Just to add to Mr Hoppy, ebikes made specfically for smaller kids often have fixed (or parent controlled) lower maximum speed limits on them, such as the Levo SL Kids.

And, as My Hoppy said, definitely agree one would want a light-weight (SL-type) motor, rather than a full-fat one. Motors like the Fazua (on my Pivot Shuttle SL) and the Bosch SX (on my son’s Canyon) don’t add that much more weight over a non-assisted bike.

For those commenting “I’m just disappointed that there are 12 year old kids riding ebikes.”.

I ask why? Does riding an ebike suddenly make everything super-easy – only if you put it in super-power mode all the time. You can put in just as much work effort on an ebike as a manual bike; you just go faster up the hills, can travel further (between the constant rain showers) and see more countryide. What’s wrong with that?

We’re prepared to ride up the hills – how many people get the uplift? Who are the lazy ones?

In my son’s case he’s 5’9″ at 12 yrs old. He’s on a adult medium frame 29″ full-sus. That’s not a light weight bike by any means – manual or electric. That’s a lot of effort especially on a multi-day trip (as mentioned above). Kids get tired.

Before making indignant assuptions no one asked whether the ebike was a full-fat motor or a light-weight motor. It’s a light weight one for the record, so only limited assistance.

Why not tow him, I was asked? And:

“You kid got an eMTB because when you got yours you couldn’t bare to slow down a bit so he could keep up on a conventional bike?”

I did mention I had a knee replacement only a few months ago. If you’ve not had one yet – be warned it’s an 18-month recovery time. That’s one of the main reasons I’m on an ebike in the first place.

Thumbs Up x 10 to Mr Hoppy’s post.

Well, in this case, it’s because I had a knee replacement 4 months ago. I’m not ready to hit the bike parks on a manual bike and he doesn’t want to get left behind. Also, we want to do BPW, Afan and FlyUp 417 back to back, given they’re all the other side of the country for us.

Also, where we are, you can’t go anywhere without using bridleways, so irrespective of BPW’s rules, I wanted to understand what the actual law was.