> I don't even mind the e-bike trend as much as some people
Taking this off topic but.. what? Why would anyone "mind" e-bikes? I recognize that you and me are probably in very different filter bubbles but everyone I know is either ambivalent to them or a fan (and owner).
Here in NL bike commutes certainly increased. People used to mostly commute within their city, but now that e-bikes don't suck, I know several people who do 2x 30+km commutes by bike every day without breaking a sweat (literally). And don't even get me started about enabling semi disabled people to bike places again, it's fantastic. Isn't that super neat? What am I missing?
You're missing a few things. One, bike paths here are designed for low speed traffic, and narrow. In the last two years I've seen a lot of crashes from ebikes on the bike path I ride to work. Two, they are practically motor cycles now. Bigger tires, bigger helmets, faster speeds, all that, and no licensing required.
That's on roads. The off road side it is trail damage, people getting stuck out in places they normally couldn't go to, etc.
In fact I don't even recognize the e-bikes you describe. Our e-bikes are normal city bikes (i.e. not sports bikes) but with a battery stashed somewhere.
Whenever an easier way of doing something people have built their identity around comes along, people who've built their identity around the hard thing see the new thing as cheating/bad.
I don't care about any of that. I'm fat and old now. I care about the danger of very high speed users who don't have the skill to handle their machines in close quarters with me, my wife, my kid on the bike paths.
Realistically e-bikes as they're being sold - limited to 20 - don't present any more danger of that than conventional bikes. Of course it's possible for an unskilled user to go faster than they can handle, but that's always been possible on a conventional bike too.
In the USA/UK where infrastructure is provided for bicycles it tends to be very narrow and overcrowded. Being fitter and faster allows a cyclist to somewhat escape the inconveniences of being crammed in with so many other people into a small space. E-bikes change all that. In addition it means that someone who may lack the power/stamina, and consequent experience and capability, built up over years of riding now has the power to get in your way/space.
I am in favor of e-bikes, but these are definitely issues.
Taking this off topic but.. what? Why would anyone "mind" e-bikes? I recognize that you and me are probably in very different filter bubbles but everyone I know is either ambivalent to them or a fan (and owner).
Here in NL bike commutes certainly increased. People used to mostly commute within their city, but now that e-bikes don't suck, I know several people who do 2x 30+km commutes by bike every day without breaking a sweat (literally). And don't even get me started about enabling semi disabled people to bike places again, it's fantastic. Isn't that super neat? What am I missing?