Attitude

I was just wondering if anyone else got the same negative attitude I got at two local bike shops? The first one was before I bought my gohub and was asking the show about electric bikes/kits and he said they were a "waste" and the second was a different shop I took my electrics rim to be trued and the dude said I don't know if I have the tools to do that and then said because he had some time he would true it but he normally didn't work on these. What the hell man give me a brake I use it to comute 13 mi to work and average 20mph, there is no way I could do it practically on a non motorized bike as for as time/energy go I mean I am in decent shape but at 43 I am looking to save gas and I still get a great workout on my bike, so bike shop-cut me some slack lol

Get used to it. Most bike shops are anti electric. Hell, my LBS is anti anything but the overpriced brands they flog. Having said that, not all bike shops are like that, you will find ones that are positive and welcoming.

Yeah, it's an attack on their lifestyle really. I ride in a bike club of about 200 people and while I've had my e-bike for many years, many accept it, and many see it as a waste. What convinced many of them was I challenged them to ride my e-bike (back when it was the pedal first controller) and I would ride their bike.

Talk about a surprise. When you are accustomed to pedaling a 70 to 100 lb bicycle, those ultra light roadie bikes are a piece of cake. I had no problem doing a simple 30 mile ride while they struggled with the fact that going up a steep hill meant you had to pedal that heavy bike along with it. Plus the motor would cut out under 6 MPH, so they had to pedal that heavy honking bike up the steep hill which made them walk (walking a bike up any hill is a big shame event in the bike club, LOL)

Needless to say, my local REI loves my e-bikes, they love working on them, they love doing test rides, they buy them to use themselves. So they get all of my business as you can imagine :wink:

Just today, while riding around town doing chores (pay bills, visit bank, etc) I was riding along at a comfortable 35 MPH in my jeans, t-shirt, etc. I caught some draft from a dump truck and was able to keep the bike going 40 MPH along the road. When I reached a stoplight, a guy pulled up in a big truck and asked how the heck I was going so fast. I was pedaling, well sorta, it looked like I was pedaling 40 MPH :lol:

Anyway, told him it was a motor and he laughed. He asked why we don't have electric cars now if we can make electric bikes that already go as fast as cars. I told him to go rent the movie "Who killed the electric car" to get started on that question. He thought it was cool and said if all bikers could go that fast, people wouldn't be so hateful towards them. I agreed and sped off at the green light before making a turn off the main road.

Yeah, the bike shop attitude I find mostly has to do with competitive/racer style bike shops, the ones that are at least partially oriented to utility cyclists are more approachable.

Last time I went to Lessard (electric-bike freindly) and asked about fixed gear, at first they didn't even know what I was talking about, then tried to convince me it was a bad idea / it was dangerous / I didn't actually want that... All bike shops get defensive when you go in territory they're not familiar with.

The older gentleman owner of my LBS went out of his way to help me fit a second pair of brakes. He had only one thing to say in regards to the electric element: "is that thing in the rear wheel a drum brake?"
I explained to him it was a motor and the bike was electric. He seemed fairly uninterested about that part of it.

knightmb said:

Yeah, it's an attack on their lifestyle really.

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Judging by their response, I get the feeling it's more like an attack on their universe. Worlds in collision. Most hardcore types look at me like I'm retarded anyway, only moreso on an electric. With the rack & battery saddle bags I consistently get axed 'are you on tour or something?'. Fortunately most shops are content to humor me & realize my money spends just the same.

I think I mentioned this once before... they feel like they're better than other people by using human-powered transport, and while many of them thus resent cars, they really hate when the two mix together, as happens with motorized bicycles. It's exactly like how racists are particularly inflamed by interracial relationships. Both groups view it as a corruption of what they hold dear.

Nobody minds motorcycles, but they mind motorized bicycles. Go figure.

I find they really don't like the idea of an ebike because it goes against all there marketing bull
They try to sell the most expensive light weight bikes they can which is fine if you are in racing competitions but for your average person the heavier the bike the more effort required to peddle so the more exercise you get with same distance, not forgetting that the more expensive a bike the heavier the lock so all non assist bikes really weigh 50 lbs (20lbs bike requires 30lds lock/ 48lbs bike requires 2lbs lock)
The best bikes cost thousands but an ebike much heavier can go much faster much cheaper.

Ya know, I was thinking this very thing today. I've been looking for a heavy duty fork to use for my 408/4011 on my test mule, or perhaps another test mule bike, and have been in a dozen or so shops this week. EVERY last one, folks are freindly when I arrive, but as soon as I mention electric bike I get a cold shoulder. Anyone of them, with a little dexterity, could probably have gotten me to open my wallet.

I live in a warm climate, and I think there is a HUGE opportunity here that a lot of these stores are going to miss out on. If nothing else, this flattens out the hills, lets one skip the pedaling on a bad day, or simply get there without sweating. Thanks to gas prices and traffic congestion, I think that when it hits the local consciousness that ebikes (combined with nicd/nimh/lipo) are now practical, the market is going to EXPLODE - and local bike stores are gonna miss out on it.

Hmm.

Maybe I should start one of my own.

Hmmm.

I had similar issues at two of the local bicycle shops near me. I bought a 5304 motor without the rim - so just the motor - and I wanted to get it laced. Two shops basically looked at it and said they didn't want to do it - which is fine, I knew it was unusual. But there was clearly an attitude that said they found the whole thing to be distasteful. I don't remember exactly what was said - but it must have been biting enough that I remember feeling somewhat embarrassed for having asked in the first place.

Finally I went to the third shop and they were absolutely wonderful to work with ("Recycled Cycles" if anyone is curious http://www.recycled-cycles.com/ ). They were enthusiastic, and they did a very solid job lacing it for a reasonable amount of money. When they finished, they all had a go riding it and they thought it was pretty cool.

I tend to get somewhat snide comments from my co-workers at times as well - there's a fairly serious group of cyclists that go out at lunch... and a couple of them have made not particularly kind comments on the whole concept of electric motorized bicycles. One of them compared it to an electric wheelchair as I recall.

Oh well... I like my bike. I'm happy.

The shop where i bought two bikes in the past, wouldn't touch a xlyte wheel I wanted them to true (because of liability issues they said..wtf?).
Anyway I managed to read up and trued it up halfway decently.
I had a front fork that was damaged by an overvolted xlyte, but this time I was smart and brought the bike in with regular wheels and all the wires, throttle removed and the guy fixed the front fork without any problem or hassles. The repairman is really moody, looks like Klink from Hogans Heroes and is always listening to NPR, but he knows his stuff so it's worth some trouble to get a good repair done.

Patrick, just say smell ya later to the cyclists.

He.. i just joined the local bike club.. should be interesting when i show up with the 72v Chaos !

jimmyg4life said:

I was just wondering if anyone else got the same negative attitude I got at two local bike shops?

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Absolutely.

And I'm showing up with a Currie kick scoot that they've never seen before too. E-legal still in my city, so alien tech to them.

I try and bring `em "on-board" by asking would they rather have me alongside `em in traffic on my scoot, or in a minivan?

You can have some real fun and really get `em going by pointing out that the average pedal bike courier burns 2000-3000 extra food calories every day in the commission of their work.

That in 2004, National Geographic reported that it takes about three-quarters of a gallon of gasoline to produce a pound of steak, in other words there is a heavy hydrocarbons content in modern foods, so their meat engines are burning a lot of oil...

That their exhaust is a stream of food packaging for recycling or to be dumped into a hole in the ground somewhere, and sewage that's flushed into their drinking water...

hehehe

tks

Lock

I went into my lbs, i needed some air in my tire, and when I asked the owner to pick up the bike, he actually started to sputter what is this, and jumped back. When I offered him to try it, that it was a lot of fun he was like no way very smug and just walked away. I really think they have there worries that it will infringe on there market of selling fancy carbon bikes, and it probably will, I bought a 1700 dollar bike off him a couple of years ago and have since found a better shop to do business with, there most expensive bikes are under a thousand bucks and that owner is interested in carrying ebs. I love passing road bikes, the look on there faces is priceless. Btw my bike is exactley like Patricks, and doesnt look abnormal at all. I always pretend that I am peddling, some kids caught up to me, and asked me if I was some sort of Olympic cyclist lol.

Hey Patrick, there are leaders and there are sheep in this world....just look them in the eye and say its "lonely at the top".

patrick_mahoney said:

I tend to get somewhat snide comments from my co-workers at times as well - there's a fairly serious group of cyclists that go out at lunch... and a couple of them have made not particularly kind comments on the whole concept of electric motorized bicycles. One of them compared it to an electric wheelchair as I recall.

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The same emoli drill packs can run my ebike, my powertools and my electric wheelchair.

TylerDurden said:

patrick_mahoney said:

I tend to get somewhat snide comments from my co-workers at times as well - there's a fairly serious group of cyclists that go out at lunch... and a couple of them have made not particularly kind comments on the whole concept of electric motorized bicycles. One of them compared it to an electric wheelchair as I recall.

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The same emoli drill packs can run my ebike, my powertools and my electric wheelchair.

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But electric wheelchairs (mobility scoots) are so much fun! The big ones are good for 500lbs of passenger and gear, with huge comfy seats! Enough capacity to take a companion and picnic!

Show of hands... how many folks have had sex on their EVs?

OK, now how many have had sex on a Victorian pedal bike?
:wink:

Lock

Lock said:

Show of hands... how many folks have had sex on their EVs?

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Does it count if you're the only one on it?

xyster said:

Lock said:

Show of hands... how many folks have had sex on their EVs?

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Does it count if you're the only one on it?

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Not if it means driving with only one hand on the wheel/bars.
L

I passed two cyclists with road bikes & lycra shorts today on a loong shallow hill, surprisingly they were curiously interested about my rig asked if i was going to our local bike route, all was upbeat and good. I met up with them an hour later when they caught up, I was eating grapes and waved, all still good natured.

But some folks that don't ride bikes, scoff at my electric conversion bikes, strangely enough.

edit: for compression

recumbent said:

I passed two cyclists with road bikes & lycra shorts today on a loong shallow hill, surprisingly they were curiously interested about my rig and if I was going to Kettle Valley line, our local scienic bike route, said cool and all was upbeat and good. I met up with them an hour later when they caught up, I was eating my grapes and waved, all good.
But some folks that don't ride bikes, scoff at the electric conversion idea, strangely enough.

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Most of my experience with fellow cyclist is good. They think it's cool, they wouldn't mind having one for their own bike and it makes for a great day to just cruise around at little energy to enjoy the outdoors. Most of my negative experience come mostly from people that don't even ride a bicycle, LOL. Talk about hypocritical.

Probably one of the most fun things to do on my bike is to pass a lycra, especially when their running hard or uphill (bridge). Bear in mind I'm 225 pounds and almost 65 years old. I always sit up straight, pedal lightly, smile and say "Good Morning" or afternoon as they case may be. Sometimes I turn my radio up a little so they can hear it.

Mostly they pretend I'm not there but their mouth is generally open. For the most part if you don't know what you're looking for my bike doesn't look electric at first glance.

Oh, generally I'm not sweating but the Lycra's are.

Mike

A guy said "Hey thats cheating!" to me today... in jest me thinks.

vanilla ice said:

A guy said "Hey thats cheating!" to me today... in jest me thinks.

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Yeah, I hear that a lot. This is usually my response.

"Yeah, that's what they said about horseless carriages too..."