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Similarly, some models suggested have overpowered (or "illegal") engines, as subtly admitted. Going that fast on a bike is by no means safe, if anything because
by cunidev 5y ago
Similarly, some models suggested have overpowered (or "illegal") engines, as subtly admitted. Going that fast on a bike is by no means safe, if anything because of tyres.
- entropicgravity 5y agoPedal bikes will get up to speeds well over 20mph(30kph) going downhill and their tires are still safe.
- gambiting 5y agoI mean......based on what? Like don't get me wrong, I used to do a lot of mountain cycling on a road bike, and going downhill I'd approach 60mph(100km/h) easily.....but I was never under any illusion that it's "safe" to do, or that the manufacturer even tested the tyres up to that speed. They just happened to work when we did it.
- rich_sasha 5y agoRoad bike tyres are clearly expected to hold at speeds like 50-60kph... that’s not even fast for a descent. And commuter bike tyres are usually substantially beefier.
- entropicgravity 5y agoLawyers.
- cranekam 5y agoWhat would you expect to happen to the tyres at high speed? I assume at some speed they’ll fall apart or something but that surely must be at more than 100kph. The things are already holding in air at 100psi+ — why would rolling quickly be an issue? Of course, at 100kph you might have other issues, like stopping in time, but I wouldn’t expect my tyres to fall apart under me. If you have any further information on this topic I’d love to see it!
- dharmab 5y agoLook up "tire speed rating" for answers to your questions.
- bigfudge 5y agoYou only have to look at pro racing to know it’s not common that tyres explode at high speed. Other bad things happen! But tyres only really go on descents when rim brakes melt carbon rims. That’s why many riders used alloy rims in mountains until relatively recently .. when high temp epoxies became more widely available.
- geewee 5y agoWhy do the tyres matter regarding safety?
- croon 5y agoTyres for any vehicle are usually rated for speed. There are probably many more informed people here, but I assume the material and the patterns are designed on a scale according to assumed speed.
- marcosdumay 5y agoThe tires define the distance you need to break the vehicle.
- beebmam 5y agoWhy should cars not have governors, but ebikes should?
- gambiting 5y agoBecause you can't drive a car on public roads without mandatory training and passing an exam - so the assumption is that you know and understand the standing speed limits and obey them, but you ride a bike/ebike anywhere without any training or licences so the barrier to entry is lower . Same way how(at least over here) anyone can ride a 50cc motorbike without any training whatsoever, but to ride something more powerful you need a proper motorcycle licence. I'd be happy with some sort of process where you can only ride a 250W ebike with no self-drive without a licence, but more powerful motors are available after passing a licence and with mandatory insurance.
- hellbannedguy 5y agoBefore we go hog wild with regulations, let's wait until there's a database of vertifed major injuries to innocent people with these rascals on their electric bikes. (I am not a fan of overregulation. In the USA we have made practically everything illegial.)
- gambiting 5y agoJust so I get this straight - you're saying let's wait until people get injured and only then regulate this?
- DonHopkins 5y agoThat's right. Not just minor injuries, but major injuries. And not just to guilty people, but innocent people. Then once we have a database (definitely a heavy duty one like Oracle with lots of consultants to nurse it), we'll need a consortium of independent auditors to verify that all those injuries were major, and all the injured people were innocent. Only then will we be able to embark on developing a standard VerifiedInnocentPersonMajorInjuryRecord interchange format, and begin the debates about whether it should be based on CORBA, XML, YAML, JSON, or CSV, and if we can't come to an agreement on that, then we'll have to develop converters between all the different data formats. Because the free market trumps government regulations every time. For some definition of "Trump".
- throwaway55421 5y agoEh? I take it you've never seen the Tour de France then?
- peatmoss 5y agoI mean, severe crashes do happen, and Tour riders are also professional vehicle operators.
- bigfudge 5y agoNot because tyres explode tho
- wintermutestwin 5y agoBut not because the (incredibly lightweight and skinny) tires failed due to speed.
- peatmoss 5y agoI was thinking the failure condition there is that the compounds in the tire were insufficiently grippy to hold the surface of the road in a corner. That’s certainly my biggest worry on a motorcycle. (Edit: it’s also where a great deal of engineering work goes into motorcycle tires)
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]