Around half to a third of the e-bikes I’ve seen are illegal even under Class 3’s limit of 28mph. I can catch and draft 28 on a road bike quite easily. I know exactly what low 30’s looks like too. I’ve failed to catch people even with a tailwind when they had to be doing nearly 40mph. For reference, the fastest I have continuously pedaled on flat ground, came from a red light changing as a city bus was getting up to speed slowly on a long stretch of Pacific Coast Highway I dropped in and held 55mph plus for several miles in that pocket. An e-bike draft is not so efficient, but catching is not a problem even just a little over 28mph.
I bet this regulation is due to the wheelies idiots playing chicken with others.
yeah this is a place where i think perhaps this regulation is a good thing. us americans treat all bicycles like children’s toys when they’re accessible road vehicles. further, an electric bike has far more in common with a harley davidson than a kid bike, and the injuries associated with them bear that out
The average street legal motorcycle is something like 500lbs. That’s a lot more mass than most e-bikes, the heaviest of which are perhaps in the 100lbs range and most are less. It’s fair to argue an ebike that can go 40mph is really a motorcycle and I’d agree with that, but most e-bikes aren’t that close to a motorcycle in my opinion.
That said, I agree that some enforced regulations are going to happen so hopefully they’ll be reasonable about it.
It’s not the weight of the bike that’s the issue; it’s the speed. Motorcycles are unlikely to kill or even injure anyone other than their operator.
Glad I got an unlimited one already. I found the controller manual online and did a secret key combo that allowed removing the top speed limit. I hit 40mph going downhill with throttle only, no pedaling. But I don’t plan on doing that much as it felt scary.
Bicycles feel scary.
I use a HPV cycle and occasionally go upto 42km/h and it feels scary enough for me to start using elbow and knee gear.
Specially the geared ones feel like the chain might pop out at any second, making me afraid of putting full force.
