Ebikes; Pros & Cons
By now its clear to see that ebikes are here to stay and like every other new movement it has its upsides and downsides. If you are wondering whether to buy an ebike or just go on using your traditional bike, you are in the right place. There is nothing worse than buying something then you go on to realize you did not really need it especially something as pricy as an ebike. Let me list you the pros and cons of ebikes so you can evaluate them yourself to see if they are suitable for you.
**Pros**
Fitness Levels- If you are the type of person who enjoys riding with your family and friends once in a while, then ebikes allows you to ride with almost anyone unlike in the traditional bikes where weaker individuals are likely to struggle a lot to keep up with the group.
Health- Ebikes allow people with physical problems such as knee issues to be able to enjoy riding bikes especially in steep roads.
Mountain biking- If you love mountain biking then you'll be able to climb a lot higher with an ebike allowing you to gain more descending miles easily.
Faster rides- If you live in an relatively flat area an ebike can actually help you to learn how to ride faster enabling you to get a close experience of riding a down a steep mountain slope. It also descends much faster due to its weight which feels like descending on rails. Riding fast helps most riders especially mountain bikers put their skills to practice such as cornering at high speeds.
Great fitness Motivator- Knowing that you have an ebike somehow makes you less hesitant to go out since you know its not going to be that hard because of pedal assist and ride and in the process helps you stay in great shape.
**Cons**
Charging- Having an ebike means you must constantly be alert for the charge left as if you forget to charge you'll have to delay your plans for the day. Worst case scenario is you forget your charger while travelling far away, this might force you buy a new charger which is such a pain! or just give up riding it till the day you get back.
Dangerous- A lot of the time it can be dangerous especially for new riders who are thrilled by speed as they may not have sufficient skills to much the speed. In fact there has been an increase in ebike accidents which often times resemble those of motorcycles and sometimes worse as most ebike riders are not geared properly.
Fitness lose-If you are an intense road or mountain biker, having an ebike might make you loose your fitness as its very tempting to put your ebike on turbo mode and in the long-term you become less fit.
Weight- Ebikes are really heavy which brings along weight related disadvantages such as not being able to corner easily. If you also transport your bike by car you might have to replace your bike rack with a more heavy duty one as the normal ones are not designed for the weight of ebikes. It'll also be quite problematic having to hoist an ebike to the bike rack .
Maintenance- You should also keep in mind that parts such as batteries and motors which are the most expensive components have to be replaced after a while not to mention that small components such as chains and tyres are going to wear out more quickly due to the intense forces applied by the motor. Cleaning an ebike is also harder as you have to be careful not damage the electrical components.
**Conclusion**
So as you can see, there are a lot of issues to consider before rushing to buy an ebike. A rule of thumb is how its going to benefit you should outweigh its cons. Good luck!
Why Are Ebikes So Expensive!
The idea of ebikes creates a sense of excitement to most people as they remove the hard part of riding a traditional bike and at the same time having something close to a motorcycle without the same costs and inconveniences they bring. They are also perceived to be a safer alternative to motorcycles and overall it is much simpler to maintain. However, most of the time people feel ebikes are overpriced. Well i'm going to try to show you why ebikes are quit pricy compared to the traditional bikes.
It all boils down to the components involved; ebikes have to include batteries,
motor, and the control system.
Batteries are usually the most expensive component in the bike as they have to contain a high capacity of power to be able to move your weight around. The average cost of a good lithium battery is upwards $ 250, anything below that price range will just be a mess.
Motors come in second place and their output is dependent on the battery's capacity so basically the bigger the motor the more power it will require hence a high powered one is going be significant in the overall cost of the ebike.
Other components include the controller, wiring, and sensors not to mention that an extra layer of precaution has to be put in place to prevent electrical equipment from the weather conditions such as rain, snow, or even dust.
**Conclusion**
So the reason is simple, its all a matter of the cost of the extra components required. In spite of that we should also keep in mind that ebikes are yet to reach their full potential in terms of manufacturing, so most likely in future we will see a drop in price.
Are Ebikes Really More Dangerous Than Motorcycles?
Recently as I came across a video on YouTube by Ryan (FortNine) on why he thinks electric bikes are more dangerous than motorcycles. He points out that the general public think of ebike cyclists as responsible human beings who are mindful of the our planet while motorcyclists are seen as daredevils often referred to as 'donors'. Ryan suggests that ebikes are far more dangerous than they seem and proceeds to prove his point with four arguments; speed, safety gear, visibility, and sophistication.
Lets not rule out his analogy, instead lets evaluate them without any biases.
**Ebikes are much slower**
Ryan likes to include humor in his as he does in this argument, "ebikes are whizzed more than a public urinal". In my opinion this does seem to be a valid point as moving slower in traffic is pretty dangerous. Chances are that you are more likely to get knocked over from the rear. As a cyclist I know how scary it feels when each and every vehicle 'whizzes' you, so I'll give him a pass in this argument.
**Ebike cyclists are known to disregard safety gear**
Being both a motorcycle and ebike rider, Ryan admits that he is one of those ebike cyclists who only put on a half helmet, but when it comes to a motorcycle he does not take any chances. I do believe he has a point here as most people associate ebikes with less power and hence lower chances of fatal injury. When in reality recent medical studies have shown that ebike crashes are just as fatal as motorcycle crashes.
**Ebikes are less visible**
This might not be entirely true to me as to other car drivers motorcycles and ebikes are rarely visible to them. In this case the level of danger is the same except at night as motorcycles have all lights in place.
**Ebikes are less sophisticated**
In this case he argues that motorcycles have enhanced features such as indicators, traction control, side mirrors... etc, all of which the ebikes lack and to top it all up is that motorcycle riders require a license while ebikers don't. It is true that these features improve the safety of the bike no debate, I agree especially the license part.
**Conclusion**
While it is simple to assume that motorcycles are safer than ebikes we should keep in mind that sufficient data for ebikes is lacking as they have not been around for a long time. Ebikes are still in developmental stages and I believe more work is going to be done to make it more safer in the near future. Overall all of them are dangerous and its upon the rider to be cautious keeping in mind that all bikes are more vulnerable than other vehicles on the road.
