Originally Posted by
Riveting
If you happen to plow into someone and injure them, you can be sure the authorities will investigate your bike's class then. If I were you I'd stick with being legal and get a Class 2. That's what I did. 350 watts and 20 mph of motor assist is fine for most people.
In fact I'd like to see Class 3 made illegal, there's no need for it, even on the streets, and can be dangerous especially for new cyclists that haven't learned about 25+ mph bike speed yet. Maybe even require a special license and test for Class 3 road riding? /rant
Class 3 is not your problem. It's above both yours and my pay grade to know why it exists. But, rest assured, it isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't this a thread about e-bike use on trails? Do you really think it's significant the difference between C1,2 or 3 or no e-assist at all, if a pedestrian is clobbered by a cyclist? When it actually matters is when the e-motor is rated in kilowatts and those beasts very much exist and this thread is beginning to get tiresome with the grumping about production e-bikes that may, or may not, be able to go 28mph.
Just because a bike is in Class 3 doesn't mean it can go 28mph! What it usually means is that it can go faster than Class 1 or 2 (20mph). There isn't any production Class 3 bike that doesn't require at least 150W of rider input to reach 28mph. That locks out 1/2 the people that might buy a Class 3 bike from ever seeing top speed on level ground. I'm 62 and if I'm motivated enough to want to beat that stale green, I can muster much better than Class 1&2 just with my own two feet for at least 10 seconds. Put me on a trail with peds and I could do plenty of damage with no motor in sight. Y'all are splitting hairs in this thread if you want to know the truth. The real issue isn't Class 3. It's the wisdom of allowing bikes on trails. Period. That is the real question. Do cyclists in the aggregate have the discipline and social competence to operate safely around pedestrians on mixed use trails? I wouldn't know. I personally do not bike on trails. I don't like to, and so I don't. If I'm on a bike, I'm on the street. If I hit anything it's likely to hurt me a lot more than anything I might hit, so I try hard not to hit stuff. I am sure there are bike only trails around.
What I know from seeing the odd bike on a trail I am HIKING on is that they usually CAN'T go very fast. Not even if they had 1000W onboard. The surfaces, the roots, the bends ... my completely unscientific, but informed, appraisal is that typical hiker/cyclist collisions take place at speeds much lower than even Class 1 or 2. To support Class 1 or 2 but be against Class 3 is just about being butthurt at not being able to afford the hardware. My e-bike has a 750W motor and is a mid-drive. It also has an unrestricted controller. I have no idea what it's top speed is. I don't even want to know. It's irrelevant. I will never go that fast. How many people have ever gone as fast as their daily driver is capable of??? It's a fair question. The average production sedan can hit 100mph on level ground, 120 with a slight downhill. Many can go much faster than that. For all the ragging on 'speeding' cagers ... really, how many of them have seen the far side of 100mph?
I have no reason to think my e-bike couldn't hit 40mph if I was that way inclined. Locked up outside of New Seasons with the other Yuba Mundo's and Surly Big Dummy's that also have mid-drive assists and are ridden by Gen-X mom's and Millenial Dad's with a couple of rugrats and a giant bag of dog food as cargo. Yah, about as harmless as it sounds. I'm rambling now. Maybe I've made my point, maybe I haven't but you won't be taking my Open Class e-assist away without a fight. En garde!