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[14 September 2006]

I have noticed that there's a certain amount of stratification in the bicycling community concerning engines:

,,,,,,,,You have purists who insist that adding any motor to a bicycle is just plain wrong, and that one should simply pedal a bicycle however far you need to ride it, no matter how impractical that would be to do, or you should not ride it at all. These are most-often upright-bicycle roadies however, rather extreme traditionalists and to them, anything that isn't a regular diamond-frame doesn't count as bicycling.

,,,,,,,,You have people using electric "assists". These people still have to pedal all the time as most electric systems aren't strong enough to move very far on their own, and they are limited even with pedalling so these riders stick to shorter ranges, under about 25 miles. It's often mentioned how great it is to "race" unaware people who have no [electric] engines and go faster than them. These people are usually recreational-only riders, a lot of whom like their electric engines precisely because they can use them where they shouldn't--such as on bicycle-only paths (but yet,,, they'd probably be the first ones to phone the police if they spotted someone riding a minibike or motorcycle on the bicycle-only path). ...Another thing I notice about these people is that by far, the most common questions you see about these electric setups is how to get more power and more runtime out of them.

,,,,,,,,You have people using internal-combustion engines. There used to be a fair debate on the 2-cycle vs. 4-cycle argument but now with 2-cycle bike engines being banned from importation into the US, the choice is already starting to be made for the consumer before he even pulls out his credit card. These people don't complain of any problems specific to the engines themselves that I notice; their main issues seem to be legal/licensing issues, and drive problems--mostly roller-drive units wearing out tires. I haven't seen any common complaints about the chain-drive or belt-drive systems.

A lot of these people concern themselves with building a bike that can exceed the legal power or speed limits. This is not much of a technical debate as there's a variety of ways to accomplish it, but the discussion is mainly of durability in choosing engines, transmissions and drive systems.

,,,,,,,,You have people who ride motorcycles, and who (upon seeing anyone riding a motorized bicycle) immediately assume that the reason they made that choice was that they couldn't afford a "real" motorcycle.

,,,,,,,You have people who would rather travel in a nice soundproof car, preferrably that has darkly--tinted windows. I shall refrain from making comments on this last group. At times a enclosed car is a great thing to have but it simply isn't always the most-enjoyable way to travel.

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