Originally Posted by edwong3

A pedal assisted e-bike will make you into an athletic rider instantly. The motor adds to your own power and will make the pedaling so much easier and you'll be able to maintain those speeds for extended periods of time. Imagine as if though you had a really strong tailwind at your back or as if though you were pedaling downhill all the time.

Now an e-bike that will assist you to only 20 mph, is called a "Class 1" and if it assists you to 28 mph, then it is a "Class 3". In most jurisdictions here in the USA, you can ride a Class 1 on all of the bicycling infrastructure such as bike lanes, bike paths and in many cases, sidewalks. Class 3 however may be restricted to riding only on public streets and roads for the obvious reason of their higher operating speeds.

On a Class 3, some local ordinances make exceptions to allow you to ride on MUPs as long as you have the electrical assistance turned off and operate it like a regular bike. But check with the local authorities on this. E-bike laws in the US are weird. In your case, since your intention seems to be to ride with roadies, on roads of course, maybe none of the regulatory stuff regarding Class 1 vs Class 3 really affects you at all.

In theory, if you are a really strong rider, you can continue to pedal past the assistance threshold and go faster but that is challenging for most people. With a Class 3, I don't think you would want to go any faster anyway.