Why I didn’t want an eBike until I found Faraday
James and Megan recently got rid of their aging second car to buy a Cortland S. We caught up with them to hear about the thought process of getting their first eBike and why it was the best option for Megan’s 6-mile San Diego commute.
James: I’m a cycling journalist, I used to be a pro bike racer and now I’m a bike commuter. When my partner Megan started working a little closer to home, I was excited to introduce her to the best way of getting to work.
Megan: For me, the problem with taking a traditional bike to work was twofold: For one, I didn’t like having to show up in spandex and then change into professional clothes in the work bathroom (gross). I also had a very intense uphill on the way home from work, which I almost NEVER felt up to, so I usually ended up putting my bike on the front of the bus and taking it home. The whole process was just a bit too cumbersome. I probably averaged bike commuting two days per week on my mixte. At the same time, my car started breaking down, so we began considering an eBike as a serious option.
J: To me, an eBike made sense. I knew that she wouldn’t want to face an uphill slog all the way home after 8 hours of taxing work. But for Megan, all the eBikes we looked at weren’t what she was looking for. As a smaller woman, most models would have been impossible for her to lift up the stairs at work. They also cost more than the combined value of both our cars. Perhaps most importantly though, they just didn’t look right. As a professional person, image is somewhat important and turning up to a meeting on something that looks like a cross between a scrambler and a prop from Tron wasn’t going to cut it.
M: Looking for an ebike was discouraging at first. All of the bikes looked like they were made for burly mountain men, not a woman who has to stand on a stool to reach most of the kitchen cabinet. But then, I found the Faraday Cortland S. It was love at first sight! Here was a bike that fit all our needs: high-quality components, a manageable size, and best of all: it didn’t look like any e-bike I’d ever seen before. It wasn’t made for a burly mountain man, it was made for someone like me. It made me feel, for the first time, like maybe I could do this “eBike thing” after all.
J: Since getting her e-Bike in January, Megan has barely missed a day. Whenever she has to drive because she has an appointment out of the office I can tell it makes her sad!
Did you change from a different mode of transportation to get a Faraday or have another reason to ride that you’d like to share? We’d love to hear about it. Just email riders@faradaybikes.com.