[i]there's nothing to say that the bike cannot be propelled without having to turn the cranks.[/i]
The one I rode could: I used my body weight on the singletrack (with the electric assist switched "Off".) Weight of the bike meant it accelerated amazingly well.
steve irwin - I was surprised at that myself in that link 'cos the fuller regs make it clear that the pedals have to be turning for the motor to work and all I have ridden work like this
http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/electric-bike-guides/uk-electric-bike-law/ - apparently throttle control is legal for bike sold before January 2016 - and also for those sold after that date provided they've gone through type approval.
[quote=tjagain ]that would count as a polite overtake from a racer
Oi!
But still no one can point out why the **** it matters if someone is riding one. It makes no difference.
Unless you are very, very insecure.
Some people are (k)*obs irrespective of where they are or what they're doing.
Consideration or good manners - call it what you like - costs sweet truck all; there are too many who don't understand that.
Entitled or ignorant peasants or something different?
met some guy riding a full suss specialized s works bike in the new forest the other day. His wife had one as well. nice chap but I don't get it, seemed a bit over-biked both suss wise and e boost wise.
He said he'd had it derestricted so it did 30mph. illegal I guess.
When I met him he was just contemplating riding up a steep mound. "just because he could and it was easy"
I sort of get it but I sort of don't. The Segway/ fun run analogy is a good one.
It's the same thing as buying a dog then getting someone round to walk it each day whilst you're at work to save you doing it when you get home!
DezB - aha, think you and your lad passed me and my lad on the blue switchback climb today. We were the pair in front of the solo bloke you passed. Looked like you were enjoying the demo bikes. I was in the park on both days - never seen it busier. I reckon e-bikes were the most popular demo by far, certainly from my view on the trails.
So are the e bikers going to pay for random restriction/power tests at trail centres?
you can quite easily knacker yourself just as quick as on a normal bike. Same effort can take ye much further. Pure throttle wouldn't last too long, particularly uphillbig yim - Member
Dez b, how's he ever going to ride hard trails on a normal bike if all he is going to ride is an ebike? Serious question.
How will he ever get fitter if he's not doing exercise?
Anyhow I'm with Binners serves ye right for going to a trail centre! 😆
Anyhow I'm with Binners serves ye right for going to a trail centre!
Though it does seem to be a lot of idiots all over, and thenakfully the more miserable and sanctimoniuos ones do avoid trail centres 😉
I do like the "limited to..." lot, most of the early threads were about removing restrictors, upping motors etc. hopefully modern manufactures are better at fitting the restrictors etc. to avoid further problem.
Nothing against them in the right place, makes a huge difference to the commuters around here as it's a hilly area.
i have an ebike, and i also have a codeine 29er, a mega am 650b and a full suss fat bike. im 65 and dont need to ride the ebike.i do approx 100 miles a week, not a lot i know. approx 30 miles is done on the ebike, so i am "earning" my e bike miles. i ride with some blokes a lot fitter, younger, and skilled than me on a tuesday and a thursday. i take the e bike on one of the nights, the more technical night, this allows me to ride WITH them and not behind, i cannot keep up otherwise. the e bike is great fun and is fun, and so are the other bikes. i did the tour de mt blanc on a mega, e are possibly doing it again soon, it wont be on the ebike. we are going to the peaks, that will be on a 29er, i am going to the lake district on my own, that will be on an ebike with a beeline, i will do twice as many miles and have twice as much fun. im not a bellend, and dont pass anyone on my ebike, i stay at the back like i usually am, but 2 yards behind, not a hundred yards behind.
bellends are bellends, which i would say most e bike haters are unless they have ridden one, then their comment counts, before then, to me, it doesnt.
I'm not sure doing something to confirm its a bad idea would stand up in court m'lud.
Perhaps we need a some kind of blue badge for disabled and infirm riders as most people are ok with them using powered bikes.
Lester +1
You know most people ride for fun, not fitness?
I don't actually think this is true. Maybe at trail centres but not overall. Anyway, the ebiker sounds like a knob, but then, we've only one side of the story.
And I'm in the motor assisted bicycle camp so long as they're legal. Which a quick browse of ebike social media says a significant number are not.
I was trying out a Haibike Enduro or something at work and never appreciated that when the assist mode cut out at 15.5 and you instinctively put more effort in you can get an EAPC up to 26 mph up hill very easily....
I don't think anyone has a problem with the less physically able / our octogenarian friends using ebikes. They're fantastic for them.
The problem comes when the younger and physically capable are attracted to them. They want the deregulated speed and that can exacerbate the inner hooligan.
The reason mountain bikers are, on the whole, nice to each other is because of the shared experience. They share the suffering of the climbs and understand what that's like. Ebikes don't stop that, but they do put one step of remove from that - and that's where the (small) problem lies.
I can see no answer. Ebikes, despite having perfectly legitimate uses, are always going to be more attractive to the hooligan mob than sweating and panting up long climbs - and there's bugger all that we can do about it.
The plus side is that the hooligan mob congregate at trail centres. The lazy-minded are less likely to be seeking out sweet sweet singletrack with ordinance survey maps (they probably can't read them anyway) so you know the answer - avoid the trailcentres on busy weekends 😉
I was at degla a few weeks ago, and met up by chance with a few guys who had e bikes, I was also on an ebike, mine hasn't been messed with and cuts out at 15 mph, there's had been messed with and could go as fast as the gearing would let them, I didn't ride very long with them, the speed they went up the 3 mile hill was just to fast for what I thought to be safe or sensible, they were going past other riders far to quick for my liking, they seemed an ok bunch but to ride de restricted e bikes at a trail ctr is not on
Yep. The temptation to derestrict (and therefore create unsafe situations) is massively tantalising and that's the worry. We don't need more idiots being attracted to our chosen sport.
There are, of course, nice and sensible ebike users. But the attraction they hold for idiots is huge.
But there's no solution. You can't put the rabbit back in the hat - and if you could you'd ruin things for legitimate / sensible users.
Yak -
DezB - aha, think you and your lad passed me and my lad on the blue switchback climb today. We were the pair in front of the solo bloke you passed. Looked like you were enjoying the demo bikes. I was in the park on both days - never seen it busier. I reckon e-bikes were the most popular demo by far, certainly from my view on the trails.
Oh yes! Cool, I bet we were polite and/or friendly 😀 (Actually, I think I said thanks to you, but not your son? Tell him thanks!)
Was great for the park - amazing weather for the 2 days. The final berms on the red have been hammered though. Crumbling away!
As for the popularity of eBike demos - yep, not something I'd contemplate buying (unless I had a spare £6K to buy me and DezB Jr one each), but to have a free go on them for a few hours was ideal.
The answer to folk destricting e bikes lies with regulation and manufacterers / retailers. Just make them hard to derestrict. Overall tho this is not really an issue I don't think.
I've not de-restricted my Levo and I don't think I will, it gets faster the fitter I get. Plus I wouldn't want to void the warranty by de-restricting it. I think it's quick enough already. I haven't been to any trail centres yet (I will) but hacking round the local woods is an absolute blast plus I'm still getting a good workout.
Anyway the op, yes he sounded like a bell end, he'd be the same on an old fashioned pedal bike, I wouldn't worry about it.
Perhaps if he went below a certain speed his bike exploded?
[quote=tjagain ]The answer to folk destricting e bikes lies with regulation and manufacterers / retailers. Just make them hard to derestrict. Overall tho this is not really an issue I don't think.
Easier said than done. You can hack pretty much anything and I doubt security against such hacking is high on the priority list for e-bike builders.
'degla is full of nobbers, unfortunately this one also had an e-bike. Probably drives a hybrid too.
aracer - you could make it more tricky tho and some retailers encourage it and will tell you how to do it.
Google mostly tells you how to do it tj
move the magnet on mine, its that easy 5 min job tops
Maybe E bikes at trail centres should be like dogs being allowed into places - only allowed if you can show you have a valid medical reason....
I wonder if it was the same bellend at a recent ebike demo I went to with some mates!! He was generally being a dick the whole time. He pushed past us on the trail shouting 'I'm on an ebike', as if somehow that made it ok. You can still slow down! Pillock.
only allowed if you can show you have a valid medical reason....
[img] 
[/img]
Easier said than done. You can hack pretty much anything and I doubt security against such hacking is high on the priority list for e-bike builders.
Out of curiosity, is derestricting a motorcycle still laughably easy?
Which motorcycles are restricted?
Most 50cc are restricted.
they are mopeds and not restricted as such but built to the legal limits. Would need a fair bit of tuning to get much more out of them
mopeds and [b]not restricted [/b]as such but built to the legal limits.
They are, in exactly the same way as e-bikes are. .
Could be built to go faster by the manufacturers, but to meet the legal limits they aren't.
But can be de restricted by the owners if they feel like it.
neal - but not by electronics - you have to tune them using conventional tuning ie new exhausts etc
neal - but not by electronics
Yes they are, plenty are electronically restricted. (Google "Electronically limited CDI’s")
some are restricted in other ways. Almost all are restricted in a way that's very easy to remove or bypass with simple tools (not requiring new exhausts etc) .
Mate's boy's Chinese 50 just required a module swap to de-restrict iirc. There was certainly no great application of tuning knowledge required.
You could try implementation of further regulation but who would enforce it? The police can barely patrol the roads let alone stuff like this and everyone knows it.
Which motorcycles are restricted?
Those with riders on class A2 licences was the example I had in mind
Was it this guy? Reckons his is capable of 55mph. But you'll have to fix it, to verify his claim. Got to be worth a punt at the princely sum of £1000. 😆
https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/electric-mountain-bike-5000watt/1240326744
😆 😆
Sorry OP, that might have been me 😳
Did I slap your fat arse on the way past? (if not it wasn't me, I always slap on the way up 8) )
comparing an e-bike to a motorbike might be stupid right now but in a few years time when they've got lighter, more powerful and the batteries capable of lasting all day; When you can open the throttle to power up loose stuff and power through bogs, ripping up trails: That will be the day when all bikes are no longer tolerated on footpaths IMO.
TJ: You could give up the fags and ride an ordinary bike to work?? Or are you just blending in with the other good burghers of Leith on their mobility scooters??? 😀 😀
[b]
[/b]That will be the day when all bikes are no longer tolerated on footpaths IMO.
I actually love you.
comparing an e-bike to a motorbike might be stupid right now
Yes. Yes it is.
but in a few years time when they've got lighter, [b]more powerful[/b] and the batteries capable of lasting all day; [b]When you can open the throttle [/b]to power up loose stuff and power through bogs, ripping up trails:
Illegal under current (and hardly likely to change) regulations.
That will be the day when all bikes are no longer tolerated on footpaths IMO.
You mean, like it is now ?
