A Look at Electric Bikes and Scooters: The good, The bad, and the Speedy
By Xavier Orion Olaez
Electric bikes are a new phenomenon and are quite exciting. You’d imagine that everyone including the bike community would love them.
That isn’t true at all.
There are some bikers who aren’t a big fan of them for many reasons. To understand or know E-Bikes better click here.
I got multiple emails from people who use E-bikes for many different reasons. Some are for leisure some are ways of transportation.
Eric’s e-bike.
Eric Boyd sent me an email saying, “I work DoorDash and do custom e-bike conversions. I also build custom batteries for e-bikes . I believe we are on the cusp of an e-bike revolution. And I want to be part of it. I have decided to dedicate myself to helping make this technology available to all. Not just the affluent, the industry’s focus has been to make a better faster flashier e-bike. I think that we mean to work from all aspects of the spectrum, and we need to include people that have needs that aren’t met. Transportation should be considered a human right and fossil fuel community transportation shouldn’t be the only answer.”
Boyd continued, “I am working on a small conversion with a disabled homeless man. I am taking parts and pieces that I have in surplus and a motor that was given to me. I am going to put together a simple e-bike conversion for this man with a solar panel to charge the batteries. I know for a fact that personal mobility can be a game-changer in someone’s life. I really think that if we help the homeless the poor and even the drug addicts, I think if we take their personal transportation seriously that they will stop stealing our bicycles. I love bicycles. I think they are mankind‘s greatest denominator. There isn’t a person that you will meet that doesn’t have some fun memories with two wheels.”
Doug Nelson also emailed me and said, “I bought an e-bike last September to replace my mountain bike - a long story as to why I needed to replace it. I live in The Dalles. I ride my bike to the River Trail often to the Discovery Center. The ride back up (about 500 feet of elevation gain in a short distance) is possible because of the boost the e-bike gives me - I couldn’t ride up with my former bike.
With a lot of people using e-bikes like this, you would think everyone is for them and they’re great right? That’s not the case.
I went down to SPR Bike Shop in The Dalles and talked to owner Calvin Lepinski. I asked him if he sells e-bikes and what his thoughts are on them.
He went on to tell me that he doesn’t sell them, and he’s not a big fan of them personally. He thinks they make a lot of things hard on the biking community. They put a lot of restrictions on e-bikes for many different reasons. There are limits on how fast you can go with certain e-bikes and many people don’t follow those rules. They’re not allowed on mountain bike trails because it causes a lot of wear and tear on those bike paths. He’s worried that soon they won’t allow any bikes on those paths if the erosion of trails continues. He also mentioned that if one of those bikes is under $1,000, they’re not good bikes and he won’t work on them.
Electric Scooters on the Way?
The Dalles City Council heard a presentation from Bird, an e-scooter company headquartered in Santa Monica, about bringing rentable e-scooters to The Dalles on Monday, July 26.
City Council after hearing the proposal appears to be willing to move forward with a 1-year pilot program that would bring some 75 of the rentable electric rollers to town. Three scooters could be placed at 25 different locations about town, making them accessible to residents.
Bird has e-scooters in 200 cities in the United States and in 300 cities globally, according to Bird’s Michael Covato who made the presentation to council.
The Dalles Traffic Safety Committee has also heard the proposal and discussed it twice at meetings and voted unanimously in favor of it, agreeing to send the decision to City Council without recommendation.
Councilors on Monday asked for additional time to consider the program but also directed City Manager Julie Krueger to contact Hermiston and Pendleton which have agreements with Bird and have citizens currently riding the e-scooters. Councilors also wanted time to research minutes and confer with the traffic safety committee before making a decision.
Krueger is looking into an agreement or memorandum of understanding between the city and Bird in the event the pilot program is approved.
During the presentation, Covato explained that the e-scooters can be unlocked via smartphones and can be geo-fenced - or limited in where they will operate - to ensure that they are operated only in allowed areas. In addition, the e-scooter offers credits for users wearing bike helmets verified via selfie.
Top Speed: 15 mph - but they can also be governed to lower speeds for certain areas, such as trails if needed.
They are to be operated on city streets, complying with the same laws as bicycles.
Councilors are expected to make a decision on the pilot program in September.
The Local Impact, according to Bird.
