Personal experience so this is confirmation bias. I love my eBike. I drive it nearly all year. Winter is the exception. It’s not the cold weather either, I ride it sometimes as low as 10°F (≈-12°C).
Where I am, road conditions are the problem. Snow plows push snow into the shitty bike gutter lanes, taking away that option. You could take your chances on the sidewalk, but the city doesn’t put ice melt down, so then you’d need to be weary of other pedestrians, slick spots, and other hazards that come with sidewalks. You could take your chances going further into the road, but now You’re dealing with potholes, drivers who want to get by you, and still potential for more slick spots. Not safe at all. Lastly, the bit of biking infrastructure which isn’t a gutter but a proper bike trail just isn’t tended to at all.
Cities say they care, throw down money to at least build something they call infrastructure, but actually maintaining it is something that normally doesn’t happen.
You should tell that to everyone using electric bikes during the winter due to it easing biking a ton during winter.
Personal experience so this is confirmation bias. I love my eBike. I drive it nearly all year. Winter is the exception. It’s not the cold weather either, I ride it sometimes as low as 10°F (≈-12°C).
Where I am, road conditions are the problem. Snow plows push snow into the shitty bike gutter lanes, taking away that option. You could take your chances on the sidewalk, but the city doesn’t put ice melt down, so then you’d need to be weary of other pedestrians, slick spots, and other hazards that come with sidewalks. You could take your chances going further into the road, but now You’re dealing with potholes, drivers who want to get by you, and still potential for more slick spots. Not safe at all. Lastly, the bit of biking infrastructure which isn’t a gutter but a proper bike trail just isn’t tended to at all.
Cities say they care, throw down money to at least build something they call infrastructure, but actually maintaining it is something that normally doesn’t happen.