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  • shalafi@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    I’d love one! By fuck me, I clicked a Lemmy link earlier and it was $7,000 USD. Did you want gears with that? Another $1,300.

    All for a bike that won’t hit 40mph, which is hella dangerous on the open road. Couldn’t move out of danger fast enough. Had a 150cc scooter, never again, 250cc or bust.

    But still, a gas scooter burns so little gas, I’d forget to look at the tank, had no idea what gas cost at the time.

      • fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works
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        11 months ago

        Chicken and egg problem for sure. I’ve been trying to convince my community/towns to try to build dedicated safe bike infrastructure for neighborhoods to schools at least. With the hope this can expand from there (plus more people just used to riding bikes!).

      • shalafi@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        That would be great! But I doubt anyone wants to put the $$$ into building a 30-mile bike lane on a rural highway out to my camp in the swamp. And that’s about the only place I go that really uses gasoline.

        We don’t all live in cities, and some like me, find the idea appalling. (Been there, done that my whole life.) I’m quite happy on the very edge of town, where’s there are plenty of rivers, woods, creeks, trails and swamps to explore. But I just can’t safely bike to those places.

        • frezik@midwest.social
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          11 months ago

          There’s a lot of FuckCars people who ask for too much. We don’t need to go completely car-less, and that’s an unattainable goal for a lot of reasons.

          Most US cities have <5% of people using bikes as their main commute method, and around 20-30% doing work from home. What can we do to get to 20% of commuters on a bike while maintaining WFH numbers? That alone would be transformative. Tons of cars off the road, and enough bike usage to demand city councils dedicate more to bike infrastructure.

        • cooopsspace@infosec.pub
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          11 months ago

          Obligatory “your 1% edge case doesn’t invalidate the point” comment.

          Many many many many people could bike if there was infrastructure.

          Again - it’s not a once size fits all solution. But you should still advocate for better bike infrastructure where applicable.

    • bassomitron@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      $7k for an ebike? There are tons of good options for <$2000. Hell, you can get budget models on Amazon for around $300.

      And most cities have bike lanes on city streets for a reason. However, if you need to commute to work that requires you traversing a highway, then yeah, ebikes are definitely not the solution for you.

      • maynarkh@feddit.nl
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        11 months ago

        When I lived in Eastern Europe, I bought a foldable E-bike for the equivalent of 500 USD from Decathlon.

        My commute was 10km one-way. It was better than the bus. The thing still runs after 2 years of intense use and 2 years of complete neglect.

    • arthurpizza@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      That’s like claiming cars are too expensive because you can’t afford a Tesla.

      I bought a wonderful ebike from REI for $1,300. You don’t need to buy the fancy luxury models.

    • RaoulDook@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      I just bought an E-bike with 40+ mile range for $275. 750W motor and 15Ah 48v battery bike with 7 gears, lights, an LCD, a cargo rack, and fat tires.

      It was a good sale

    • frezik@midwest.social
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      11 months ago

      I converted a bike I bought off Craigslist for $200 plus an $850 Bafang kit off AliExpress. Didn’t have any experience with bike maintenance beforehand, but did have access to a makerspace with a full bike bench (there’s some specialized tools for pulling things out). Didn’t have it completely working before winter hit–works as a bike, but the motor assist isn’t kicking in for some reason–but I still think it’s an option most people could pull off.