Should electric bikes go faster

[Grandad]

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/shou ... -thinks-so

Would you sign this petition?

[pjclinch]

No, I wouldn't/won't sign it.
I very much dispute the case for 20 mph feeling "natural"... maybe because I'm a trundly tourist for whom 15 mph is a good speed, but the main point is if it's easy to do 20 then people will, and when they have prangs it'll be with ~70% more kinetic energy than if they're doing 15. If the UK's idea of a cycle path was more like a typical Dutch fietspad then that might be fine, but as it is they're typically pavements with a sign saying shared use, and having lots of folk whizzing along those at 20 is in the realms of Not Terribly Bright.

Those wanting to go faster can get an electric motorcycle or find a good bit of downhill or do some training.

Pete.

[Nearholmer]

This has been argued about here before, but the answer to the question from me is “no”.

Assistance up to 15mph is plenty for most utility applications, and where it isn’t the rider is at liberty to move up to a moped.

For “sports” riders: pedal harder if you want to go quicker; you’re out there for exercise, aren’t you? (Cue big debate on “keeping up with my mates”)

And, my biggest issue with the idea: assisted to 20mph is too fast for paths shared with pedestrians, and many/most cycleways shared only with leg-cycles. It would lead to users being “skittled” off those paths, just as most cyclists were skittled off the roads by cars. (Cue big debate about “it’s the rider that’s the problem, not the bike”)

[Biospace]

The rate at which a battery will discharge increases rapidly when assistance is maintained over 16mph, so there would be a viscious circle of increasing mass for the assistance limit to be raised, unless range were reduced.

More batteries, more often would also be a 'bad thing' for the environment.

[Carlton green]

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/shou ... -thinks-so

Would you sign this petition?

I’ve no interest in e-bikes going faster and an interest in caping their speed. If someone wants a moped then that’s fine by me, just get a licence + helmet + tax + insurance etc. An electric motor on a push bike shouldn’t (be allowed to) risk making it into a motor bike.

[deliquium]

No, I wouldn't sign it either.

Assist up to 15.5mph is more than fine and dandy for little old me cycling on the flat.

One of my e-Bikes has a Bosch Performance Line CX 85Nm motor, the acceleration from standstill in all modes apart from Eco is scary and potential dangerous, just the lightest pressure on the pedals for just half a stroke and you can be a very long way 'up the road'. I've set up a custom motor profile to dial that acceleration right back when I just use it for on road riding.

I guess it's easy to understand why folks might be disappointed when the assist cuts out, having got to 15mph with barely any effort - and then boof! it's like hitting a wall. But presumably they'd feel the same annoyance if the limit was 20mph?

[mattheus]

The obvious reason for 20 mph - not mentioned in the CW article, or here so far - is to keep up with motorised traffic in all the new 20mph zones across the UK.

I'm not saying that is worth the increased "skittling" danger, but it seems worth considering.

[rareposter]

I wouldn't sign it because it's an EU regulation and there's a further complication that any change would instantly render all current e-bikes "obsolete" as riders wanted the higher powered option - unless of course there was a software fix to reprogramme them. Signing a petition isn't going to make the blindest bit of difference to the laws as they currently stand.

It's annoying on my e-cargo to get to 15/16mph and then suddenly have intermittent power; there's a bit of a knack to keeping it at around 15mph so the motor is giving full power but it's slightly frustrating for me (and motorists around me) to be going just that little bit too slow. I'd really like it up at about 18mph cut off

e-bikes in the USA are regulated to 20mph.

What would be a lot more useful is some sort of power cut-off on cars once they exceed the speed limit. It's insane that you can buy or hire an e-bike and be geo-restricted, speed restricted etc but you can get in a car and it's more or less a free-for-all. Yes there's enforcement like speed and traffic cameras but that allows you to commit the offence in the first place then (maybe, in the unlikely event of you being caught) to be punished. Hire / buy an e-bike and your actions are far more tightly controlled.

[slowster]

e-bikes in the USA are regulated to 20mph.

The petition quotes this as justification for increasing the limit in the UK. However, as the post in the link below shows, it's not that simple:

https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/thread ... ost-580717

[Nearholmer]

Could the petition simply be a stalking horse for easier import of US-spec bikes (they’d have to swap the brake connections over though, I think) or, more probably have arisen through a sort of transatlantic e-bike envy resulting from dialogue on forums between users either side of the Atlantic?

I’m afraid I’m very US-phobic this week, to go with my normal Russophobia, having accidentally stumbled into some really weird and rather scary culture war between US vegetarians and beef farmers on Facebook earlier in the week!

[UpWrong]

This has been argued about here before, but the answer to the question from me is “no”.

Assistance up to 15mph is plenty for most utility applications, and where it isn’t the rider is at liberty to move up to a moped.

For “sports” riders: pedal harder if you want to go quicker; you’re out there for exercise, aren’t you? (Cue big debate on “keeping up with my mates”)

And, my biggest issue with the idea: assisted to 20mph is too fast for paths shared with pedestrians, and many/most cycleways shared only with leg-cycles. It would lead to users being “skittled” off those paths, just as most cyclists were skittled off the roads by cars. (Cue big debate about “it’s the rider that’s the problem, not the bike”)

This. So I won't be signing.

I've just returned from a ride on my rear-hub drive, cadence sensored eBike. It's still cycling because I have to put the effort in as the speed limiter cuts in and to help the motor when climbing. If that wasn't the case then it wouldn't be cycling. Raising the threshold to 20 mph would increase conflict with pedestrians and non-E cyclists.

[a.twiddler]

e-bikes in the USA are regulated to 20mph.

The petition quotes this as justification for increasing the limit in the UK. However, as the post in the link below shows, it's not that simple:

https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/thread ... ost-580717

That's very informative. Just goes to show that the grass isn't always greener, and that we should be more aware of, and appreciate what we have at present. Be careful what you wish for indeed. Along with higher speeds could easily come the call for yet another category of e bike, compulsory helmets, some form of compulsory training, perhaps restrictions on higher powered two wheelers using cycle trails, etc. At the moment legal e bikes can enjoy the benefits which acoustic bikes have, perhaps higher power will just further blur the distinction between e motorbikes and ebikes to the detriment of the latter, inviting the heavy hand of legislation to get a firmer grip on what are at present simple pleasures. So it's a no from me, as a potential future user of e bikes.

As a lifelong motorcyclist I've seen the regulations on mopeds, sports mopeds, and modern pedal -less mopeds squeeze the joy out them for users as they became part of the highly regulated motorcycle training system. I would hate for that to happen to e bikes too, as electric motorbikes become more mainstream.

[stodd]

Another 'no' from me. All the reasons have been well argued above.

[peterb]

Here we go again. I won't waste my time signing the petition or making any further comment.

[ncutler]

No and No
Pointless: ebikes are fine the way they are.