Ebike

Why Ebikes?

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Health

Cycling is one of the best things you can do for your health. However, a common concern about ebike is that it is “cheating” and not the same as the acoustic bike – that it will not have the same health benefits.

However, a study showed that physical activity gains from active travel are similar regardless of the type of the bikes. This is because ebike riders use it more and take longer trips. Ebikes tend to remove many mental barriers and it is much easier to use them as the car replacement. For instance, if you have an ebike, you don’t need to

  1. worry about sweating
  2. worry about how hard the trip will be (current level of fatigue, hills, etc.)
  3. worry about the amount of cargo (feels more or less the same)

Although it is not as vigorous as normal bikes, the sheer amount of riding makes it as one of the healthiest transportation option.

Personal finance

Cheaper end of ebikes (yet decent enough) tends to cost around USD 1000 - 2000 range. This is comparable to a single major car repair. Ebike cost is mostly up-front. The “fuel” is negligible and can be ignored (order of a penny per full charge) and the repair cost may be about USD 100 per year (roughly the order of a couple of gas tank for a car).

Compared to the average cost of car ownership (about USD 12k in the US), the saving is enormous. If we take this average cost face value, then having a decent bike for multiple years is just the cost of one or two months of car ownership.

One should also take the reduced healthcare cost (due to the huge health benefit) into account, which can potentially be even larger than direct financial cost. Cyclists tend to have much lower all-cause mortality (yes, even including crashes). Although this type of observational study is affected by self-selection bias, I think no one doubts that bicycle commuters are much healthier than car commuters. Many cost-benefit analyses argue that whenever one drives, the society loses money while whenever one bikes, the society gains. This is largely due to the enormous health benefits.

Another way to think about the direct cost difference is thinking about some hypothetical scenarios. If we consider the average car ownership cost (~USD 12,000 per year), you can keep getting your bike stolen every month and buying a brand new Lectric XP Lite ebike every single month. Another comparison is the most expensive premium crazy ebikes that cost USD 5,000 - 10,000. Even if you buy one every single year and throw it away at the end of the year, you’ll still be financially ahead than having a car (watch NJB’s video on this).

Of course, 12k is the average and this number is likely be skewed by outliers. It is possible that you can get by without spending that much. However, note that car ownership cost is the most underestimated spending. People can’t comprehend car-related cost together very well and only think about the fuel cost, although there are lots of categories that you need to think about: the registration, insurance, regular maintenance, and repair, etc. Even if you get a really cheap car almost for free, this will cost you a lot over time.

Even if you are very frugal (say half of the US average) – which may not be easy to achieve – that’s still 6,000 per year and 500 per month. In other words, just several months of owning a car handily beats multiple years of an ebike ownership cost.

Even without considering the health benefits, the savings, if started in young age, can amount to a huge amount, potentially several million dollars (!). For instance, if you can save USD 6,000 annually that compounds with 7% annual rate (about the average US stock return) over 45 years until retirement (say from 25 till 70), you will have USD 1.7M at the end. In other words, the decision to use an (e)bike vs. a car can literally make you a millionaire. This is also why Mr. Money Moustache, one of the “gurus” of the FIRE (financial independence & retire early) movement, said Get rich with… bikes. His estimation is not very far, coming up to about USD 101,000 for 10 years and about USD 10,000 per year.

Why not acoustic bikes?

Yes, indeed traditional non-ebikes are also excellent commuting solution. But they have some crucial weaknesses that ebike solves.

First, non-assist bikes are just harder to ride. There will always be a bigger mental barrier to ride a bike, which is in principle something that you can overcome but in practice not so easy. Ebikes, especially those with throttle, can be ridden even without much (or any) pedaling when you’re really tired. This eliminates mental barriers effectively.

Second, hills! Ebike effectively eliminates all hills. Although hills are not necessary a problem per se for acoustic bikes if you have enough gear range, many commuting bikes don’t have enough gear range and it sucks to go extremely slow on hills while cars are passing by. Uphills actually feels much safer with an ebike because you encounter way fewer cars and because the relative speed of cars is lower. You only have downhills when you ride an ebike.

Third, it is hard to avoid sweating. Because you’re exhausting yourself much more with acoustic bikes, you naturally sweat especially on hills. It’s a problem even in winter because you need to wear many layers, which become too hot on hills. So, you may need to identify ways to shower at work etc. With an ebike, you don’t worry about sweat all seasons.

Fourth, it is hard to carry a lot of cargo, which makes it a poorer alternative to a car. As you carry more stuff on an acoustic bike, it becomes significantly harder to ride it. You can more or less ignore the cargo on an ebike, although handling may become more trickier, by simply adjusting the assist level.

Impact on climate crisis

(E)bikes are the most climate-friendly transportation option. Studies argued that it’s even better than walking due to the efficiency of wheels and even better than acoustic bikes because of the efficiency of batteries (vs. people’s power generated from food). Using ebikes make one’s transportation impact on climate crisis almost zero, especially in comparison to driving. For a detailed explanation, there is a nice video by Simon Clark: How bad are electric bikes for the environment? Combined with its power to completely replace a car, and given that public transits are not very good in the US, ebikes are probably the best transportation option.

I’d argue the impact is better than zero because riding (e)bikes let you very clearly see the built environment and transportation infrastructure around you first hand and may likely make you act on them rather than not being aware of them.

But, how about …?

Winter?

Do you ever go outside in winter? 👀 Riding a bike in the winter is not that different from walking outside in winter (https://youtu.be/Uhx-26GfCBU?t=520 - a great video about winter cycling). If you can walk outside, you can bike outside.

Sure, you will have more windchill, but a pair of handlebar mitt (“pogies” or just good mittens) and a scarf/balaclava (skimask) will suit you up perfectly fine. Any weather in which you can ski or sled, you can ride a bike; just wear what you’d wear when you sled. Actually a common mistake is overdressing and being too hot. If you can walk outside, you can bike outside.

But, snow?

If there’s enough snow to prevent you from riding a bike, you probably can’t drive around well either. If the road is clear enough for cars, you can probably ride your bike.

Even if the road is not perfectly plowed, riding on snow, especially with a fatter tire, is not a big deal. You just need to go slower and carefully. Be extra careful with any turns and corners because you can easily sip. But it’s not that bad really!

Rain?

One of the biggest surprises that I had when I switched to bike commuting is that you don’t have to ride in rain often. I’d say I may ride in rain maybe 5 times per year, total. Btw, most of the US is way way sunnier than most of Europe. The worst area in the US is similar to the best areas in the Europe like mediterranean. Even when it’s raining, often you can switch to remote meetings or identify a 30 minute slot with no rain that you can sneak in.

But, riding in rain is not the end of the world. It can even be quite enjoyable. Wearing a rain jacket (and maybe waterproof pants) may be all you need. The only annoying part is that you may want to wipe down your drivetrain (and re-lube if you use dry lubes) to prevent rusting, but that’s like 5 minutes (or even less). If you have a belt drive, you may not need to do anything after the ride.

And, of course, you want to be extra careful about slippery surface. Don’t speed in rain!

Sweat? Shower?

One of the best things about ebikes compared with acoustic bikes is that you almost never need to sweat. Just wear for the occasion (yes, including suits) and don’t work too hard.

The times that you really need a car?

I believe that the public transit, car sharing services (and rental cars), ride services (taxi, Uber, Lyft), and your friends will cover pretty much every use case. A problem is that, they feel expensive. When you own a car and drive it, most cost are already sunken and you don’t feel the cost. However, when you ride a taxi, you pay for that and that feels expensive even it’s not.

For instance, to spend 1,000 dollars per month, you need to spend 50 dollars per day for 20 days per month. That’s an awful lot of UBER/Lyft rides. Even at 500 dollars per month, you need to spend 25 dollars per day for 20 days. (Isn’t it crazy that it is likely cheaper to ride a cab whenever than owning & driving a car?)

One useful strategy to overcome this mental gap is to allocate some money for guilty-free transportation budget. Say, just put 100-200 dollars per month and keep building up this pot of money. The rule is that you can use them whenever you have a transportation need. It’s raining really hard and you have to be at work quickly? Just call a cab. It’s important not to have any guilt using this pot of money when necessary.

Seems too dangerous to ride with cars?

You may have a wrong perception of how your commute will look like if you have only been driving. There are usually separate, safer routes for bikes that go through low-traffic bike paths. You’d not bike through the paths that you normally take with a car! I bet there are enjoyable low-traffic paths that connect your home, work, groceries, and other amenities. Also remember that you can afford much better house/rent nearer to the city center by switching to biking. For instance, if you are saving close to USD 500 per month, and if you spend some of this to your rent, where can you move into?

Also, note that constructing and maintaining a car garage is very expensive (can be more than USD 50,000 per spot just for the construction) and if your apartment has a parking spot for you, that means you are paying the price of the parking spot. If you can find an apartment without parking spot, that can provide you with a much better home for less (be sure to always ask the management company that you may not want to have a parking spot!).

Also, riding on a road without a dedicated bike lane is not the end of the world. Try it out slowly and carefully, and you’ll get more confident and feel better. Btw, most crashes occur at the intersections rather than on the stretch of the road. You may want to worry more about conflict points (intersections) rather than the road itself.

The way I look at the risk of riding a bike is that it is a minuscule risk that I can ignore that I can take each day. The fact that I have been ok does not increase my risk tomorrow (it may actually lower the risk if you learn from past experience and get better with handling the bike and taking safety measures). At the same time, I benefit from biking in terms of a small health benefit that compounds over time. Whenever I choose to ride bike, I get slightly healthier by taking a negligible risk. By contrast, whenever I choose to drive, I get slightly less healthier while taking a negligible risk (maybe slightly lower than bike, but they both are negligible to me).

Having said that, most of the US is still far from ideal. There are still too many roads with just “painted gutters” (painted bike lanes) or sharrows (shared roads – studies have shown that they may be even more dangerous than normal car-only roads). Use existing infrastructure as much as possible, express your appreciation, and air your grievances about bike infrastructure at the city council.

Now, you’re ready to join local movements and show up at the city council meetings. 🤗 For more info, check out:

Brands

There are so many ebike brands. Be aware that most super cheap ebikes are just variations of some unnamed Chinese ebikes. They come and go and may not have good enough quality. Don’t be too cheap if you convert to an ebike from a car because you’re saving a huge amount in doing so even with a quite expensive ebike (see above).

Accessories

See Accessories for more details.

Essentials for everyday bikes

Which ebike to buy?

General tips

Online vs offline

You can either buy one from offline bike shops or order online. Offline shops usually carry their own (traditional) brands like specialized, trek, etc. They may be more expensive, but there may be local incentives available (e.g., Bloomington has ebike rebate program). The benefit is that you’ll contribute to the local business & develop a relationship with a local bike shop ready to serve your bike-related needs.

Many new ebikes can only be ordered online. Some shops may not like servicing these online bikes. Purchasing online also means you may need to put together the bike, although it is possible to ship it to a bike shop nearby and get assembled by a professional mechanic. This will incur some fees.

Battery

One thing to note is that battery is something that you don’t want to be too cheap about. Cheap batteries have higher fire risk and electric fire is no joke. Check whether the ebike maker uses UL-certified batteries. Most premium or establishes brands are now using UL-certified batteries.

Mid-drive vs. hub motor

A key decision is whether to buy one with a mid-drive motor (e.g., Bosch) or a hub motor. Mid-drive tends to be more expensive. Mid-drive provides a similar experience to non-electric bikes with more smooth power delivery and can make use of the gearing (can deliver more torque with low-gear). Hub-motor can provide more instant power and resembles a moped.

With mid-drive, you will keep changing the gearing and ride like a normal bike. With hub-drive, you may not change gears much but use the throttle more frequently to add power as necessary.

Mid-drive can be combined with an internal gear hub and a belt drive. This can provide the ultimate low-maintenance machine.

Class

Ebikes are classified based on their speed and types. Class 1 ebikes will not help you once you reach 20mph and they don’t have a throttle. Class 2 has a throttle. Class 3 goes up to 28mph.

For everyday use, you don’t really need class 3. It’s sometimes handy to be able to go faster, especially when you’re riding on a road not a bike path, but at the same time, it increases the risk of more serious injuries.

The weight and parking

Ebikes tend to be heavier. If your place has a parking space that you can ride your bike into, then the weight will not be a huge issue. But if you have to bring your bike into your house, potentially with steps, the weight can become a huge nuisance. If you have to carry, look for a light-weight ebike. Folding bikes are also good options, but many folding bikes are awkward to fold & very heavy. You may not want to keep folding and unfolding them. An exception is Brompton ebike. They are easy to fold and still extremely light.

Parts to pay attention to

Brakes: Ebikes tend to be heavier. If it’s heavy (60+ lbs), be sure to pay attention to the brakes. Strong braking power is essential for safety. Decent disc brakes may be fine, but hydraulic brakes are nicer to have. Brakes are the most important part to pay attention & maintain.

Drivetrain: Belt drive (+internal gearing) vs. chain (+deraileur): belt drive costs more, but a belt lasts much longer than a chain and does not require much maintenance if any (no lube). Belt drive more or less requires an internal-geared hub. This combination is almost maintenance-free compared with chain drive. But it may be slightly less efficient.

Suspension: it’s not essential, but good to have. Suspension (+ fat tire) makes the ride much smoother.

Lights: Another essential. The brighter the better. You can buy separately, but ebikes tend to have them integrated with the battery so easier to maintain (no need to charge).

Some options for each price range

E-cargo bikes

Key features to consider:

Convenience features to consider:

Some bike options:

Safety

Ebikes are faster and speed kills. To ride it safely, pay very close attention to safety.

  1. Always wear a helmet. There are “ebike helmets” that are tested for faster speed. You can consider them.
  2. Understand your brakes and maintain brakes regularly and make sure to have full braking power available. Also practice your braking techniques! You want to pull yourself back while braking hard not to go over the handlebar. This may not naturally come to you in a pinch. You also want to have a good sense of the braking power and safe distance. So practice.
  3. Even the fat tires may not save you from slipping on a gravel, puddle, ice, or a sprinkle of sands! Most crashes happen when you’re turning. It may be enough to just have a sprinkle of sand to make you slip when you turn and fat tires will not save you from the slippage. Approach every turn carefully by assuming that the surface may be slippery.

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