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You’ve put your finger on a real problem for me. I live in the UK countryside, and we get a lot of serious cyclists visiting here. The most dangerous pattern I

You’ve put your finger on a real problem for me. I live in the UK countryside, and we get a lot of serious cyclists visiting here. The most dangerous pattern I see is occupying the middle of the road - which is fine when they’re doing 25mph in a 30mph road. But they stay there in 60mph sections, causing drivers to accelerate and veer round them. If we had more riders doing the same thing on ebikes, I imagine there’d be more accidents, not fewer.

haspok 5y ago
E-bikes are limited to 25kmh in Europe (and that also applies to the UK - for now). If you are seeing e-bikers doing 25mph (are you really?), then those are illegally modified. They exist, but are a distinct minority. Also, e-bikes are typically ridden by people who would never think of riding a bicycle in the middle of an A-road, so no need to worry.
- jjav 5y ago
  > If you are seeing e-bikers doing 25mph (are you really?), then those are illegally modified. The speed cutoffs are where the electric assist stops assisting, but you can always just pedal to higher speeds like any bike.
- multjoy 5y ago
  Pedal-ecs shut the assistance off at 15.5mph, but that doesn't mean that you can't ride faster especially with some of the very lightweight versions. In any case, it's relatively easy to do 25mph without a motor which is probably who he's seeing.
- mrep 5y ago
  Level 3 e-bikes in the US can do 20 mph on throttle alone and 28 mph with assist.
tonyedgecombe 5y ago
If you ride around in the gutter then you will get cars squeezing you all day long. Taking your position in the road is absolutely the right thing to do.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- blowski 5y ago
  This sense of self-righteousness helps nobody. It creates a phoney war between different types of road user, as opposed to looking for ways we can coexist peacefully.
  - tonyedgecombe 5y ago
    >This sense of self-righteousness helps nobody It's not self-righteousness to want to ride safely. If you ride in the gutter then drivers will squeeze pass without making a conscious overtaking decision. That is not safe. Most car drivers will take your distance from the curb as an indication of how far out they should pass you. Not only that but the gutter is full of potholes and sunken drains, these are a major hazard to cyclists. You can't ride around them if you are being squeezed by cars. It also gives you more room to manoeuvre in case someone in a car does make a mistake. >It creates a phoney war between different types of road user, as opposed to looking for ways we can coexist peacefully. Something tells me your idea of peacefully coexisting means me being subservient to you.
  - chapium 5y ago
    Forcing a full lane pass is necessary when many drivers will not change their lane position when riding on the side. I wouldn’t do this on all streets, but when I’m on a problematic one I self righteously decide I’m not dying that day.
  - masklinn 5y ago
    > This sense of self-righteousness It's not a sense of self-righteousness, what they're describing is the recommendation of most cycling groups and association and is entirely about safety. The sense of self-righteousness is entirely on your side of the network. > as opposed to looking for ways we can coexist peacefully. Being squeezed into the gutter with cars zooming by at twice your speed a hand's breadth away is not peaceful coexistence. What you're doing is tantamount to suicide suggestions. The actual way for "peaceful coexistence" is well-known: grade-separated independent infrastructure (which, to nobody's surprise, is how the netherlands do it all over). Any interaction is a risk except in very low-speed areas (20mph and below). There's a reason why intersections are where most accidents happen.

haspok 5y ago

E-bikes are limited to 25kmh in Europe (and that also applies to the UK - for now). If you are seeing e-bikers doing 25mph (are you really?), then those are illegally modified. They exist, but are a distinct minority. Also, e-bikes are typically ridden by people who would never think of riding a bicycle in the middle of an A-road, so no need to worry.

jjav 5y ago
> If you are seeing e-bikers doing 25mph (are you really?), then those are illegally modified. The speed cutoffs are where the electric assist stops assisting, but you can always just pedal to higher speeds like any bike.
multjoy 5y ago
Pedal-ecs shut the assistance off at 15.5mph, but that doesn't mean that you can't ride faster especially with some of the very lightweight versions. In any case, it's relatively easy to do 25mph without a motor which is probably who he's seeing.
mrep 5y ago
Level 3 e-bikes in the US can do 20 mph on throttle alone and 28 mph with assist.

tonyedgecombe 5y ago

If you ride around in the gutter then you will get cars squeezing you all day long. Taking your position in the road is absolutely the right thing to do.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
blowski 5y ago
This sense of self-righteousness helps nobody. It creates a phoney war between different types of road user, as opposed to looking for ways we can coexist peacefully.
- tonyedgecombe 5y ago
  >This sense of self-righteousness helps nobody It's not self-righteousness to want to ride safely. If you ride in the gutter then drivers will squeeze pass without making a conscious overtaking decision. That is not safe. Most car drivers will take your distance from the curb as an indication of how far out they should pass you. Not only that but the gutter is full of potholes and sunken drains, these are a major hazard to cyclists. You can't ride around them if you are being squeezed by cars. It also gives you more room to manoeuvre in case someone in a car does make a mistake. >It creates a phoney war between different types of road user, as opposed to looking for ways we can coexist peacefully. Something tells me your idea of peacefully coexisting means me being subservient to you.
- chapium 5y ago
  Forcing a full lane pass is necessary when many drivers will not change their lane position when riding on the side. I wouldn’t do this on all streets, but when I’m on a problematic one I self righteously decide I’m not dying that day.
- masklinn 5y ago
  > This sense of self-righteousness It's not a sense of self-righteousness, what they're describing is the recommendation of most cycling groups and association and is entirely about safety. The sense of self-righteousness is entirely on your side of the network. > as opposed to looking for ways we can coexist peacefully. Being squeezed into the gutter with cars zooming by at twice your speed a hand's breadth away is not peaceful coexistence. What you're doing is tantamount to suicide suggestions. The actual way for "peaceful coexistence" is well-known: grade-separated independent infrastructure (which, to nobody's surprise, is how the netherlands do it all over). Any interaction is a risk except in very low-speed areas (20mph and below). There's a reason why intersections are where most accidents happen.