4 ms·

> The lack of noise, combined with the discreet positioning of the motor and other components, makes it hard for anyone to notice that I'm on an e-bike. Sorry,

by haspok 5y ago

> The lack of noise, combined with the discreet positioning of the motor and other components, makes it hard for anyone to notice that I'm on an e-bike. Sorry, buddy, but in your dreams only. It is blatantly obvious for anyone if you are riding on your own, or if you have assistance - your body position is different, the power exerted looks different, not even mentioning the battery pack on your back wheel, and the motor behind your bottom bracket. So "OK Boomer" indeed. On the other hand the real problem is that people who cannot really ride bikes now get easy access to speed. I regularly see them on my daily commute here in Vienna, where - despite the 25kph limit - these boomers ride in a way that scares the hell out of me. They go fast when they shouldn't (combined bike paths with lots of pedestrians), go slow when they don't have to (downhill), and generally are visibly uncomfortable on a bicycle. I cannot imagine what would happen if you took an elderly person with an old bicycle and converted said bicycle using an unrestricted motor... that's really just asking for trouble. I mean, people can be generally stupid - just last week a 78 year old driving a moped (!) was caught on the motorway driving in the wrong direction (!!!) in the inside lane (!!!!!) for a few km's before police caught him. And he wasn't even drunk. Perhaps the solution is to introduce a driving licence category for e-bikes. And if they are unrestricted then they should be banned from cycle paths too.

cuu508 5y ago
> people who cannot really ride bikes now get easy access to speed Let's say there was a speed restriction: if you go above, say, 15km/h, the electric assist turns off and you have to pedal on your own. This would still be iffy in some situations, for example a busy combined cycle/footpath. Maybe it would work OK if the electric assist was some function of cyclist's own effort. The more power you put out, the more the electric motor adds on top. But you'd need some sort of a power meter and more complex controller, so would not be cheap any more...
matsemann 5y ago
Yeah, at least someone not used to using a normal bike is very obvious on an e-bike, as their cadence is often waaaay too slow. That speed with that cadence would basically translate to doing non-stop 100kg squats. Bikes have gears for a reason. I do think the regulations in EU are fine as they are. 25 km/h max speed before it cuts the power etc. It happens that I see someone that should've "earned" their speed by getting used to lower speeds first and then naturally progressing, but I don't think adding a new license for that is worth it.

by haspok 5y ago

cuu508 5y ago

> people who cannot really ride bikes now get easy access to speed Let's say there was a speed restriction: if you go above, say, 15km/h, the electric assist turns off and you have to pedal on your own. This would still be iffy in some situations, for example a busy combined cycle/footpath. Maybe it would work OK if the electric assist was some function of cyclist's own effort. The more power you put out, the more the electric motor adds on top. But you'd need some sort of a power meter and more complex controller, so would not be cheap any more...

matsemann 5y ago

Yeah, at least someone not used to using a normal bike is very obvious on an e-bike, as their cadence is often waaaay too slow. That speed with that cadence would basically translate to doing non-stop 100kg squats. Bikes have gears for a reason. I do think the regulations in EU are fine as they are. 25 km/h max speed before it cuts the power etc. It happens that I see someone that should've "earned" their speed by getting used to lower speeds first and then naturally progressing, but I don't think adding a new license for that is worth it.