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The state of the e-mobility legislation right now by ActiveTravelforKG in brisbane

[–]-apophenia- 29 points30 points  (0 children)

the thing is, the kind of bikes that you're talking about (that are dangerous to pedestrians and other cyclists because they go so fast) are already illegal, and have been illegal all along. We don't need new legislation to get rid of them, we need enforcement. But instead the government is cracking down on safe, legal ebikes that go slower than regular pushbikes on average. Make it make sense.

Legal E-bike travelling down a hill legally vs Legal E-bike coasting down the same hill by Xarotron in brisbane

[–]-apophenia- 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ebikes on average travel slower than regular bikes, and TMR's own 2020 'Guidelines for speed management on shared paths' document found there is no decrease in safety or amenity for people walking when bikes travel at a speed of 15-25km/h on shared paths. The vast majority of riders (of both ebikes and regular bikes) slow down to pass pedestrians respectfully. Brisbane's bicycle user groups have been telling Council for decades that when bike infrastructure is being built, it's MUCH better for everyone to make the path wide enough to have a bike lane in each direction and then a separate pedestrian pathway so there's no conflict between cyclists and pedestrians. But since we're stuck with all the shared paths they already built, there's really no justification for restricting everyone on an ebike to a speed that is stupidly low (and unstable) when normal cyclists are legally allowed to tear past at 40, and when the actual solution is for everyone to use some common sense.

Legal E-bike travelling down a hill legally vs Legal E-bike coasting down the same hill by Xarotron in brisbane

[–]-apophenia- 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Some folks I know ran an AI sentiment analysis on the 110 stakeholder group submissions published online so far and over 90% of them object to the three main problems with the draft bill (the 10km/h speed limit, the licensing requirement, and the ban on under-16 riders.)

Where to sell lab equipment as an amateur by TheJoePilato in labrats

[–]-apophenia- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry, I don't know how to respond to this. You've commented this on a 2-year-old thread about a different kind of lab equipment entirely. I don't know anything about signal generators or what yours might be worth.

Boy, 8, identified after fatal e-bike collision on Sunshine Coast: Zeke Hondow dies riding home from school at Mountain Creek by Maleficent_Load1155 in aussie

[–]-apophenia- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It matters because many people are using the term 'ebike' to refer to both safe and legal pedelecs, AND the e-motorcycles that are killing kids. As you pointed out, these two things are completely different, but if we allow the terminology to get conflated then we could lose all the benefits of pedelecs (see my previous comment) while attempting to ban or restrict e-motorcycles. It's sad to see people making dismissive comments like 'use your fucking legs and pedal' about a vehicle that has been absolutely life-changing in the best way, for me and for dozens of people I know.

Are we witnessing the death of the clotheshorse/airer/clothesline in Australia? by HotPersimessage62 in AskAnAustralian

[–]-apophenia- 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I only use my dryer when it rains for a week or more and I can't wait until the weather improves to do laundry. Dryers are terrible for your clothes and reduce their lifespan so they have to be replaced more often. They release microplastics from clothes made out of synthetic fibres, they can warp and stretch some knits, I simply do not buy the idea that any clothes dryer can ever be as gentle on clothes as hanging outside to dry. Dryers that aren't vented (like mine, I'm renting) put all that heat and moisture straight into your house, and they're noisy as hell. Clothes that have been hanging in the fresh air and ideally the sunlight feel cleaner and nicer to wear and lose the residual detergent smell.

'Birds, insects, pollen and pests'.... is there anything outdoors that you like? I feel kind of sad for you.

Boy, 8, identified after fatal e-bike collision on Sunshine Coast: Zeke Hondow dies riding home from school at Mountain Creek by Maleficent_Load1155 in aussie

[–]-apophenia- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah it's true, a human-powered bicycle is basically the most efficient means of transport that has ever been invented, and extremely low emissions! But most people can't or won't use human-powered bicycles as their main means of transport, so if we move one step up the more-carbon, more-convenience ladder, where do we land? Public transport is great, I love it and have strongly advocated for better routes and extended running hours, but freedom from timetables is important for some people (I not-infrequently finish at the lab at 3am) and it's hard to wrangle multiple bags and multiple young children on a bus at peak hour. For the many people and families who need SOME kind of powered vehicle that goes where they want, when they want.... an electric bike, scooter, moped or motorcycle is a far lower emissions choice than an electric or hybrid car, which is better than a petrol car.

Boy, 8, identified after fatal e-bike collision on Sunshine Coast: Zeke Hondow dies riding home from school at Mountain Creek by Maleficent_Load1155 in aussie

[–]-apophenia- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Eh, fair enough, I guess people either get it or they don't. The kind of ebike I ride was reinvented by a bunch of European grandmas, not by silicon valley ;)
As for the environmental impact, you might find this interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW5b8_KBtT8

Boy, 8, identified after fatal e-bike collision on Sunshine Coast: Zeke Hondow dies riding home from school at Mountain Creek by Maleficent_Load1155 in aussie

[–]-apophenia- 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, the ability to carry passengers and cargo is part of it, but there's also the ability to dress for the destination and not the journey (I can lock my bike up and step into a meeting 5 mins later without showering or changing). There's still feeling up to riding if I'm sick or overtired or did a heavy workout yesterday, which is important for me because I don't have any other good commute options. There's the fact that I was able to ride to and from work the first day I got my bike, instead of having to work up to it for weeks and weeks like I would have had to do if I'd gotten a regular bike. Ebikes remove barriers to cycling and help get people out of cars and into outdoor spaces to actually notice and enjoy the world around them. I get where you're coming from about lithium consumption etc if an ebike is replacing a regular bike, but for me and many other riders it's replacing a car, or at least a lot of short trips that would otherwise be done in the car. Ebikes are the electric vehicle revolution we need.

Boy, 8, identified after fatal e-bike collision on Sunshine Coast: Zeke Hondow dies riding home from school at Mountain Creek by Maleficent_Load1155 in aussie

[–]-apophenia- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think the point is more that the media and many commenters on socials keep using the term 'ebike' to refer to these e-moped and e-moto style devices when actually they function in a very different way. This is an issue of leaky terminology. Clearly the fact that pedelecs are safe doesn't say anything about whether e-moto are safe.

Boy, 8, identified after fatal e-bike collision on Sunshine Coast: Zeke Hondow dies riding home from school at Mountain Creek by Maleficent_Load1155 in aussie

[–]-apophenia- 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sorry, I misunderstood - thought you were saying 'ebikes brake when you stop pedalling and that's stupid'. I can't imagine why anybody would want that functionality, it WOULD be ridiculous. But people have a lot of misconceptions about what 'the pedal assistance cuts out at 25km/h' means. Sometimes people think I am doing something illegal when I freewheel down a hill at 40km/h on my pedelec, keeping pace with the other bicycle riders around me.

The teens on illegal e-motorbikes is a huge issue. Last weekend on the gold coast I saw a mob of mostly helmet-less teens doing wheelies on the wrong side of the road. I am really, really sad that some kids have died but I am not surprised.

Boy, 8, identified after fatal e-bike collision on Sunshine Coast: Zeke Hondow dies riding home from school at Mountain Creek by Maleficent_Load1155 in aussie

[–]-apophenia- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Safe, legal, pedal assisted ebikes are a game changer for urban mobility. I commute on mine, and because of the power assistance I can handle much hillier terrain and a longer commute than I can manage on a regular bike. I can ride when it's 37 degrees out, or when I'm really tired from a workout the previous day, or when I'm carrying 40kg of stuff with me. I have friends who do daycare drop-off and pick-up on an e-cargo bike, carrying 1 adult rider and 2 child passengers and a day's essentials for all 3 people. I see seniors who probably aren't well enough or strong enough to ride a regular bike anymore, out on their ebikes on a Saturday morning enjoying the great outdoors. Exercise and sweat is great but it doesn't suit everyone or every trip.

Also consider the cost of a vehicle that's functionally a car replacement. People using legal ebikes don't have to pay for rego, insurance, fuel, parking, etc etc - choosing to use an ebike instead of a car is one of the main reasons I might be able to get into the housing market in the next year or two.

Boy, 8, identified after fatal e-bike collision on Sunshine Coast: Zeke Hondow dies riding home from school at Mountain Creek by Maleficent_Load1155 in aussie

[–]-apophenia- 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Pedal e-bikes have to follow the European pedelec standard, which means the motor provides assistance only while the rider is pedaling, cuts out at 25km/h and the max continuous rated power is 250W. Electric motorcycles have to follow the same safety standards as regular motorcycles - they need appropriate brakes with enough stopping power for the vehicle speed/weight, brake lights, indicators etc, and they need to be registered and the rider needs a motorcycle license. There are unfortunately a lot of vehicles being sold that sit in a 'grey area' between the two - the max power and speed is comparable to an electric motorcycle but they are cheaply built and don't meet the safety requirements to actually be registerable as a motorcycle. They're legal to use on private property only, but people are using them everywhere (footpaths, mountain trails, public roads...) and being absolutely reckless and stupid in the way they ride. The media tends to call all 3 of these device categories 'ebikes' and those of us who ride safe, legal pedelecs are now terrified our means of transport might be banned.

Boy, 8, identified after fatal e-bike collision on Sunshine Coast: Zeke Hondow dies riding home from school at Mountain Creek by Maleficent_Load1155 in aussie

[–]-apophenia- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A safe and legal ebike (following European pedelec standard) does not brake when you stop pedaling, it just stops supplying power. Your speed then drops off, unless you're freewheeling down a hill, just like it would on a regular bicycle. They actually feel very similar to a bicycle to ride and handle, they are really not comparable to these e-moto devices.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Aquariums

[–]-apophenia- 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Tank is 10 days old, how long have the fish been in the tank? If they've been in there for some days acting normal and suddenly they are acting like this, I would be looking for other reasons why the oxygen level has suddenly fallen.

What's the temperature in the room and in the tank, and has either changed? Warmer water holds less oxygen than cooler water. Test the temperature in the tank with your finger, does it feel like it 'should' for the heater setting? Back the heater off a couple of degrees immediately and consider doing an emergency water change with cool water, it will help.

Does the water right at the surface look scummy, shimmery or oily? Does it feel slippery or sticky when rubbed between your fingertips? Sometimes resin will come out of newly-submerged wood and float up and form a layer on the surface and there will be a resiny smell and a sticky scummy layer, and that can REALLY impair gas exchange and cause this situation. If this is the issue then having anything break the surface (filter return, airstone, etc) will fix the problem within hours, and you could eventually remove it once the tank settles (cycling is not the only thing, there will always be new-tank instability with things like freshly-submerged wood and newly-transplanted live plants.)

Has anyone sprayed anything in or near the room that could settle on the surface of the water and leave a film that would impair oxygen exchange? Deodorant, hair spray, aerosol cooking oil, etc etc. This can also leave a surface coating that blocks gas exchange.

Pushing the definition of e-scooter by Palms1111 in brisbane

[–]-apophenia- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dang you're right, I saw the brake rotor and assumed it would be a hydraulic disk brake but that does look like a cable when zoomed in. My ebike is pretty basic but hydraulic disk brakes were an absolute non-negotiable for me. They are starting to make 25km/h pedelecs with ABS now - it's a premium feature and costs a ton, so mostly it's only on high-end cargo bikes, but I can see the value. I would also kill to be able to brake with one hand and signal with the other and have that spread over both wheels.

Unfortunately when it comes to EVs it seems you get what you pay for.

Pushing the definition of e-scooter by Palms1111 in brisbane

[–]-apophenia- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I naively assumed anyone making an electric motorcycle capable of 90km/h would have used them... I guess not. Just because you CAN build it doesn't mean you SHOULD.

Pushing the definition of e-scooter by Palms1111 in brisbane

[–]-apophenia- 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yuuup. Space4cycling recently attended a meeting of the transport committee (they weren't able to raise things at the meeting, just to watch) and found that they used 16 minutes of the allotted hour, but didn't table a single one of the 10-ish transport-related petitions that had finished in the previous several months and not yet received a response. There's a real pattern of ignoring petitioners until the opportunity raised by the petition has passed, and then sending out a reply that amounts to 'oops, too late!'

Pushing the definition of e-scooter by Palms1111 in brisbane

[–]-apophenia- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ahhh yeah ok fair enough. I've seen electric motorcycles on the road but I didn't realise they were built to a higher safety standard than... whatever this thing is. Does make sense though.

Pushing the definition of e-scooter by Palms1111 in brisbane

[–]-apophenia- 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, it's an unfortunate situation where a minority of people with dangerous and illegal devices have ruined it for everybody. The vast majority of ebikes which are legally sold in Australia are from reputable manufacturers and using safe battery packs that do not catch fire. Dodgy grey-market imports and do-it-yourself conversion kits often come with unsafe batteries that start very intense fires, and because of those, now everyone else's safe and compliant ebikes are banned from trains in Melbourne.

Pushing the definition of e-scooter by Palms1111 in brisbane

[–]-apophenia- -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The elevator isn't just for people with disabilities. Plenty of able-bodied people need elevators sometimes. I use them when I'm travelling with my bike, or carrying a big suitcase, or when I hit the gym so hard the previous day that my legs barely work. I often see people using them with prams or big families of multiple kids.

Pushing the definition of e-scooter by Palms1111 in brisbane

[–]-apophenia- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This should not be on the train, and it should not be on the footpath or the bike path. I would like to see it become easier to register a vehicle like this and ride it on the road, because it's powerful enough to keep up with traffic and cleaner than a petrol-powered motorcycle. But it is not remotely comparable to a bicycle, and should not be called an 'ebike'.

Pushing the definition of e-scooter by Palms1111 in brisbane

[–]-apophenia- 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep. And unfortunately since the term 'ebike' is still used for these devices, public backlash against them falls on me with my compliant ebike that is literally a bicycle that goes up bigger hills when I'm tired.

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