Forum menu
top time trialists can average over 50kph for 25miles.
Should they be subject to a CBT test too?
No. there are speed limits, put them on the shared paths you keep worrying about, not the bikes or the riders
Should they be subject to a CBT test too?
No. there are speed limits, put them on the shared paths you keep worrying about, not the bikes or the riders
No, it's the same basic framework as works for motorbikes, you either take a full test or do a CBT ride around on a hairdryer (upgradeable to chainsaw sound effects if you fit a 'race' slip on can) limited to 28mph. I've no problem with people commuting on e-bikes, as you say I can sit at the same pace for most of my commute.
The problem with de-restricted e-bikes on cycle paths is they're generally ridden obnoxious ****s who've cottoned on to the fact they don't need a licence for them.
Seeing as we can't legislate against obnoxious dicks (that would probably be deemed eugenics and we've reach the conclusion of Goodwins law) then keeping the restriction on e-bike speeds seems like the best compromise (and hope that one day the police seize and crush the derestricted ones being ridden by dicks).
Well now there's a can of worms.
Would registering s pedelec open the door to legislation for all....
Or (and far more likely to happen ) would folk using derestricted ebikes where ever they like (as if it looks like a bike and smells like a bike then it's a bike right) more likely to get the heckles of the general public up and lead to mass legislation .
Personally I think all we are doing by letting fast ebikes onto natural trails especially in England with their poor access as it is -is giving the red sock brigade another reason to hate us/lobby for legislation .to ban all bikes.
As Mike said you want to go faster make your wee legs pedal faster.
Dude I can pedal my BMX to a faster max speed on the flat than my Emtb and my wee legs can definitely spin faster than most. Please don't offer me advice from Mick.
Who are these obnoxious people you keep going on about?
Are you sure this isn't just some sort of weird STW snobbery? Like when folk on here complain about chavs being able to wheelie when they have a £3k bike and haven't ever put in the practice to gain the skill themselves? The fitness/lifestyle snobbery on here is weird too. Is anybody actually being obnoxious to you at all?
not true molly.
there is a 25kph limit on most dutch cycle paths which applys to the mopeds and the electric bikes too.
Ok. But most of the ones I was on last week were full of mopeds going pretty quickly. Perhaps they are the suburban ones. I saw many signs saying they were paths for both mopeds and bikes.
Dude I can pedal my BMX to a faster max speed on the flat than my Emtb and my wee legs can definitely spin faster than most. Please don’t offer me advice from Mick.
In which case why do you want faster assist on an ebike? Not sure you have made a case for it other than faster better.
I'm with Geex, the Ebike thing will open the door to ALL bikes needing licence/tax/insurance if we're not careful.
and 15.6 mph restriction is an utter joke IMO! even 20mph on any bike isn't really fast is it.
@geex - yes I was obviously commenting on the assistance limit. Not sure what your point is there either, or about average speeds. Even I can average ~20mph over 100 miles, hit 50mph on road descents and >30mph on normal roads. Yes that's faster than a moped (CBT, tax, insurance, MOT, etc required) but an un-assisted bicycle seems clearly a different category to me. On the other hand your argument seems to say we should already put the same requirements on pedals bikes as mopeds.
I don't think anyone is being self righteous or vilifying ebikers. Being purely selfish I'd love a 45kph Scott e-Genius I can keep in my flat, chuck on the train, ride on towpaths with, commute on bike paths, and not pay tax/insurance etc. I assume you include me in "utterly clueless" but believe it or not I want to avoid normal pedal bicycles becoming more regulated. By insisting that fast eBikes be treated the same as normal bikes I think you are risking that.
I agree with your point that users of shared paths should ride at a responsible speed no matter how fit or wattage their chipped eBike is but that's clearly not what's under discussion.
Basically how is a 45kph eBike different to a moped in your view? in the eyes of the public?
Mick.
to help accelerate the 47lb bike on flatter gradients when it reaches normal bike sprinting speeds
FFS!
@Lawmanmx - why have electric mopeds not opened this door already? how have the Netherlands resisted pedal bike licensing despite having a 45kph category?
OK, just to be clear it's Mike not Mick......
Maybe there is an answer there with lighter bikes and more efficient stuff then you won't need the extra power/speed to get it going...
You'll always be Mick to me. x
42lb Lappiere looks interesting. Less powerful too. which I'd take a hit on for a bike even closer to a normal bike's handling. (and still prefer a 20mph assist limit). With the current Shimano, Bosch and Brose motors and 500wh batteries they're not going to get much lighter than mine for a 170mm bike. not without compromising strength/durability or using so much carbon it'd cost twice the price.
The important thing here is if E-bike threads are evolving?
The level of e-****tery is evolving, that's for sure.
The important thing here is if E-bike threads are evolving
Not at all it would seem, still polluted with folks that don't want ebikes, are too awesome to ride one, don't want a moped, are too fit and can pedal all day anyway, and some are just a bit scared that 15mph is too fast for them....
And Mick.
Well, I don’t think anyone has used the word cheating or mentioned Strava yet so that’s positive.
I can’t believe how utterly clueless some of you are, you’re so naive you’d actually vote for legislation to limit Ebikes and have them needing tax, registration and CBT etc…. and can’t even see how easily that would open the door for the same legislation to be attached to normal non motorised bikes.
The regulation / registration / labelling of e-bikes is completely inevitable and sensible due to their future importance in the urban environment and commuting. So don't worry yourself there - that ship has sailed. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to effectively advocate for ebike use off road so e-mountain bikers get a good and fair outcome when this legislation comes rumbling down the road.
That's certainly not inevitable, but it could happen if ebikers get their skates on. The English ramblers and equestrians will have already made quiet representation and sorted out the lines of influence - they already have the MXers in their trophy cabinet and won't be waiting on an invitation to go round 2 with electric bikes on bridleways.
Ok, so IF im paying for Tax Insurance and the like for my Ebike, then i want it fully unrestricted (as a motorbike) so i can use it to its potential, that way EVERYONE will be happy ... 'Right'?
Ok, so IF im paying for Tax Insurance and the like for my Ebike, then i want it fully unrestricted (as a motorbike) so i can use it to its potential, that way EVERYONE will be happy … ‘Right’?
As long as you stick to where other motorbikes are allowed, yes. Do keep out of the way of us cyclists though. 🙂
Only
There's no one in the woods I ride to actually Police this legislation you're suggeting is inevitable.
http://www.ktmfreeride-e.com/en
there is even an e-park to ride it in
Nobody will give a shit about chipping it there...
Oh man that looks Amazing 😀 you none ebikers would take a month of pissing and moaning to get round that, Lol
What about the evolution of the fitness and physiques of the bikers who swap to ebikes? 😉
Strava
cheating
Do 3 times the descending you do now on a 50lb bike and you'll be buff as me in no time Vicky.
Seriously though, Just holding manuals and hopping stuff will increase your core strength compared to the same basic maneovers on a normal bike, whipping one about and popping off everything making shapes even more so. I've always been upperbody strong but now when I ride my normal bikes at first they feel crazy light to jump, hop, manny... then when you tone back into them they're just ridiculously easy to manipulate with anything you use upper body strength for really.
My leg fitness has never really needed any help but let's face it climbing a normal mtb for hours is dull AF
My cardio fitness goes up and down but that's more to do with my rockstar lifestyle than whether the bike I've been riding has a motor or not.
Nah riding a bear is where it's at for getting strong
Geex- how do you know whether I’m not as buff as you?! 😆
I did 7 full days of mostly (but not totally) downhill riding in the Alps in July and it did improve my strength but I think it was pedalling a fs mountain bike uphill at altitude that helped my fitness more. Not sure you can essentially just do away with climbing and expect to maintain your fitness.
enough with the flirting already
I’m not flirting- see my edit above for further explanation 😄
Thanks for the answers to my bit, he bought it.
We'll have his HT ebike up for sale tomorrow in classifieds
You wouldn't noticably lose any fitness with 7 days off the bike Vicky
Ooh... get me. Now I'm the one doing the flirting 😉
[Edit] I don't cmpletely sack off pedalling uphill, not even when I'm in the alps on a DH holiday with only a DH bike. What makes you think I do on any bike?
You may be an exception Geex, but most of the e-bikers that I see are not putting much effort into their climbing.
read back a few pages.
you know you want to. 😉
Strava
cheating
Why I oughta ........
There's a KTM Freeride E park on top of the Areitbahn at Zell Am See.
Good fun, the bikes obviously have good acceleration but they're not a patch on a proper enduro yet. They'll get there though.
As Vicky says, geex may be the exception, but the vast majority of those on eBikes are not putting as much effort into the ride as those posting here would have you believe .....
The majority of those on eBikes are overweight and have no technical ability when it comes to descending.
Recently riding with a French mate hitting Little Champery in Finale. On the ~300m climb we were keeping up with others climbing on eBikes, admittedly they may have only been in eco mode, but they certainly weren't getting in more runs than me and my mate that day. 💪
Oh, it's all Geex, Geex, Geex
I'm pretty studly and buff too you know.
The majority of those on eBikes are overweight and have no technical ability when it comes to descending.
Get your arse down to Leogang in 2 weeks and we'll compare times on the WC DH.
I tend to agree with you Alpin about a lot of Ebike riders not being the fittest or most skilled or most likely to be putting in a big effort... but as you've realised it doesn't mean all of us are like that. But who cares if we all were? there are plenty shit, slow unfit, lazy riders on all sorts of non-Ebikes too.
One thing I have found. Almost all the technically skilled/faster gravity riders I know who I'd love to be riding Ebikes with are all holding back and not wanting to buy an Ebike (yet). it's something I hear far too much... When I'm older... If I can't ride a normal bike anymore.. .etc.
Being honest if I was 20 again now I'd still be buying the same Ebike I have now (to compliment my other bikes) to use instead of the 15 years or so I spent pushing DH bikes up hills 2 or 3 times a week.
TBF When I get a new bike I tend to ride the shit out of it for a month or two and really gel with it while my other bikes get used slightly less for a while. I wouldn't have thought this was too unusual? With my Ebike there was slighlty more to learn. like how to get it to handle as close to an ordinary bike as possible, how to make it playful rather than a plower (I hate riding like that!), how to get scrubs/whips/tables/wheelies and manuals dialed like a normal bike how much pre-load was needed to manual or boost it off lips. Not to mention the whole novelty of the motor assist and when/how to use it. I'm completely used to everything about the bike now and can ride it as fast and with as much style as my incredibly closely spec'd 16lb lighter enduro bike. I'm used to all it's differences now and switch imediately back to my other bikes in the same way I always do with them all. I'm now completely over my Ebike being a new thing and since the the novelty value wore off it's just another bike with different advantages and negatives just like any other bike. In use it compliments my other bikes nicely. it doesn't replace any of them. it's obviously not going to be as good as my roadbike or race BMX or 4X bike or Enduro bike or slopestyle or dirtjump or DH bikes for what they're specifically designed for. If I'm cycling 20 miles on the road my road bike is the obvious choice but I've ridden a BMX and DH bike stood up that sort of distance on road before, just 'coz. I also wheelie and bunny hop my roadbike because why not? Skills wise you don't stop progressing because you buy an Ebike, Roadbike, fatbike or god forbid a gravel bike. You stop progressing if you stop pushing your riding skills, hitting stuff that gives you a buzz or mixing it up and playing with lines/terrain. I'm sure some bike riders (E or normal) may have no interest in progressing and that's absolutely fine too.
Back to the point of this thread...
I hope cyclists eventually evolve into not being scared of Ebikes, start thinking with common sense and stop crying about new laws they think we need to save the public from a motor assisted bike.
Colp. I know you are.
I'll STFU now
Get your arse down to Leogang in 2 weeks and we’ll compare times on the WC DH
IT IS ON!!!
The book is however closed, for obvious reasons.
As Vicky says, geex may be the exception, but the vast majority of those on eBikes are not putting as much effort into the ride as those posting here would have you believe …..
The majority of those on eBikes are overweight and have no technical ability when it comes to descending.
Evidence? I have an ebike. Not used it a huge amount for actual mtbing but I ain't overweight, having an ebike has allowed me to ride more, I have exactly the same descending ability on the ebike or not.
At glentress I would say the majority of allriders are overweight
I really don’t get this thread, or any others on Ebikes on here.
They don’t go any faster than a normal bike downhill. They go about the same speed as a fit rider on the flat on a non ebike. They generally go faster up a hill than a non ebike, but hardly at dangerous speeds (and certainly slower than a non ebikes back down the hill).
They need no more regulation than they have now, IMO. I think the max speed is about right: assistance is there for the drag back up, not to go faster on the flat.
Talk of a CBT is, frankly, stupid. You can’t compare an ebike capable of a speed no greater than a non assisted bike to a 125cc capable of 70mph, bought to sit in traffic all day.
I don’t have one, but really don’t get the hate. They really aren’t that much different to a non-assist bike at all.
I don’t have one, but really don’t get the hate. They really aren’t that much different to a non-assist bike at all
I agree with the first half of that...
totally disagree with the 2nd half though. They're very very different, it's night and day.
If this was an ebike general thread then geex's penultimate response would have closed it!
Nicely put.
I want to know who colp is!!
How so, weeksy? I’ve borrowed one twice, other than being much easier up a slow, steep hill (and a couple of great new line choices up naggery hills), I really don’t think there’s much difference.
Certainly wasnt as fast back down the hill as a mate on his Nomad...
I'm gonna hire an Ebike this Saturday and take the ****er up Skiddaw, do the trek powerfly have a sorta hike a bike setting that'll push the bike along walking to assist with the weight?