E-Road bikes to make for a faster ride - how effective are they with the 15.5mph limit?

daniel_b

Morning all,

as my partner has just picked up a loan e-cargo bike, and I suspect will love it, it got me thinking about the possibility of her having an e-road bike.

In the past she was faster than me, both on the flats, and up the hills, but I'm talking about 10+ years ago.

Since then, I found trainerroad, we've become parents, and she has a bit of a problem with one of her feet/heels that she is trying to get sorted currently.

We can go for a road ride, and what I try and do is take a slower heavier bike with bigger tyres etc, but I was pondering whether if she had an ebike, I could maybe take my nicer bike, and be able to use more of my own watts.

My hesitation is that I know they are all limited to a rather low (in my opinion) 15.5mph, and I know on the flat on a decent road bike, I can definitely be riding along above that speed, so if she is drafting, it will purely be extra weight to cart about.

The only route choice I can see this making a noticeable difference, is if we chose a really hilly route, with long, or frequent ascents.

Am I missing anything?

I'm at a loss as to why they can not have adjustable speed (as they belong on the road anyway) and as long as you use it in a suitable speed limited road, it could go up to 20 or even 25mph.
If that was the case, I would even consider one for my commute, save some time, and probably go in more often.

katani

You are not missing anything imo. The motor disengages at a speed higher than 15.5mph, and one must deliver the full power necessary to ride any faster by themselves. Which kind of sucks as e-bikes, even the lightweight road bike types are much heavier than their non-e-bike counterparts, so at, say, 20 mph, assuming it is not a downhill ride, one has to be delivering more power than if riding the exact same bike, but with no motor and battery pack.

daniel_b

A massive missed opportunity imho - I think the take up for people to use these as commuters replacing cars would be much greater if they could reach 20mph or so.

photonic69

You can get (ahem) 'cheat devices' fitted that remove the upper limit. It would of course void any warranty, but some of our older club members have them fitted and it helps them on the hills (b'stards) and they cruise along on the flats with minimal assistance in operation. When I ride with my wife on her e-bike commuter she's always ahead on the hills and I'm ahead on the flats, however not by a huge margin at all on the flats - hills is a different matter. I just can't keep up at all.

DeVlaeminck

Yes 20mph would be far better for responsible riders - the problem is irresponsible riders who otherwise would struggle to get anywhere near 20mph tearing along shared use paths.

I think for the OP the problem you'll have is your partner dropping you on hills and you still won't be able to stretch your legs on the flat. If it's just a fitness disparity I reckon riding a MTB is a better way to equalise that - it'll be slower on the flat and the hills. However if it's that you feel they are just too slow and they struggle on hills then an electric bike might work.

thistle_

DeVlaeminck said:

Yes 20mph would be far better for responsible riders - the problem is irresponsible riders who otherwise would struggle to get anywhere near 20mph tearing along shared use paths.

The irresponsible ones around here (mostly Deliveroo/Just Eat) ride around at 20 mph without even any pedal assist.
If they weren't riding like tw@ts most of the time nobody would mind.

DeVlaeminck said:

I think for the OP the problem you'll have is your partner dropping you on hills and you still won't be able to stretch your legs on the flat.

My riding buddy has one and it's just this - but it's fine because for me it's a social ride and I'll either take a (singlespeed) mountain bike or do some extra miles before/after at my own pace.

daniel_b

Thanks for all the replies :-)

I agree for some irresponsible riders they would cause issues, but having looked online, if the speed is restricted by a wheel magnet (Not sure if this is the most common method or not) it would be extremely easy to bypass anyway.

I just checked on the loan ecargo bike, and that uses that exact method - wheel magnet, sensor on the rear stay.

Round here we have plenty of irresponsible scooter owners blasting around on the roads, paths, wherever they fancy at seemingly 25+ mph.

I'm no Ugo up hills, but I'm relatively light, and have a reasonable ftp - hills are probably right up there enjoyment wise for me, along with a blast on the flat pushing a big gear.

Potentially I could then ride alongside her on the flats, and then see if I could hang on up the hills - would definitely be good training, and could be quite entertaining

pblakeney

daniel_b said:

...
Potentially I could then ride alongside her on the flats, and then see if I could hang on up the hills - would definitely be good training, and could be quite entertaining

This.
Maximised training if you can teach her half wheeling on the climbs. 😉

sungod

this is based on usa rules for e-bikes, but still worth a read...

https://www.velonews.com/gear/tech-wearables/tech-faq-e-bikes-for-rehab-while-riding-with-fast-friends/

daniel_b

Sounds like some of the USA have some decent limits, but other parts are the same as here.

This article articulates my thinking rather well.

https://t3.com/news/i-love-ebikes-but-we-really-need-to-raise-the-speed-limit-on-them-now

I'll caveat all this just to say I have not yet ridden an ebike of any kind.

PMark

You can actually get an ebike to go faster than 25kph, legally (S-Pedelec). But it is a faff to get it approved, there are a few people on youtube that have done it though. However I believe that once you do, you are no longer allowed to ride on most bike paths (as treated like a moped).

When commuting, I am generally faster on my road bike than ebike because of the limiter (unless there is a strong headwind). However I have an eMTB, so if you got a lightweight electric road bike, she would probably be able to pedal above 25kph a lot of the time and then just drop under when feeling tired to regain strength.

daniel_b

Thanks for that, just looked them up, and you're not wrong, that is a LOT of hoops to go through.

https://ebiketips.road.cc/content/advice/advice/buying-and-riding-an-s-pedelec-in-the-uk-1637

"Things should change
Here at ebiketips we think that things need to change. An S-pedelec doesn’t ride like a moped, it rides like a bike. It’s a bit quicker, but realistically hardly any more so than a fit cyclist would be. If we’re going to reduce car dependency in the UK, and offer people better transport choices, then bikes like the Nevo I’ve been riding would certainly be appealing to people with commutes that are too long or hilly for a regular bike, or even a standard e-bike. But the amount of red tape and cost surrounding them makes them hard to recommend in the UK right now. It’s no surprise that people are chipping their standard e-bikes to be faster – or just buying an S-pedelec and riding it as a bike – when the law stands as it does."

Presumably something will change at some point, but I wonder how long it will take.

I think for a moderately fit person on an hour or so commute, an e-bike will save no time, just effort, which is neither here nor there if you have decent shower/storage facilities.

If I did look to get one for my partner it would be a speed orientated road bike for sure.

mrb123

Mrs B just got an Ebike - a Riese and Muller hybrid type with 40mm G-One Speeds.

First time out together was fairly successful, certainly miles better than any ride we've had when she's been on a conventional bike.

You just have to accept that you can't go too hard on the flats but the workout you get trying to keep up on the hills is excellent. If you know there's a hill coming up you can ride away knowing that you'll be reeled back in on the climb.

There was one decent flat section where we were doing 18mph and she didn't seem to be at too much of a disadvantage. I suspect a road Ebike would be even better.

It does seem daft they can't do 20mph with assist - would be miles safer in traffic.

daniel_b

I never mentioned a scooter as a possibility to be fair.

Out of interest, which town is it you reside in?

pblakeney

daniel_b said:

I never mentioned a scooter as a possibility to be fair.

Out of interest, which town is it you reside in?

Most likely to be Spamsville, Virtual County.