InTheRain

For me, I already had a nice carbon fiber bike... it was not my goto commuter. My touring bike was my goto commuter. It did a great job... a much better job than the carbon fiber bike. I loved the touring bike... it is now my e-bike and still my goto commuter. My commute really isn't about speed. My commute is more about convenience and being outside in a desirable environment. Adding a BionX to my touring bike just made my commute more convenient. Yes, it added speed, but that was not the purpose. I would be perfectly fine with an e-bike that had the 15mph speed limiter on it like they have in Europe.

When I ride for recreation (fitness or club rides), then yes, I take my carbon fiber road bike every time. It has a different purpose for me than the e-bike (commuting.)

InTheRain

I agree with you 100 percent. It's not even a set speed limit that is at issue. As long as you are going a safe speed for the conditions, there should not be a problem no matter what type of bike you are riding. The MUP's/bike trails are not heavily used in most areas where I live. More so within the city limits, but there are rural areas where you may not see another rider or walker for a few miles.

If you want to light it up to 30+ on your road bike in those areas... go for it. I've done it on my road bike. I've seen pacelines riding at those speeds on the MUPs in those areas. I've had them pass me. They were experienced riders. I didn't have a problem with it. Once that paceline gets to 20+ riders... I'm not sure that they should be on the MUP. Generally they avoid the MUP if they can... as do I, if I'm out for exercise on my road bike.

PatrickGSR94

A paceline should never be on a MUP, ever. That says to me "we're going to go fast no matter what or who is in our way, other MUP users be damned".

I happen to choose the street over the adjacent MUP when I ride alone near our vacation condo in Destin FL, because I can go faster and don't have to stop every few hundred yards. But it also happens to be where I received the most harassment I've ever experienced on a single ride in my life.

ItsJustMe

There are those intense purposes again.

I think you meant "intents" not "intense" - totally different meanings.

InTheRain

I understand where you are coming from. It's a good general rule. However, like i mentioned, there are some sections of the MUP that are scarcely used. It's a "rails-to-trails" and there are sections in rural areas that get very little use. I'd rather that they get used by pacelines than to think we built the trail for the handful of dog walkers that might use it on an occasional basis. I know that the people that are in pacelines using the MUP are only using it for a short section of their ride. It's usually to take a direct route from one rural road to another.

When I've experienced pacelines on the MUP, they have slowed down and aren't trying to ride as fast as possible through that section of the trail. Not only that, I haven't ever seen them cycling through riders taking turns pulling the paceline along. Just as with anything else, if they are being cautious and safe, I don't have a problem with it. I believe people on e-bikes owe the same courtesy to others using the trails.

350htrr

Maybe one needs not to be so intense and just go with what someone was intending...

Classtime 

Motorcycles need to be insured and driven by licensed drivers on roads. Motorcycles are not allowed on bicycle paths and therefore I would not commute on one since my commute includes more than ten miles on bicycle paths. When I was younger, I got ticketed for riding my moped without a license. I do not want the hassle of that for my commute and an electric motorcycle like yours does not go fast enough to be safe on the highway and goes too fast to be safe on the bike path.

Classtime 

E-bikes in California are not allowed on bike trails unless a local jurisdiction specifically writes legislation to allow them.

chas58

California state law specifically allows ebikes going 20mph or less on bike paths as of October 8th, 2015.

Specifically, they are allowed on Class I (bike path), class II (bike lanes), Class III (bike routes) and class Iv (Protected lanes)


High speed e-bikes (20-28mph) are not allowed on class I bike paths, but are allowed on class II, III & IV

PatrickGSR94

Sure are a lot of people getting butt-hurt over a bit of electronic power assisted riding.

ddeand 

I guess if I wanted to "motor" to work, I wouldn't waste my time on an e-bike. I'd go straight to an old BMW R60/5. If you're not going to pedal, why mess around?

caloso

January 1, 2016. In California, non-urgency regular session bills go into effect the January 1 following the date of the Governor's signature.

kickstart

To be fair, in my area there's plenty of room for everyone on the MUTs, and most pacelines are well behaved. On the other hand i would agree with you for MUTs such as the Burke-Gillman trail through Seattle, its just too crowded.

Sounds like a 2 miles stretch on my commute, 99% of the incidents I experience in a year happen there. I always ride the first mile on the sidewalk because its a 15% grade with no shoulder, but once at the top I get off as pedestrians and traffic dictate and/or allow.

No kidding, I don't even have one and I'm defending them. They don't cause me any trouble, they don't threaten my vanity, and I can foresee having one someday.

InTheRain

I thought they were pretty interesting from the first time I saw an e-bike. I thought I'd get one when I was no longer capable or riding a regular bike at an acceptable speed. Then I did a test ride a few years later. I loved it, but still didn't think I could justify buying one just because it was fun. Then, I had a child get her driver's license. She has to travel longer distances, and more often than I do, for school, sports, hobbies, and after school activities.

So, at that point we were looking at buying a 3rd car. I bought the e-bike conversion kit as well as a scooter for distances that I needed to cover a little faster than I could on any bike. I suppose I could have purchased a questionable used car for the same price - but then I'm back to paying for insurance, gas (I'll probably spend less than $30 for gas for the entire year on the scooter), parking, and maintenance. The e-bike/touring bike is my favorite way to commute so a 3rd car didn't seem like the best choice.

I'm an e-bike owner (and enthusiast) much sooner than I ever thought I would be. I don't regret it. I'm probably going to feel the same way about owning a fat bike someday.

Ridefreemc

Ha ha - me too! I fought it for a long time, but it just way too fun and way too convenient and way too cheap. It cost about $0.10 to get to a from work for the week on the Big Dummy with assist, vs. about $25 in my vehicle. I absolutely get to enjoy the ride through the woods and down the MUP to and from work as opposed to sitting inside the vehicle. It can be so hot and humid here in the morning as you literally sweat while you are pulling the bike out of the garage. The e-bike gets the air flowing over you and helps to cool you off. I estimate that pedaling at 18 mph on the Big Dummy is about the equivalent effort as riding without assist at about 10-12 mph. So, I still get plenty of exercise as I ride thousands of miles on an assisted bike vs. hundreds on my non-assisted bikes/year.

So, back to the arguments. In my earlier posts I was trying to get any of the posters that were against these types of assisted bikes to lay out their concerns, but there really aren't any that are legitimate when you are talking about a legal assisted bicycle. At least I haven't read any. The complaints seem to be mainly judgement (hey, you are cheating and should be riding so that you are getting in shape dude, WTF's wrong with you!? - I got this from a guy sitting on a bar stool in his kit, smoking a cig, and looking out over the parking lot to his car and bicycle/bicycle rack combo).

What I am reading (and hearing) are complaints about illegal bikes that fly past at 25+ mph, or are engine-driven (a motor is electric and an engine is gas), noisy and stinky. I ask that we all try and separate the judgement from what the real issues are. Otherwise, you will have people who really benefit from legal assisted bikes (fun, need, exercise - whatever floats their boat) shy away from them or even get unfairly sent away from the MUP and other places that they belong and have the legal right to use. In fact, my local group of bicycle advocates are getting really pissy about "their" MUP and are considering more restrictions. I say BS, as I rode home yesterday and in the 5 or 6 miles on the MUP I ran across maybe 10 riders (i.e., very low use). I think we need more like 100 or 500 or 1,000, and if some of them are riding an assisted bike then great! That is better than my community or employer having to pay thousands of dollars for one parking space and thousands more in upkeep, and consider the loss of the space to park a car that could be used for a park or green space or a bike lane. I could go on and on about the benefits of a bicycle over the alternative, but my main point is for us not to force a divide (split hairs) where one does not really exist. You are cutting your nose off to spite your face.

bmthom.gis

I completely disagree. There are plenty of riders in their 60s-70s+ who can smoke me on a ride.

baron von trail 

If I needed an ebike, I would just drive my car. It has a radio and climate control.

bmthom.gis

I'd be looking at a Workcycles if I had 2k to spend on a bike at the moment. For some reason, getting a dutchie has been on my mind lately. I have my (probably) first and last carbon fibre fred sled, an all 531 raleigh from the 70s, my commuter, an 80s Peugeot set up as a tourer, 2 mountain bikes for trail riding, a fully rigid mtn bike for city riding, a Schwinn Suburban for neighborhood cruising (that one needs a lot of work), a singlespeed hybrid/city bike, and soon to have a single speed cross bike. I need/want diversity.

I'm not overly happy with my rigid mtb and would most likely replace it with the dutch, leaving it at work for errands and lunch/pub runs.

PatrickGSR94

Man there are some steep stretches on my commute that I wish I had that option. 2-lane no-shoulder no-nothing climbing. Sucks.

That doesn't apply to most older people, though. Heck I'm only 35 and most people can smoke me.

bmthom.gis

A few people saying they don't belong on the MUPs, most people saying that they personally enjoy and would rather pedal on their own at a slower speed than have a motor helping them to go at a faster speed. Some people would rather take pride in personal gains they made through hard work over putting an assist, or worse - a straight up motor on their bike. The OP asked a question of personal preference, and a lot of us prefer to just ride a bike with only human power.

Not many of us care what other people do.

kickstart

The road I'm referring to is a 4 lane arterial that's also a choke point as there's a limited number of roads out of the green river valley. If the sidewalk wasn't an option I would need to take other routes that are significantly longer.
If it weren't for that mile of sidewalk, I would either be using an E-bike, or I wouldn't be cycle commuting.

Ridefreemc

Probably correct, but sadly we hear from the extremes most often.

Robert C

This thread is filled with people who cannot discern the difference between this:

and this:

PatrickGSR94

Yep, one brings far more joy than the other. Hint: it ain't the banana-wannabe behemoth.

InTheRain

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