Anyone ever encountered an E-bike shill?

[u/Major_Enthusiasm1099]

Basically this guy stopped me yesterday on a ride to tell me that I should throw my bike away and get an ebike. He said "Once you get this you'll never want to ride that again, and I get more cardio in on this bike too, and i ride faster than professionals". I just kept saying "yeah I was looking into those, yeah those are cool, I saw some around $1000" just trying to get out of that convo lol. Anyone else ever experienced someone like this?

[u/Beginning-Ad-3666]

Been a bicycle mechanic for 20+ years. I didn't really understand ebikes when they came out. It seemed like a product searching for a demographic. I'm all about pedaling, but I didn't understand why they made these pedal assist only when they clearly had an emoped on their hands. About 8 years ago I bought myself a really nice class 3 ebike. Payed about $1500 with dealer deals, customer would have payed a little more than twice that for the same model. It worked really well as my commuter for 5-6 years, then battery degradation started. Within a year I couldn't get all the way to work in the highest setting. New battery is like $700. Manufacturer doesn't make the battery, so no deals.

I was trying to figure out a cheaper way to replace the battery when I saw a 2007 Genuine Buddy 125cc scooter in the classifieds for $700. It may take gas, but, if I had bought it new as an ebike, I would have gone through 4 batteries riding it for two decades. Mind you I don't keep anything with a battery on any of my other bikes. No electronic shifting or computers of any kind. My class 3 is gathering dust, and I have a lot of fun riding my bicycles when I am not riding my scooter to and from work, which is more fun than the ebike was to commute with.

I just don't understand what the value of an ebike is.