Why an E-Bike May (or May Not) Be the Best Bicycle for You

The estimated reading time for this post is 9 minutes

As tech continues to reach farther into our daily lives, we may not be surprised to see that even a classic activity such as bicycle riding can be improved with tech. E-bikes are changing bike riding and making it more accessible to many.

Is an e-bike the best choice for you? It could very well be, as e-bikes offer many advantages over regular bicycles. Plus, they’re a whole lot of fun.

What Are E-Bikes?

E-bikes are bicycles with motors to help you pedal.

They aren’t scooters. E-bikes must be pedaled for their motors to work. E-bikes make bike riding easier by helping to propel your pedaling.

When riding an e-bike, pedaling on a flat surface feels like you’re pedaling down a hill. Pedaling up a hill feels more like pedaling on a flat surface. E-bikes can change your world.

E-bikes have speed restrictions to avoid them being classified as scooters. Many e-bikes motors don’t work above 20-28 mph/32-45 kmh.

Most e-bikes are designed to be water-resistant, in case you get caught in an unexpected rain storm. Try to avoid planning a e-bike ride in a monsoon (<= good advice for any bike ride) so you don’t test the limits of water-resistance.

E-bikes are becoming increasingly popular. According to the NPD Group, “Electric bicycles are showing strong year-over-year growth in the U.S., with dollar sales growing by 95 percent in the 12 months ending July 2017, and unit sales up 96 percent.”

E-Bike Battery Life

E-bike motors are powered by an electric battery, similar to the battery you have in your phone but much larger. They can be charged in about four hours and can have a range of up to about 99 miles (159 km).

But don’t be fooled by the range. As with cell phones battery life, e-bike battery life is calculated under ideal conditions. If you ride up hills, against the wind, with heavy cargo and/or on the highest speed, your e-bike battery life will be much shorter.

If you run out of battery power, you can switch to a spare battery (if you happen to have one handy), or pedal on your own without motorized assistance. E-bikes tend to be heavier than regular bikes so you’ll be getting more of a workout with your e-bike without power than you would from pedaling a regular bike.

Reasons Why an E-Bike May Be the Best Choice for You

When you ride an e-bike, you are in control of how much you want to exert yourself. If you want the maximum amount of exercise, ride without using the motor.

But there probably will be plenty of times when the motor will come in quite handy. You can ride for longer distances by using an e-bike. You may be able to outlast your friends and arrive at your destination feeling fresh instead of exhausted.

An e-bike may make riding to work an option. Instead of showing up to work a wet mess and heading to the showers, you can arrive without breaking a sweat, and ready to start your day.

An e-bike might make your commute to work faster and more fun. Check out this video from Adam Alter where he shows side-by-side comparisons of his 20-mile commute to work in Austin, Texas with his e-bike versus his car. He compares time, average speed, cost and energy expended.

Make sure to check out his cookie/calorie counter that shows how many Oreos he can eat based on his calories expended.

Spoiler alert — He saves money and time, plus gets exercise and fun, while using his e-bike.

You can use an e-bike to run errands as your shopping bags won’t weigh you down too much. Hitch a trailer to your e-bike and go to town!

An e-bike can help you keep pace with that friend who thinks every bike ride is a race to the finish line. Make sure to smile as you pass them when they’re struggling up a steep hill!

E-bikes can go places where scooters can’t. Because they have speed restrictions, e-bikes don’t count as scooters in most places and don’t require a special license to operate them.

You probably will use an e-bike more than a regular bike and get more exercise that way. Because using an e-bike is easier and more fun, you’ll use it for trips when you would have hopped in the car without considering using a bike.

You may be able to save money by having an e-bike. If you use your e-bike for trips when you would have driven your car, you’ll be saving money on gas and parking, and saving mileage on your car. Charging an e-bike battery costs much less than filling your car with gas.

E-bikes can also help those with physical limitations be able to enjoy riding a bicycle again.

The Survey Says…

The North American Survey of Electric Bicycle Owners, conducted by the National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) and released in March 2018, gives insights into the attitude of e-bike owners in the US and Canada. The NITC surveyed 1,796 e-bike owners in the US and Canada.

NITC found great satisfaction of e-bike owners with riding their e-bikes. The survey revealed that “survey respondents reported riding their e-bike more than they rode their standard bike prior to their e-bike purchase (if they rode at all), indicating a positive relationship between having an e-bike and increased riding. Respondents also indicated that they are biking farther distances but are less sweaty or tired than with a standard bicycle; they do not avoid certain trips, destinations or hills; and they enjoy the experience of bike riding.”

Even if you haven’t ridden a bicycle as an adult you still might enjoy riding an e-bike and will probably ride it more often. The survey also found that even e-bike riders who hadn’t ridden bicycles as an adult started biking frequently once they got an e-bike. “Of the 6.6% of people who said they had not ridden a standard bicycle as an adult, 93.5% of them now ride weekly or daily.”

E-bikes can give you more exercise. Because you can use it more often and for longer trips, you may end up getting more exercise than you would with a regular bicycle. Pedaling without the motor gives you longer battery life so you have incentive to do more of the pedaling yourself, especially if you’re running low on battery power. The survey revealed that 63.9% of e-bike owners pedal more to conserve battery life.

In fact, most people enjoy riding e-bikes. The survey found that 96.4% of e-bike owners enjoyed the overall riding experience on their e-bikes.

Reasons Why an E-Bike May Not Be the Best Choice for You

In spite of their many advantages, e-bikes aren’t for everyone. If you’re training for the Tour de France or other competitive bike race, you probably don’t need the extra oomph of an e-bike. In fact, if you’re an athlete who rides a bicycle mostly for exercise, then an e-bike may not be the best choice for you.

The price tag of e-bikes may send you into sticker shock. Expect to spend several thousand dollars on an e-bike. Although the cost of using an e-bike instead of a car may save you money in the long run, the initial price of an e-bike may make it unaffordable.

E-bikes look different from regular bikes due to their motors and batteries. If you have to park your bike in an unsafe area, you may not want to tempt thieves with an e-bike.

E-bikes are heavier than regular bicycles. So if you have to lift your bike a lot, such as putting it in a car or on public transportation, or carrying it up stairs, a regular bicycle may work better for you.

My E-Bike

As a fan of tech, bicycle riding and fun, I couldn’t resist the lure of an e-bike. My daughter was working at a bicycle store this summer and she suggested I try the Breezer Greenway as it was her favorite bike in the store.

One ride on it and I was hooked. I loved the ease of pedaling and the shock absorbers to cushion the bumps. The bike store kindly gave me a family discount because my daughter worked there, and I was soon riding my Greenway around town, through the park, on bike trails and more.

I do ride my e-bike much more than I rode my regular bike. The assist of the motor is helpful for long trips and to keep up with the speed demons in my life. I ride my bike to many places when I otherwise would have used my car for transportation and go for much longer bike rides.

Here is a Flickr album of my Breezer Greenway during a recent ride to a park:

The Breezer Greenway has three speeds – Eco, Normal and High. My daughter likes to ride the Greenway on High speed in the highest gear for maximum speed.

But I ride the Greenway quite a bit without turning the motor on. If I do turn it on, I use Eco speed most, reserving High for the steepest hills. In the two months since I’ve owned it, I’ve only charged the Greenway battery twice.

I did run out of battery power once during a bike ride. I started the trip with a range of about 30 miles, but it was a windy day and I rode up some steep hills. My battery conked out towards the end of a 15 mile ride but luckily my route was mostly down hill or flat for that part of the ride.

The Breezer Greenway comes in two models, Greenway and Greenway LS (LS stands for low step).

I got the LS model because it’s much easier to get on and off of, plus it’s less apparent that the LS is an e-bike. The battery is tucked away under a rack over the back wheel. I have a basket on top of the rack which helps hide the battery.

Three sizes are available: Small (43 cm), Medium (48 cm), and Large (53 cm). The Shimano STEPS electric pedal assist system propels the Greenway to help you pedal.

The Greenway comes with a trip computer that shows data such as speed, range, time, and distance traveled.

Buttons on one side of the handlebar adjust the speed of the motor. The other side of the handlebar has levers to change gears. Above the levers is an indicator to show you what gear the bike is in.

Like the Ford Model T, the Breezer Greenway is available in any color so long as it’s black.

Okay, so Breezer calls the Greenway color “Satin black with charcoal,” which sounds much fancier than plain old Model T “black.” Even so, the Greenway doesn’t have any other choice of color.

The suggested retail price of the Breezer Greeway is $2799.00.

Your Thoughts

Have you ever tried riding an e-bike? Do you like the idea of a motor assisting you with pedaling? Would you ride an e-bike more often than a regular bike? Are you training for the Tour de France?

Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!

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*Zurich E-bike image courtesy of Dianne Yee via Flickr and Creative Commons

*Yellow e-bike image courtesy of KarinKarin vis Pixabay and Creative Commons

*Model T image courtesy of Wikiquotes