Comment by aaomidi
4 years ago
> so that riders don't just cruise at that speed.
Do you actually ride bikes on roads? This is there because if you're going slow on an actual road you're more likely to get killed because of a car hitting you.
I'm honestly exhausted at this FUD when it's actively fucking with my life as a bike rider on a main road. Even Netherlands allows fully motorized vehicles that are small on their bike paths.
Stop thinking of this as a "free pass" and more of "what's actually the safest for bikers and pedestrians.
The OP, jacquesm, just mentioned throttle-only ebikes are not legal in the Netherlands.
Anyone who's comparing ebike speeds to rider speeds: most people new to riding bikes cannot sustain riding at 30kph (18.5mph) for probably more than 5 minutes, less if there's any gradual elevation. As such, bikes are "safe" because there's an inherent speed limiter. You pedal really fast, go fast, then you get tired and chill out.
By having a throttle-only mode, the rider never tires and will just want to go fast all. the. time.
> Stop thinking of this as a "free pass" and more of "what's actually the safest for bikers and pedestrians.
What's safest for bikers and pedestrians on multi-use paths (MUP) would be if ebikes actually followed the Class 1 rules and were limited to 32kph/20mph on these paths. (imo, 20mph is already pretty darn fast.) If folks want to go faster, then do it on the street. If you want to rip the throttle wide open, don't do it where a child is learning how to ride their bike or where people are just enjoying a leisurely stroll.
> If folks want to go faster, then do it on the street. If you want to rip the throttle wide open, don't do it where a child is learning how to ride their bike or where people are just enjoying a leisurely stroll
Agreed, but this is also leading to problems: people on racing bikes, especially in groups that occupy the whole width of the bike path.
In general the problem is much simpler: people should treat the roads like a commons and adapt to the slowest present user. That's the safest way, and if that means you'll be a little later at your destination then maybe you should have left a little earlier. And on a racing bike you are no better than any other cyclist, ditto for e-bikes and s-pedelecs. It's a shared resource and a bit of common sense and respect for each other goes a long way.
> and if that means you'll be a little later at your destination then maybe you should have left a little earlier.
Oh gosh, I wish this was the case, but the past two years of anti-masking / anti-vaccinations have clearly illustrated that there is no common good in Modern America.
> You pedal really fast, go fast, then you get tired and chill out.
Is this really true? When I was in France using the Uber bikes to get around I could get up to top speed using almost no effort on the pedals and never found myself getting tired. They really require almost no effort to get up to top speed.
Maybe it sounds like the solution is that a throttle should only take you up to a lower speed though if this is the problem? Like pushing a button can take you to 15 but waggling your feet can take you to 25?
A lower speed for throttle-only sounds like a good solution!
To clarify, my original post was about non-electric bicycles, but my experience with pedal-assist ebikes [Jump (RIP) and Citibike/Baywheels] was that they were noticeably heavy and after a few blocks of pedaling really hard, I'd tire out and slow down. Perhaps you're gifted with a very high vo2max?
In the US a lot of places don't have sidewalks or bike lanes and you're encouraged to cycle in the middle of a road lane so that you don't get killed when a driver hits you at full speed from the side. Also, you're legally entitled to a lane.
In most other places that don't have dedicated bike lanes drive on the side of the road, same places scooters normally drive.
I didn't mean to cause quite as much of a controversy as it seems I have. I do actually ride a standard, non e-bike on SF streets, admittedly only somewhat timidly and in places with low speed limits and or good bike infrastructure. It just strikes me that if you want a machine with a throttle, and that can operate at road speeds we have that. It's a moped. If you want something that can operate in close quarters on shared paths with humans we also have that, but it is scary and potentially dangerous being overtaken at speed on a shared path by a heavy machine with wide tires traveling at speed when you're walking on a path.
What both riders and pedestrians need is better car free infrastructure so we can stop it with the biking means going fast business. An ebike capped at something like the top speed of a human is a very different beast than a normal bike even if their top speeds are the same because the ebike is much more likely to actually be at those speeds at any point in time.