Speedbox???

[Dogtrousers]

There's a reason why EAPCs are limited to 250W continuous / 25 kmh, and that's because these are normal human cyclist values. An EAPC is intended to be a a variant of a normal bike that's accessible to people with lower fitness/ability levels. It flattens out the hills but it's still a bike. And as such it's suitable for shared paths and cycling infrastructure.

The problem with calls to raise these thresholds is that they miss this fundamental point. Only a small minority of cyclists can ride at speeds over 25 kmh or have FTPs in excess of 250W.

A normal EAPC is a bit like having an invisible copy of me helping you to push the pedals.

But that's not good enough for some people. They want an invisible Mathieu van der Poel, and they don't just want him to help, they want him to do all the work.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

There's a reason why EAPCs are limited to 250W continuous / 25 kmh, and that's because these are normal human cyclist values. An EAPC is intended to be a a variant of a normal bike that's accessible to people with lower fitness/ability levels. It flattens out the hills but it's still a bike. And as such it's suitable for shared paths and cycling infrastructure.

The problem with calls to raise these thresholds is that they miss this fundamental point. Only a small minority of cyclists can ride at speeds over 25 kmh or have FTPs in excess of 250W.

A normal EAPC is a bit like having an invisible copy of me helping you to push the pedals.

But that's not good enough for some people. They want an invisible Mathieu van der Poel, and they don't just want him to help, they want him to do all the work.

Exactly

The concept is that an EPAC is "just a bike" and not much more

To be fair when I am riding mine at 15 mph then I pas the vast majority of other cyclists - or have to slow down to stay behind them

It is only the "proper cyclist" in Lycra and riding proper road bikes that ever pass me
so saying that "normal cyclist can easily to 20 mph" is just wrong - at least round here and based on my experience
They can;t even do 15 mph!
IMO - obviously - and based on what I have seen

 

[Electric_Andy]

I get why people are getting upset about this. Weird how 5mph can change the scenario so much, but the law is the law. Steve, I'm sorry this happened to you and excuse me for using you as an example, but what would have happened if a "normal" i.e. legal cyclist had done this? Assuming they didn't have any sort of public liability insurance, or group membership etc? Who would have paid for your treatment and equipment?

 

[fossyant]

I was congratulated for doing 18mph into a headwind on my MTB with panniers and fat tyres by a driver who pulled up next to me at lights. No motors needed. Hee hee.

 

[T4tomo]

He said that he was very popular as when things got bad into bad headwinds he could take the lead and they could shelter behind him

We encountered that on a sportive. Roaring headwind, and this group chaps of 4 inched past us, headed by a chap on a light e-assisted road bike. We had a quick chat on the benefits of having an ebike to ride on the front into the wind and then became for a while a group of 6 as myself and Mrs T hitched a tow on the back.

As for the OP - its all Ok until isn't OK as @steveindenmark graphically points out

 

[SteveH80]

I find doing 20mph quite doable... the difficulty is maintaining it to the next lamp post
Actually that's a bad simile because there aren't any street lights around here.
30+ on the downhills though I can do all the way to the bottom...

 

[steveindenmark]

I get why people are getting upset about this. Weird how 5mph can change the scenario so much, but the law is the law. Steve, I'm sorry this happened to you and excuse me for using you as an example, but what would have happened if a "normal" i.e. legal cyclist had done this? Assuming they didn't have any sort of public liability insurance, or group membership etc? Who would have paid for your treatment and equipment?

So its ok to break the law as long as its only a little bit.

 

[Electric_Andy]

So its ok to break the law as long as its only a little bit.

No, just a question really about what would happen if the person at fault was a cyclist. But I guess that's not really related to this scenario. The law is the law, and those 5mph on an ebike change it to a motorbike, which maybe the OP hadn't considered.

 

[T4tomo]

No, just a question really about what would happen if the person at fault was a cyclist. But I guess that's not really related to this scenario. The law is the law, and those 5mph on an ebike change it to a motorbike, which maybe the OP hadn't considered.

There would have been less kinetic energy and hence potentially significant less damage to SinD & his bike for starters.

The other party may have had some 3rd party insurance with their house insurance or similar - which wouldnt have been in play if the other party was doing somethng illegal like riding a modded ebike etc.

 

[steveindenmark]

No, just a question really about what would happen if the person at fault was a cyclist. But I guess that's not really related to this scenario. The law is the law, and those 5mph on an ebike change it to a motorbike, which maybe the OP hadn't considered.

The difference is a legal motorbike rider and cyclist can get insurance, as I have.

An illegal e motorbike rider cannot be insured under any circumstances. He is not going to change it to an e motorbike. We both know that.

 

[N0bodyOfTheGoat]

It's reasonable to see a 7-12Kg road/gravel bike consistantly doing 16-20mph on tarmac, except when the road is typically pointing upwards above 2% without a roaring tailwind and the rider is closer to 75Kg than 100Kg.

It's not so common to see a 12-16Kg upright hybrid/MTB consistantly doing 16-20mph in similar conditions, the extra aero drag means far more power is required.

It takes a lot of effort to maintain 16-21mph for ~7min of lightly rolling tarmac on my ~16kg gravel ebike with road tyres fitted, that stops motor assist around 15.5mph.

A typically ~25-30Kg ebike hammering along at 20mph with motor assistance needs a lot of motor power, a big battery to ride for more than an hour and will cause more damage in a collision. While massively reducing physical exercise benefits.