MarcusT

It's not that the bikes cannot go faster than 25 kph, the pedal assist cannot function beyond that. Without assist mode you can go the regular speed limit
I have an ebike limited to to 25 kph and yes, I would like it to go faster (assisted), but those are the laws. Being in a democracy, I suppose I could campaign to change it, but I am satisfied with the law for now, not for me, but for the selfish riders who would place lives at risk because they have they have the need for speed.

unterhausen

do you think motor vehicles should have their speed limited? I do. I'm not sure how bicycles are more dangerous than cars, there are many examples every day of pedestrians being killed by motorists driving at illegal speeds. And nothing is done

fly135

No information here relevant to my point. I know everything you just said. The sarcasm is that going over the 25kph on any bike powered or not presents an equal risk to society. The penalty should reflect that, not if someone removed a speed restriction. Queue the argument powered bikes weigh more. Yes that's a point, but it's not a year in prison point. Being in a democracy doesn't always prevent outlandishly punitive ill thought out laws.

Leisesturm

I'm pretty sure there are as yet ZERO deaths of this type recorded. 100mph? Seriously? There is no such thing. I'd be surprised if anyone has cracked 50 mph on an e-bike! An e-motorcycle, of course. Most LEO, most people can readily see the difference between and e-bike and an e-motorcycle. Only on BF do I see this nonsense about people hotrodding ordinary e-bikes to go 100mph. In your dreams.

StanSeven

We can’t have political content in threads/posts outside P&R. It’s difficult not to have political content with a subject like this. So there are two options. One is keep posts non-political. The other is we close the thread or move it to P&R. Your choice.

Lawrence Rhodes

I agree that what you say is true. I complained about the ebike hotrodders (unicycle, skateboard, scooter with an electric motorcycle hub motor etc..) via email. Wrote back from a low level cop and said he was going to contact the eshare committe. I wrote back saying he was misenterperiting the law with the statutes and CCing the mayor and his captain. The Captain wrote back CCing everyone I had and more and said he was on it with extra patrols. I think they now know these aren't toys and under the nature of wolf in sheeps clothing that the ebike represents. This is the Future.;

unterhausen

That video "this is the future" doesn't look that bad. I have seen videos from people going much faster than car traffic on their ebikes, and the car traffic wasn't going slow

2old

There are guys on Endless Sphere that have pedal-equipped bikes that can go 50 mph easily and some probably much faster. M1Sportechnik has some VBLA(very-bicycle-appearing) bikes in the 45 or so mph range.

Leisesturm

And? What? How can this possibly be news. Do you get this upset when someone uploads YouTube video of guys getting over 50mph on downhill street runs in SoCal? A wipeout at 50mph is a wipeout at 50mph, regardless of whether an e-assist is involved or not. I gotta say I am more disgusted at all the hand-wringing on BF over e-bikes than the e-bikes themselves. Very shortly y'alls are going to really have something to worry about.

2old

I was merely commenting on speed, and don't care one way or the other. The individuals assembling fast bikes on ES are extremely creative and the M1 bikes are the best crafted ones I've ever seen. Neither is for me at this point. My commuter goes 33+ mph which is fast enough for me for now.

Leisesturm

The bicycle community has sent a resounding "we don't need no stinkin' e-assist" refusal to the e-bike industry. Adoption is very low. Shaming of early adopters is a thing. Prices are insane because of that low buy in. Standard bikes are impractical transportation because of the limits of human strength and endurance, but the inflated ego's of the majority of cyclists refuses to acknowledge this. Practical bike commutes are under 5 miles each way. A very small contingent of hard core bike commuters accept that riding for an hour to complete a 8mi to 10mi morning and evening commute makes good use of time. Even fewer kid themselves that they can do 13mi to 15mi each way bike commutes but in reality they don't manage that more than a couple of times each week. So we mainly continue to use our cars for real commute distances and to transport our bicycles to state parks and other off street cycling areas. Who am I. But, and I'm just saying. All this car use has a downside. It's literally killing us off. In about 100 years we will be all gone. In 50 we won't really want to be around anyway. All because of the insane over-reliance on cars for single person transportation. The lithium battery and mid-drive e-assist could literally have saved humankind from extinction but only a few really got it. Sad.

MarcusT

Sort of in agreement, but the ebike, shortly will out sell normal bikes. Most major cities in N America and all of Europe are embracing ebikes with a passion.
There is hope

unterhausen

I think that the problem is Americans can't force themselves to see the value in an ebike. Are they really much cheaper in Europe, where they are selling much better? My lbs wasn't selling ebikes, but now they have been because of customer demand. They still don't have any on the floor, because people want different things.

I reject the notion of ego, I don't want an ebike for recreation, just for transportation. It just doesn't match my idea of recreation, that's a personal thing. That's a bit like the time I rode past a kid riding circles in his yard. He yelled something like "mine is better." But it's just different, not better. And somehow, I was riding 130 miles that day and he was wearing a rut in his parent's yard.

jon c. 

Americans don't see the value in bicycles for transportation in the first place. E-bikes are more popular in places where people were already commuting by bike. The choice for many europeans is 'do I ride a conventional bike or a motorized bike?' The choice in the US is 'do I expose myself to weather and traffic riding a bicycle, or do I just keep driving my car?'

unterhausen

Yes, they don't see it as a car replacement. Even here in this hilly area, an ebike would be a good car replacement.

Moe Zhoost

My friend, who bought an e-bike specifically for commuting, provides me with a running total about how much money he is saving by not driving. He goes into great detail, even including the cost of charging batteries, which he offsets with solar cells. The direct value is indisputable; however it does not factor in such indirect issues about safety, possible theft, having to get out of bed earlier, weather, messing up your hair-do, having to change clothes at work, etc. Each person will assign a value (subconciously?) to each of those to bias the balance sheet toward the status quo.

unterhausen

My commute is either 5 or 7 miles, depending on how I want to go. 7 mile route is a bit more pleasant. It takes approximately the same amount of time to go by car as by unassisted bike. I'm pretty sure it would be quicker by ebike than a car, and I wouldn't have to pay for parking. If I were going in every day, there is no question I would have an ebike.

2old

I use my ebike for errands and it's at least as efficient as driving because I can avoid some traffic lights. However, wasn't feasible for the 20 mile commute because the freeway is much faster than the route by bike (possibly by a factor of three).

unterhausen

If everyone with a commute like mine in our town got an ebike, then my commute time would go up because there would be a parking problem. Good problem to have though. As it is, we have a huge parking problem for cars, which I always thought was weird in this rural place. 20000 cars trying to park at the same time is always going to be a problem