Pete J
loves his dog
I've been working as a Postie here in Finland for the past 9 months and in that time have ridden 3 or 4 different models of bikes with different motor manufacturers. The Shimano Steps motor has been the best one so far but I regularly ride a bike with a very basic Panasonic setup. Fully loaded up, my postie bike can have over 40kg's of mail/ads, yet once you get going you can barely notice the extra weight. In this purpose these kinds of bikes are brilliant and help get the work done much faster. In winter time they are even better as the conditions make riding these heavy bikes very challenging to say the least. Edit: the extra torque helps you get moving again after stopping on snowy footpaths.
However, one thing that makes them safe around pedestrians is that they make so much noise (from the centrestand thingy) that you can hear them coming a mile away. Combine that with terrible braking power plus poor handling and you have a bike that is hard to surprise people with. You have to kind of plan ahead and think about your next move.
The problem that I have encountered with ebikes otherwise is that they are extremely quiet and so freaking fast that they scare the bejesus out of you when they go past. They have become very popular over here and seeing as we shared footpaths, these kinds of scares and close calls are becoming more common everyday. I can forsee the day when 3rd insurance becomes compulsory for ebikes, much like it has been for all other offroad powered vehicles here as well.
Personally, I like the idea and wouldn't mind riding one out in the forest but at the same time it would feel like cheating. Most of the fun in mtbing comes from the fact that your own muscle power got you where you were going and back.
However, one thing that makes them safe around pedestrians is that they make so much noise (from the centrestand thingy) that you can hear them coming a mile away. Combine that with terrible braking power plus poor handling and you have a bike that is hard to surprise people with. You have to kind of plan ahead and think about your next move.
The problem that I have encountered with ebikes otherwise is that they are extremely quiet and so freaking fast that they scare the bejesus out of you when they go past. They have become very popular over here and seeing as we shared footpaths, these kinds of scares and close calls are becoming more common everyday. I can forsee the day when 3rd insurance becomes compulsory for ebikes, much like it has been for all other offroad powered vehicles here as well.
Personally, I like the idea and wouldn't mind riding one out in the forest but at the same time it would feel like cheating. Most of the fun in mtbing comes from the fact that your own muscle power got you where you were going and back.
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