E-bike speed restrictions (agree or disagree )

[Hamina]

No one cares, but I think that one must be a little stupid to take any orders from internet forum regarding how he/she rides bicycle.

 

[GrahamPaul]

But have you seen Susan Tully these days?

No. Give us a clue

 

[Gyre]

So for me, something more than 15.5 but no more than 20 would be nice. Given my Gen4 gently cuts at around 16.7 (indicated) I am arguing the toss with myself about the difference of a few mph.

If your gen 4 actually cuts out at 16.7, the real world difference is much smaller than the on-paper difference. Mine cuts out around 19.5.

 

[DrStupid]

I'm in the states and recently, out of necessity, converted my 29er rear wheel to a 27.5, without being able to change the wheel size in the motor setup. By my calculations I lost about 3 mph. I did not believe it would bother me much, but found out after just a few rides, that even 3 mph lost was pretty bad. I feel your pain.

 

[TEE]

Stop complaining in germany our ebikes only drive as fast as 25kmh.
The 32 kmh you are getting in the us feel much better and actually make way more sense i feel like the 25 is too slow for when riding trails.

 

[DrStupid]

Stop complaining in germany our ebikes only drive as fast as 25kmh.
The 32 kmh you are getting in the us feel much better and actually make way more sense i feel like the 25 is too slow for when riding trails.

No complaints about it, only sympathy; after 3 rides worth of a self-induced 27.5 kmh (ironic) speed limit.

I have decided to not judge anybody who modifies their privately owned bikes.

The 25 kmh limit, wrecks the whole experience, from my perspective.

 

[Slowroller]

In the states, we have transformer ebikes, with just the push of a button, it can be anything you want! ebike/moped/motorcycle.

LAND Energy

LAND - Connected Batteries - Software Defined Vehicles

landenergy.io

This is just vaporware atm, but there are other ebikes out there now that have multiple modes like this, with one being legal.

 

[Coolcmsc]

In the states, we have transformer ebikes, with just the push of a button, it can be anything you want! ebike/moped/motorcycle.

LAND Energy

LAND - Connected Batteries - Software Defined Vehicles

landenergy.io

This is just vaporware atm, but there are other ebikes out there now that have multiple modes like this, with one being legal.

Oh! And the e-bike mode, do these types of Transformer bikes have peddles that have to be used for moving the bike forward in the e-bike (27mph) mode with help from the engine only arriving with each peddle push? I bet they don’t, but don’t actually know…

 

[Slowroller]

Oh! And the e-bike mode, do these types of Transformer bikes have peddles that have to be used for moving the bike forward in the e-bike (27mph) mode with help from the engine only arriving with each peddle push? I bet they don’t, but don’t actually know…

Depends. Almost all have pedals, all have throttles, in the slowest (legal) mode, some of the bikes are pedal assist only where the throttle is disabled, some are not, it's just speed limited. You can even buy a pedal kit that turns your Sur Ron dirt bike into a pedal assist ebike.


Seems like all of the ebike only manufacturers in the US, not the emtb guys like Spesh, Trek etc, have ways to skirt the laws. The CYC kit Rob reviewed does the same thing.

 

[Coolcmsc]

Depends. Almost all have pedals, all have throttles, in the slowest (legal) mode, some of the bikes are pedal assist only where the throttle is disabled, some are not, it's just speed limited. You can even buy a pedal kit that turns your Sur Ron dirt bike into a pedal assist ebike.


Seems like all of the ebike only manufacturers in the US, not the emtb guys like Spesh, Trek etc, have ways to skirt the laws. The CYC kit Rob reviewed does the same thing.

Thanks… It’s interesting the way this skirts round things….
I have a few more questions - apologies in advance for showing my ignorance:—
What about helmets? Do you have to wear one in some modes in some states? In other words, does that requirement change whilst you’re riding along, just by pressing a button?
Also, what about insurance on what I’m going to call ‘ordinary roads’ (phrases like ‘public roads/tracks/etc can cause confusion between countries). Do you start needing insurance in some states just by pressing a button as you roll along?
Does the law change for that kind of thing for the rider at the flick of a switch?
Is there anything else that changes in some states with the speed limit just by pressing a button?
Thanks

 

[Slowroller]

Thanks… It’s interesting the way this skirts round things….
I have a few more questions - apologies in advance for showing my ignorance:—
What about helmets? Do you have to wear one in some modes in some states? In other words, does that requirement change whilst you’re riding along, just by pressing a button?
Also, what about insurance on what I’m going to call ‘ordinary roads’ (phrases like ‘public roads/tracks/etc can cause confusion between countries). Do you start needing insurance in some states just by pressing a button as you roll along?
Does the law change for that kind of thing for the rider at the flick of a switch?
Is there anything else that changes in some states with the speed limit just by pressing a button?
Thanks

Nah, everyone treats them like bikes, so no helmets, no insurance, no registration, nothing required. At higher speeds, like over 30mph, they're actually legally mopeds which laws vary from state to state I think. Until there are cops out there with radar guns no one is going to know though. The only problem I can see is that riders like us are basically invisible, we ride by a hiker and they're not going to notice we're on an emtb, or won't care because we're just like any dude on an analog bike. Someone zooms by on something that can zoom by though, and they'll notice and that will be their perception of what an ebike is, a little motorcycle with a dick on it. Which won't help us get more access here in the US.

 

[Redbikejohn]

My friend has recently bought a 2021 giant trance and we met for a ride in the local woods. We live in the UK so the bike is restricted to 15mph. I must say that I can out perform him everywhere (on my pedal only 2005 giant reign) other than long hills or starting short hills from a standstill. On a flat I can go quicker. On downhills leading to short uphills I can zoom up the other side quicker. In auto mode once the ebike hits the limiter its like trying to cycle through treacle. Going through a gate and starting a climb is where it excels and I can't compete. However at over four thousand pounds I must say its a waste of cash unless it gets derestricted. So I'm no superman, just a fairly fit 57 year old. 15mph limit is a joke.

 

[Coolcmsc]

My friend has recently bought a 2021 giant trance and we met for a ride in the local woods. We live in the UK so the bike is restricted to 15mph. I must say that I can out perform him everywhere (on my pedal only 2005 giant reign) other than long hills or starting short hills from a standstill. On a flat I can go quicker. On downhills leading to short uphills I can zoom up the other side quicker. In auto mode once the ebike hits the limiter its like trying to cycle through treacle. Going through a gate and starting a climb is where it excels and I can't compete. However at over four thousand pounds I must say its a waste of cash unless it gets derestricted. So I'm no superman, just a fairly fit 57 year old. 15mph limit is a joke.

I have a question.
Can your mate match your pace closely on your analogue bike on the same trail? We’d need to know that your mate could do that before interpreting your comments fully.

 

[Redbikejohn]

Well he can until I hit 15mph or more then he tends to stop pedalling as he's then working against the motor. If he switches it off its easier to pedal. On a short down and up I pull away. 15mph is actually very easy to achieve on a smooth track or slight downhill slope.
Do we want to spend 4 or 5k purely for to have a easier time on long hills? Nope we fan y having a right laugh in the local woods and tracks plus maybe trips to the mountains. Having a blast without the engine noise our enduro bikes used to make.

 

[Azimuth]

I would not go even near 10kph in a park full of people, but 30kph on open road is f**** booooring. I just want to do whatever I want without bothering anyone. I dont want to be limited by stupid laws and greedy people.

 

[Alexbn921]

I like to go fast. There is nothing on the bike that self destructs at 20mph. It's simply a lawyer sitting in a room saying how can we make these passable for bikes? I know limit the speed, done and done. Very little effort was spent other than picking speeds with nice round numbers that made them feel good.

I have done 60mph on my road bike and 50+ on my XC mountain bike on dirt, no motor needed. For road riding 25kph is a stupid limit and basically useless.

 

[2WheelsNot4]

Here's a wee thought, whats the stopping distance for a bike weighing about 50lb at 15.5mph, and what would it be if they allowed more speed.
There's going to be some such criteria on how they decided on this max speed, and it might just come down to that.

 

[GrahamPaul]

Here's a wee thought, whats the stopping distance for a bike weighing about 50lb at 15.5mph, and what would it be if they allowed more speed.
There's going to be some such criteria on how they decided on this max speed, and it might just come down to that.

I regularly ride my 50lb ebike at speeds well over 15.5mph. It's not derestricted, I just pedal hard!

Don't go throwing that kind of question around, or the next thing you know is that ebikes will have speed limits set, rather than just "motor support" limits. Too many idiots out there wanting to spoil all of our fun...

 

[Alexbn921]

Here's a wee thought, whats the stopping distance for a bike weighing about 50lb at 15.5mph, and what would it be if they allowed more speed.
There's going to be some such criteria on how they decided on this max speed, and it might just come down to that.

My ebike with super soft tires can stop in a shorter distance at 20mph then I can on my 21lb XC bike with micro knobbies at 15mph.

 

[PenSki]

Here's a wee thought, whats the stopping distance for a bike weighing about 50lb at 15.5mph, and what would it be if they allowed more speed.
There's going to be some such criteria on how they decided on this max speed, and it might just come down to that.

Absolutely not. There are so many factors to stopping distance. And rider weight is far more significant than bike weight.

 

[2WheelsNot4]

Absolutely not. There are so many factors to stopping distance. And rider weight is far more significant than bike weight.

I would say that all weight, as in combined weight played a factor.

 

[steve_sordy]

WOW - a Brexit dividend!! Not 100% sure I saw "Allow ebikes to go faster" on any buses, though.

Making our own laws was though. (Publicised if not actually on the side of a bus).

 

[Barbara_Reed]

I have bikes with all sorts of brakes, including one which I can only reliably stop by falling off. It's actually the lightest one I own. My usual bike has amazing brakes, there was even an option ( which I was too mean to pay for) for ABS. So it isn't just weight, type of brake and tyre come into it as well. Not to mention surface, and rider reaction time. Which said, lighter and slower will equal less damage to rider and pedestrian in a collision. We have mixed traffic areas (cars, pedestrians and bikes) in France limited to 20 kph. Nice thing about them is that bikes can legally be ridden against a one way sign. You wouldn't want to be rushing there even if you could, I hope.

 

[harrysmalls]

My BMX is brakeless. Hide yo' kids.

 

[Coolcmsc]

I rode a true ‘fixie’ for quite a while - I was young and fit Like a BMX, it didn’t have a brake (well it had a trivial thing on the front wheel that didn’t even slow it down, far less risk otb).
Going down a long steep hill full pelt was a bit like letting your feet get too close to the PTO on a tractor Getting round the corner at the bottom was a bit like Russian Roulette

 

[Mabman]

This came up in my feed today and I thought it made some good points in how stretching the speed limit can have effect on the movement as a whole.

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

 

[KlaasNorg]

I live in the Netherlands and there are a lot of ebikes over here. My frustration is that the older ebikes will go just over 25 kph with mostly old farts on it. Or a mother with 2 childs and 3 bags pedaling 25 kph. And then here I am on my sporty MTB with helmet and lycra having trouble to overtake those bikes trying to go 2 kph faster on my own power. So yeah I have a chip build in and am using it to overtake in these situations. My rides just got a lot more fun without this frustration.

 

[Jamsxr]

Honestly wouldn’t bother with an eMTB if it was restricted, well, maybe I would be waiting for the next generation of lightweight eBikes.

I pedal to my local trails so the 15mph limit just holds me back, and saps the fun out of some of the trails.

If I lived in the mountains it would be a different story, the motor winches you to the top and gravity does the rest.

A de restricted bike is also an amazingly effective mode of transportation. My car is often left at home in favour of my eMTB.

 

[Streddaz]

I think for single track trail riding a 25kph limit is plenty fast enough. We will start seeing trail conflict with other users if speeds get too high and the climbs aren't built for such speeds anyway. Maybe for commuting a bit faster speed would be ok but this is a EMTB forum so not an electric bike forum. Having bikes that can to 80kph or more will just end up getting Ebikes banned from mountain bike trails. There's already a whole lot of pushback in the US to allow Ebikes onto non-motorised trails, so it pretty selfish to push past these limits just because you want to. Just remember, that even though you bike has a speed limit, it doesn't mean you can't pedal under your own power past that limit.
If you only ride roads or fire trails that's different but even on cycle paths and shared cycleways we don't need people blasting past other users and making all Ebikers look bad. Electric scooters have a bad name amongst the community because of accidents and near misses with other users and that ends up in places where they are banned.
If you want to go really fact just buy a motor bike and stay off the mountain bike trails. EMTBs are for enjoying the mountain biking you would normally do but just make the climbing less of a chore.

 

[Streddaz]

Yes, and it's that kind of riding that will get Ebikes banned or at least, seen a menace.

Riding around swerving all over the place through pedestrian is not cool and your just being a dick. I've seen some of your other videos and you have no respect for others.
Cyclists get enough flak and it's people like you that give everyone else a bad reputation. You'll end up cleaning up someone one day and seriously hurt them and quite likely yourself.