I like the idea of keeping my car & buying a bike. I live in a climate where I can easily bike 9 - 10 months a year commuting to work. I would keep my car for driving to work in bad weather, grocery shopping, family trips, skiing, etc. So, my car should last twice as long (a Big Plus). My number 1 concern is those bike batteries only last 7 years on average - then what? Bike manufactures are constantly making new & improved models, so no guarantee that a new battery will be available. I don't want to spend thousands and only get 7 years use out of a bike.
Did this a few months ago. We have 3 kids so we kept the one vehicle. So far I’ve travelled 1100kms(about 10 miles?) and lost 10lbs. I got a back seat and take my youngest never wants to get dropped off to school any other way now.
I'm personally considering one of those e-scooters. I used to have an e-bike but the brand I bought had 'issues', two of them major safety one in my opinion which should never have been issues. Brand BH. They looked like they were a solid brand but their implementation/execution was crap. Issue 1: They use a torque sensor on the back wheel. If you were in the wrong gear and started to pedal from a stand still (say at a stop sign or lit intersection) the torque sensor could give the bike's computer values it couldn't comprehend. Stupidity of all stupidities, the computer would error out and stop working (It does not shut off, it just stops working.) So part way into the intersection you have suddenly a very heavy bike in the wrong gear and barely able to move it forward. $#@$^(~!!!! Issue 2: My bike wasn't that old (less than 3 years) but apparently the battery was showing some age. Going up a hill the motor would draw more power than the battery could muster, computer 'brown outs' a little and that would cause the computer to error out and stop working (it does shut off, put a beefier capacitor in there! Battery shows it still had 3/5's charge left.) Again, you are now on a very heavy bike, most likely in the wrong gear for no assist travel, and you basically stop dead on the hill very quickly. More frustrating than anything but potentially hazardous to other users trying to climb the hill behind you. In both cases, I felt it was mostly bad software on the computer. At any rate I sold the bike. I couldn't trust it. It also had a design issue in my opinion. Design issue: Don't buy a bike with spring loaded contact connectors to the battery (I.E. springy pins touching pads on the battery or vice versa.) If you go over a reasonable bump, those spring loaded pins can disconnect from the battery momentarily. Better to have a more plug type, always in contact, connector in my opinion. (My bike had a removable battery.) Would love to know which brands are better for the next time I consider an e-bike. New home is about the same distance from work as my old home but the commute is way more nastier in comparison. It takes about 15 min. longer because of the number of intersections along the way in the new commute. Ended up giving up on the cycle and took transit instead. Door to door though, transit or bike, roughly the same time. Transit may be faster by about 5 mins on average, and usually about just under an hour travel time.
Thank you for sharing your experience! I have heard mechanical issues being a downside to e-bikes, both in terms of having more moving parts than an acoustic bike and manufacturers rushing to the market. Glad to hear public transit was a good option in the meantime!
i wouldnt be able to do art shows or music events or give people a ride or take the freeway or get to Renaissance faire or get to the east side or get to my best friends house without going through detroit sidestreets
It is impractical to have a bicycle in my country Pakistan as rn the weather is 114 F average. Using it for daily needs could be life threatening also I already have bicycle which is not an e bike yet, it is mtb and already 99% people ask me if it is e bike. Extremely exhausting conversations and everyone touches the bicycle without permission and beggers on streets just jump on bicycle and destroys all mounted tech. But with all these problems am still going to buy one and try my best to have a great time. Coz it is great.
How do you lock up your bike? Do you worry about it being stolen? My city has a really high crime rate for stolen bikes and I've had my own stolen before at a local mall. We have a free bike valet in the city centre but it closes most evenings between 6pm and 8pm most evenings. I would love to bike more, but i find myself not wanting to leave my bike anywhere even fro 30 minutes for errands.
These are great things to consider! I feel like my town (~60k large suburb) has some moderate theft rates, but most of it can be mitigated with a lock to the frame, keeping it in sight during the day, putting it indoors at night, and a bit of stupid, blind trust 😃
My e bike is my go to transportation for running local errands. I have a public library, 2 grocery stores, my pharmacy and a super Walmart within a two mile radius of my house. I can pick up my prescriptions and a week’s worth of grocery staples using my e bike. I have 125 miles on it so far. That is just over one tank of gas in my motorcycle.
Be careful out there ❤ my e-bike is my daily driver and I don’t regret it for the world but I was hit by a truck back in November. I still love my e-bike and riding even with my pain (I have 2 bulging discs) but be weary on the road even with share the road laws to people in cars you’re a second class citizen
3:44 No shot it costs a dollar. A 500 Wh battery fill up @ the national average electricity rate of $0.18 kWh we are talking $0.09. Lets just say 10 cents to cover charging loses. $1 will get you 10 fill ups.
You're right! I've been called out on this. Definitely some sloppy math on my part. $0.28 kWh where I am, and the charger is only half efficient (!!). So that would put it at $0.28 a fill up? Definitely an improvement on gas no matter what 😂
@@erictnagle I'm saying this is the mindset of someone who wants to trade in their car for a bike. You'd have to live somewhere where owning a car already sucks. Like a dense city.
Great video! I will say tho...biking has made me more social and form more lasting friendships with like minded people. I think the baseline fitness and the aches and pains that come along with getting into biking is one of the tougher parts of cycling, but well worth it! #bikesbuildcommunity
i have a 1997 mazda miata and a ride1up gravel roadster. i ride my roadster everywhere i need to go and my miata gets to stay in the canyons on the weekends. perfect balance
I couldn’t do it myself. I’m thinking about buying and e-bike for farther easier exploration. I see a lot of value in owning 3 vehicles. A nice car, a big diesel pick up truck and a small beater daily drive. A nice for driving around town in clean clothes doing clean activities. A big diesel pick up truck for hauling large loads lumber, garbage, yard waste, and anything else like that. A small daily beater for daily driving taking the brunt of abuse. So my nice car and truck doesn’t get door dings and scratches. Getting muddy in hauling gross stuff around or coming home in dirty from any activity. If you drive the small car daily drive you’ll save so much in gas and repairs you can afford to have a big diesel truck and a nice brand new car. The truck won’t break down and the nice car won’t get wear and tear. You put the wear and tear on your daily drive beater. The ebike for me is going long distances up and down steeper hills and against the wind as a hobby. I wouldn’t ride a bike around town for commuting because Canadians roads are really dangerous. I’d use an e-bike for back country trails.
I'd disagree about the price range a little. I regularly sell e bikes closer the $1500 mark, and people love them. If you can't afford $3000, don't let that stop you making the jump.
My ebike is the best thing ive ever purchased. It has done so much for me... for my life. It feels close to me like a family member. Treats me better than my mother ever did.
Living in Toronto the bike lanes are so crowded these days with ebikers and its mostly indians doing deliveries and such blocking the bike lane with their ebikes. Also theses been a few fires on the subway. Idk just get a real bike man
You need to fit your helmet strap better. Your helmet won't do much for you if your strap is that loose. Sorry i had to point that out. Beautiful bicycle and glad you are enjoying it. I like how ebikes are built for commuting and not "sport"
I've been a long-distance bicycle commuter, since 2005. I was already car-free (I was a skateboard/bus commuter, before I got a job in an area with no bus service). I made the switch to an e-bike about three years ago. I love this thing. It flattens the hills. It allows me to haul stuff in my trailer that used to be huge chore. I occasionally still take my "pedal bike" out, around the neighborhood, but the e-bike is now my main ride.
I’m 44 and never had a license. I’ve moved from NC to OR on a bicycle, and own a bosch powered DIamondback union 2. I love it. It’s my commuter, my fitness rider, and my adventure bike all in one.
A class 3 e-bike can reach speeds of 28 mph. Let's assume you average 20mph on your e-bike, accounting for stop signs and traffic lights. Average commute speeds by car are around 34 mph in small cities and 26 mph in large cities (based on traffic studies by the FHA). So to add an hour, your commute would have to be over 50 miles each way. In practice, for most commutes, going by e-bike would probably set you back 10-20 minutes assuming no variation in traffic. However, unlike cars, e-bikes don't really get stuck in traffic, so what you trade off in speed, you make up for with consistency. You can wake up knowing your commute will take the exact same amount of time every day.
Honestly though I would recommend buying a normal bicycle. Trust me it will be hard at the start but later on you will find yourself with increased stamina and your legs will grow, and you will never fear an uphill ever again. You can get a pretty decent bike for 500 bucks, just think that E-bikes are a bit overpriced nowadays, costs almost as much as a car, and although it doesn't take as much to repair it and and all of that, it's still quite a big investment.
A bicycle as a "platform" from which to explore beautiful, natural surroundings is superior to all vehicles with an internal combustion engine. If someone wants to try a bike, I recommend going on a trip close to nature.
... and yet the U.S. is putting a 25% tariff on all e-bikes being made in China, which is virtually all e-bikes. This is why lip service about being "green" is BS. Capitalism isn't green. Capitalism is greed.
My tips for an e-bike. If you have it as a car, treat it like one. Get one with enough speed to match cars on city streets. Invest in lights + turn signals + horns that drivers will notice. Add ways to transport things (panniers, baskets, a trailer) and never wear a backpack.
Nice vid. You should tighten the strap on your helemt. It is not safe if it's that loose. Good that you wear one, but it could fall of or deplace in case of an impact.
Literally just took the plunge and sold the car and bought an e-bike yesterday (probably why the algorithm gave me this video lol). Can’t wait to start commuting and adventuring on my new bike 😊
RU-vid just recommended this video. I found the one-word captioning to be so distracting that I couldn't watch the video and had to listen to it instead. Unless there's a change, I won't watch again. Have a nice life
You wont pay insurance, which is at least a hundred bucks per month where I live. Youll also get soaked on the way to work. Youll have to turn down jobs where you bring a lot of equipment or are far away, and dating will become complicated.
There is this thing called raincoat, you should totally try it, this might sound crazy, but it actually keeps you dry when it rains! Most people work office jobs anyway nowadays and if you are moving some heavy equipment, chances are that there is company vehicle that you can use instead (unless you are self employed of course) I don't see how dating becomes "complicated", but im from Europe so this might be some US thing we dont understand. If you go to a date, you set a time when you both will be there and its up to the person how he gets there. Whether its by car, bike, bus, train or by walking. (picking up your date with a car, is very very outdated and I dont think anyone does this at least in Europe.)
I did the same, although I never owned a car, but having an Ebike make mobility so more accessible than before for me. we just need to push for more bikealbe city wherever we are.
