up on DG "running trails" where bikes were at first supposed to be walked, and now have a 10mph limit. It seems to me that riders on electric bikes tend to go as fast as they can. Maybe this will settle down in time, right now I think it is a problem.

Doge

Have you tried the new handlebar EM pulse devices?

Maelochs

yes welll ... the name fo the thread is "Getting Passed by E-Bikes," so pardon me if i thought the thread involved getting passed by E-Bikes in some way.

Many of the responses are about people getting annoyed becaue they got passed "unfairly."

The safety issues you mention have nothing to do with riders' responses to getting passed by E-Bikes ... and in my mind, are far more important. People going too fast for the conditions on Any vehicle or even on foot are an issue (If I were sprinting all-out down a sidewalk and crashed into a mothers with a three-wide stroller, surely i could be cited for unsafe action of Some sort.)

I see two issues here: One is the safety issue, which I assume will be addressed in time because people are not always stupid.

The other is the issue of feeling somehow "cheated" because a motorized vehicle is faster than a bike rider ... which shows that people are not always smart.

benadrian

I've heard stories of jerks on trails with e Mountain Bikes. There can be bad apples in any world.

I never used Strava when I had my eBike, but I'm sure many jerks do.

Doge

They pass me when I run, they pass me on the flats - to get passed on the hill, they pass me with surf boards and cause me to alter my course so I don't hit one.

For me - I generally ride 5mph slower than I could. e-bikes don't threaten me at all. For my kid - ditto, number is higher what he can ride and he sometimes rides slower than me. I doubt either of use thinks about fairness. In general we don't think about it as if the requirement to participate in something is that it is fair, you will not be doing much. I'm much more concerned about being hurt - unfairly of course.

And ... Strava rules - there was some human effort and that the others an your page did the same thing.

johnu

I'll be adding one at some point when I sell off a few motorcycles and have a spot to park it. I don't have the best knees and will need an assist to participate on long rides.

robbyville

At my last job when I was running a ski/golf resort in VA, we built a bike park and partnered with Trek for our rental bikes. The club was member owned but open to the public. Our members were typically golfers and obviously some skiers but we had a large contingent of non active over 55. These people would see me and some other staff riding our road bikes all over the place and many of them really wanted to try and get into shape. Of course the nature of a ski resort, no matter how small is that most of the houses are built on the hills. Our riding terrain was not extremely steep but tons of regular rollers, even my short 15 mile ride would add up to over 1500 ft of climbing, purely due to these. The members never stood a chance.

I got some of Trek's first ebikes for them to try, you have to remember that they are pedal assist, so you still have to put some power (albeit negligeable depending on the setting you have it at), and continue to spin for the assist to work. Suddenly, we had people who had absolutely no chance of getting into a great low impact sport able to ride and get their heart rates up. It was truly wonderful to see.

I'm no longer there, and now live in the desert of SoCAl, but the shops here seem to sell a lot of ebikes. Pedal Go and ebike rentalsfo are a plenty as well. Our cycling infrastructure is great with an awesome local club, but we are still a primarily tourist location where people will come for the winter. Many quite a bit older, but the area is incredibly active. I think if these bikes get people started to get in shape then kudos. Heck, I'm trying to convince my mother who comes out for 6 months a year to ditch her beach cruiser, get an ebike and come riding with me!

To the question about getting passed... I did get behind a guy once, chatted with him, he was a road rider who uses his ebike to get to church and back every Sunday. Drafted behind for a while which was really, really nice before turning.

bikecrate

I wouldn't disagree, I just hope that people aren't substituting Ebikes for regular bikes just cause it is easier.