Between A Rock & A Hard Place Without A MTB
One of the toughest things to deal with in e-bikes is common misconceptions. It doesn’t help that there are so many mfg.’s playing on those misconceptions. Just today, I lost yet another couple sales because I will not build illegal bikes.
The number of poor quality, badly designed, e-bikes grows every day. You can’t imagine how many buy them just because they think a design looks “tough” or “cool.” Then I hear about poor battery life, heavy handling, constant repairs and brakes that just don’t work. Do I refuse to work on them? I mean, inevitably these bike shaped objects will have a whole host of problems.
It would be so much easier to say, “To Hell with pedestrians and every other cyclist.” I could build e-motorcycles with pedals for every DUI or Lance Wannabe (yeah, they’ll ride responsibly.. smh). They want what is essentially a motorcycle without a lisc or insurance (what happens when one of these unemployed, uninsurables destroys something or somebody?).
Then there are my friends that are traditional cyclists. They think all e-bikes are electric motorcycles that offer no exercise. They just don’t understand. They can’t see the difference in a proper Class I Pedelec and the over powered behemoths that join them in terrorizing the local bike paths (news flash: speed limit, 15mph). Somehow they justify buying their speed with ever more exclusive and expensive equipment, then wonder why more don’t join them.
Rider Top Heavy bicycles are not designed for sustained speeds above 20mph. The very best cyclists in the world ride the very best equipment, with other freaks of nature, on closed courses. They still have the tell tale broken collar bone scars! After 50 years, I can safely say, the average Joe can’t handle a bike at those kind of speeds. Sadly, virtually all males think only circumstances kept them from winning Olympic Gold (I mean, only a few of us can be as gifted as I). An e-bike makes traditional cycling easier, more convenient and accessible, not faster.
You may question why we don’t sell throttles. I admit that I can see some situations where a throttle might be justified (I think of a trike for a handicapped child on which I am currently working). The problem then becomes what is a moped or motorized vehicle on our bike paths? This is to say nothing of the fact that e-bikes ridden in throttle mode just aren’t reliable. The Class I Pedelecs we offer must be pedaled or you get no assist. Because you have to push the pedals, if you ride one for an hour you get the same workout as riding a traditional bike for an hour. You just won’t suffer on hills or fight headwinds and you’ll average a slightly higher speed.
If you want a safe, thoroughly reliable and efficient e-bike, come see me at Ruby’s. I can actually show you why this is the way you should travel.