My Experience as an eBike Commuter

Earth Walker 2025

I’ve recently been made aware of some of the harms that are now being caused by ebikes, particularly the heavier, faster ones that are more like electric mopeds. It seems like a lot of people are forming negative perspectives on ebikes and people who ride them based on these harms, so I wanted to share my perspective as a longtime ebike commuter to provide some more information about the issue and try to counterbalance some of the negativity.

I can’t afford a car, and transit in Philly can’t always get you where you need to go, so biking is often the best option for me. I bought my first ebike in 2020, five years ago at the time of writing. I had been riding my non-motorized bike to school and work for a few years. Riding in Philly is tough, drivers can act aggressively and erratically, and there are some large hills where I live. I would often put my bike on a bus to get up hills, and that comes with it’s own problems as the bus service here can be spotty. But that’s a topic for another day. Having an ebike eased a lot of the difficulties with biking on the road, especially being able to get up hills without getting really tired and sweaty. I was going straight from school to work and vice-versa at the time, so I couldn’t go home to take a shower and rest after biking, I needed to be able to keep working. An ebike enabled this. It also allowed me to keep up with the flow of traffic better, which is safer than having people rapidly pass you all the time.

The first ebike that I owned was pedal-assist only, no throttle, and had a maximum speed of 20 mph. That’s about the same as a really fit cyclist with a good bike going at maximum speed (this is just a rough comparison). The bike I recently upgraded to has a maximum speed of 28 mph, which is a bit faster than a regular bike can go, but still not crazy fast. It has a throttle, but using the throttle will only take you up to 20 mph. You have to pedal to make the motor assist you to 28 mph. I feel safer moving at around 25 mph on the road because, again, fewer people pass me, and those who do are moving at a slower relative speed, which gives us both more time to observe and act in the situation. Both of the bikes I’ve owned weigh around 50 lbs.

I take my ebike on bike trails fairly often, sometimes as part of my commute and sometimes for fun. I typically lower my speed while on trails. The terrain can be rougher, and my bike doesn’t have a lot in the way of suspension. They are sometimes narrow, and there can be a lot of other people on the trail. Overall, I try to match my pace to the flow of traffic around me, on the trail as well as on the road. So I bring my speed down to better interact with other trail users. On my new bike, I typically don’t go over 23 mph on a trail. Sometimes I will speed up if the way is clear for a while.

I have tried some different tactics when it comes to interacting with drivers on the road. What I have decided over time is to act like a moped as much as possible. I stay in the flow of traffic, I don’t squeeze past people very much, and I maintain a safe distance between myself and other vehicles. Sometimes I will pass cars on the right if there is a big traffic jam and I can easily make my way around the cars. Usually I just wait though, even if I could go around. I’d rather be defensive and predictable so drivers have plenty of time to see me and act accordingly.

I’ve definitely encountered some weirdos on the road. Road rage is real, and it’s scary to experience as a cyclist because theoretically, anyone in a car could easily injure or kill you if they wanted to. Sometimes people honk at me from behind, presumably because I’m not going as fast as the cars and I’m slowing them down a bit. Sometimes people yell at me to get off the road, ride on the shoulder, etc. It wouldn’t be safe for pedestrians if I rode on the sidewalk, and Philly has few bike lanes where I live. There’s nowhere for me to ride except for in the road, which some people percieve to be “in the way”. I try not to react to these aggressive drivers at all, because I don’t think engaging with them is safe or productive.

One time, I was going down a hill in a residential area at about 25 mph, with a traffic signal coming up ahead, and a guy started honking at me. I flipped him off, because I felt that he was creating an unsafe situation. We would both have to stop at the signal anyway, so it pissed me off that he was trying to travel at an unsafe speed. He accelerated and swerved around me, only to to stop at the traffic signal, which seemed really reckless and stupid to me. He then got out of his car and started walking towards me, calling me rude names and asking if I wanted to fight. I just put my hands up to indicate that I did not want any further conflict. Fortunately, there was a city bus directly behind me, and he seemed to back off after realizing that people were watching the situation. It was a scary moment, and from that experience I learned not to do anything that could be percieved as rude or aggressive by drivers, even if they are being total assholes.

Another time, I was going down the same damn road, and another driver passed so close to me that their mirror hit my left handlebar. Fortunately, the mirror folded in and I didn’t lose my balance, but that was pretty alarming. A few moments later, we both stopped at a traffic signal, rendering her dangerous maneauver completely pointless. Another driver rolled down their window and asked if I was okay, opining that the other driver had behaved recklessly. I agreed, but I didn’t confront the driver who struck me about it. I wonder if I should have, but at that moment I was very rattled and just glad that I was safe, I wasn’t angry and I didn’t have my wits together to form an idea of what I wanted to say to the driver. We just kept on going without ackowledging each other.

Actually, one time I was hit by a car and fell over, that happened in Scranton. I was heading towards an intersection, and a car quickly overtook me and turned right ahead of me. I tried to brake, but I bumped into the side of their car and fell over onto the sidewalk. Luckily, I wasn’t going very fast and I didn’t sustain any injuries or damage. The driver pulled over and got out to see if I was okay, and started crying and apologizing. I ended up reassuring her a lot (“it’s okay, don’t worry”, etc.), which I have mixed feelings about, because it wasn’t okay, and she should feel bad about driving without paying attention and hitting a cyclist. I didn’t express that to her though, it seemed like she felt bad about it already.

I think it’s important for people to know what ebike commuters like me experience, so we can all have some empathy for each other and share the road safely. I understand that a lot of people who are riding ebikes who are not concerned with safety in the way that I am. Oftentimes, the bikes these people are riding are large, heavy and much faster than my bike, putting them more in the category of mopeds than ebikes. People riding these unregistered mopeds recklessly has resulted in some pretty serious injuries and even deaths in Pennsylvania over the years. We definitely need to figure out how to regulate these moped-like vehicles because they are a real problem. However, I don’t think people should conflate this issue with people riding ebikes like me who are using low-power equipment, riding at reasonable speeds given the context, and prioritizing safety while riding. Let’s not ruin a perfectly good mode of transportation (in many cases, the only effective mode of transportation available) because of some irresponsible people riding unregistered mopeds on our roads.