Thoughts on eBikes

๐—ก๐—ผ ๐—œโ€™๐—บ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—จ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ. Iโ€™ve been researching electric cargo bikes with the intention of taking my kids on school runs and doing other fun stuff. Bikes give you some exercise, take up a lot less space than a car, and are cheaper to run.

But theyโ€™re not THAT cheap.

This one here is a Tern GSD S10. If purchased upfront with a whole bunch of accessories itโ€™s about $9,000. Who has that kind of money for a hobby?

Iโ€™ve actually been considering something similar at half the price. The Aventon Abound with accessories is about $4,000. Iโ€™ve seen the reviews and I reckon itโ€™s just as good if not even better. But thereโ€™s one slight problemโ€ฆ itโ€™s not street legal! It has a 750W motor but NSW legislation only allows for 500W / 25kmh motors. And even if you put a speed limiting device on the bike, the power means that it is still breaking the law. [Though I doubt a police officer would ever know your e-bikeโ€™s motor output.]

Anyway Iโ€™ve been agonizing over it. So many options to buy, all of them so overpriced or illegal, that the decision is too hard to make and I end up doing nothing. Iโ€™d rather save the money for a family holiday, or leave it in the mortgage offset account.

If I did get one, perhaps Iโ€™d earn the money back through some deliveries.

On a more serious note, I do believe that eBikes will become more common in our TOD precincts when families only have one parking spot and no ability to street park. When I walk around places like Crows Nest I already see bikes everywhere, and itโ€™s going to be similar if we end up with 20,000 new dwellings around four train stations.

As Mayor, Iโ€™d therefore want to try one out for an extended period and understand the infrastructure implications (similar to how I was the first councillor to get an EV).

If you search for โ€˜electric bike hireโ€™ thereโ€™s a few options to get a bike for the short term. One such provider is Lug+Carrie which is currently doing a half price eBike โ€˜trialโ€™ in Ku-ring-gai so Iโ€™ll probably end up with them. But Iโ€™d encourage anyone interested to do the research and figure out which provider gives the best value for your personal circumstances.

๐—ก๐—ผ ๐—œโ€™๐—บ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—จ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ. Iโ€™ve been researching electric cargo bikes with the intention of taking my kids on school runs and doing other fun stuff. Bikes give you some exercise, take up a lot less space than a car, and are cheaper to run. But theyโ€™re not THAT cheap. This one here is a Tern GSD S10. If purchased upfront with a whole bunch of accessories itโ€™s about $9,000. Who has that kind of money for a hobby? Iโ€™ve actually been considering something similar at half the price. The Aventon Abound with accessories is about $4,000. Iโ€™ve seen the reviews and I reckon itโ€™s just as good if not even better. But thereโ€™s one slight problemโ€ฆ itโ€™s not street legal! It has a 750W motor but NSW legislation only allows for 500W / 25kmh motors. And even if you put a speed limiting device on the bike, the power means that it is still breaking the law. [Though I doubt a police officer would ever know your e-bikeโ€™s motor output.] Anyway Iโ€™ve been agonizing over it. So many options to buy, all of them so overpriced or illegal, that the decision is too hard to make and I end up doing nothing. Iโ€™d rather save the money for a family holiday, or leave it in the mortgage offset account. If I did get one, perhaps Iโ€™d earn the money back through some deliveries. On a more serious note, I do believe that eBikes will become more common in our TOD precincts when families only have one parking spot and no ability to street park. When I walk around places like Crows Nest I already see bikes everywhere, and itโ€™s going to be similar if we end up with 20,000 new dwellings around four train stations. As Mayor, Iโ€™d therefore want to try one out for an extended period and understand the infrastructure implications (similar to how I was the first councillor to get an EV). If you search for โ€˜electric bike hireโ€™ thereโ€™s a few options to get a bike for the short term. One such provider is @[100063454519480:2048:Lug+Carrie] which is currently doing a half price eBike โ€˜trialโ€™ in Ku-ring-gai so Iโ€™ll probably end up with them. But Iโ€™d encourage anyone interested to do the research and figure out which provider gives the best value for your personal circumstances.
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