Tag: E-Bikes

Testing the best ways to get around a city: Bike, e-bike and e-scooter

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On October 23, 2019

In Bikes, Cities

It’s an urban challenge we’ll all run into at some point: You need to get across the city quickly. What’s the best way?

To answer that, I decided to test three transportation options.

  1. My own bike.
  2. A dockless shared e-bike from Lime.
  3. A dockless shared e-scooter from Lime.

This isn’t only about speed. I’m also factoring in things such as costs and the all-important sweat factor. Any predictions?

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Tom Babin is the author of Frostbike: The Joy, Pain and Numbness of Winter Cycling. 

City bike, road bike or e-bike? What’s best for bicycle commuting?

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On June 17, 2019

In Bikes

What’s the best bike for commuting? This is the second video in which I test different types of bikes on my commute. This time, instead of a mountain, road or city bike, like I did last time, I tested these bikes: A slow, comfortable city bike, a light and fast road bike and a pedelec , a.k.a an electric pedal-assist bike.

Which one is best? I measure my commutes on all of the bikes and compare the numbers.

If you don’t want to watch the video, here are some of the numbers:
City bike: Riding time: 66:61, average speed of 20.2 km/hr
Road bike: Riding time: 58:65, average speed of 22 km.hr
Electric bike: Riding time: 56:31, average speed of 24.6 km/hr

Speed, however, is not the only factor in bike commuting. In the video, I also examine a number of other factors around bike commuting, such as comfort, costs and the sweat factor.

I hope this video helps you become a better bike commuters.

Also: You’ll probably notice that my math is weird on some of the calculations. I have an accumulated time of 58:65, for example, which should be expressed as 56:05. The larger point I’m trying to make still stands, but, yeah, I messed up.

Here’s my first bike commute challenge.

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Tom Babin is the author of Frostbike: The Joy, Pain and Numbness of Winter Cycling. 

What’s an e-bike anyway? Mythbusting over modern pedelecs

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On November 22, 2018

In Bikes

When does a bicycle become a motorcycle?

I was asking myself that question after last week’s post, when I vlogged about my city’s new Lime e-bike sharing system, including a minor rant about Alberta’s antiquated legislation that treats e-bikes the same as motorcycles. Some people reacted to the post with surprise, asserting that if a bike has a motor then it should be treated as a motorcycle. Duh.

That struck me as logical argument, but only if you know nothing about modern pedal-assist e-bikes. So this week’s video is for those people. If you have any knowledge of a modern pedelec, or pedal-assist e-bike, and, as such, realize they are very different than motorcycles, then you should spend the next four minutes of your life doing something else. Come back later for another topic. 

If, however, your impression of e-bikes begins and ends with 1960s mopeds and you’re confused by this whole “pedelec” thing, this video is for you. 

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Tom Babin is the author of Frostbike: The Joy, Pain and Numbness of Winter Cycling. 



Two things holding back Calgary’s new e-bike-sharing system

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On November 5, 2018

In Bikes, Cities

My first ride on a Lime e-bike in Calgary. Photo by Tom Babin.

Finally, Calgary finally has a bike-share program. In the video below, I detail my first experience with it. Now, pat us on the back for joining the rest of the world, where such systems have been enjoyed for years.

But I’ve been thinking a bit more since I finished the video, and there are two big problems that face the success of the system in these early days.

Correction to the video above: Cost is $1/unlock + $0.30/min to ride.

E-bikes: I love e-bikes, and at first I was happy that Lime decided to enter the Calgary market with only pedal-assist bikes available. But there’s a shortcoming.

One of the great things about e-bikes is their ability to ease the ascending of big hills. Calgary’s downtown is in the valley of two rivers, meaning big hills surround it. This has long been one of the things discouraging some people from bicycle commuting downtown. However, Lime’s home area – the area where you are permitted to leave the shared e-bikes – excludes many of these hilly areas. That means the places where e-bikes would be of most benefit are excluded from use.

This isn’t a deal-breaker, but it’s a missed opportunity. Hopefully, Lime will take this into consideration when considering the long-term feasibility of the program.

Obscure e-bike helmet law: I’ve always taken a bit of pride in the fact that Calgary has avoided the folly of our neighbourhing province of B.C. with its misguided bicycle-helmet requirements. But sitting on the books in Alberta all these years, unbeknownst to me, was a law mandating helmet use on motorcycles, mopeds and motor-assisted bicycles.

This means that to legally ride a Lime e-bike in Calgary, you need to wear a helmet. So unless you happen to carry a helmet around with you, just in case, your opportunities to ride will be limited. If you are one of those multi-modal commute planners who uses Lime to complete the last mile of your journey, I can imagine you planning to bring a helmet along. For the rest of us, those opportunistic rides will be mostly off-limits.

This law feels like antiquated, written when motor-assisted bicycles were mopeds and two-stroke gas sippers, not the high-tech pedal-assisted bikes of today. Let’s hope the provincial government brings the law up to date. While they’re at it, maybe they can update all the laws around e-bikes – California’s legislation is a good place to start.

Because of these factors, I can’t see myself using this first wave of Lime e-bikes much in the foreseeable future. I’ll be holding out more for the spring, when the system expands to include old-school pedal bikes and another company enters the fray.

Baby steps, Calgary.

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Tom Babin is the author of Frostbike: The Joy, Pain and Numbness of Winter Cycling. 

This gorgeous e-bike is impractical, unruly, illogical and totally loveable

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On August 30, 2018

In Bikes

The Greaser e-bike. Photo by Tom Babin.

It’s not a rare occasion to hear me rant about the impracticality of most bikes I see on the streets these days. Loaded with too much tech, too many gears, and too much equipment built for racing, too many people don’t ride bikes fit for an urban lifestyle.

But sometimes, you come across a bike that is unique, beautiful and cool enough to overcome my ranting tendencies. That bike is The Greaser: a beast of an e-bike built in the style of a 1950’s cafe racer motorcycle that makes no sense on a lot of levels. It’s big, heavy, unruly and completely fun to ride. 

The bike is built by Michael Blast, and it was loaned to me by a retail shop called Toys for Boys, which also sells truckloads of the bikes online. If nothing else, the bike is a head-turner: everywhere I went, people stopped me to talk about the bike.

If you’re in the market for a day-to-day urban bike, this probably isn’t for you. But if you love the look of this bike, and are in the market for a cruising bike that draws attention, get out that credit card. 

Check out the video for more. 

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Tom Babin is the author of Frostbike: The Joy, Pain and Numbness of Winter Cycling. 

The health benefits of e-bikes should kill the idea that riding them is ‘cheating’

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On May 21, 2018

In Bikes

E-bikes are one of the fastest growing segments of the bike world. Photo courtesy of Bikeberry.com.

Ever since electric bikes were introduced and started gaining popularity, there has been an ongoing argument among traditional bicycle riders and those who prefer electric bikes about whether riding a motorized bicycle counts as an exercise and has health benefits as a traditional bike.

Some traditionalists claim that riding an electric bike is almost like “cheating” and has little or no health benefits.

Here are some facts about the important health benefits of electric bikes, which will hopefully rebuke this idea:

Riding an electric bike counts as an aerobic exercise

There are so many studies that have proven that regular exercise can significantly improve our well-being and health, as well as reduce the risk of serious illnesses which are usually associated with sedentary lives and unhealthy diets.

Chronic illnesses such as metabolic syndrome, diabetes type II, hypertension, heart disease, stroke and others are known to be the leading killers of the population of the U.S. The U.S. government has officially recommended getting about 2.5 hours of aerobic exercise with moderate intensity, or 1 hour and 15 minutes of intensive aerobic exercise, per week in order to reduce the risk of developing these life-threatening diseases.

Cycling is an excellent way to meet these recommendations. For the many people who struggle to ride for long distances or extended periods of time because of health or age-related issues or low fitness levels, electric bikes are a great alternative to get pedaling.

They do make the job easier thanks to the motor and throttle which helps the cyclist along the way, especially when climbing hills or riding against a strong wind. But riding an e-bike still involves some pedaling, so when people use them for commuting, for running errands or for fun, they still get moderate amounts of aerobic exercise.

For people who usually lead sedentary lives, riding an e-bike three times per week for about 40 minutes can add up to two hours of moderate aerobic exercise, which is much more than they usually do.

The heart rate of new electric bike riders rises by an average of 75% of their maximum which equals the rate during an easy jog or brisk walk.

This type of exercise helps reduce body fat and reduce blood-sugar levels, plus it strengthens the heart and improves lung capacity.

Plus, e-bikes are fun, which encourages people to ride. For average non-athletes, riding an e-bike will definitely help improve your fitness level and your health.

For cyclists with problems related to mobility, age or simply fitness, electric bikes can help motivate bike rides. Photo courtesy of Bikeberry.com.

People with e-bikes ride more

Studies show that, mainly due to the fun involved in riding an e-bike, people who choose this type of cycling tend to ride much more than those who rely on regular bicycles.

More people are using them to cover longer distances on a daily basis, such as for commuting or for running errands, rather than using their cars. Electric bikes also save a lot of time and money as compared to driving through heavy traffic every day, paying for gas, parking, insurance, and car maintenance.

Plus, with electric bikes, people can carry heavy cargo, groceries and their children as well, which is another reason why the army of e-bikers is growing on a daily basis.

More miles means more pedaling, and more pedaling means more exercise and improved fitness levels.

Your bones, muscles, and joints will become stronger too

Since e-bikes are quite heftier than regular bicycles, pedaling, steering and balancing on them requires quite a bit more effort, which can strengthen bones, muscles and joints. This can significantly reduce the risk of osteoporosis-related injuries and fractures.

Riding an electric bike helps reduce stress and builds up confidence

Yes, your mental health can improve once you start riding an e-bike regularly. Many people who feel intimidated about riding a regular bike find their confidence levels will grow along with their strength as they ride an e-bike.

You may even become ready to get back to regular cycling once again. This is especially true for people with injuries, disabled people or those who are not fit enough to ride a bicycle for miles and miles.

Once your stress levels decrease, and your confidence in yourself increases, you will feel much readier to face new challenges!

E-bikes are proving to be valuable transportation tools for urbanites looking for practical transportation options. Photo contributed by Bikeberry.com.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are some serious health benefits of riding an e-bike, especially if you are not all that active and fit to begin with.

Riding an e-bike will help you lose any extra weight you are carrying, it will strengthen your bone structure as well as your muscles and joints. Also, regular riding will make your heart stronger and less prone to problems and illnesses. Your blood pressure and blood sugar levels will get back to normal, and so will your quality of life.

Hopefully, these pointers will help traditional cyclists understand the growing popularity of e-bikes, begin to appreciate their health benefits, and get over the idea that e-bikes are not “real” bikes. Besides, anything that gets more people to ride a bike makes the world a better place!

This sponsored content was created in partnership with BikeBerry.com.

Yes, this is how weird (and how elegant) e-bikes are getting

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On September 26, 2017

In Bikes

Few things in the bike world are as hot right now as e-bikes. Every manufacturer seems to be sensing that now is the time for electric bikes to finally catch hold in North America.

Here’s the latest evidence: Two approaches to ebikes, from both an industry leader and an upstart, that are almost complete opposites.

Here’s the first one: Bosch, the German company that has led the way toward pedal-assist ebikes in the past decade, has a new version out that seems built to address the problem of consumers worried that e-bikes just look weird.

Bosch has a new line of electric drives that seem to be based on the need to make e-bikes look as much like a bike as possible. Photo by Bosch.

The company’s new drive unit is 20 per cent smaller, 19 per cent lighter, and features “a cleaner, (more)  integrated look, to more closely resemble traditional bikes,” according to a media release from the company.

It comes with other improvements, such as an improved range and, perhaps most significantly, no longer has resistance on the pedals when the motor is turned off.

But still, the headline here seems to be that Bosch is betting that consumers will be more willing to buy an e-bike if nobody can’t tell it’s an e-bike.

Bosch’s new electric drive offers more improvements, including a wider range. Photo by Bosch.

On the other end of the spectrum is Ukrainian company DelFast, known for making courier vehicles. It just launched a new fundraising campaign on Kickstarter for a bike designed to address what it sees as a problem with distance, damn the appearance.

It’s launching an e-bike with a claimed range of 380 kms per charge, using a massive battery pack that can push the bike to 55 km/hr (which, it should be added, is more that twice the bike-lane speed-limit in many cities). While this thing does have a brute eastern-European charm, it’s a monster, accurately described in the press release as “a hybrid between a cross-country motorcycle and a mountain bike.”

So if you’ve been contemplating an e-bike, but have been holding off because they look too much like a, er, bike, and you feel the need to travel 400 kilometres on one charge at motorcycle speeds, this may be the bike for you.

There you go: two bikes at opposite ends of the conspicuous spectrum. Maybe e-bikes have truly arrived after all.

 

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