Beth With An Ebike
Simon Brooke"We have noted before that this is the fastest ride to zero-carbon; almost anyone can ride an e-bike for six miles under almost any conditions. If there were safe places to ride and secure places to park, then millions of car trips could be avoided, and millions of cars taken off the road"
Simon LucyYou want to switch your element of servitude to lithium?
Careful what you wish for.
@simon_lucy Who said that? Lithium is for a very brief period in history the most energy dense battery technology, but sodium batteries will be widely available within a few years.
Na-ion batteries in electronic devices, laptops included, were common in the 70's-90's, they lost overall capacity quickly had significant memory behaviour which also reduced capacity well within the life of the devices they powered.
Li-ion replaced them even though they were more expensive.
No doubt they can be improved but there are still problems.
https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2022/02/engineers-reveal-cause-key-sodium-ion-battery-flaw
Engineers reveal cause of key sodium-ion battery flaw | Cornell Chronicle
A new X-ray technique developed by Cornell engineers has revealed the cause of a long-identified flaw in sodium-ion batteries; a discovery that could prove to be a major step toward making sodium-ion as ubiquitous as lithium-ion.
LittleScrapsoftheNorth@simon_brooke I have one and I used in the summer for a few years before the before times… now I rarely go out. But it was a fun way to get through the hills !
Dud: 60 Not Out@simon_brooke I use my motorcycle (a 125) or my moped scooter (50cc) for any local missions. I've hardly used my car this summer!
Alfonso Roberto@simon_brooke Before lockdown and home working I used to commute 8 miles either on my #motorcycle or by bus in the winter. Then in 2019 I got an #ebike and used that almost all year and saved myself a fortune. I only needed the bus when it was icy. I use the ebike to go to the local supermarket now.
🍵 holly@simon_brooke I think e-bikes could be a gateway drug for more cycling infrastructure. I got one to replace my acoustic bike because I have joint issues that limit my endurance, and I love it because I can dial in the experience I want. Tired or achy? Turn up the boost. Want more exercise? Turn down or turn off the boost. Over time I’ve been boosting less as my body builds capacity at its own pace.
@holly Yes, I've found that since I got the ebike I'm using my 'acoustic' bike more, not less: I've more confidence I can get back up the hill, so when I'm feeling good I take it, and when I'm not there's the electric. Don't get me wrong, my electric bike is a good bike, but I find it too heavy to easily lift over gates and fences.
https://www.journeyman.cc/blog/posts-output/2023-07-20-the-bike-i-don't-love/
The bike I don't love
I've reviewed a lot of bikes on this blog, both bikes of my own and bikes I've borrowed. And most of those reviews are pretty enthusiastic. They're bikes I've loved. What I'm writing about today is the bike I don't love. The bike which, even when I chose it, even before I bought it, I knew I wouldn't love. And yet, it was a sensible bike to buy, and I don't regret the decision.
Lukas Grossar@simon_brooke I bought an electric cargo bike to make sure we don't start using our car for chores in the city and I'm loving it.
Nacho@simon_brooke Just yesterday I did over 20km around Madrid shopping and having lunch with my e-bike. The worst, it was about 35°C and although it was bearable while riding every traffic light stop was like being inside an oven 😅
Gatekeeper..@simon_brooke
Even lanes for golf carts that run on batteries. I could go to the store in a golf cart..
Even lanes for golf carts that run on batteries. I could go to the store in a golf cart..
Davie Duck@simon_brooke @GatekeepKen The road infrastructure is missing for most of the world for e-bikes. I wonder ihow soon we’ll see plug-in charging spots for e-bikes in office blocks and shopping districts?
@wackyIdeas @GatekeepKen what makes you feel they need new road infrastructure?
@simon_brooke @GatekeepKen I think it’s a temporary problem but drivers (of conventional vehicles) don’t always recognize the difference between an e-bike and a standard bike. They expect a bike to move at a slower speed and to be less agile in traffic. A different problem exists on dedicated bike roads or multiuse trails. On those facilities, I see e-cyclists going at speed through groups of riders or walkers (and one exciting morning, past horseback riders).
@wackyIdeas @GatekeepKen in my experience most electric bikes are less agile than good non-electric bikes; and a reasonable cyclist on a light bike on the flat will be faster than the mandatory cut-off speed of an ebike anyway, so I'm really not sure there's a distinction here.
You may be saying that ebike users are more likely to behave discourteously; you may even be right, but it's not something I've noticed.
A bike is a bike..it beats gas.
Daniel Barlow@simon_brooke @wackyIdeas @GatekeepKen in London - and probably other big cities - ebikes have seen great adoption by food delivery gig workers, and they're paid by the delivery and not generously, so tend to ride them in the same "spirited" manner as they'd ride the mopeds they might instead be using if ebikes weren't a thing.
I think the problem here is more attributable to capitalism then to ebikes
I think the problem here is more attributable to capitalism then to ebikes
@simon_brooke @GatekeepKen I understand because it’s fun for me to be able to “coast” uphill on my e-bike. It should be similar to the law of the sea; powered vehicles should give way to pedestrians and human powered cyclists, and FFS, everyone should give way to horses.
@wackyIdeas @GatekeepKen I always feel it's courteous, when overtaking an acoustic cyclist, to switch the motor off about 100 metres before passing, and not switch it on again until 100 metres after.
@simon_brooke @GatekeepKen you’re my hero
vorsprung
PhoenixSerenity@simon_brooke I wish there was subsidies given to seniors & disabled & low income folks who want cargo e-bikes/trikes - they're currently far out of our budget ranges.
FBToast@simon_brooke and also just regular bikes. I would cycle everywhere around town if I weren't so afraid of being run over.
Wilhelm Gere@Wgere You mean like this? Yes, clearly this is impossible. No, of course no one would do it.
Oh, wait, 42% of the total population does...
Morning rush: kids cycling to school in winter in Oulu, Finland
@simon_brooke Kids, on a nice plowed safe no motor vehicle bike path. Sure, why not?
Commuting to work in rural SK areas when it's literally -50C, no.
And frankly it's bloody dangerous for bikes in urban areas here, even in summer.
@Wgere A nice safe ploughed cyclepath, north of the Arctic Circle, ploughed three times every day through the winter, yes.
Stop looking for excuses. Fix your local government.
@simon_brooke They don't hardly plow the roads out here. The government fines drivers for owning EVs. Oil and gas companies own them. I didn't say that I was against bikes only it's just not happening here. Especially in winter
Deane Barker@simon_brooke Someone said that e-bikes have become what the Segway was hyped up to be.
Jo - pièce de résistance@simon_brooke covered roads with solar panels to create shade, protect from elements, generate energy for charging stations and more, maybe do it so it mitigates a lot of roadway light pollution too. So we can see stars again.
Ian@simon_brooke do they get regulated as mopeds or bicycles though? Potentially lethal on the dual pedestrian/bike paths we have round here, but then turn up on the road with no lights or helmets 🤔 Need to choose.
@AFC42 as bicycles. The train weight is not significantly greater than an unassisted bicycle, and the maximum assist speed in the EU of 25km/h is less than a healthy rider on an unassisted bike can do on the flat. So they pose no greater risk to other road users.
@simon_brooke unfortunately that doesn't align with observed behaviour around here. Some sort of legislation around insurance, hi-Vis, helmets and lights seems essential to me. And (controversial) if you take cars off the road (and thus the road tax)who pays for the road?
@simon_brooke "If there were safe places to ride..." Good luck with that 😟
@vorsprung you elect your local government. If you feel they're not doing a good job, you could even stand. There can be safe places to cycle, all you need to do is make it so.
Be the change you want to see in the world. Negativity does not reflect well on any of us.
@simon_brooke you don't live in Tory southern England.
The local landowners have all development tied up
For example, when they built an industrial estate recently one of them owns most of the land the old railway track is on. Did they use it to put in a nice path? No, there is a useless section of 20m of meaningless path opposite the housing which they also built
The local landowners have all development tied up
For example, when they built an industrial estate recently one of them owns most of the land the old railway track is on. Did they use it to put in a nice path? No, there is a useless section of 20m of meaningless path opposite the housing which they also built
Chewie@simon_brooke Yes, quite, and the UK needs to sort it's shit out with e-scooters. I don't know what the big deal is about them. You're allowed to rent one, but you can't buy one to use on the roads, wtf??? normal & e-bikes can be just as fast, direction-changing and ridden by idiots, what's the difference??
enmodo ⚛️ 🧬 🇺🇦 🍉@simon_brooke unfortunately America is increasingly unsafe to leave a bicycle parked anywhere especially a $1000+ e-Bike. This is just one of the uncountable ways that income inequality coupled with a top down disrespect for law and order or consideration of "others" is destroying our society.
Meanwhile my own home city is ridiculously unsafe for cycling even when it isn't unspeakably hot. It could be decades before car technology makes a dent on that.
PeterDee@simon_brooke Here I am with our electric bike. We call our Rad bike “The Hog”! #electricbikes
Pam@simon_brooke Would like this just for going to the store (besides exercise) but worry about it getting stolen or the motor stolen off of it.
SellaTheChemist@PamB @simon_brooke Spend good money on a lock and pop the battery into your shopping trolley. Also make sure the bike is parked prominently outside where there is reasonable footfall and the risk is pretty low.