ITV “Tonight” – eBike episode. May contain shouting at the telly.

https://www.itv.com/watch/tonight/1a2803/1a2803a9380

Can’t see this been done, but just watched this as the bike mechanic is local to me.

What an appalling, short-sighted and really fairly ignorant bit of journalism.

Managed to demonise legal pedal assist bicycles and group them in with Sur-Ron type, non-pedalling e-dirtbikes, but not actually discuss or even mention the Sur-Ron problem which appears to have been involved all the most recent, high-profile, incidents.  Instead, let’s show how easy it is to hack an Orange ebike, implying that it can then reach 60+mph.

And breathe….

Yeah, had another balaclava wearing scrote on a Sur-on wheelie-ing down an A-road at me today. Everyone else on the road pulling evasive manouvres.

I suspect Mr Sur-On and you have a different perspective on a great number of life’s challenges.

It’s also the kind of language that you’ll often hear vs all cyclists on Twitter. It’s disgusting in that context, too.

Inflammatory language for sure, but I think that has disguised the point (I think) they were trying to make.

My commute home pre Covid used to have me driving on a main road when a secondary school kicked out.

 E-Bikes and Scooters: Trouble on the Road? Tonight – Britain’s most popular current affairs programme

No the trouble on the road is cars, but populist media will aim to be popular

So ‘Britain’s most popular..’ anything – I’m out already : )

I haven’t checked, but I’ve always assumed that you aren’t supposed to run down school children walking on the pavement in order to swerve to avoid a vehicle that swerves into your path. In reality, rather than fantasy scenarios, if someone swerves in front of you, the only realistic thing you can do is jump on your brakes as hard as you can so that you’re not going as fast when you hit them. There just isn’t time to weigh up choices like whether you mow down school children, etc.

Well I’m with Montgomery on this one, I’ve had 4 or 5 of them fly past me on several occasions, they look and behave like total scumbag criminals, all black clothes, balaclavas and no helmets, pulling wheelies, weaving through traffic, on the wrong side of the road, a few days ago they turned into a side road that leads to the local woods and nearly ploughed into a family coming back from a bike ride who had two kiddies with them, their little girl was in tears after they verbally abused her parents, she looked terrified, they’re a total menace to dog walkers and horse riders using that road too, everyone is sick and tired of them. Why do these SurRon guys always wear balaclavas and zero protection, they don’t even have shades on from what I’ve witnessed.

Why do these SurRon guys always wear balaclavas and zero protection

So they can’t be IDd – doubt they have licenses for what are probably e-MX bikes. Can’t imagine they’re that bothered about protection anyway. Many of us ride down hills at 40+ in bike clothes and a foam lid that won’t do much if we hit something hard or go under a car, is it so different?

Noeffsgiven’s post above won’t make much sense because the STW mods, valiant defenders of e-motorbike riding scrote sensibilities, have removed the comment he was responding to.

STW mods, valiant defenders of e-motorbike riding scrote sensibilities, have removed the comment he was responding to.

Emx bikes, custom homemade ebikes are pretty much ridden by drug dealers.

Back to the (ahem) “documentary”, I thought I’d give it a watch for a laugh… lordy, how they can actually put this stuff on the TV is beyond me. It’s the equivalent of getting a 10 year old to write a news article and publishing it a newpaper.
Sets up that it is going to inform us what is actually legal in ebike/escooters… this consists of a bloke who got run over waiting to cross the road, by what, we don’t find out. Then they start discussing the bikes which go “quick”… which consists of a description of how heavy and fast ebikes are, intercut with film footage of escooters! Thats all in the first 5 minutes!
I’ll have to watch the one about how difficult it is to park your car in amongst Britain’s 40million cars next ! 😂

I haven’t watched it but I’m afraid the descriptions above of the low-brow journalistic style is very much what itv ain for these days, with very few exceptions. Love or hate the Beeb, most of their content is of a higher level than the click-bait magazine format crap that itv pushes out. Tabloid populist TV for the uneducated.

They think that the bike mechanic “hacked” the bike to go faster – whereas we all know that it was simply changing it from UK spec, to the spec for another country, where maximum assist speeds are higher.

As usual poor journalism (deliberate or sloppy)

Wow that was like the Day Today with Chris Morris’s even down the over the top graphics.

The unrestricted emtb looked like a dengfu E10 or similar. People often put a more powerful bafang m600 in those which is I guess why it hit 29mph.

Loved his knee pads flapping uselessly in the wind.

Yeah, that was one of the great bits, where he got all padded up and rode a de-restricted eMTB, then compared that with another de-restricted that he just got a mechanic to hack.
How **** pointless. No mention of surons even though they kept showing one whizzing about.

When he derestricted the bike it looked like he mounted the wheel magnet sensor on the cranks.

Thing is a lot of more modern bikes will check for that, brick the motor, void the warranty and you’ll need to go to a dealer to unlock it.

I think the latest Bosch (with valve magnet) and Shimano systems are almost impossible to derestrict.

I think the latest Bosch (with valve magnet) and Shimano systems are almost impossible to derestrict.

I will not buy an ebike that you can’t deristrict. 16mph is useless.

Not looking for an argument about the rights and wrongs. A limited ebike is no good for my requirements

Buy an electric motor bike instead then 🤷‍♂️

I will not buy an ebike that you can’t deristrict. 16mph is useless.

Not looking for an argument about the rights and wrongs. A limited ebike is no good for my requirements

Don’t think there is an argument to have. A motorbike is what you need

I watched the Tour of Britain last week on ITV – it was full of gammon nearly dead adverts for wills/what to do with dog once you’re dead/RNLI/cataracts/fly covered starving kids. It was pretty much a mainstream TV advert version of the Daily Fail.

I felt dirty watching it and couldn’t wait to get back Wes Anderson films on Netflix.

I expect this program is targeted as such.

I’ve wondered in the past if I was a bad person for changing over when the charity adverts come on.

Buy an electric motor bike instead then 🤷‍♂️

Don’t think there is an argument to have. A motorbike is what you need

Nonsense

We ride in a group, some normal bikes, some restricted ebikes, some deristricted ebikes.

We all ride like mtb’ers and not like dicks. One of the fittest lads in the group sometimes rides an ebike, sometimes rides an on one fattie

The odd one that rides a restricted bike can’t keep up with guys on normal bikes on the flat

34×10 at max cadence for normal humans should be the limit for eebs (if a limit needs applying)

Oh, that’s ok then. Just break the law because you might get to where you want to go a bit slower. Maybe the link between petrolheads and e-bikes (see other thread) is true.

I’m no athlete but I could max out the top speed on a climb on a hired Turbo Levo SL, yet at no point did I feel the restrictions needed circumnavigating.

I suppose we all justify our own little indiscretions to ourselves,

“I need to speed to overtake, or because I’m late for work, or the road should never be a 40mph limit etc…”

Maybe the link between petrolheads and de-restricted e-bikes (see other thread) is true.

Fixed?

Never felt the need to have any more speed from my Bosch motor. It’s too powerful as it is! (I didn’t know that til I bought it, but hey-ho).
The moron journo in the ‘eebs are bad’ prog would have kittens if he knew I was regularly doing 30mph on rides on a LEGAL ebike. Who can stop this madness!? You mean you can keep speeding up without the assist! by not even pedalling?? What is this insane power called gravity?! Lord help the world

Oh, that’s ok then. Just break the law because you might get to where you want to go a bit slower. Maybe the link between petrolheads and e-bikes (see other thread) is true

Breaking the law…

Stop being so melodramatic. When the ‘law’ is ridiculous, flouting it doesn’t make you the devil. What’s the difference in risk between riding a towpath/cycleway/road section at 20mph+ on a normal bike Vs an ebike?

Why is 16mph on the flat the limit to keep people safe, yet you can easily reach speeds of 40mph+ downhill?

I’m no athlete but I could max out the top speed on a climb on a hired Turbo Levo SL, yet at no point did I feel the restrictions needed circumnavigating.

So your one ride out on a hired ebike makes you the font of all knowledge as to how they perform?

I suppose we all justify our own little indiscretions to ourselves

Whatever.

Maybe I’m justifying what I do, maybe I’m just stating that I wouldn’t want an ebike that I couldn’t derestrict. It takes away so many of the benefits and fun factor.

Just for the record, I’ve never maxed out uphill. If you know how to ride an ebike properly, you’ll be in the same gear as you would on a normal bike, therefore never hitting the limiter on an uphill of any significance.

Most of my rides average between 8-11 mph

If you know how to ride an ebike properly

Ooh, it’s another I’m better than you thread! LoLZ

Ooh, it’s another I’m better than you thread! LoLZ

Is it?

Muppets who ride uphill in high gears at 16mph are the same ones that are moaning that their motor has died after 250 miles.

Muppets who ride uphill in high gears at 16mph are the same ones that are moaning that their motor has died after 250 miles.

Only if they’re doing it at low cadence. Using the 500W+ of power that an ebike gives along with your own power and an appropriate gear it’s not difficult to ride up a fire road at just under the cut off. The only compromise then is battery life but I struggle to see the point of lugging all the extra weight around if you’re not going to make full use of it.