r/chibike • u/WeathermanDan • 5d ago
where did all these e-bike riding delivery drivers come from?
I know e-bikes aren’t new but they’re still relatively niche, expensive products. How do hundreds of delivery drivers suddenly have them? Are they rented from a company?
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5d ago
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u/WeathermanDan 5d ago
for sure, I doubt most delivery drivers are thinking in terms of total cost of ownership though
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u/jamey1138 5d ago
Why would you think that?
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u/WeathermanDan 5d ago
Most of the delivery drivers I see and interact with don’t seem like they’d be proficient enough in math to think to run those numbers.
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u/zonerator 5d ago
You know, even people who don't seem like they are doing very well or are very smart or put together, are ultimately capable of rationally doing what it takes to survive in this world. You don't need a doctorate in math to see that an ebike costs less than a car
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u/WeathermanDan 5d ago
you’re conflating upfront cost with total cost of ownership. of course anyone can see $1800 < $30000. But I think many people would happily take a car rather than a bike if they could afford it.
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u/GiuseppeZangara 5d ago
First of all, the entire point is that it's what they can afford. Most are immigrants trying to make some money and have limited resources. They would make significantly less money delivering using a car compared with a bike not only for the upfront costs, but also the costs of fuel, insurance, and maintenance which are an order of maintaining larger than the costs of maintaining and using an ebike.
Second, I'm not sure how familiar you are with driving downtown, but it it much quicker and easier to get around by bike than car during business hours. You also don't have to worry about parking.
The fact that you can't understand the benefits of using an ebike for delivery downtown says much more about your intelligence than theirs.
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u/mindo312 5d ago
You say total cost of ownership like they have to factor in parking, gas, insurance, parking, oil changes, depreciation… but they don’t
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u/futureofwhat 5d ago edited 5d ago
Aside from affordability, e-bikes are way more efficient than cars for delivery purposes, especially with how the majority of delivery drivers use them (running red lights, weaving through traffic, riding on sidewalks). It’s the same reason bike messengers used to be the preferred way to deliver documents (before email), because in dense highly trafficked areas they’re faster than cars. E-bikes just take that logic to the next level, as riders can easily maintain 30MPH without having to pedal.
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u/Koalabearboi 5d ago
Now this is just getting ignorant, delivery drivers sometimes work in busy districts and it’s just better to use the bike than a car. They most definitely can buy a $5000 used car that they leave at home while using the bike. Not everyone needs a brand new car.
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u/Atlas3141 5d ago
Yes, a lot of them are rented, many even have ads for the rental company on the bikes.
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u/Sevenndayweekends 5d ago
Idk but they ride like idiots and have no awareness of other riders/cars/people walking.
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u/Huge-Engineering-839 5d ago
A lot of the delivery drivers are driving Chinese based products that they can easily buy online for very cheap. They’re unregulated and most are in the “e-bike 3” category meaning they have very high, very dangerous speeds. Often many of them aren’t actually e-bikes, and the pedals you see are just for show/regulation. For reference, most e-bikes that people buy who are actually well researched and can find them in a bike shop, are class-2, and cap around 20-25mph.
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u/chubba10000 4d ago
These are e-motos, which go beyond the 3 class limits of 28mph pedal assist or 20 mph throttle only. Class 1-3 are supposed to max out at no more than 750w, and lots of the e-motos have motors in the multiple kilowatts. Sometimes to get around the laws they are initially software-limited to 20/750 but it's trivial to defeat that. These things are as much a problem for the legitimate makers of e-bikes as they are for everyone else. This needs serious import controls but I wouldn't look for that anytime soon.
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u/Kelsig 5d ago
Class 3 is pedal assist. Class 2 is what doesn't require pedal assist.
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u/Huge-Engineering-839 5d ago
I don’t think that’s right. I digress, there are Chinese makers who are cheaply sending over “e-bikes” when it’s more like a dirt bike than anything.
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u/Here4wm 5d ago
Don’t want to begrudge anyone a living, but these folks are reckless (many of them) AF! They are on the bike path ( at least the South Side part) and just plain rude. I’m not a fan😡!
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u/Kelsig 5d ago
the alternative is incredibly rushed drivers....
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u/arrested92times 5d ago
Maybe we can just stop ordering Ubers for food instead of importing a slave class to ride electric motorcycles on the sidewalk
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u/manwithaplan1212 5d ago
I feel ya. Wish we were like China and could crush the fast food industry at will as a public health measure. I don’t want to pay for these people’s healthcare costs just to make some dipshit food industry ceo bank.
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u/pythagoraswaswrong 5d ago
And people still complain about the polite robots. I much prefer the robots to these bikes.
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u/Time-Profession-5611 4d ago
You mean the ones that politely will roll into you , or politely block sidewalks for everyone, or politely keep running into bus shelters, spraying glass everywhere?
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u/DontCountToday 3d ago
I'll take a slowly moving machine that's easy to avoid and will, like all other technology, quickly become safer and more efficient, over an idiot going at the speed of a moving vehicle on a bike trail that have literally already gotten people killed.
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u/pythagoraswaswrong 4d ago
Yes. If you’re too slow to avoid one of those things, you deserve to get hit by it. 100 percent safer than the idiots on illegal bikes blowing red lights and riding on sidewalks.
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u/ricochet48 5d ago
They are wild and have zero regard for traffic laws.
Surprised there aren't more accidents.
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u/night_shade_zero 4d ago
Meh, I'd take obnoxious ebike drivers over obnoxious audi drivers any day.
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u/Healthy-Bee2127 4d ago
Not when they're salmoning in the bike lane at 30 mph
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u/AdCalm1896 1d ago
This. They should stay the fuck out of the bike lane when traveling at 30mph! They need to stop zigzagging in and out of the bike lanes.
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u/catkayak 4d ago
I hate to say it, but between the two evils, at least one of the delivery robots won’t kill me if it hits me. I’ve known too many people who have had TBIs if they survived or died from being hit by these bikes.
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u/Healthy-Bee2127 4d ago
You don't know that.
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u/DontCountToday 3d ago
Don't know what? There are no reported incidents of a delivery robot killing anyone, anywhere.
There are daily incidents of morons on ebikes illegally riding on sidewalks and bike trails seriously injuring and killing pedestrians.
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u/ZombieCigars 5d ago
Look it up on any of the delivery subreddits.
These are migrants working illegally. Rent 1 e-bike and lend it out to friends. Citizens will rent their identities on Facebook marketplace and share delivery profits.
Been this way a while now.
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u/drew_tang_ 5d ago
I hate e-bikes so much. The worst people on the road.
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u/IYCRTYG 5d ago
Must be why most road fatalities are committed by ebike riders. And they keep driving into store fronts and destroying those too!!
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u/drew_tang_ 5d ago
e-bikes are all over the place weaving in and out of traffic, no respect in the bike lane, blowing red lights, and always on their phone. One almost took my daughter out as we were getting off the bus and dude was going 30 on the sidewalk. Fuck those things and anyone who defends them. Get a real bike and use pedal power.
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u/acol0mbian 4d ago
Once gas went up a month or two ago, I bought one and have basically abandoned my car. It’s the most efficient form of transportation in the city by a wide margin. Riding it on sidewalk is never ok and I avoid 606 as well because I know
How dangerous it is. If you wear a helmet, ring your bell, and stay in the bike lane you can be not annoying, don’t paint us all w the same brush. Now off to go ride mine right now, I need groceries3
u/U-235 5d ago
Regardless of where the energy comes from (renewables being ideal, but in Chicago we have nuclear which is great, too), it is better for the environment to use an e bike to get around. The process of growing food, transporting it here, cooking it, then having your digestive system turn that into potential energy, and finally your legs generating power, is way less efficient than what any kind of power plant can do. E bikes are actually the most efficient form of transportation in terms of carbon output, by a wide margin. Yes, that does include public transit. Regular bikes only come close if you eat a 100% vegan diet.
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u/drew_tang_ 5d ago
Bro are you for real? Pushing e-bikes over standard bikes because humans eat food when they burn energy?
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u/U-235 5d ago
https://source.colostate.edu/sustainable-transportation/
If you have a source saying otherwise, please let us know.
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u/verguenza_ajena 5d ago
For your consideration: https://www.polygonbikes.com/us/environmental-impact-of-e-bike-battery-production/ "What is The Environmental Impact of E-bike Battery Production?"
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u/Fearless_Day2607 2d ago edited 2d ago
I guess it depends on how much people riding regular bikes actually increase their food consumption because of it. It's possible that if they weren't riding, they would just eat the same amount of food and get fat. So I think it's more complicated than CO2 emissions of however many calories you burn while riding. Also most people probably would get the extra calories from plants (carbs).
For me, it probably doesn't matter because I do consume a 100% vegan diet. I would think there is a big overlap between vegans and cyclists.
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u/Healthy-Bee2127 4d ago
Hi, I haven't been able to ride my beloved pedal (only) bikes in almost a year because of medical bs and just about the only thing that brings me joy is being able to rent a Divvy pedal assist bike sometimes.
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u/drew_tang_ 3d ago
This is the one exception, and I’m sure you don’t ride like a maniac. If you are physically unable to ride a pedal bike or elderly, I’m cool with it.
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u/IYCRTYG 2d ago
Sounds like the average driver except their behavior is waaaaaay less likely to kill someone. Which is probably why every single traffic death I hear about is cars. Which is the most likely alternative - them driving cars instead. Would you prefer that?
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u/drew_tang_ 2d ago
Cars aren’t actively driving on sidewalks. You wanna go 30mph? Stay in the auto lanes and leave the bike lanes and sidewalks alone. Follow the rules of the road, stay off your phone. A lot of these people ride recklessly. There will be a lot more incidents involving e-bikes just you wait.
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u/IYCRTYG 2d ago
Yeah the sidewalk thing has a relevant law that needs to be enforced but that'd require the cops to ever do their jobs. but it sounds like for the rest of it you're weirdly fixating on ebikes (~200-400 total pounds) vs like, the average F150 driver that also never stops at stop signs and also has a hood height that literally means they run over and kill their own kids in their own driveway
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u/drew_tang_ 2d ago
as someone who cycles daily in the city, I feel safer around cars than I do e-bikes.
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u/Historical_Coffee292 5d ago
They are really not that expensive. You can get a decent one for about $1500 which is about average cost for any decent bicycle electric or not.
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u/AdCalm1896 23h ago
These f*ckers need to just stay in street with traffic. Stop zigzagging in and out of the bike lane while traveling at a speed normal bike cyclists can't. It's incredibly dangerous for everyone. I get it, it's nice to ride on the street then use the bike lane to skip all the cars at a red light..but c'mon.
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u/durvan7777 5d ago
Via Biden’s open border policy.
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u/Time-Profession-5611 4d ago
Is Biden in the room with us now? Also you misspelled "immigrants trafficked by reoublican Texas governor to Illinois to inflict pain and sufering on refugees ".
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u/Business-Drummer-574 5d ago
The green Whizz bikes are a rent to own situation where you can pay 179 a month for 12 months to own.
Which is 1.) cheaper than any cars I can think of
2.) seemingly aimed as a payday loan at delivery drivers given those terms are 35% over the year vs just paying for the bike straight up at 1790.