5 ms·

I'm curious - what ebike do you have that can easily cruise at 48-53 kph for extended periods? In most countries that would be far above the legal limits impos

by m4x 5y ago

I'm curious - what ebike do you have that can easily cruise at 48-53 kph for extended periods? In most countries that would be far above the legal limits imposed on ebikes. As a result, the ebikes available for purchase are all limited to 25-32 kph max and typically have power limits of 250-300 W. Since ebikes are a lot heavier, exceeding 32 kph for more than a few seconds is generally very difficult. I don't think GP is being disingenuous with any of his assertions. In the US there might be ebikes with much higher top speeds, but jacquesm doesn't live in the US and neither do most of the other people on this planet. Most ebikes sold do exactly what he's describing.

rjbwork 5y ago
I have a JuicedBikes CrossCurrent X. They only made my particular configuration for a short amount of time around early 2018 - it has a massive battery, a 52v system, a 750W Bafang hub motor, and location tracking within the battery (though I stopped paying for it since I moved out of the city). Their newer models are just as, or even more capable. Yeah, that is the legal limit but I turned it off in the bios. When cycling on roads I want to be going as fast as possible to keep things safer for me by moving at roughly traffic speeds and disincentivizing dangerous maneuvers by motorists. On bike trails and such I keep to 20mph or so as safe. I actually tried to get mine registered as a moped with a license plate and insurance coverage etc. but was essentially told to take a hike by the state and insurance companies. So I did.
- Dylan16807 5y ago
  "I disagree with your assertions about sustained speed because I turned off the assist limit." Okay, you should have said that in the first post. If you're not using the class of vehicle the comment was talking about, your experience isn't really relevant.
  - rjbwork 5y ago
    These vehicles are capable of doing so - they simply have a limiter on them. It's like saying an NVidia card can't mine cryptocurrency because they added a limiter in their drivers or something. Or that a truck with a governor on it could not go faster than that with the governor removed and no functional changes to power output. Even so, I can go at least 4MPH greater than OP's suggested maximum speed legally.
- NikolaNovak 5y ago
  OK, so you disagree with assertions because you ride an illegal vehicle. And want...what? Your use case to be taken as standard? Or for people to understand there are lunatics on the road? We know :) (to be fair and charitable: I agree that moving with traffic is, everything else equal, safer than not moving with traffic. But everything else is NOT equal - I am not convinced you have the weight [i.e. centre of gravity, inertia, ability to absorb bumps, etc], maneuverability, traction, braking power, and as you point out insurance or license and possibly training, and possibly protective systems as other vehicles moving at the same speed)
  - rjbwork 5y ago
    No. I disagree with his assertion that one cannot go >~24MPH indefinitely. The legal limit here is 28MPH. I can certainly do so indefinitely.
    - CRConrad 5y ago
      1) That's a pretty high legal limit... And doesn't feel all that relevant, given that you report riding at such a ridiculously much higher speed. 2) "Moving with the speed of traffic for my safety" is a... "Nice" (that was sarcasm, I mean egocentric) attitude. 3) "The speed of traffic" may be higher for you now that you live in the countryside, but A) sounds like you rode / ride about as fast in the city, too?; and B) the typical use case relevant to the discussion is not yours but the city/suburban one. It's bad enough that you can go so fast indefinitely; please don't.
      - rjbwork 5y ago
        I commuted by bike along Peachtree Street in Atlanta for 3 miles each way for just under a year. Going too slow ends up with motorists making aforementioned risky maneuvers. I don't think I would have done so for so long had I been riding a normal bicycle. There aren't too many people who commute by bike there, and for good reason.
bobthepanda 5y ago
The rules vary widely in the US. Anything going faster than 25MPH (40 km/h) without cutting out in NYC is legally classified as a moped. https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/bicyclists/ebikes.shtml https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/bicyclists/ebikes.shtml
aftbit 5y ago
Class 3 limits in the US (pedal assist only, no throttle allowed) are set at ~28 mph (~45 kph). Class 2 limit (throttle allowed) is ~25 mph (40 kph). I've also ridden some DIY'ed ebike conversions with unlocked controllers that'll happily hit 40 mph (65 kph) if you're feeling particularly suicidal that day.
- antisthenes 5y ago
  I have a modified ebike with an unlocked controller. Without commenting on safety, let me just say that 40mph is a fantasy, unless you're going down a VERY steep and long hill. It also requires you to be in a road racing bike position, or air resistance will flat out not let you go that fast (people are quite wide) But my bike is otherwise stock. There is no extra power added to the stock Yamaha motor (250W rated, ~400W peak power). The only thing that is removed is the 28mph limiter. The DIY conversions that let you go 40mph (I've seen the videos just as well) are more in the realm of electric mopeds and motorcycles than bikes, IMO.
antisthenes 5y ago
> I'm curious - what ebike do you have that can easily cruise at 48-53 kph for extended periods? Those speeds sound like bogus. I can maintain about 40kph on my ebike on a flat surface, but that requires pedaling in addition to the motor and is a fairly energetic exercise. Also, pushing beyond 45kph, you really start to feel the air resistance and it becomes exponentially harder to go beyond 45kph for any long period of time, unless going downhill. Most ebikes don't really come with the chainring size to go up to high speeds, unless modified with a giant 50+ size, which is more apt for racing road bikes (non-electric)
- sokoloff 5y ago
  > you really start to feel the air resistance and it becomes exponentially harder to go beyond 45kph Nitpick: it becomes cubically harder. ;)
  - antisthenes 5y ago
    Nitpick to nitpick: cubically is a subset of exponentially.
    - newaccount74 5y ago
      You are both wrong. Air resistance increases quadratically with speed, not cubically. And you mixed up polynomial with exponential. Quadratic: x^2 Cubic: x^3 Polynomial (eg. 3rd degree): a + b x + c x^2 + d x^3 Exponential: e^x
      - sokoloff 5y ago
        Drag force rises quadratically with speed. Power is force dot velocity; in this case force and velocity are in the same direction, so dot product becomes simple mulitiplication making drag power (exertion, formally: work per unit time) cubic with speed.
        newaccount74 5y ago

by m4x 5y ago

rjbwork 5y ago

I have a JuicedBikes CrossCurrent X. They only made my particular configuration for a short amount of time around early 2018 - it has a massive battery, a 52v system, a 750W Bafang hub motor, and location tracking within the battery (though I stopped paying for it since I moved out of the city). Their newer models are just as, or even more capable. Yeah, that is the legal limit but I turned it off in the bios. When cycling on roads I want to be going as fast as possible to keep things safer for me by moving at roughly traffic speeds and disincentivizing dangerous maneuvers by motorists. On bike trails and such I keep to 20mph or so as safe. I actually tried to get mine registered as a moped with a license plate and insurance coverage etc. but was essentially told to take a hike by the state and insurance companies. So I did.

Dylan16807 5y ago
"I disagree with your assertions about sustained speed because I turned off the assist limit." Okay, you should have said that in the first post. If you're not using the class of vehicle the comment was talking about, your experience isn't really relevant.
- rjbwork 5y ago
  These vehicles are capable of doing so - they simply have a limiter on them. It's like saying an NVidia card can't mine cryptocurrency because they added a limiter in their drivers or something. Or that a truck with a governor on it could not go faster than that with the governor removed and no functional changes to power output. Even so, I can go at least 4MPH greater than OP's suggested maximum speed legally.
NikolaNovak 5y ago
OK, so you disagree with assertions because you ride an illegal vehicle. And want...what? Your use case to be taken as standard? Or for people to understand there are lunatics on the road? We know :) (to be fair and charitable: I agree that moving with traffic is, everything else equal, safer than not moving with traffic. But everything else is NOT equal - I am not convinced you have the weight [i.e. centre of gravity, inertia, ability to absorb bumps, etc], maneuverability, traction, braking power, and as you point out insurance or license and possibly training, and possibly protective systems as other vehicles moving at the same speed)
- rjbwork 5y ago
  No. I disagree with his assertion that one cannot go >~24MPH indefinitely. The legal limit here is 28MPH. I can certainly do so indefinitely.
  - CRConrad 5y ago
    1) That's a pretty high legal limit... And doesn't feel all that relevant, given that you report riding at such a ridiculously much higher speed. 2) "Moving with the speed of traffic for my safety" is a... "Nice" (that was sarcasm, I mean egocentric) attitude. 3) "The speed of traffic" may be higher for you now that you live in the countryside, but A) sounds like you rode / ride about as fast in the city, too?; and B) the typical use case relevant to the discussion is not yours but the city/suburban one. It's bad enough that you can go so fast indefinitely; please don't.
    - rjbwork 5y ago
      I commuted by bike along Peachtree Street in Atlanta for 3 miles each way for just under a year. Going too slow ends up with motorists making aforementioned risky maneuvers. I don't think I would have done so for so long had I been riding a normal bicycle. There aren't too many people who commute by bike there, and for good reason.

bobthepanda 5y ago

The rules vary widely in the US. Anything going faster than 25MPH (40 km/h) without cutting out in NYC is legally classified as a moped. https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/bicyclists/ebikes.shtml https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/bicyclists/ebikes.shtml

aftbit 5y ago

Class 3 limits in the US (pedal assist only, no throttle allowed) are set at ~28 mph (~45 kph). Class 2 limit (throttle allowed) is ~25 mph (40 kph). I've also ridden some DIY'ed ebike conversions with unlocked controllers that'll happily hit 40 mph (65 kph) if you're feeling particularly suicidal that day.

antisthenes 5y ago
I have a modified ebike with an unlocked controller. Without commenting on safety, let me just say that 40mph is a fantasy, unless you're going down a VERY steep and long hill. It also requires you to be in a road racing bike position, or air resistance will flat out not let you go that fast (people are quite wide) But my bike is otherwise stock. There is no extra power added to the stock Yamaha motor (250W rated, ~400W peak power). The only thing that is removed is the 28mph limiter. The DIY conversions that let you go 40mph (I've seen the videos just as well) are more in the realm of electric mopeds and motorcycles than bikes, IMO.

antisthenes 5y ago

> I'm curious - what ebike do you have that can easily cruise at 48-53 kph for extended periods? Those speeds sound like bogus. I can maintain about 40kph on my ebike on a flat surface, but that requires pedaling in addition to the motor and is a fairly energetic exercise. Also, pushing beyond 45kph, you really start to feel the air resistance and it becomes exponentially harder to go beyond 45kph for any long period of time, unless going downhill. Most ebikes don't really come with the chainring size to go up to high speeds, unless modified with a giant 50+ size, which is more apt for racing road bikes (non-electric)

sokoloff 5y ago
> you really start to feel the air resistance and it becomes exponentially harder to go beyond 45kph Nitpick: it becomes cubically harder. ;)
- antisthenes 5y ago
  Nitpick to nitpick: cubically is a subset of exponentially.
  - newaccount74 5y ago
    You are both wrong. Air resistance increases quadratically with speed, not cubically. And you mixed up polynomial with exponential. Quadratic: x^2 Cubic: x^3 Polynomial (eg. 3rd degree): a + b x + c x^2 + d x^3 Exponential: e^x
    - sokoloff 5y ago
      Drag force rises quadratically with speed. Power is force dot velocity; in this case force and velocity are in the same direction, so dot product becomes simple mulitiplication making drag power (exertion, formally: work per unit time) cubic with speed.
      - newaccount74 5y ago