Extending life on the bike: Electric bike use by older Australians

Differences of Cycling Experiences and Perceptions between E-Bike and Bicycle Users in the United States

“…According to a Californian study, early adopters of e-bike technology are older, better educated, and have a relatively high income, which corresponds with similar results in Australia [13,14]. Meanwhile, a study conducted by Wolf and Seebauer [27] showed that Austrian e-bike users were more likely to have lower educational and income levels than the Austrian population.…”

“…With power assistance, many barriers to cycling are reduced or overcome, including increasing age, physical limitations, hilly terrain, a lack of time, and a lack of fitness or the perception of fitness that is needed to cycle [1,13,14,[19][20][21][22]. While power assistance makes riding easier, riders still gain some physical activity benefits by pedaling.…”

“…While power assistance makes riding easier, riders still gain some physical activity benefits by pedaling. Compared to a conventional bicycle, riding an e-bike requires less physical effort, which makes e-bikes attractive to people with a physical limitation or as a rehabilitative tool [6,14,17,23,24], and e-bikes can provide the extra help to transport items or children [12,25]. Some studies have reported that e-bike users had higher enjoyment and comfort [1,13,26].…”

“…Some studies have reported that e-bike users had higher enjoyment and comfort [1,13,26]. A few studies have also reported that some e-bikes can substitute for car journeys or become a replacement on the way to motorization [5,13,14]. One promising finding is that e-bikes may reduce the number of trips taken by cars [6].…”

“…In contrast, the western e-bike market has been driven, at least so far, by higher income and older adults who use them for recreation, some utility, and extended mobility [1,12,13]. Most European and North American research has been published in the past five years, and focuses on emerging markets, user behavior, health, and the effect on an aging population [6,[13][14][15][16][17][18]. Little is known about the different roles e-bikes and conventional bikes play in transportation.…”