• abuttandahalf@lemmy.ml
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    8 days ago

    Batteries and motors are heavy. E-bikes might be unnecessary in Amsterdam but it extremely hilly places they make transportation by bike actually viable.

    • Jrockwar@feddit.uk
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      8 days ago

      No no, I fully agree they are necessary, I’m just making a different point. My point is about weight, not necessity.

      I also believe that EVs are necessary, and they’re much heavier than ICE cars, because batteries are heavy. This comes with clear problems - for example, pedestrian safety. What annoys me the most is that because all in all EVs are a good thing (or better than the alternative), we’ve accepted that weight and nobody bats an eyelid at the idea of a 2-ton car when it’s in fact an abomination.

      Bikes are not cars, thankfully, but 15 kg is not a light bike. It’s a light e-bike, but for it’s within 1960s standards for what a light “bike” should be. And if you’re a petite middle aged woman who carries her bike across 2 flights of stairs in the train station, being told that a 15-kg mountain bike is “light” is a bit of a middle finger.