I never really understood all the hate towards ebikes until today. I'm in Cambodia right now and the city (Siem Reap) I am in has banned tourists from renting scooters.
As I am on a multi month trip backpacking and am trying to keep costs minimal I notice many people rent bicycles instead of over priced local tourist rip-off transportation. I looked at how far I would have to travel and figured it is doable on a pedal bike. There are numerous places to rent pedal bikes here.
However, there is an option for renting ebikes here and cost $10 dollars a day, picture posted below. A normal biycle costs $1.00 for a older bike and $3 for a mountain bike.
This morning I was thinking if I should rent the electric bike or a pedal bike. The $10 dollars is on the high side for South East Asia, normally you can rent a gas scooter fror $5.00 a day or less. You see when you are here long enough you don't look at cost to what it buys you in your country, you compare, for a $1.00 it buys you a good meal in Thailand, or for $4.00 a night is the room I'm staying at in Siem Reap. You look at alternatives and compare. Weekly travelers with a bunch of cash this doesn't matter.
The big issue I have with renting the ebike is the range on these may not be enough for how far I wanted to go. I forgot what the guy told me the range was, maybe 50KM tops at 20KPH, but may have been 30KM. But you know he is overstating the range. It takes me 9 KM to get up to Angkor Wat and that is just to get in the area, so last thing I want to do is pedal this thing home. Boy do I wish I had my ebike with me and it's 2500WH capacity, lots of offroading fun could be done around here.
While thinking about using a pedal bike I imagined myself pedaling in the 90 degree heat here and struggling while the people on the electric bikes ride by me without any struggle or exertion. A form of jealousy, envy or hate came across me as I imagined myself pedaling in the hot heat while seeing the guys or girls on the ebikes ride by me without having to exert themselves. It was a genuine feeling as I was lost in free thought at the time and not thinking rationally.
It really surprised me that I felt this way considering I love ebikes. But it finally hit me why so many people have had issues when I ride my ebike and why I read on this forum often about people making negative comments to people with ebikes. It is simply because they are jealous of the fact that when we use ebikes we are basically cheating. It is as simple as that.
You would think why don't they just buy an ebike or I rent the $10 ebike, well it isn't always that easy and sometimes there are barriers to getting them. In my case it is because I'm on a 3 or 4 month trip and specifically want to keep costs low backpacker style.
As I am on a multi month trip backpacking and am trying to keep costs minimal I notice many people rent bicycles instead of over priced local tourist rip-off transportation. I looked at how far I would have to travel and figured it is doable on a pedal bike. There are numerous places to rent pedal bikes here.
However, there is an option for renting ebikes here and cost $10 dollars a day, picture posted below. A normal biycle costs $1.00 for a older bike and $3 for a mountain bike.
This morning I was thinking if I should rent the electric bike or a pedal bike. The $10 dollars is on the high side for South East Asia, normally you can rent a gas scooter fror $5.00 a day or less. You see when you are here long enough you don't look at cost to what it buys you in your country, you compare, for a $1.00 it buys you a good meal in Thailand, or for $4.00 a night is the room I'm staying at in Siem Reap. You look at alternatives and compare. Weekly travelers with a bunch of cash this doesn't matter.
The big issue I have with renting the ebike is the range on these may not be enough for how far I wanted to go. I forgot what the guy told me the range was, maybe 50KM tops at 20KPH, but may have been 30KM. But you know he is overstating the range. It takes me 9 KM to get up to Angkor Wat and that is just to get in the area, so last thing I want to do is pedal this thing home. Boy do I wish I had my ebike with me and it's 2500WH capacity, lots of offroading fun could be done around here.
While thinking about using a pedal bike I imagined myself pedaling in the 90 degree heat here and struggling while the people on the electric bikes ride by me without any struggle or exertion. A form of jealousy, envy or hate came across me as I imagined myself pedaling in the hot heat while seeing the guys or girls on the ebikes ride by me without having to exert themselves. It was a genuine feeling as I was lost in free thought at the time and not thinking rationally.
It really surprised me that I felt this way considering I love ebikes. But it finally hit me why so many people have had issues when I ride my ebike and why I read on this forum often about people making negative comments to people with ebikes. It is simply because they are jealous of the fact that when we use ebikes we are basically cheating. It is as simple as that.
You would think why don't they just buy an ebike or I rent the $10 ebike, well it isn't always that easy and sometimes there are barriers to getting them. In my case it is because I'm on a 3 or 4 month trip and specifically want to keep costs low backpacker style.
