Official Coli Bike/Cycling thread

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Amish communities are using a surprising new kind of vehicle to travel long distances: 'It's a lot quicker'

In the case of e-bikes, several Amish churches have now decided that the benefits outweigh the costs of tradition.

www.thecooldown.com

AMISH COMMUNITIES ARE USING A SURPRISING NEW KIND OF VEHICLE TO TRAVEL LONG DISTANCES: ‘IT’S A LOT QUICKER’​

Several churches have now decided that the benefits outweigh the costs.

By Jeremiah Budin July 8, 2023

Photo Credit: iStock

Electric bikes, as many have discovered in recent years, are a highly convenient mode of transportation. They’re much cheaper than electric vehicles, faster than walking, and less physically arduous than riding a regular bike. And they don’t produce planet-warming pollution like cars do.

Now, it seems that e-bikes have caught on in a somewhat surprising place: Amish communities.

Although it is commonly believed that Amish communities eschew any type of technology that isn’t several centuries old, this is a misconception. In reality, there is no central Amish governing authority, and each individual community is allowed to make its own decisions about what type of technology it makes use of.

The official tourism site for Lancaster, Pennsylvania — home of numerous Amish communities — explains this nuance best.

“When a new technology comes along, its effect on the church and community is examined,” the tourism site states. “The technology should not be an intrusion into the home, but rather serve the social purposes and goals of the group. With that in mind, the Amish often re-purpose the technology, in a sense, to align with their community beliefs.”


In the case of e-bikes, several churches have now decided that the benefits outweigh the costs.

“It’s a lot quicker to jump on your bike and go into town than it is to bring your horse into the barn, harness it to the buggy, and go,” David Mullett, a member of the Old Order Amish Church and owner of an e-bike shop in Ohio, told the blog This E-Bike Life.

Generally speaking, Amish communities are most likely to avoid a new technology if they believe that it will make them too reliant on the outside world. This has also led some of them to make use of electricity derived from solar panels, which they can own and maintain. The e-bikes, as well, can often be charged by small solar panels.

Mullett’s e-bike shop is powered by two dozen solar panels on its roof and is entirely off-grid.

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Believe it or not, the Amish are loving electric bikes

Electric bicycles have been finding favor in a growing number of communities. From hunters to surfers and even soldiers, e-bikes...

electrek.co

Believe it or not, the Amish are loving electric bikes​

Micah Toll | Mar 12 2023 - 4:13 am PT

Electric bicycles have been finding favor in a growing number of communities. From hunters to surfers and even soldiers, e-bikes and their low-cost, far-reaching transportation options have permeated a surprising number of different groups and use cases. The latest community adopting e-bikes en masse may be even more of a surprise: the Amish.


Amish communities, more often known for their black buggies pulled by horses, have been increasingly turning to electric bikes as an alternative form of transportation.

But how could that be?

It’s a common misconception that Amish communities entirely shun electricity and technology. Rather, each Amish church and its surrounding community decides its own rules regarding how much technology is integrated into daily life. There is no single Amish doctrine or set of regulations, since these rules are decided at the individual community level.

That means electric bicycles, which have become a much lower impact solution than cars, are booming in many Amish communities.

David Mullet, a member of the Old Order Amish Church and the owner of E-bikes of Holmes County, a popular bicycle shop in a heavily Amish-populated area of Ohio, explained that e-bikes are simply faster and easier than horses:

“It’s a lot quicker to jump on your bike and go into town than it is to bring your horse into the barn, harness it to the buggy, and go. It’s a lot quicker and you travel faster too.”

Some Amish use kick scooters, while others have adopted e-bikes.

Many Amish are permitted to ride in cars that they don’t own or operate themselves, which means it can be common to hire a driver for specific trips. But the practice can become expensive, as anyone who uses Uber on a regular basis will already know.

E-bikes have thus become an effective solution to the problem of commuting longer distances without hiring a driver.

As Mullet continued:

“Commuting to work is probably the number one way that electric bikes are being used. Some people are commuting eight to ten miles, some only one or two miles, but they jump on their bike and go. With a traditional bike, that would never have been considered. They would have had to hire a driver or the place of work would have had to hire a driver to bring in their employees. That still happens, but there are more people who commute to work every day on e-bikes.”

Amish use of scooters, bicycles, and e-bikes varies widely between Amish communities. (CC image credit: Don Sniegowski)
It is common for Amish areas to avoid dependence on the outside world, and thus the communities that do use electricity will often rely heavily on solar panels and other local forms of electricity generation.

That aligns well with electric bicycles, which have small batteries that are easily charged by equally small solar panels.

Mullet’s bike shop is entirely off-grid, with two dozen solar panels on the roof to power the store’s electricity. Public e-bike charging stations are also becoming more popular in Amish country, which are simple to create with a series of outdoor weather-protected 120VAC outlets.

Powered by a solar panel array and battery bank, the outlets help riders charge up their e-bikes without relying on an electricity connection provided from outside of their own community.

An Amish e-bike charging station recently shared on Reddit seems to be quite busy, and bike theft in the community is probably non-existent.

Electrek’s Take​

Well, there you go, yet another example of e-bikes changing lives for the better.

It’s great to see how many different types of folks have discovered the usefulness of electric bikes, and for such different reasons.

The ability to go completely off-grid with their e-bikes is also a neat aspect of the Amish community’s adoption of e-bikes. It’s a great example of how these powerful transportation alternatives can make a difference in areas of the world without reliable electricity supply, such as in developing countries.

 

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It's not an 'electric bike craze.' You're looking at the future of transportation

Electric bikes aren't a fad or a craze, they're here to stay. Their numbers are growing every year. Now how do we make it all safer?

electrek.co

It’s not an ‘electric bike craze.’ You’re looking at the future of transportation​

Micah Toll | Aug 22 2023 - 2:55 am PT
193 Comments

As electric bikes become increasingly popular in cities across the US, some in the media are trying to wrap their heads around this reported “electric bike craze.” But make no mistake, this isn’t some short-lived enthusiasm or a passing fad. This widespread adoption of e-bikes by young and old alike is merely the first signs of a paradigm shift.

That’s right, welcome to the future.


Sure, the car is still king in the US. But not like it once was.

The rate of US teens seeking driver’s licenses has continuously dropped for decades. The reasons are myriad. Cars are more expensive than ever. Wages haven’t kept up with inflation. Cities are slowly becoming more navigable without cars. Young people care more about the environment because they’re the ones who will have to survive it. The reasons go on and on.

But the newest reason added to the list rolls in on two wheels. Not the traditional bike, but the electric bike.

Unlike pedal bicycles, whose sales have been on a steady decline outside of the pandemic-induced boost, electric bicycles are skyrocketing in popularity. They give the same freedom of movement as a pedal bicycle, yet are easier to ride with the motor-assisted pedaling. That lets people go faster and travel longer distances than they previously thought possible. Throttle enabled e-bikes are even easier to use as they don’t even require pedaling – they can basically be used as 20 mph (32 km/h) mopeds. At that speed, they’re fast enough for people to cruise through a city easily yet don’t come with the same power and speed concerns that have traditionally turned most commuters away from motorcycles.

Add in the free parking, low entry cost, nearly zero maintenance cost, as well as turning commutes and errands from slogs into joy rides, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for a new transportation paradigm.

While electric bikes were once the domain of elderly riders in the US that had discovered a way to get back on two wheels for recreational rides and light fitness, now the new technology is found across the age spectrum from kids to adults. And it’s no longer just about Sunday morning cruises or getting in a workout; electric bikes are now widely used as serious transportation and utility vehicles in their own right.

As much of the media is still trying to understand the phenomenon of this massive growth in e-bike use, cities are already grappling with just how to handle it. Not only are cities around the US seeing their own rise in e-bike usage, but several are helping to support the shift away from cars by providing incentives for purchasing electric bikes.

Even without incentives though, e-bikes are surprisingly affordable. Like anything, you’ll find fancier expensive options. But a good e-bike can be bought for under $1,000. When you compare that to the cheapest $40,000 Tesla, you can see why young people are moving to e-bikes in droves.

That massive adoption rate among younger riders though has also lead to questions about safe riding. Santa Barbara City Councilmember Oscar Gutierrez, himself an electric bike rider, explained to the Independent that he wholeheartedly believes that most e-bike riders are “law abiding, responsible, and considerate,” but that some reckless riders are “bad actors” that give a bad name to everyone.

Cities and states around the country are seeking solutions to help regulate and manage the growing influx of e-bike riders. Many are quickly adding bike lanes to help provide safer cycling areas away from the leading cause of death among bike riders: cars. Others are proposing rider education programs for those that don’t yet have driver’s licenses, such as a new bill proposed in California that would create a simpler “rider’s license” e-bike riders that use public roads but have never taken driver’s education or gotten a driver’s license.

On one side of the issue, some argue that cities should take a light touch, making it safer to cycle with better public infrastructure but without imposing burdensome regulations that could disincentivize cycling. Others believe that the increased number of riders, especially teens and young adults that have sometimes demonstrated a penchant for reckless riding, should be met more heavy-handedly with police crackdowns.

If you know me, then you may already know what I think. But if not, that’s what the next section is for.

Electrek’s Take​

To me, this is a very simple issue. No matter who you are, as long as you are a road user, you should like seeing more usage of e-bikes, scooters, skateboards, pedal bikes, a solid pair of shoes or any other personal transportation device. Studies have shown that a mere 10% shift from car drivers to bike riders has resulted in a 40% reduction in traffic congestion. Even if you never touch an e-bike, you would benefit from supporting their increased use.

That being said, I absolutely understand the safety issue related to dangerous riding. Anyone being reckless on the roads should be held accountable. No one should use the roads recklessly, whether you’re on a 50-pound electric bike or a 5,000-pound car. Hmmm, it almost seems like one of those is drastically more dangerous than the other, now that I think of it.

Top comment by FreddyMac​

Liked by 16 people
The main issue we run into with our ebike is how to secure it in a way we are comfortable with. There are nowhere near enough bike racks at stores. Also Bike theft is rampant and the locks that hold the batteries into these bikes are easy to defeat. Inability for us to feel safe leaving $5K worth of ebikes parked outside limits how we use them. If cities want to encourage ebike adoption, the simplest thing they could do is add a lot more bike racks around town.
View all comments
You’ll often hear complaints about cyclists running red lights, and that certainly can be dangerous. The implementation of rules like the Idaho stop can help make it safer for cyclists to navigate stops signs and red lights.

But to me, I think there is still room for compromise on e-bike safety. We’re going to see more riders every year, so we need to figure this out. In parallel to creating more safe, protected cycling lanes to separate bikes from the same roadways as cars, we should also enforce reckless driving laws, whether that means ticketing drivers or riders who endanger others on the road or in the bike lanes.

The tricky part, as it often does, comes down to enforcement. Police departments are often stretched thin, and ticketing bike-riding hooligans or car drivers parking in bike lanes isn’t a top priority. Perhaps we can find a little more funding (cough, tax car registrations, cough) to create an “E-bike Force” of bike cops who focus on this primarily. It could even be a force of good, not just doling out punishments. They could carry tire pumps and tools, helping cyclists and handing out education just as often as ticketing rule breakers. Who knows, maybe I’m a dreamer. But I think that if we actually care about making our cities safer, then we should prioritize getting more people on bikes and also find a way to educate riders and drivers while simultaneously enforcing rules that are designed to keep people safe.

Perfect, now people from both sides of the argument can crap on me in the comments section below.

 

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E-Bike Industry Blames Consumers For Fires In Effort To Undermine ‘Right To Repair’ Laws

Countless companies and industries enjoy making up scary stories when it comes to justifying their opposition to making it easier to repair your own tech. Apple claims that empowering consumers and…

www.techdirt.com

E-Bike Industry Blames Consumers For Fires In Effort To Undermine ‘Right To Repair’ Laws​

from the fix-your-own-shyt dept​

Mon, Aug 28th 2023 05:29am - Karl Bode
Countless companies and industries enjoy making up scary stories when it comes to justifying their opposition to making it easier to repair your own tech. Apple claims that empowering consumers and bolstering independent repair shops will turn states into “hacker meccas.” The car industry insists that making it easier and cheaper to repair modern cars will be a boon to sexual predators.

Throughout the arguments is routinely peppered a single theme: providing easier and cheaper repair options to consumers is simply too dangerous to be considered. It apparently doesn’t matter that an FTC study recently found those claims to be self-serving bullshyt designed to protect harmful repair monopolies from reform and lost repair revenue.

That right to repair is simply too dangerous to embrace is also apparently the argument being made by the growing E-Bike sector. People for Bikes, the national trade org representing bicycle manufacturers, has been reaching out to lawmakers urging them to exempt bicycles from all right to repair legislation. Successfully, as it turns out.

You might recall that New York recently passed a right to repair law that was immediately watered down by NY Governor Kathy Hochul. The bill already exempted key industries where repair monopolization is a problem, such as cars, home appliances, farm equipment, and medical gear. Unsatisfied, numerous industries got Hochul to water the bill down even further.

A report at Grist notes this included weakening the bill on behest of the bike industry, which in a letter to lawmakers tried to place the onus for now common e-bike fires on consumers:

In a letter sent to New York Governor Kathy Hochul in December, People for Bikes asked that e-bikes be excluded from the state’s forthcoming digital right-to-repair law, which granted consumers the right to fix a wide range of electronic devices. The letter cited “an unfortunate increase in fires, injuries and deaths attributable to personal e-mobility devices” including e-bikes. Many of these fires, People for Bikes claimed in the letter, “appear to be caused by consumers and others attempting to service these devices themselves,” including tinkering with the batteries at home.

This of course is an industry whose products are already often unreliable and dangerous on their own; there’s been just endless examples of deadly fires caused by shoddy products and unreliable batteries. Most of these fires have absolutely nothing to do with consumers making repair mistakes. When pressed for evidence, the organization claimed the statement was “anecdotal”:

Asked for data to back up the claim that e-bike fires were being caused by unauthorized repairs, Lovell said that it was “anecdotal, from folks that are on the ground in New York.”

How very truth-esque.

As e-bikes get more complicated, it’s obviously more important than ever to ensure that repairing those bikes is affordable. Activists note that to create a sustainable, environmentally responsible industry with satisfied customers, the bike industry needs to do a much better job designing its bikes to be repairable, standardizing parts, and making it easier for consumers to access manuals and tools:

“There’s huge interest” in fixing e-bikes, said Kyle Wiens, CEO of the online repair guide site iFixit. But outside of manufacturers and specialized shops, “no one knows how.”

New York’s original law could have gone a long way in fixing that, but lawmakers were intent on undermining their own legislation after hearing scary, often false stories by self-serving industries. Minnesota recently passed its own right to repair law, and while also watered down to exclude cars, medical equipment, and game consoles, it did at least manage to include e-bikes.

Filed Under: bicycles, bike shops, blame, consumers, e-bikes, freedom to tinker, repair monopolies, repair shops, right to repair

 

[At30wecashout]

Outside of having my first one stolen, having my first major issue with my Ebike. Throttle goes out, odo and speedometer don't report correctly, and the cadence seemed to be all off while pedaling. Bought a controller thinking that might be it...but it makes no sense as the rest of the bike works. Turning on "walk assist" that makes the bike motor run exclusively works...just ordered another PAS sensor and hoping that is the cause.

I just learned that you can't just take an E Bike to a bike shop. They have relationships with certain brands and don't mess with anything else. No one for hundreds of miles services my bikeNow I gotta be the mechanic. Not a dealbreaker, just annoying. Going to see if I can fix this motor issue and then start running upgrades. I hate driving and would like to ride through all but the worst weather.

 

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Why e-bike companies are embracing recycling while fighting repair

E-bikes are a climate-friendly way to get around, but the industry opposes laws that would make them easier to fix.

grist.org

Why e-bike companies are embracing recycling while fighting repair​

E-bikes are a climate-friendly way to get around, but the industry opposes laws that would make them easier to fix.​

Mindy Schauer/MediaNewsGroup / Orange County Register via Getty Images
Maddie Stone
PublishedAug 07, 2023
TopicClimate + Transportation

E-bikes have been in the news recently for a reason nobody wants: Their batteries are sparking dangerous fires. One conflagration burned down homes and businesses in the Bronx in New York City in March, and another blaze at an e-bike store in Manhattan killed four people in June. Those fires are bringing additional scrutiny and regulation to a mode of transportation that’s been hailed as a promising climate solution. But they are also having an unexpected impact on conversations about the right to repair a bicycle, something generations of bicycle owners have taken for granted.

In recent months, People for Bikes, the national trade organization representing bicycle manufacturers, has reached out to lawmakers and officials in several states to request that e-bikes be exempted from right-to-repair bills. Those bills aim to make it easier for members of the public to access the parts, tools, and information they need to fix their stuff. The industry claims it’s a matter of safety, and that people without the proper training should not attempt to repair e-bikes — especially not the batteries. Instead, manufacturers want to see dead and broken batteries recycled, which is why they recently launched a public education campaign encouraging consumers to do so.

Recycling is a crucial step for dealing with battery waste sustainably. It keeps batteries out of landfills, and it can reduce the need for additional mining of critical battery metals like lithium, cobalt, and nickel. But for the e-bike industry to be sustainable over the long term, e-bikes also need to be repairable, since repair prevents waste and conserves the resources that go into making new stuff. To right-to-repair advocates, the claim that it’s unsafe for consumers to fix them is familiar: Consumer tech companies like Apple have said the same thing about repairing smartphones for years. When it comes to e-bikes, advocates worry that safe battery handling is being used to distract from another problem they say right-to-repair would help solve: Cheap, hard-to-repair e-bikes are flooding into cities around the country. These are the same bikes that sometimes have substandard batteries that experts suspect are at the root of the fire crisis.

“I too want people to go to safe repairers,” Nathan Proctor, who heads the national right-to-repair campaign at the US Public Research Interest Group, told Grist in an email. “But I don’t think monopolizing access helps at all.”

E-bikes are soaring in popularity, and for good reason. These battery-powered bicycles allow people to travel farther and faster than they can using an analog bike. They cost less than cars to buy and to own, take up far less space, and can be parked for free. Compared with gas-powered cars, e-bikes are incredibly climate-friendly: A recent analysis by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory found that the typical e-bike rider emits zero to three grams of carbon dioxide per mile pedaled, compared with 350 grams per mile driven in a crossover SUV. E-bikes also have sustainability and safety advantages over EVs, including smaller batteries that require less lithium mining and pose less of a danger to pedestrians.

An e-bike being prepared for display at the Eurobike bicycle trade show in Frankfurt, Germany, in June. Andreas Arnold / picture alliance via Getty Images

But while e-bikes are clearly a sustainable choice compared with driving, many e-bike advocates want to see the industry become a model of affordable, accessible, and environmentally friendly transit. For that to happen, consumers need to be able to repair their e-bikes to ensure they last a long time. In addition to a bicycle frame, wheels, and a battery, e-bikes include various electronic displays and sensors, as well as a motor that powers the pedal-assist system. All of these components can break down and require repairs or replacement.

On battery recycling, the U.S. e-bike industry has made good progress. About five years back, a group of bicycle manufacturers came together to lay the groundwork for an industry-wide battery-recycling program. That program was launched on a pilot scale in late 2021. Less than two years later, it has 54 participating bicycle brands and more than 1,800 retail stores serving as drop-off locations for end-of-life batteries nationwide. (An e-bike battery is considered at the “end of its life” when it no longer holds a charge well, which might occur after as few as two or as many as 10 years of use.)

The e-bike battery-recycling initiative is funded like an escrow program, according to Eric Frederickson of Call2Recycle, the recycling logistics nonprofit that runs it. Participating brands pay a fee into a fund for every e-bike battery they import. Call2Recycle uses those funds to administer the collection, transportation, and recycling of e-bike batteries at several locations around the country. Recycling partners include Canada-based Li-Cycle, which has a battery-recycling hub in Rochester, New York; Redwood Materials, headquartered in northern Nevada; and Cirba Solutions, a battery-logistics company that is expanding into lithium-ion battery recycling. Call2Recycle also trains participating retail shops on how to safely handle the batteries, including identifying any damaged batteries to pack in secure containers.

To date, Frederickson said, the program has recycled nearly 6,000 e-bike batteries, or 37,000 pounds of them. Ash Lovell, the electric bicycle policy and campaign director for People for Bikes, which endorses the program, hopes to see that number grow. In May, People for Bikes launched Hungry for Batteries, a new public education campaign that seeks to raise awareness of how to properly recycle e-bike batteries.

While the recycling program started out with a sustainability focus, as e-bike battery fires in New York City and elsewhere started making national headlines, it became “very much a safety-focused campaign,” Lovell said. “That’s been People for Bikes’ big push over the last few months.”

 

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{continued}

Firefighters respond after e-bike batteries sparked a fire in New York City’s Chinatown in June. Gardiner Anderson for NY Daily News via Getty Images

But those same battery safety concerns are now placing bicycle manufacturers at loggerheads with advocates for independent repair.

In a letter sent to New York Governor Kathy Hochul in December, People for Bikes asked that e-bikes be excluded from the state’s forthcoming digital right-to-repair law, which granted consumers the right to fix a wide range of electronic devices. The letter cited “an unfortunate increase in fires, injuries and deaths attributable to personal e-mobility devices” including e-bikes. Many of these fires, People for Bikes claimed in the letter, “appear to be caused by consumers and others attempting to service these devices themselves,” including tinkering with the batteries at home. Before Hochul signed the right-to-repair bill, it was revised to exempt e-bikes.

Asked for data to back up the claim that e-bike fires were being caused by unauthorized repairs, Lovell said that it was “anecdotal, from folks that are on the ground in New York.” A spokesperson for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, or CPSC, told Grist that battery fires can be the result of physical, electrical, or thermal damage to the battery, as well as “manufacturing defects.” Last December, the CPSC sent a letter to numerous e-bike manufacturers calling on them to ensure their products comply with voluntary industry safety standards for batteries and other electronic systems.

The CPSC spokesperson declined to comment on the role that e-bike, or e-bike battery, repair might be playing in the recent fires. The New York City Fire Department did not respond to a request for comment.

Though People for Bikes’ letter implied otherwise, the intent of New York’s right-to-repair law was not to give people special tools to pry open their batteries at home. The law stipulates that manufacturers must give independent shops and device owners access to the same parts, tools, and documentation they provide to their authorized repair partners. And when there’s a problem with an e-bike battery, most manufacturers offer consumers one option: replacing it.

“There’s no training on battery repair, that I know of, within the bike industry,” said Ryan Waddell, who recently worked as a lead mechanic at the nonprofit e-bike shop GoodTurnCycles, based in Colorado. “If something happens with a name-brand manufacturer [battery], they’ll usually want the battery shipped back” so it can be replaced.

What New York’s right-to-repair law would have done is increase access to parts, tools, and information that manufacturers only make available to select e-bike dealers. For example, e-bike component manufacturer Bosch produces a diagnostic reader that helps identify components that require a reset or replacement, but you have to be a Bosch-certified repair shop to purchase it. Some manufacturers also offer authorized shops, but not consumers, the ability to do major software updates on their systems. And e-bike brands often only sell components, like the motor controller that manages the amount of voltage going to the motor, to dealers of their choosing.

“There’s huge interest” in fixing e-bikes, said Kyle Wiens, CEO of the online repair guide site iFixit. But outside of manufacturers and specialized shops, “no one knows how.”

Wiens said that in addition to making spare parts and repair guides available, the e-bike industry needs to do a better job designing its products to be repairable. Across the industry, he says, there’s very little standardization in terms of parts. Waddell agreed.

“With e-bikes, nothing’s really standardized,” he said. That means that when a crucial component, like the controller, breaks down, it can be tough to find replacements — especially if that model of e-bike is no longer made.

An employee works on an electric bicycle at a workshop in Jakarta, Indonesia, in October 2022. Garry Lotulung / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Right-to-repair laws could also help remediate what several industry observers described as a dismal repair scene for the direct-to-consumer e-bikes being sold online. These bikes tend to be cheaper than those made by industry leading brands like Trek and Rad Power Bikes, and they tend to break down more quickly. These are often the same bikes whose batteries don’t meet industry safety standards and may pose a greater fire risk. John Mathna, who runs the e-bike repair shop Chattanooga Electric Bike Co., says that many online e-bike companies offer “virtually no support” when there’s a problem.

“I’ve never seen a repair manual for any online bike,” Mathna said. “Many independent repair shops won’t touch them.”

Right-to-repair bills won’t solve all of the e-bike industry’s repairability issues, and they won’t end the debate over safe battery repair. But Wiens believes these bills would be a “big help” in terms of forcing out information the public needs to repair their e-bikes.

E-bike riders in Minnesota may soon find out if that’s true: In May, Governor Tim Waltz signed the nation’s broadest right-to-repair bill yet. Unlike in New York, Minnesota’s version of the law, which goes into effect in 2024, does not exempt e-bikes.

Lovell, of People for Bikes, said she believes the bill’s sponsors “weren’t totally aware of the issues of including e-bikes in right to repair,” and that the organization is “speaking to some of the legislators about the issue currently.” Minnesota Representative and bill sponsor Peter Fischer confirmed in an email to Grist that industry advocates reached out to him after the bill became law “asking for an exemption for e-bikes.”

“I did tell the folks I am open to meeting with them and hearing what they had to say,” Fischer said. “This does not mean I would support an exemption for them.”

Wiens, from iFixit, had a stern warning for e-bike manufacturers about attempting to evade compliance with the bill. “If they get a carveout in Minnesota,” he said, “we’ll introduce five bills next year targeting them specifically. It’s unacceptable.”

 

[bnew]

Outside of having my first one stolen, having my first major issue with my Ebike. Throttle goes out, odo and speedometer don't report correctly, and the cadence seemed to be all off while pedaling. Bought a controller thinking that might be it...but it makes no sense as the rest of the bike works. Turning on "walk assist" that makes the bike motor run exclusively works...just ordered another PAS sensor and hoping that is the cause.

I just learned that you can't just take an E Bike to a bike shop. They have relationships with certain brands and don't mess with anything else. No one for hundreds of miles services my bikeNow I gotta be the mechanic. Not a dealbreaker, just annoying. Going to see if I can fix this motor issue and then start running upgrades. I hate driving and would like to ride through all but the worst weather.

If you don't already, make a habit of taking down notes of what works and doesn't work as you try to fix things because it waves you time from repeating unnecessary steps in the future or if you want to relay the issue to someone else.

 

[At30wecashout]

If you don't already, make a habit of taking down notes of what works and doesn't work as you try to fix things because it waves you time from repeating unnecessary steps in the future or if you want to relay the issue to someone else.

Thats the plan, bruh. It legit bums me out to have to drive. Nothing feels as good as zooming by on a bike. Im ready to mod mine to go 26+ and make it my full-time commuter. If the tradeoff is I need to learn how all the pieces function, its a small price to pay for the joy.

 

[Wildin]

My GoPro cracked when I was running. Damn shame too. Sunday was beautiful. I tore up the trail on my mountain bike. Had mad fun. New GoPro should be here Friday.

 

[Wildin]

I'm still trying to figure out the differences in energy between running and riding. It don't make sense I can ride 40miles, consistent pedaling, not coasting. And run 10 miles without stopping but when I run one day and ride the other it feels like I haven't done one for months...I haven't been "off" in years. A minimal of 2 days per week. There were times before then where I might not have done any exercise for weeks or a month then jumped back into, alternating between one activity after a day or so feels just like that. And it's crazy because some days I'll run 10k, chill then go ride and that feels fine.

 

[bnew]

I'm still trying to figure out the differences in energy between running and riding. It don't make sense I can ride 40miles, consistent pedaling, not coasting. And run 10 miles without stopping but when I run one day and ride the other it feels like I haven't done one for months...I haven't been "off" in years. A minimal of 2 days per week. There were times before then where I might not have done any exercise for weeks or a month then jumped back into, alternating between one activity after a day or so feels just like that. And it's crazy because some days I'll run 10k, chill then go ride and that feels fine.

Biking vs. running: Comparison for fitness, weight loss, and more

Biking and running are exercises that can benefit a person's health and fitness. Here, we compare the calories they burn, and their benefits, risks, and cost.

www.medicalnewstoday.com

Muscles they use​

Cycling uses all the major muscle groups. It uses and builds up the leg muscles in particular, includingTrusted Source:

• quadriceps (rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and vastus intermedius)
• hamstrings (biceps femoris, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus)

Some of the key muscles involved in running include:

• quadriceps
• gluteus maximus, particularly when sprintingTrusted Source
• hamstrings
• plantar flexors

running burns more calories than cycling because it uses more muscles.

 

[bnew]

Paris Becomes the First European Capital to Ban Rented Electric Scooters

But the city is adding bike lanes, and scooter companies are shifting their focus to electric bikes. E-scooters killed three people and wounded 459 others in Paris last year.

www.nytimes.com

Paris Becomes the First European Capital to Ban Rented Electric Scooters​

But the city is adding bike lanes, and scooter companies are shifting their focus to electric bikes. E-scooters killed three people and wounded 459 others in Paris last year.

A worker loading an electric scooter into a van in Paris last month. A ban on the scooters began in the city on Friday.Credit...Antony Paone/Reuters

By Juliette Guéron-Gabrielle
Reporting from Paris
Sept. 1, 2023Updated 12:16 p.m. ET

As Paris’s experiment with e-scooters came to an end on Friday, Anne-Marie Moreno set out on her morning walk feeling just a little more peaceful. Ms. Moreno, a 78-year-old retiree who was knocked over by a man riding an electric scooter a few years back, was luxuriating in the calm of her neighborhood.

She didn’t come across a single person on an e-scooter.

Paris became the first European capital to outlaw the vehicles on Friday, following a vote in April in which Parisians overwhelmingly supported a ban, although turnout was low. Privately owned e-scooters, which the city cannot regulate, are exempt.

“I’m always scared when I see one,” Ms. Moreno said. “I got off with just a scratch when I was knocked over, but I’m scared that the next time I fall, I’ll crack my head in two.” Her husband nodded next to her as cars, mopeds and bikes zoomed past a busy intersection at the Place du Général Leclerc in southern Paris.

Since their eruption onto the streets and sidewalks of cities across the world in 2019, e-scooters have posed unique regulatory problems for city officials. The vehicles often stayed in legal limbo as officials mapped out charters for e-scooter operators, capped fleets and regulated parking.

Cities like San Francisco and Miami temporarily banned e-scooters before reintroducing them. Santa Monica, Calif., successfully sued an e-scooter operator over its lack of licensing. And New York delayed the vehicles’ arrival, citing security concerns.

But no city has been as strict as Paris, where e-scooter users are mourning a cheap and flexible way of getting around without having to ride the crammed metro or use Vélib’, the popular but frequently overwhelmed bike-sharing system.

Image

Preparing to use a Vélib’ bike in Paris. Bike-sharing has taken off in the city.Credit...Dmitry Kostyukov for The New York Times

Late-night workers in particular said they would miss them.

On Friday morning, Abbas Hamy, 36, was neatly aligning falafels on the rim of an open-air fryer in his Lebanese sandwich shop. He wasn’t aware of the ban. “So this means that if I finish work at 2 a.m., I can’t take an e-scooter home?” he asked. He said he liked how fast his ride home was on an e-scooter in the middle of the night. Empty streets meant he could make it home in minutes, despite living about four miles from his workplace.

He said he had never seen the scooters cause any problem on the street where he works, the Rue Mouffetard, one of the most popular places for street food in Paris. But he understood the security concerns.

Another restaurant worker, Marius Henry, who works in a bistro near the Place de la République, said he regularly used e-scooters to go home after late-night shifts, when Paris’s metro system is closed. “I can’t take a taxi home because they’re too expensive, so e-scooters are perfect,” he said. “And they’re more fun than bikes.”

But those who support the ban believe it will make streets more peaceful.

“I’ve taken e-scooters twice, but still, I voted against them, for the good of my city,” said Félix Ranson, a 22-year-old economics student who bikes to his university every day. “I’d rather the city improve the bike service than have scooters take over the sidewalks.”


David Belliard, the deputy mayor in charge of transportation in Paris, agreed. “We’re concentrating on making it easier to walk or bike through Paris,” he said. “E-scooters were creating a lot of nuisance.”

E-scooters, whether rented or personally owned, killed three people and wounded 459 others in 2022, according to the Paris police headquarters. But France’s largest risk-prevention association, Prévention Routière, said it would have preferred that the city concentrate on helmet use and the regulation of rides at night, when most accidents happen, rather than a ban.

“Banning shared e-scooters won’t change the way people behave,” said Anne Lavaud, the leader of Prévention Routière.

Still, Ms. Lavaud said she saw bikes as a safer option for pedestrians because, compared with riders of electric scooters, cyclists were less likely to use the sidewalk.

“Very few adults bike on the sidewalk, or, when they do, they go back on the road very fast, because pedestrians glare at them,” she said.

Paris is the first European capital to ban e-scooters.Credit...Yoan Valat/EPA, via Shutterstock


The City of Paris said it would open almost 25 more miles of bike lanes this year, and e-scooter operators have bolstered their e-bike fleets in recent months in anticipation of the ban. They said they would redeploy their scooters in cities where fleets are expanding, in France or abroad.

“Since Paris voted to ban e-scooters, we’ve won permits or had permits renewed in London, Rome and Madrid,” said Nicolas Gorse, the general director of Dott, one of three e-scooter operators in Paris. “The ban is not endangering our business model.”

As Paris was banning e-scooters, European cities of comparable size, like Berlin, threw their weight behind the devices. Berlin has five scooter operators and 40,000 registered e-scooters zooming across the city. “There’s always more,” the Berliner Zeitung, a local news outlet, recently commented.

The vote in Paris initially resonated in other French cities at a time when many were wondering how tightly to regulate the devices. Just after the vote, officials in Marseille, France’s second-largest city, said they were considering a similar vote. Ultimately, they dropped the idea, leaving Paris an outlier.

“Paris has an exceptional public transport system and plenty of bike lanes,” said Audrey Gatian, the deputy mayor for transportation in Marseille. “The situation is different here.” In Marseille, she believes, e-scooters play a crucial role in correcting the uneven distribution of public transport and in decreasing the reliance on cars.
Lime, the largest scooter operator in Paris, said it would not fire anyone as a result of the ban. But Dott, the second-largest operator, said it planned to fire 50 of its full-time workers and 50 of the seasonal workers it usually recruits when demand soars in summer.

Dott said it would try to offer its workers jobs in French cities like Lille, where operations are expanding. “It is a painful process,” Mr. Gorse said. But said he was relieved that the City Hall and his company now shared a single objective.

“Everyone agrees on ramping up the bike service, especially with the Paris Olympics next summer,” he said.
Aurelien Breeden contributed reporting.

 

[At30wecashout]

Been watching WAAAAAAAAY too many fixie vids as of late. My Ebike is in the shop right now and I hate driving so much that im tempted to buy a "fun" get-around bike that is half the weight of my Ebike. Not trying to spend a ton so I am eyeing

https://www.eriksbikeshop.com/masi-2022-riser-single-speed-road-bike-pr3e25517/p?skuId=8071909

Or

IZIP Alki 1

Obviously local bike shops, so its something I may do when the holiday passes.

 

[TELL ME YA CHEESIN FAM?]

Waiting.for the weather to change so I can start riding again
May cop a second bike
Bike companies are stuck with post-covid inventory they're trying to offload

 

[Westbama Heartthrob]

Anybody ride bmx?

If so, what's the best place to order from? And what's a good bike for a beginner?