Plus people that are sedentary will get on an ebike when they might not get on a regular bike. That is a plus.
The only time I've seen that is when they override the bike computer so they don't even need to pedal, turning the bicycle into an illegal moped. Face the facts, obese Americans are still obese even after buying an "e-bike" because they are not buying them to exercise.
Plus people that are sedentary will get on an ebike when they might not get on a regular bike. That is a plus.
The only time I've seen that is when they override the bike computer so they don't even need to pedal, turning the bicycle into an illegal moped. Face the facts, obese Americans are still obese even after buying an "e-bike" because they are not buying them to exercise.
No offense but You don’t understand e-bikes. (Throttles, pedal assists etc. )that’s ok. many don’t. That’s also why big bikes cos lost that market. They thought it was sacrilegious to put a battery and motor on a bike. now they play desperate catch up.
obese people are just one category. Many have taken up biking again thanks to e-bikes with a variety of health issues and old age. Helping their cardio. balance and coordination. Rehab.
I run 60 mikes per week so my ebiking is just recreational and mild cross fitness.
Ebikes are rife in the boomer 'my bike is better than yours' world. They're fine and fun - just don't considering it cycling, unless you're Fabian Cancellara. Very lucrative market in my country. There are very expensive bikes, but most don't spend 20 grand. My son rides a Pivot Firebird mountain bike with is about 10k US. That's considered pretty high end for the average joe. Most would spend 4 to 6k. The road bike scene may differ,
Please elaborate on this last sentence. I was with you until then. I don’t mind e-bikes from any of the various angles they can be viewed, and especially love them as (generally) cheap transportation for many common short trips. But when it comes to doing aerobic activity, work is work.
You’ll go faster on the e-bike, until the battery dies at which point you’ll go much slower, but other than that there is simply no difference. I’d argue that due to turns on the road and other obstructions that at higher speeds cause one to need to brake, the standard slower bike is going to keep you working more of the time.
If I’m doing 30 mph on my e-bike approaching a 90 degree turn I need to slow down much more than if I’m approaching the same turn at 15 mph. At 15 mph, I can likely just keep pedaling through the turn. And that’s not getting started on all-day rides where one would need to be very careful about conserving battery life or wind up pedaling what must feel like a dump truck for half the day.
There are two ways you can get a solid workout on an ebike.
1. Turn the motor off. I have a friend without an ebike and I join him with no help. I am getting a hefty workout because my bike is heavier.
2. With pedal assist you can exert as much peddle power a you want. Lets say you are biking a normal bike between 14-19 miles per hour. With an ebike you can be exerting the same peddle power but now you are traveling 23-28 mph. Going further places and seeing more things.
Here is a bonus. An ebike is fun to get on. Many times you will procrastinate and not bike because it seems like it takes forever to get a solid workout like running. With and ebike, it is funner so you jump on it more than you would. Plus people that are sedentary will get on an ebike when they might not get on a regular bike. That is a plus.
The big bike companies know they were late to the game and are desperately trying to get back market share. They used to refuse to work on ebikes and now do because that is where the dollars are going.
I put a pedal power meter on my 75 year old dad's old bike (10mph) and ebike (30mph). He did 129 watts on the bicycle and only 25wstts on the ebike. he became more obese switching to ebike too.
The topic of the thread is examining why bike companies are hurting. They are losing market share. Call an e-bike a motor bike if you want. Regardless they are hurting bike sales and growing exponentially.
While you are on the subject of motor bikes. Why the hell would you pay 15-20k for a super duper road bicycle? You can buy a freakin quality motorcycle for that price. Think of the engineering and quality difference. you are getting fleeced paying so much for a bike.
Well, not really. The original post said that you couldn't blame people for stopping cycling when $10K-$20K bikes are the new normal. I got a bike for casual cycling, just for fun and around bikes, for the price I mentioned. Most of the people I know who have bikes either got them from Freecycle or from Halfords where they are about £100-£200. That's just the standard amount. Like I said I'm not talking about professional cyclists or someone who is ultra serious about it, that's different. I was just talking about casual cycling which is the majority of riders, most people aren't in a club or competing.
If you look at the average person they're not spending even anywhere near £1000 on a bike. Tonnes of people locally have BMX bikes including adults and again with those they tend to go for a few hundred.
I'd be interested to know the average amount spent on a bike but it really isn't going to be particularly high.
You are making my point. Just because the ultra-high end bikes/treadmills/cars exist does not in any mean they are the ‘new normal’. The average person is still going to buy their bike from a department store for less than $200. Cyclists who have spent $3000 on their bike will still call the $200 bike junk, justify in many reasonable (and unreasonable) ways how much they spent, and call the person who spends $10k+ an idiot. Things have been this way for the better part of a decade or more. Ebikes have added another level of expense just like electronic shifting did and then disc brakes did again (at least in the road bike market).
The topic of the thread is examining why bike companies are hurting. They are losing market share. Call an e-bike a motor bike if you want. Regardless they are hurting bike sales and growing exponentially.
While you are on the subject of motor bikes. Why the hell would you pay 15-20k for a super duper road bicycle? You can buy a freakin quality motorcycle for that price. Think of the engineering and quality difference. you are getting fleeced paying so much for a bike.
Too many Lance Armstrong wannabes.
E-bikes are no less expensive than real bicycles. Prices for the e-bike version of a Trek road bike:
Trek Domane+ SLR 9 Project One eTap (tested): Price: $13,000, Weight: 27.03lbs* actual
There are two ways you can get a solid workout on an ebike.
1. Turn the motor off. I have a friend without an ebike and I join him with no help. I am getting a hefty workout because my bike is heavier.
2. With pedal assist you can exert as much peddle power a you want. Lets say you are biking a normal bike between 14-19 miles per hour. With an ebike you can be exerting the same peddle power but now you are traveling 23-28 mph. Going further places and seeing more things.
Here is a bonus. An ebike is fun to get on. Many times you will procrastinate and not bike because it seems like it takes forever to get a solid workout like running. With and ebike, it is funner so you jump on it more than you would. Plus people that are sedentary will get on an ebike when they might not get on a regular bike. That is a plus.
The big bike companies know they were late to the game and are desperately trying to get back market share. They used to refuse to work on ebikes and now do because that is where the dollars are going.
My beef was with the statement that you can get a ‘better’ workout on an ebike. That’s bull. And it seems you aren’t even trying to argue that. Your situation of riding with a friend on an ebike can be replicated on a standard bike any number of ways. Going further doesn’t make the workout any better. Possibly more interesting but that depends on a ton of factors.
And you seem to not understand why most people hate riding bikes. Tons of effort has been put into making cycling fun for those who don’t already enjoy it (like myself) but none of those things can eliminate:
1. The physical pain of supporting one’s self on a bike (butt, hands, back, neck)
2. Being out in the elements with no a/c or heat or shielding from wind and rain like is available in a car
3. The real and imagined fear of not being able to keep up with other traffic
4. The pain of falling off a bike
Fat, obese people are the ones most affected by these so good luck getting them all out on ebikes. It isn’t going to happen, ever.
I put a pedal power meter on my 75 year old dad's old bike (10mph) and ebike (30mph). He did 129 watts on the bicycle and only 25wstts on the ebike. he became more obese switching to ebike too.
Yup, e-bikes make obese people think they are exercising when it's the motor doing all the work. They would burn more energy shopping at the grocery store than 25 watts on an e-bike
The topic of the thread is examining why bike companies are hurting. They are losing market share. Call an e-bike a motor bike if you want. Regardless they are hurting bike sales and growing exponentially.
While you are on the subject of motor bikes. Why the hell would you pay 15-20k for a super duper road bicycle? You can buy a freakin quality motorcycle for that price. Think of the engineering and quality difference. you are getting fleeced paying so much for a bike.
Too many Lance Armstrong wannabes.
E-bikes are no less expensive than real bicycles. Prices for the e-bike version of a Trek road bike:
Trek Domane+ SLR 9 Project One eTap (tested): Price: $13,000, Weight: 27.03lbs* actual
Trek ebikes are a joke. Seriously. Those price points are NOT selling at all. That is why they are getting killed.
I can build an e-bike that will be faster, more comfortable have triple the range and cost 35% of that.
Those are called mopeds that cost only $700-$900 from the Chinese sellers. An e-bike is simply an extremely overpriced moped for lazy people who want to claim they are exercising.
First of many businesses this will happen to this year. Inflation is a mofo.
You are exactly right. My personal hope is to be in good financial shape so I can get some good bargains. That said, inflation makes life worse for almost everyone.
First of many businesses this will happen to this year. Inflation is a mofo.
You are exactly right. My personal hope is to be in good financial shape so I can get some good bargains. That said, inflation makes life worse for almost everyone.
The real problem is that the "inflation" in the bicycle industry is mostly fabricated by their marketing executives. The price the bicycle companies charge went up 2-3x in just a few years. They are taking the piss and charging exhortation amounts because their marketing teams tell them "gravel this", "electric that", "disc brake there", trying to fool everyone with artificially inflated prices when Chinese manufacturers on AliExpress charge a fraction of the amount. There's more snake oil in the bicycle industry than in all of the snake oil industry.
You are exactly right. My personal hope is to be in good financial shape so I can get some good bargains. That said, inflation makes life worse for almost everyone.
The real problem is that the "inflation" in the bicycle industry is mostly fabricated by their marketing executives. The price the bicycle companies charge went up 2-3x in just a few years. They are taking the piss and charging exhortation amounts because their marketing teams tell them "gravel this", "electric that", "disc brake there", trying to fool everyone with artificially inflated prices when Chinese manufacturers on AliExpress charge a fraction of the amount. There's more snake oil in the bicycle industry than in all of the snake oil industry.
Build your own non-e-bike! it’s easy and fun. You are right. All the components are on Ali express. e-bikes and non e-bikes
This, companies like this for e bike and others like Poseidon which build a entry level gravel bike good enough for what the average Joe is looking for as far as riding casually but good enough to ride for fitness too. Giant need to realize this, they need to focus on the average Joe riding causally for fitness, which doesn't require a bike that cost a few thousand.
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