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Comment by ambivalents | Hacker News Reader

I am excited by e-bikes and love riding them, but I'm not nearly as bullish. If you're single living in a bike-friendly city, sure. But I and many others have moved out of cities and often have to transport more than just our own bodies around. Roughly 80% of my rides include my dog (I take him to the park, to day care, to family outings, etc.), and I also appreciate the car as a second informal storage space - climbing shoes, first aid kit, and the like.

Basically, ebikes are great when you don't need much anything else besides your self.

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I have a kid and biking with him worked great in Munich, which has decent bike infrastructure (by US standards, mind blowingly good bike infrastructure). We didn't have a car, just an electric cargo bike.

It's true that there are certain compromises compared to a car, but a car has its own set of compromises (mostly cost + parking being more annoying in a city).

> in a bike-friendly city

also, many bike friendly paths don't allow electric bikes (sometimes not enforced and it will probably change in the future though)

Is this still really that common?

I don't know how common it is, but I have seen this on a multi-use trail system in Florida.

Legally in the Boston area nothing with a motor is supposed to go on bike paths. It was a law put in place in the 80s to prevent people on mopeds from using bike paths. The end result is rarely enforced from my own experience and from what I've heard from the local electric skateboard group there.

I don't know about Boston in particular, but in a lot of places these laws only apply to class 2 ebikes (ones with a throttle). Pedal assist often doesn't count, even though it's got a motor too.

I've read the laws, and that's the case in Massachusetts too.

I would say regular (analog) bikes are great when you don't need much anything besides your self. The wonder of the ebike is the fact that I can transport myself, 2 kids, picnic, toys, etc on one device. Granted your pup may be too big for even a modern longtail, I can understand you don't want to leave your best friend behind!

The article had people on cargo bikes doing the weekly groceries, and riding with four kids.

It's amazing how many people think bikes only work if you're a fit single person with no kids in a big city.

On some level they're aware of ebikes existing, or, y'know, the Dutch, but for some reason the thoughts of "the Dutch bike everywhere" and "the Dutch have children" never quite connect in their heads.

Perhaps I'm wrong but I did think the Dutch were quite fit when I was borrowing a bike and riding around in Amsterdam. I wondered if it was about riding bikes. Perhaps other parts of the country are different.

Sure, because the Dutch are champions of active transportation: rates of walking and biking are very high there, due to urban design that supports those things. People who exercise will be in better shape than those who don't.

That said, you definitely don't need to be particularly fit to bike there. The bike infrastructure is quite good, and yes it helps how flat the country is (though this is becoming less of an issue with the rise of ebikes).

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