E-bikes are a fucking abomination. Other than people using them for commutes that are too long for a regular bike to be practical, which I can see, the vast majority of people I see on them should be on a regular bicycle, and look like they thought they can't manage a regular bike but figured they could "get back on a bike" with the assist. Apparently they don't know about gears. Then there's the batteries - usual issues there including environment and fires. Complexity and cost. Just fucking stupid all-around except like I say the one application.

Now, speaking of gears - I think modern bicycles are, as you say, an exception - the tech is great, like mine is around a $700 price point (in 2018) and has a carbon-fiber fork which still impresses me with its ride (feels like steel). And hydraulic disc brakes are the real deal, and hot dip chain wax, ahhhh. But back to gears - THIS is where they fucking annoy the shit out of me - the trend to one chain ring is so damn dumb. My bike was one of the last years to have 3 - and I do use them all. The website for the current version (Trek FX3) actually says, last I checked, "all the gears you need and none that you don't" but guess what it's missing about the top 3 ratios or so - and I do use those (I forget how it is at the low end). So they save a bit deleting the front shifter and a tiny bit on the rings, you end up with more cross-chaining/wear by definition, and you end up with less ratios no matter how they spin it (or bigger gaps in ratios if you did spread them out the same). Stone the bloody crows....

E-bikes are a fucking abomination. Other than people using them for commutes that are too long for a regular bike to be practical, which I can see, the vast majority of people I see on them should be on a regular bicycle, and look like they thought they can't manage a regular bike but figured they could "get back on a bike" with the assist. Apparently they don't know about gears. Then there's the batteries - usual issues there including environment and fires. Complexity and cost. Just fucking stupid all-around except like I say the one application.

Now, speaking of gears - I think modern bicycles are, as you say, an exception - the tech is great, like mine is around a $700 price point (in 2018) and has a carbon-fiber fork which still impresses me with its ride (feels like steel). And hydraulic disc brakes are the real deal, and hot dip chain wax, ahhhh. But back to gears - THIS is where they fucking annoy the shit out of me - the trend to one chain ring is so damn dumb. My bike was one of the last years to have 3 - and I do use them all. The website for the current version (Trek FX3) actually says, last I checked, "all the gears you need and none that you don't" but guess what it's missing about the top 3 ratios or so - and I do use those (I forget how it is at the low end). So they save a bit on the front shifter, you end up with more cross-chaining/wear by definition, and you end up with less ratios no matter how they spin it (or bigger gaps in ratios if you did spread them out the same). Stone the bloody crows....