Hi All,
Here on this site we own and ride our bikes for various reasons,quite a few to name,wheather it is due to having fun,a hobby,riding to work or even down to a physical problem we are still proud of owning one.
On the flip side of things where would you categorise yourself in terms of being addicted to your bike or bikes,that's in a positive way guys? For example do you enjoy keeping your bike clean after every ride,do you like to ride on a daily basis,do you like the fact that people look at you whenever you pass them by,do you enjoy adding or modifying your bike or even rushing to get home quickly,because of the beautiful sunshine.
The list can go on and on, if i was to categorise myself between 1-10 and 10 being highly addicted, i would say 8,because i enjoy riding and cleaning my bike on a very regular basis,and also making sure that every part of the bike is functionally working at it's best.
So,how would you all rate yourself,this could just mean something major or minor?
Mountainsport...
Interesting discussion..
I think electric bikes naturally appeal to hobbyist types and those who love their technology gadgets (I'm an addict when I come to gadget). Plenty of people do like to accessorise their bikes on here and add more technology, especially if it mean building or adapting things that don't already exist. Part of the fun of that that is in the challenge and thinking up new ways of adding more functionality to the bike, coming up with new ideas and ways of thinking about how e-bikes might work better. I'm one of those types definitely. I see electric bikes as progressive and a hobby in itself, as well as just a practical means of transport. It's amazing how much you can learn on here, and I love learning stuff from fellow enthusiasts and watching other peoples builds and projects.
Once you build one bike it's definitely addictive and hard to stop (for me anyway). I can see why some people here end up building or buying 3 or 4 bikes! I couldn't understand that when I first came here, and thought surely that's just excessive, how many bikes do you need?! But now I understand it.. just like with bicycles people have bikes for different uses, road bikes for touring, folding bikes for portability etc.. with electric bikes you might have ones for speed and power, or ones for lightweight, or just because you like the motor drive system or technology on it.
I don't often clean my bike and hate cleaning things in general! It's quite difficult though living in a 2nd floor flat. I don't have a lot of room for cleaning a bike properly and so have to use the stairway area if they get really muddy and time it when everyone is out at work to avoid getting in peoples way and making a mess. If I lived in a ground floor property (which I plan to soon) I will be cleaning it more regularly definitely
I'm lucky though that my bike rarely gets ridden in rain and so stays looking clean. In fact, people have commented on here how immaculate my 26" looked when I posted up pics and asked whether I even ride it lol, even after 200 miles on the clock.
I'm quite proud of my bikes and like showing them off and people looking at them..but at the same time, I sometimes feel guilty when I overtake people struggling up hills and so I often will try to hide the fact I'm riding electric and stay behind them until they clear the hill, as I don't want to look like I'm showing off!
I guess an electric bike can also be seen as status symbol in a way due to their perceived high value and luxury status to some extent..you feel like you're part of an exclusive club still in a way as bikes are very rare to see in my town at least. It's also a talking point and something some owners are proud to show off and talk about to people interested. When I go to the sorting office I get interest from the postal workers there.
Maybe if there isn't already one, we'll have an e-bike members club at some point with meetings in regional areas and annual national meet ups.. but do we really need one when this forum is pretty much like that.. one big community of friends with shared interests
Perhaps we'll see clubs emerge for enthusiasts for specific brands and models of bike in the future..like you have with cars.. I know the Cyclamatic has a lot of followers and there's a lot of threads about customising them.
