Electric bikes are moving up in the world -- they're now receiving a breezy embrace from public radio. On a recent airing of NPR's All Things Considered, Senior Correspondent John McChesney featured the E-bikes and found out the difference between a fully powered e-motor and his own pedaling will.
His early verdict: E-bikes make him wheeze, but delightfully, and not as much as regular bikes.
In the segment, McChesney talks with a few commuters that fit one specific e-bike profile: older and slightly out of shape. One particular couple simplifies the attraction: E-bikes 'make biking possible for more marginal riders.'
As a couple living in San Francisco's Potrero Hill district (renowned for hills that attract biking masochists), they see their move to e-bikes as a consequence of the hardship of bike commuting -- it's too much sweat and a hard slog to do it every day after a hard day's work.
In addition, the couple mentions the 'shock pity' they were continually subjected to by bike enthusiasts and shop managers. Like we mentioned previously, hard-core bikers often scoff at the mere suggestion of bikes assisted by electric motors. But that’s just something people are going to have to get over.
After all, hush puppy-wearing hipsters have been seen hanging out aimlessly around Brooklyn bars riding these bikes, so it's only a matter time before everyone gets on them.
Source: NPR (All Things Considered) - Electric Bikes Remove Strain Of Riding
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