| Re: electric bikes on centuries
Diablo Scott wrote:
:: Roger Zoul wrote:
::: Perhaps. We'll see. My guess is it won't happen. What kind of
::: electric bike do you envision that will ever do a century that will
::: actually make them not stand out? How big of a battery and motor
::: are we talking here to push someone 100 miles over possibly hilly
::: (around here) terrain? Zipping along at 30 mph alone would make
::: anyone stand out.
:::
::: I grant you this. If you can get an electric bike that does this
::: while not making the rider stand out significantly, then people
::: would very likely do so.
::
:: The bike in the referenced article is a recumbent - I suspect
:: recumbent riders may be both more likely to buy such a machine, and
:: less concerned with what other riders think about it.
On BROL several folks are interested in the 'assist' feature for commuting
and some for touring. Riding long hills and in heavy winds, the assist
feature is indeed useful. What if you're doing the equivalent of a double
century on a tour? The assist could get your butt out of a potential
situation! However, using the assist feature for a typical century is
another matter, IMO. To me, doing a century is about doing a century, but I
guess others can have different notions (group experience, etc.) Also, the
generally larger frame of a LWB 'bent would likely work better for an
assist.
::
:: And I suspect if they ever do show up at centuries that the riders
:: will be real cyclists who can no longer ride a conventional bike for
:: such a distance due to age or health. I'd rather see someone like
:: that on a powered bicycle than someone who hasn't first learned
:: cycling common sense, etiquette, and traffic awareness from a real
:: bike.
Me too. Actually, I have no problem with anyone riding anything in an
ogranized century, provided it doesn't create a hazard of some type. I was
just discussing this from an academic POV>
|