Even if that doubled my speed, 90 minutes each way isn’t exactly doable, and the weather here is pretty variable (it isn’t unusual for the same year to have at least one day each above 100F and below 0F).
I live in a city with that kind of temperature variability and I commute by ebike about nine months of the year since I can’t get studded tires for my bike and my route just isn’t safe without them. That said, I’m only traveling about 40 minutes each way (~7.5 miles) - I’ve done rides of 90 minutes each way and there’s absolutely nights I want to keep riding rather than going straight home, but there’s also nights I’m happy to get home and have a bowl of soup. That said, I know of at least one lemming who does that kind of commute but I think she lives somewhere with less extreme winters and I think it’d be weird to tag her for this lol.
Also at that kind of distance you’re looking at range issues if traveling at full pedal assist on most ebikes if you can’t charge at work.
… And this is assuming your car commute time isn’t due to traffic gridlock. Although I assume you’d mention it if you lived somewhere like that.
I mean depending on your state and what ebike laws there are you might be able to get an ebike that can go up to 28mph (again see your local states laws)
I mean, at that point you may as well get a motorcycle. Then you can keep up with traffic. Not ideal from an environmental standpoint, but sometimes you just gotta be practical.
Otoh, imo more people should focus their efforts on moving somewhere better, which allows them to reduce their dependence on personal motor vehicles. This is certainly the case for the above poster. Spending 3 hours commuting each day isn’t a practical solution for almost anyone. But spending the 2 hours you could spend commuting by ebike every day dedicating yourself to looking for different jobs, upskilling in your career, or searching for affordable places to live in more walkable parts of town is quite practical
Getting an ebike is cheaper and doesn’t require moving, on top of that depending on the area moving to a walkable area might require moving to a completely different state. Not everyone can just pick up and switch jobs, move houses, and just plant their lives somewhere else.
iirc, a fast ebike that can hit ~30mph will run you about $1500 or more. I got my current motorcycle off of marketplace for $1000, and it can easily hit 65mph. Absent dedicated cycling infrastructure, this seems like a much safer and practical option to me. I’m not saying there is no use case for ebikes, and I am excited to see them enter the used market - but for this particular use case at this particular time, an ice moto or scooter seems like a better tool for the job.
And certainly, not everyone can move at any given time. But as elucidated by the problems the above poster has, not everyone can afford 3 hours of ebike commuting at any given time, either. Again, I think ebikes are great and I want to see more of them. But they won’t be the best solution to all problems at all times.
However, the point I want to make is that making big life changes like moving (potentially to a different neighborhood, or maybe a different country) or getting a different job are options that people should be considering pretty consistently. If you are someone who hates commuting by car, spending 3 hours each day commuting by ebike in an auto oriented environment is probably not really going to make you any happier. You are now losing 2 hours of your day in order to enjoy getting buzzed by F150s, inhaling their diesel fumes. The solution this person’s problem is clearly to live somewhere that is less auto oriented. And that probably won’t happen next week. It might not even happen for a few years. But it is important to recognize that this is the end goal, and then to start figuring out a plan to achieve that goal, which will probably take the form of dedicating some time each day to things like releaving yourself of family obligations, career upskilling, researching other places to live, etc.
Taking daily steps to improve your life while being miserable, to me at least, seems like a better use of time than just being miserable, but on a bicycle.
Consider an ebike
Even if that doubled my speed, 90 minutes each way isn’t exactly doable, and the weather here is pretty variable (it isn’t unusual for the same year to have at least one day each above 100F and below 0F).
I live in a city with that kind of temperature variability and I commute by ebike about nine months of the year since I can’t get studded tires for my bike and my route just isn’t safe without them. That said, I’m only traveling about 40 minutes each way (~7.5 miles) - I’ve done rides of 90 minutes each way and there’s absolutely nights I want to keep riding rather than going straight home, but there’s also nights I’m happy to get home and have a bowl of soup. That said, I know of at least one lemming who does that kind of commute but I think she lives somewhere with less extreme winters and I think it’d be weird to tag her for this lol.
Also at that kind of distance you’re looking at range issues if traveling at full pedal assist on most ebikes if you can’t charge at work.
… And this is assuming your car commute time isn’t due to traffic gridlock. Although I assume you’d mention it if you lived somewhere like that.
I mean depending on your state and what ebike laws there are you might be able to get an ebike that can go up to 28mph (again see your local states laws)
I mean, at that point you may as well get a motorcycle. Then you can keep up with traffic. Not ideal from an environmental standpoint, but sometimes you just gotta be practical.
Otoh, imo more people should focus their efforts on moving somewhere better, which allows them to reduce their dependence on personal motor vehicles. This is certainly the case for the above poster. Spending 3 hours commuting each day isn’t a practical solution for almost anyone. But spending the 2 hours you could spend commuting by ebike every day dedicating yourself to looking for different jobs, upskilling in your career, or searching for affordable places to live in more walkable parts of town is quite practical
Getting an ebike is cheaper and doesn’t require moving, on top of that depending on the area moving to a walkable area might require moving to a completely different state. Not everyone can just pick up and switch jobs, move houses, and just plant their lives somewhere else.
iirc, a fast ebike that can hit ~30mph will run you about $1500 or more. I got my current motorcycle off of marketplace for $1000, and it can easily hit 65mph. Absent dedicated cycling infrastructure, this seems like a much safer and practical option to me. I’m not saying there is no use case for ebikes, and I am excited to see them enter the used market - but for this particular use case at this particular time, an ice moto or scooter seems like a better tool for the job.
And certainly, not everyone can move at any given time. But as elucidated by the problems the above poster has, not everyone can afford 3 hours of ebike commuting at any given time, either. Again, I think ebikes are great and I want to see more of them. But they won’t be the best solution to all problems at all times.
However, the point I want to make is that making big life changes like moving (potentially to a different neighborhood, or maybe a different country) or getting a different job are options that people should be considering pretty consistently. If you are someone who hates commuting by car, spending 3 hours each day commuting by ebike in an auto oriented environment is probably not really going to make you any happier. You are now losing 2 hours of your day in order to enjoy getting buzzed by F150s, inhaling their diesel fumes. The solution this person’s problem is clearly to live somewhere that is less auto oriented. And that probably won’t happen next week. It might not even happen for a few years. But it is important to recognize that this is the end goal, and then to start figuring out a plan to achieve that goal, which will probably take the form of dedicating some time each day to things like releaving yourself of family obligations, career upskilling, researching other places to live, etc.
Taking daily steps to improve your life while being miserable, to me at least, seems like a better use of time than just being miserable, but on a bicycle.