I started bike commuting and paying attention to ebikes in 2021. They were a rarity then, maybe 5% if that of the bikes I saw on local trails/roads. They were so rare that I knew one guy at my university as ebike guy because he was one of two students I saw riding them around campus.
This year ebikes comprise about 15-30% of the bikes I see. Lots of families, old people, and commuters. For reference, the market in Colorado has reached the point where $500 buys you an entry level ebike and $1000 gets a reliable basic commuter. A functioning used car starts at $3000-5000 and you can bike here for like 340 days out of the year while taking the shitty bus otherwise.
It’s a super exciting trend to watch unfold. Each is a car off the road and someone now personally invested in expanding pedestrian infrastructure. This area is so hilly and windy that it sucks to ride a normal bike around, but ebikes make it such a pleasant experience that I’ve barely touched my car since getting one.
I love riding my electric unicycle in colorado
I’ve also noticed this in Florida where more than half the bikes I see are electric and many more people, though still not a lot, use the trails to commute. When school was in session almost every kid around here was riding an e-bike.
The last 6 months I’ve seen significantly more riders overall than in previous years.
The city of Denver has been offering ebike subsidies but means tested and in comically small quantities, like a few hundred at a time.
Locally, I sometimes see other ebikes, but see far more regular bikes. Might be a specific to the trail I use for commuting, which attracts a lot of people jogging and biking purely for exercise. I know when I went by my old college campus, it had a ton of ebikes. It’s quite flat here, so that might also lead to fewer ebikes. But summer often gets too hot+humid for commuting to work by acoustic bike unless you can shower there or you have a job where coming in sweaty doesn’t matter. We also get rain fairly often, including severe thunderstorms.
