Why Buy an Electric Bike?
Well, electric bicycles offer the same great benefits as traditional bicycles including cost savings (no licensing or insurance required), improved health and connection with community.
The real advantage to ebikes in my view is efficiency in climbing hills or fighting the wind combined with better range. If you experience knee pain or exercise induced asthma for example, electric bikes can breath new life into the sport of cycling. They might convince your friend or significant other to join you on the trails more often or they might enable you to commute to work in extreme heat without perspiring so much. I've owned cars and mopeds before and neither felt as safe or refreshing as cycling along community paths, away from traffic.
Electric bikes remove many of the roadblocks and challenges that people face with traditional pedal-powered cycles but they aren't perfect. They can be expensive, complex and heavy which is a real pain if the battery runs out half way.
Which E-Bike Conversion Kits Are Best?
Since the early days of electric bikes in the United States (starting in 1999 with the EV Global Motors Ebike from Lee Iacocca) frame styles and drive characteristics have really proliferated.
What E-Bikes Are Good for New Riders?
Today it is possible to dive head first into electric bikes or dip your toe in for a little taste. In some towns you can even rent electric bike to get a better feel for them... Rocket Electrics in Austin Texas for example, offers foodie tours and also has a multi-day SXSW and F1 race week package for people who want to dodge traffic and get an up close view of the city. For the purest experience, purpose built ebikes are the way to go (bikes that were designed and sold as being electric, not converted later).
They are lighter, tougher and more capable than ever. Whether you need a folding bike to stow in your loft or take on a plane, a tandem to rent and ride with your friend on vacation or a downhill bomber for free riding on mountain trails (no need for a chairlift!) there is definitely an ebike out there that's fully capable.
Do E-Bikes Have Drawbacks?
Obviously, I'm a huge fan of the technology and it's true that the breadth of products has grown thanks in large part to widespread acceptance in Asia and Europe but there are some things ebikes still struggle with.
If you're a purist mountain biker who is barely accepted on hiking paths to begin with, ebikes may seem like a threat. In much the same way that snowboards used to be outlawed at ski resorts like Vail Colorado in the 80's ebikes are still in their early days. Eventually snowboarding became mainstream and Burton helped to gain mass acceptance by launching a viral initiative challenging holdout resorts. These days, Deer Valley Utah remains a "ski-only" resort but you can snowboard pretty much everywhere else and I feel like that will become the case with ebikes as well. Once the technology becomes better understood and appreciated it won't feel so threatening to some. I think traditional bikes are awesome frankly and I still own one for silent, light weight cruising.