Electric bike snobbery from bike magazines?

Joined
Jun 25, 2010
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Recently I started a thread stating my concern of bicycle snobbery from bikes shops regarding electric bikes. Does anyone notice even bicycle magazines seldom mention electric bicycles. Has anyone read postive electric bikes articles in bicycle magazines? I really enjoy reading and recently spent an evening at my local Borders booke shop. Not one single bicycle magazine had any electric bike articles or advertisements. Are thy ignoring us? http://www.bicycling.com/tour-de-france
 
Yes.

Of course, we are about .01% of the bike market outside of asia. But a few more BP moments might change ideas about cars and cause a few more people to look at alternatives to driving. At the moment in my town, mopeds are dime a dozen in the second summer of sub $3.00 gas.
 
georgefromvt said:
Are thy ignoring us? http://www.bicycling.com/tour-de-france

Can't answer that but those that do are bad business people, the e-bike needs spares just like your non electrified bicycle, as the e-bike gets more popular they will realise this and alter their attitude, they will lose money if they don't...My LBS owner loves my rides always gives me lil discount on everything i buy, only 5-10 bucks but he knows i'll keep coming back...props to Tim and Jo at Kalamunda Cycles
both full blown Lyras too!

KiM
 
Combine cap and trade with when Israel bombs Iran and gas prices spike to $8 / gallon people will flock to ev's. In my opinion thats when the ebike boom will begin. Prolly around 2012-2013.. Right now with gas at $2.80 people are still taking hummers to the grocery store. Ebikes are not taken seriously as a form of transportation. Give it time, they will be popular someday.
 
I don't have a problem with local lycra's, When I occasionally encounter snobbery I find it amusing. Magazines are a business, and they are very sensitive about what their buyers like. If they sense negative attitude about E-bikes, they will parrot the attitude back.

Soon you will be seeing articles "E-bikes, pro and con" and the magazines will grudgingly show that they understand some of their buyers like them, and will make a few bucks off of the controversy, while pretending to be either neutral, or standoffishly skeptical ("We don't like them either, but we are enlightened enough to talk about them").

However, a bicycle magazine can't really promote them at this time, given the attitudes of the majority of their readers...Money talks. I have seen E-bikes a few times in Popular Mechanics, and Popular Science, always in a positive light.
 
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