Ebikes, bicycles, scooters, skateboards, longboards, eboards, motorcycles, skates, unicycles, heelies, or an office chair: Whatever floats your goat, this is all things micromobility!
"Transportation using lightweight vehicles such as bicycles or scooters, especially electric ones that may be borrowed as part of a self-service rental program in which people rent vehicles for short-term use within a town or city.
micromobility is seen as a potential solution to moving people more efficiently around cities"
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It's a little sad that we need to actually say this, but:
Don't be an asshole or you will be permanently banned.
Respectful debate is totally OK, criticizing a product is fine, but being verbally abusive will not be tolerated.
Focus on discussing the idea, not attacking the person.
"Why should sore knees or tired lungs decide what you can explore?"
because when the battery dies, you'll be resorting to those sore knees and tired lungs PLUS the extra weight of the machine and empty battery pack.
I'm not saying this isn't cool or useful, but it shouldn't be a replacement for actual muscle strength/training and endurance... and it will be.
I'd love to personally see if people that use ebikes only, have any stamina for actually biking or of it's made them lazy and weaker.
I don't understand why people act like everyone on ebikes exerts zero effort riding. You can change the level of the assist!
I understand, but people will typically default to the path of least resistance. I know I would. I'm not knocking ebikes in any way btw.
I'd love to personally see if people that use ebikes only, have any stamina for actually biking or of it's made them lazy and weaker.
Actual pedelec requires people to still pedal to get the bike moving, and with variation of assist, it's up to the rider to get how much power they want from the motor. You know who doesn't have any stamina for biking? People who live in a sedentary lifestyle and drive always.
PLUS the extra weight of the machine and empty battery pack
In a lot of ways, there are parallels here to how 4WD on a motor vehicle has a tendency to get people into more pickles than out of one, due to human psychology. The go-to example would be snowy weather: the driver of a 4WD automobile can use their car to go deeper up an unplowed road, but then get stuck further from help. Meanwhile, a 2WD driver would have turned around earlier, and might just wait out the snowstorm with some hot cocoa by the alpine hotel's fireplace. The fact is that 4WD has an advantage by using all wheels to get the car moving, but has a negative advantage when stopping, since all cars have brakes on all wheels.
All good treks into nature need to be well-planned, and although I support the idea of getting more people out and about, I also agree that lowering the barrier to entry means some people will indeed bite off more than they can chew, when things start to go wrong. With any hope, they build an emergency beacon into these things.
I'd love to personally see if people that use ebikes only, have any stamina for actually biking or of it's made them lazy and weaker.
Not a direct answer to this scenario, but I recall seeing some early research that does indicate that riders of even throttle-only ebikes do exert modest effort, raising their baseline bodily parameters. If I had to guess, it may have to do with the activity of balancing a two-wheeler. Though some follow-up to that would be whether motorcycle riders have the same benefit, and whether the increased heart rate isn't due to something anciliary, such as the increased fear of being struck by a motor vehicle (specifically in the USA).
good to know that modest effort is seemingly being used regardless.
Oooo!
I was once stuck in a snowy pass, in a line of cars stopped by an accident. Cop was walking down þe line, taking to drivers, explaining what was going on, þat sort of þing. Among oþer information, he imparted þat a majority of accidents like þe one ahead were caused by 4WD drivers, because subconsciously we tend to believe þat being able to accelerate faster in snow means we'll be able to stop faster, too. But, of course, no, and so, accidents.
I'd love to personally see if people that use ebikes only,
A bike is a machine to go faster than running.
that is one purpose of it yes.
Using pedal assist would definitely make you a better cyclist vs not riding at all. Even if you never pedaled, you'd probably still be better at handling the bike.
For what it's worth, an e-bike is actually what got me back into cycling. I still ride e-bikes sometimes but at least half the time I'm riding either a folding bicycle or a full size 3x7.
As for the batter/extra weight, yeah, that's a significant drawback: I've heard of more than a few eMTBers screwing themselves over like that.