The sun beams down on me as wind ripples through my hair, my feet pressing on the pedals as I bike. These childhood memories flow into my teen years as my friends and I would bike around for hours, going from place to place, house to house, fueled solely by our own strength.
Now, the same paths we peddled on have turned into race tracks, one wrong turn away from a fatal crash.
The culprit? Electric bikes.
Each day, more and more kids whizz down sidewalks and streets on their high-powered vehicles, rivaling the cars they parallel. E-bike sales have skyrocketed. Where they once totaled 3 percent of all U.S. bicycle sales in 2020, sales have grown 4.9 percent, according to Statistica.
The assets of electric bikes are the reason for these sales. E-bike classifications consist of classes one and two which can reach speeds of up to 20 miles per hour, while class three maxes out 28 miles per hour, according to REI, a nation-wide retailer of traditional bikes and their electric counterparts. In some cases, this extra boost can be helpful to a rider who wants to exercise without strain or exhaustion, such as older or overweight riders. Additionally, for riders whose main form of transportation is biking, there could be a significant decrease in commute time.
Freshman Adrian Bodev gets to school via bike, and recently switched from a normal bike to an e-bike.
“My trip is 10 minutes faster now,” Bodev said. “I don’t think there are any cons [to e-bikes]. You go faster and get less tired.”
But are those 10 extra minutes of sleep worth it? The cost and injury risk that an e-bike comes with is not compensated by those 10 minutes. Not to mention, most kids like Bodev are perfectly capable of riding a normal bike to school, making an e-bike unneeded.
Over 20,000 people are injured while riding electric bicycles annually with approximately 3,000 individuals requiring hospitalization, and this is likely underreported, according to the American College of Surgeons. Out of these 20,000 injuries, head injuries occur the most frequently, and only a third of injured patients are reported wearing helmets.
Along with the high probability of injury, electric bikes come with another cost: the price itself.
Electric bikes can retail for around $1,000 and above, Alan Rubin, owner of local bicycle shop The Glenview Cycle, said. Those who are not purchasing these high-end vehicles often resort to cheaper electric bikes from Amazon, which result in a lower quality instrument with a higher risk for injury, Rubin said.
For those who reap the benefits of electric bikes this can be a reasonable price. However, if you are a child using it for recreational use or minimal transportation then this is a high price to pay. This is especially high considering the average bike costs anywhere between $100 to $500, according to ridespace.com.
There is an alternative to this costly and potentially dangerous item. A good old-fashioned, self powered bike. Electric bikes are frivolous, vapid, and unsafe. But most of all, they are simply unnecessary.
Skip the electric bike. The best ride is the one you power yourself.
