This may be a first prosecution of an illegal ebike.

[drossall]

But the output is limited to 15.5mph

Well yes, I know. But a bike on which you need to change all the main e-drive components to increase speed is a different animal from one on which you just need to disable the speed limiter. And the speed you get if you do that will be determined by the motor's output capability.

[Cowsham]

But the output is limited to 15.5mph

Well yes, I know. But a bike on which you need to change all the main e-drive components to increase speed is a different animal from one on which you just need to disable the speed limiter. And the speed you get if you do that will be determined by the motor's output capability.

And you can push ( by pedal power ) an ebike beyond 15.5MPH ( I do sometimes with a fair wind behind me ) so you can't judge by speed alone.

It's 250w at the motor should be the only standard and if your bike does 40MPH it shouldn't matter a jot since an athlete could push a bike to that speed without motor.

[drossall]

But my understanding is that the motor should cut out entirely at 15.5mph? So the top speed of the bike is irrelevant for this purpose. Whereas the power you can get out of the motor is not.

[colyer]

I suppose this is too much to ask, but how about a few gentle instructions for pedestrians too, such as: 1) Please keep to the right side of the path (so bikes coming at you from behind pass further away)

Two or three years ago the absurd decision was made in Bristol to erect signs along their section of the Bristol and Bath Railway Path instructing pedestrians to keep left! On the few occasions since then that I've ridden into Bristol, I've found it to make life much more difficult.

Sadly the habit has now spread into South Gloucestershire. As I live (deliberately) close to the S Glos section of the path I ride it quite a bit (and occasionally walk along it). It makes both cycling and walking along there so much more stressful.

I would heartily approve of signs instructing pedestrians to keep right.

[axel_knutt]

How continuous does it need to be? Is 5 seconds enough?

5 is enough to get into trouble ... but I think most people would expect a "500W motor" to manage at least a few minutes at that power, or feel short-changed.

But I really have no idea, so feel free to educate me!

Continuous means continuous, 24x7.

It means 30 minutes:

The Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles (Amendment) Regulations 2015

"a maximum continuous rated power which does not exceed 250 watts.....
maximum continuous rated power to be determined in a manner equivalent to that prescribed by Regulation (EU) No 168/2013......
Regulation (EU) No 168/2013 defines “maximum continuous rated power” as the maximum thirty minutes power at the output shaft of an electric engine as set out in United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) regulation No 85."

Maximum power being defined by the temperature of the motor thus:
"For air cooling drive trains, the temperature at a point indicated by the manufacturer shall be kept within + 0/-20 K of the maximum value specified by the manufacturer."

[stodd]

How continuous does it need to be? Is 5 seconds enough?

Continuous means continuous, 24x7.

It means 30 minutes:

Interesting, I stand corrected.

I thought continuous (in the regs) meant continuous (in normal English usage); but I was wrong.

[axel_knutt]

Continuous means continuous, 24x7.

It means 30 minutes:

Interesting, I stand corrected.

I thought continuous (in the regs) meant continuous (in normal English usage); but I was wrong.

It seems a daft way to regulate to me, you can have as much power as you like provided that it can only be maintained for just long enough to cause an accident.

[CJ]

Continuous means continuous, 24x7.

It means 30 minutes:

Interesting, I stand corrected.

I thought continuous (in the regs) meant continuous (in normal English usage); but I was wrong.

That's probably as near as makes no practical difference to the same thing. I am pretty sure that that the test duration of half an hour is designed to be long enough to reach a steady-state condition, without adding unduly to the duration and hence the cost of testing.

[CJ]

It means 30 minutes:

Interesting, I stand corrected.

I thought continuous (in the regs) meant continuous (in normal English usage); but I was wrong.

It seems a daft way to regulate to me, you can have as much power as you like provided that it can only be maintained for just long enough to cause an accident.

Seems sensibly similar to how the human engine works to me. It's usually possible for a person to push much harder - for just a few turns of the pedals! The motorised speed limit is needed to ensure that this extra power isn't used to maintain a higher speed on the flat than an average (non-athletic) pedaller, but is limited to such essential purposes as overcoming a sudden increase in gradient, or starting off and accellerating out of the way of conflicting traffic.

Having recently (since my 70th birthday) acquired a rather sophiticated Bosch Performance Line assisted mountain-bike, I do appreciate the burst of extra torque it can deliver to get me out of difficulty. Since this is delivered at low speed however, it doesn't amount to such a lot of power (Power = Torque × Speed, that is Watts = Nm × rpm × PI/30), which is confirmed by the display - where I've never seen a figure much over 200W - and there's definitely no assistance over 25kmph. And that's fine by me, I don't expect this bike to do anything I couldn't have done when I was younger, just enable me to enjoy doing something similar. And that it does very well!

[Cowsham]

It means 30 minutes:

The Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles (Amendment) Regulations 2015

"a maximum continuous rated power which does not exceed 250 watts.....
maximum continuous rated power to be determined in a manner equivalent to that prescribed by Regulation (EU) No 168/2013......
Regulation (EU) No 168/2013 defines “maximum continuous rated power” as the maximum thirty minutes power at the output shaft of an electric engine as set out in United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) regulation No 85."

Maximum power being defined by the temperature of the motor thus:
"For air cooling drive trains, the temperature at a point indicated by the manufacturer shall be kept within + 0/-20 K of the maximum value specified by the manufacturer."

I think that 30 min is just the test time required to test the continuous power in accordance with the conditions and / or limits specified on the motor plate. ie enough time ( per size / power of the motor as listed in the 1971 standards for motors ) to let the temperature rise to it's maximum plus other factors to be measured then the power at the output shaft can be documented as the continuous power measured.

So I think you can take continuous power to mean just that but within the parameters listed on the motor.