E-bikes remaining as vulnerable users.

[youngoldbloke]

There is. The motor cuts out at 15mph. That's a speed limit. If you're talking about e-motorbikes or e-mopeds, that's different entirely. As I said, some people can certainly pedal faster than that, but it's no longer assisted by the motor. So there is a speed limit.

Do you ride an e-bike? I have two LEGAL e-bikes where the assistance from the motor cuts out at 25kph/ 15.5mph. It does not limit my speed. I can then pedal the bikes to as high a speed as my unassisted legs allow. There is no overall speed limit on legally assisted bikes. The motor cut-out is not a limit to the final bike speed.

 

[fossyant]

Do you ride an e-bike? I have two LEGAL e-bikes where the assistance from the motor cuts out at 25kph/ 15.5mph. It does not limit my speed. I can then pedal the bikes to as high a speed as my unassisted legs allow. There is no overall speed limit on legally assisted bikes. The motor cut-out is not a limit to the final bike speed.

Come on, you know what they are getting at, the 'assistance' is limited to 15.5 mph, after that it's legs only for legal ebikes.

 

[youngoldbloke]

Come on, you know what they are getting at, the 'assistance' is limited to 15.5 mph, after that it's legs only for legal ebikes.

Exactly. The cut-off speed is not a 'speed limit' in the accepted sense of the expression.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

There is. The motor cuts out at 15mph. That's a speed limit. If you're talking about e-motorbikes or e-mopeds, that's different entirely. As I said, some people can certainly pedal faster than that, but it's no longer assisted by the motor. So there is a speed limit.

SO it isn;t a speed limit
if you can go faster in any way then it is not a speed limit
In a car you can easily go fast ona downhill section with the motor disengaged - but if the speed limit is 30 and you are doing 40 it is illegal as you are breaking the speed limit

The motor is not relevant to the speed limit
it might require more effort to pedal faster due to the heavier bike - but the extra few kilos are only a small percentage of the total weight of the bike + rider

 

[Alex321]

It's a speed limit. It stops the motor from going faster than that i.e, it limits the speed. And me leaving off .5mph really gets your knickers in a twist?

It is NOT a speed limit, because it does NOT limit the speed at which you can travel. Stopping assistance at a given speed is not a speed limit.

 

[fossyant]

Lighten up folks

 

[rustedchain8919]

SO it isn;t a speed limit
if you can go faster in any way then it is not a speed limit
In a car you can easily go fast ona downhill section with the motor disengaged - but if the speed limit is 30 and you are doing 40 it is illegal as you are breaking the speed limit

The motor is not relevant to the speed limit
it might require more effort to pedal faster due to the heavier bike - but the extra few kilos are only a small percentage of the total weight of the bike + rider

I would have to disagree as most people won't actually be able to exceed that limit without thw assistance of the motor. A few could, perhaps, but for the majority, no
So it does function as a speed limit. Most ebikes are far heavier than regular bikes so this isn't actually possible for most people to go faster than this anyway.

And by your logic, if the government had sent a speed limit at 30 but cars can still exceed that, that's also not a speed limit, so this whole conversation is pointless. The bike itself cannot exceed a certain speed limit for the vast majority of those using it.

 

[GuyBoden]

I was in central London last week.

There were a lot of e-bike commuters.

I was nearly knocked over on the pedestrian crossings by an e-bike, who should have been on the cycle lane, but suddenly decided that the pedestrian crossing was a quicker route.

Pedestrians are still the most vulnerable.

 

[Mike_P]

I would have to disagree as most people won't actually be able to exceed that limit without thw assistance of the motor. A few could, perhaps, but for the majority, no

You plainly have never ridden an ebike then. Yes up grade probably exceeding 15.5 is for most unlikely but on the level the added weight provides a degree of momentum and as for downhill...

 

[youngoldbloke]

I would have to disagree as most people won't actually be able to exceed that limit without thw assistance of the motor. A few could, perhaps, but for the majority, no
So it does function as a speed limit. Most ebikes are far heavier than regular bikes so this isn't actually possible for most people to go faster than this anyway.

And by your logic, if the government had sent a speed limit at 30 but cars can still exceed that, that's also not a speed limit, so this whole conversation is pointless. The bike itself cannot exceed a certain speed limit for the vast majority of those using it.

There is no general speed limit in the UK for bicycles, either assisted or unassisted, (except for a very few cases - some parks in London for example). I am 76 years old, with medical issues affecting my ability to ride a bike, and yet have little difficulty in propelling my electrically assisted bike above the speed at which the assistance cuts out. Obviously if a bike is excessively weighty it will restrict the ability of some to attain higher speeds - that applies to any form of bike, assisted or otherwise.
As for your point about 30 limit for cars - that is not a limit on the car's speed, it is a limit on the speed at which the vehicle should be driven on that particular stretch of road. As you say 'this whole conversation is pointless'
Can we please stop this nonsense?

 

[Dadam]

I would have to disagree as most people won't actually be able to exceed that limit without thw assistance of the motor. A few could, perhaps, but for the majority, no
So it does function as a speed limit. Most ebikes are far heavier than regular bikes so this isn't actually possible for most people to go faster than this anyway.

And by your logic, if the government had sent a speed limit at 30 but cars can still exceed that, that's also not a speed limit, so this whole conversation is pointless. The bike itself cannot exceed a certain speed limit for the vast majority of those using it.

You're talking nonsense. It's not a limit it's a cutoff speed for assistance.

I've got 3 legal ebikes with the 25km/h (15.5mph) assist limit and I frequently exceed this speed on them quite easily. With all of them it's very easy downhill and I've got 40mph out of a couple on a steep straight down hill. On a slight uphill it is quite difficult on the heavier two but on my Orbea Gain it just feels like pedalling a normal if slightly heavy road bike and very easy to exceed 15.5.

Comparisons with the actual limits for motorised traffic are daft. Those are real limits with legal penalties for exceeding them and you don't get a pass because you're going downhill.

What would be true to say is many people won't be able to exceed this limit for long on most typical ebikes. But it's still lazy and misleading to call it a limit.

 

[Jody]

Bit of an odd OP.

The member joined, knocked 112 messages out in 3 days and then never came back.

 

[wiggydiggy]

Bit of an odd OP.

The member joined, knocked 112 messages out in 3 days and then never came back.

I dont mind that sort of thing, we've had plenty of mileage (at a suitably limited speed ) out of it!

 

[classic33]

Bit of an odd OP.

The member joined, knocked 112 messages out in 3 days and then never came back.

Resurrected this week by another new poster.