Survey of People who Ebike.

[Johnbear]

1.6 ft 190lbs, not fat

2. I have a car, I put more mileage on my bike.

[filbert]

1. 6"3 230 lbs athletic build

2. I have a truck and a couple of motorcycles. So far the e-bike has been my vehicle of choice for daily commutes to work. I just recently converted my bike to electric

3. Machinist by trade

[nitecheck]

Hi just an update ...after plenty of kms under the belt "a few 000's" - I'm still stocky ...but now am defined, tanned & carrying a lot more muscle …but much slimer....healthier & generally a more pleasant person, full of energy, blood pessure down to when I was at my "peak" & no longer stressed to max.......nice guy again....go figure

So what is my problem...or do I have a problem ???

Pro/Con ...depending on your view - but "girls" 15-20 my junior are no longer speaking with me like their "dad"/boss" - but are actually flirting with me. Especially if I'm still wearing the lycra riding gear - as I have just arrived at work "have not changed yet" - no kidding.

I'm even gotten in the habit of stopping about 50ms from work & pulling down my jersey to "cover up... so to speak" ...haven’t a clue how to respond to this attention ....I'm glad I'm sporting a close cropped beard - as I find myself actually blushing on more occasions than I normally would.

Worse - wifie has noticed on the home front & is SO very less than impressed (apparently she had to remind some "young mums" at school ) that the rider they were "commenting on" who riding by the school - was her "hubbie"...eeeck. My wife is very cute to begin with but has started working out at the gym never the less...not that I mind She gets hit upon by guys 20 years here junior when out at the club her friends..but the "do I look good in this???" questions - seem to have a hidden meaning now days...

But what do you do? I love cycling & will not be giving it up.

With 20-30's women that simply stop you to "chat" about non essential "problems" - seeking your input (where a year ago they simply would have managed the problem & confirmed your respect by their ability - to do the job they were employed for. But now I find I have to "conferred with" .....before they go ahead & do what they know needs to be done? ...& were do you advert your eyes …when the skirts get higher, blouses are unbuttoned lower & the heels on shoes/boots just seem to get higher...even though I have a low heel policy for safety reasons...(due to low friction & really expensive flooring…) I even tried an experiment & hired a 22yo (who is a very competent person - or she would not have been hired in the 1st place) She does not know me from "Adam" - within a few weeks she is consorting with the other "girls" - I'm starting to feel like a "juicy chop" from her too.

How come when I was 20, single & average fit - I never warranted such attention & had to always "work" at getting women to “know me” - now I’m very married & in form - I'm find myself "uncomfortable" Ok ...for those single guys - get riding!!! There are many mores bonuses from cycling than just good heath!!! And for all you girls out there ..Stop laughing ….the shoe is on the other foot & although I have never been chauvinist - I see where you are coming from…

[Lock]

It's your body language. Subliminal signs that "leak out" from confidence and self-assurance. Sorry

[Sheriff Jon]

It's your body language. Subliminal signs that "leak out" from confidence and self-assurance. Sorry

That, or it could be the extra pair of socks that he keeps in his riding shorts

[nitecheck]

It's your body language. Subliminal signs that "leak out" from confidence and self-assurance. Sorry

That, or it could be the extra pair of socks that he keeps in his riding shorts

That would be a sight

[Lock]

Actually more practical (socks) than the old cucumber trick... In one marketing study 50% more women chose to buy the grey colour for their men:

Marketing101.jpg (83.08 KiB) Viewed 731 times

So yah, socks probably wrong if attentions unwanted

[swbluto]

I have two questions to ask of Ebike users. (People who use Ebikes for SOME sort of car replacement. Store, work, Post Office, etc. No one in my town uses one but me so I ask here. Feel free not to answer.

1) Are you fat?
I was barely overweight when I converted from driving to e-biking. Now I'm comfortably "healthy sized".

2) Can you easily afford to drive a car if you wanted to.

I could but I choose not to. Driving is ridiculously expensive for the benefit it provides and the increased injury and fatality risk in the city of Seattle. Also, my driving style is too risky for my own good.

Also, the pedestrian risk per unit mile is a bogus metric. I care more about the chance of me dying in the next 50 years more than the next 5000 miles! It'd take me at least 10 years to choose to walk that much, but I'd easily drive at least 2 times that in a year.

[nitecheck]

[quote="swbluto"][quote="sabrewalt"]1) Are you fat?
I was barely overweight when I converted from driving to e-biking. Now I'm comfortably "healthy sized".

2) Can you easily afford to drive a car if you wanted to.

I could but I choose not to. Driving is ridiculously expensive for the benefit it provides and the increased injury and fatality risk in the city of Seattle. Also, my driving style is too risky for my own good.

1. No
2. Have a car ( I drive it seldomly) & a modern tour/sports bike. Plus a gas guzzling 70's Charger - that I am keeping (not driving) about 40% re-built - will eventually run straight LPG. I will be putting the M/bike back on the road in a few weeks - have'nt ridden it for 2 years due to 2 mini strokes & recovering from injuries from the last MVA. But after getting fit by cycling I'll be back on the M/bike in wet weather (have to get used to a 200kg bike again ) & ride my E-Bike on nicer days - on great days I'll be taking my roadie out..

[Mathurin]

1) Are you fat?
Define fat, >10% of one's weight? BMI tables? Wikipedia: "Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and largely insoluble in water."? ATMO, hell no.

2) Can you easily afford to drive a car if you wanted to.
Yes, and in fact I have a class 5 driver's lisence. If you meant owning a car, that would be hard. I'd have to go get a bit of fresh gas and make it run once per month or two so it keeps working, there'd be the paperwork hassle every year, and the opportunity cost of that 10$/day that I could have not wasted and instead spent on things that don't suck and arn't useless, like better bike parts, beer, clothes, etc. frock that shit, why on earth anyone would want a car is beyond me.

[esully]

1. 5' 10" 160 lbs

2. Own an 05 ford focus.

The ebike has taken the place of my commuting to work, 20 miles a day. I refuel my focus once every 6 weeks on average and put a total of 180 miles on it last month. If it were not for the lack of a sidewalk for 1/4 of a mile of the route to my childs daycare I would not evan have put those miles on the car.

I put about 900 miles on my ebike every month going from work to home, store, park, walmart, the mall, grocery store, video store, beach...you get the idea.

[nutsandvolts]

.

[Reid Welch]

5' 10", slim.

2005 Scion xB used then for my piano tuning work---long drives to customers mit tool and tools


I don't work anymore at all. The Scion mostly sits. The bike mostly rides.
I feel better all round with an econocar and using it as little as possible.

[ElectricEd]

1) Are you fat?

2) Can you easily afford to drive a car if you wanted to?

1/ The rot set in 10 years ago after becoming a database programmer. The cafe at NEC Aus had fantastic muffins cooked by a gorgeous young lady.
How could I say no?
At that time I was a svelte youngish 44yo Audax rider. Over time the belt started to go out by a notch each time. Moving on to be a network admin/database programmer at a food manufacturing business, the rot continued and the notch expansion increased in rate. The gorgeous product developer would always come around with a new recipe to trial just after I'd had lunch.
How could I say no?
At 95Kg I heard about ebikes. Aha! That's for me! After 8 months of obfuscation and delays by the ever so "not" dependable Brett, I finally got onto my ebike at a bit over 99.5Kg. Fortunately I never actually cracked the tonne, that would be too much.

The weight started to peel off, after 3 months I was down to 84Kg and feeling much better about the world and all that sort of stuff. I now say no to the product developer, she's still gorgeous and now brings trial recipes just before lunch time. Happy me.
I removed butter and milk from my diet and now eat a piece of fruit if feeling hungry between meals.

2/ In these economic times? I can afford to, but it's one expense that I could do without. The car costs $10 per day with fuel, the bike 20c for charging.

[liveforphysics]

1. Nope. 6'2, 215lbs. I feel better 20lbs lighter, but I'm not a fatty yet

2. I can afford to drive a car. I have 4 streetcars and 2 dedicated track cars. I also have 4 motorcycles at the moment.

I have about $4,000 into my e-bike, and I'm not sure I've put a full 50miles on it. I just can't seem, to get the controllers for the motors to supply adquate power and endure my abuse.

3. I work as an engineer for Micro$oft. I handle datacenter cooling and power generation and infrastructure design.

I recently got stuck with a "suprize" $1800/month child support payment for a suprize son. That means I'm probibly going to be dumping some of the streetcars. Everything is paid off, but when you have 26 speeding tickets, insurance is a monthly 4-digit bill.

[swbluto]

1. Nope. 6'2, 215lbs. I feel better 20lbs lighter, but I'm not a fatty yet

2. I can afford to drive a car. I have 4 streetcars and 2 dedicated track cars. I also have 4 motorcycles at the moment.

I have about $4,000 into my e-bike, and I'm not sure I've put a full 50miles on it. I just can't seem, to get the controllers for the motors to supply adquate power and endure my abuse.

3. I work as an engineer for Micro$oft. I handle datacenter cooling and power generation and infrastructure design.

I recently got stuck with a "suprize" $1800/month child support payment for a suprize son. That means I'm probibly going to be dumping some of the streetcars. Everything is paid off, but when you have 26 speeding tickets, insurance is a monthly 4-digit bill.

Ahhhh, that sucks.

It seems even those who have escape being conjugally bonded can't always escape the financial responsibility of offspring. But, uhhhh.... wow, 1800/month? Can you enlighten us as to how that figure was calculated (or just some of the significant parts of the methodology)? I was trying to compare it some known allocations of money for living (such as social security or welfare, which seems to be about $600?) and a figure of 3 times that amount suggests it goes beyond the bare necessities. Or, well, *maybe* the "necessities" in Seattle.

[Link]

I recently got stuck with a "suprize" $1800/month child support payment for a suprize son. That means I'm probibly going to be dumping some of the streetcars. Everything is paid off, but when you have 26 speeding tickets, insurance is a monthly 4-digit bill.

WTF 26 tickets?? Goddamn, much as I love racing, I'm way too afraid to try that anywhere but a track...

Pwnt @ "surprise", BTW.

[swbluto]

I recently got stuck with a "suprize" $1800/month child support payment for a suprize son. That means I'm probibly going to be dumping some of the streetcars. Everything is paid off, but when you have 26 speeding tickets, insurance is a monthly 4-digit bill.

Pwnt @ "surprise", BTW.

Note, someone got a "prize".

[liveforphysics]

But, uhhhh.... wow, 1800/month? Can you enlighten us as to how that figure was calculated (or just some of the significant parts of the methodology)? I was trying to compare it some known allocations of money for living (such as social security or welfare, which seems to be about $600?) and a figure of 3 times that amount suggests it goes beyond the bare necessities. Or, well, *maybe* the "necessities" in Seattle.

They calculate it from a percentage of income, and then a giant spreadsheet formula the state uses.
It's interesting, she has a friend in an identical situation, yet they only make the father pay $220/month.
It would seem the state believes some babies require 900% more expensive diapers/food/clothes than other babies.

WTF 26 tickets?? Goddamn, much as I love racing, I'm way too afraid to try that anywhere but a track...

Pwnt @ "surprise", BTW.

Only busted for racing once. Oddly, most of my tickets are minor speeding tickets just from driving places a little faster than I should.

Note, someone got a "prize".

At first, I was super pissed. Like, flipping out ready to kill everything in sight and myself pissed. That lasted a long time. Then just a couple of weeks ago, something shifted in my brain. The way I view the situation softened, and then went from dark, to light. I'm going to make him into the next ghostrider (the real guy, not the super lame movie/comicbook).

Now I actually do view my son as a "prize"





I don't want to hijack this thread any more though, so back on topic!

-Luke