Road EBike rant.
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The 4 wheel ebikes are narrow enough to fit in the cycle lanes in town, although i did see one get stuck between two bollards the other day as he tried to cut through a pedestrianised area.
The bollards were slightly closer than the width of his wheels, he was carrying enough speed to jam the front wheels in between but not enough to get the back wheels through as well, then he didn't have the power to go either way from a standstill 😄
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Excuse my ignorance here but do you pedal a Citroen Ami?
Wilier Izoard XP0 -
That's about half way up the cassette in the 50T ring on the flat with a cadence of circa 80rpm. I should point out that I am waaaay slower on the EBike than I was before getting ill on an unassisted bike.
It does seem to, unnecessarily, create friction with drivers too - as it's just too quick to zip past, but too slow to not wind those of a certain mentality up. I certainly felt a lot safer on an unassisted bike when in traffic than I do with some packaged watts. We forget these things weigh 20kg plus. They are relatively unwieldy at slow speeds, making the rider feel unsafe in traffic.
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Please do keep explaining to a group of cyclists how fast 17 to 19mph is.
- Genesis Croix de Fer
- Dolan Tuono1 -
My top speed, on an unassisted bike, is over 70 mph, overtaking cars willy nilly. I'd never do that on an E Bike because of the weight. You don't have the confidence. Gravity is quicker than any electric assist I've ever seen.
Whenever you (in this case I) see a conversation about electric assistance, you always get those quoting extremes which is sad. As I say, I have to focus on keeping the speed below 15mph on the flat, will rarely catch another cyclist but I will be overtaken by "club riders" - for want of a better description.
In the US it's 20mph. That seems reasonable. It seems (from personal experience) safer feeling under many circumstances. It's less of an annoyance for motor assisted road users I would imagine. I rarely say it but I think the USA got it right on this occasion :)
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Might just be my addled brain but wasn’t there a stat that the worldwide average speed on Strava was 15 mph?
Someone at work once asked me how fast my commute was. He was gobsmacked when I said 15 to 18 mph. He was further gobsmacked when I said “average”. He didn’t believe a bicycle could reach 15 mph. Guess his reaction when I said my maximum was 55 mph. 😂
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
How many years of cycling have you got? A fair few to attain 70mph. Skillsets or acquiring them are incremental and built over time and sometimes supported by training.
speed is fine, the current legislation is a mixed bag on e bikes but the top speed is fine. Any faster the higher outcomes for serious injury, the higher likelihood insurance will be compulsory or increased premiums for those of us who are already shred for third party claims
“Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime. Teach a man to cycle and he will realize fishing is stupid and boring”
Desmond Tutu0 -
I don't believe you
I do a lot of riding in the hills in the UK and overseas. My maximum speed on a descent in recent years is around 45 mph, and I am not a bad descender, I pass way more people on a descent than pass me. I think I managed 50 mph many years ago when I was a bit more reckless. I don't believe you've ever got to 70mph.
There is another issue with raising the assistance limit from 15.5 mph to 20 mph. The loss of assistance will be even more like hitting a wall. For someone of my size will need a little over100 Watts to maintain 15.5mph on the flat, it is over 200 Watts at 20 mph.
ebikes as a mode of transport are supposed to be low-speed vehicles for use on cycle paths, if you want to go faster get an e-moped or e-motorbike with all the extra legislative hassle - it's there for a good reason, to take account of the extra damage that you will be able to do using them recklessly. If it's for keeping up with your mates on a ride that's a bit different, but if they are at all quick then they will often be doing over 20 mph and you will still have the same issue. However in most cases the riders are capable of keeping up on the flat and only need assistance on the climbs where the assistance limit is irrelevent.
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No, it has a throttle. A quadricycle is pretty much a 4-wheel equivalent of a 49cc moped as far as legislation goes for road use.
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You've probably seen the food delivery guy in Kingston riding an old steel road bike, he's also older than the average for these things. He stands out so much for not having a motor, seeing that makes me smile.
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Sorry can't find the descent. It was in the Austrian alps and I averaged over 85kph whilst chasing a motorbike downhill for over 2km (including haripins), topping out at 105.6kph. I find it harder to walk than to ride at 15.5mph on a road based Ebike on the flat.
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If it was a decent length descent it will surely be the one that shows under your best efforts on the right hand side of your strava profile.
- Genesis Croix de Fer
- Dolan Tuono0 -
Aaaaaarghhhhh!!! Make it stop!
”Bike” is a diminutive of “bicycle”.
A thing you ride which has ONE wheel is a UNIcycle, with the “Uni” bit meaning one..
A thing with TWO wheels is a BIcycle, because the “bi” bit means two. With me so far?
Three wheels things are, perhaps not surprisingly, known as TRIcycles.
WTAF is a “quad bike” meant to be therefore? 8 wheeled contraption?
Open One+ BMC TE29 Seven 622SL On One Scandal Cervelo RS0 -
No, that would be an otocycle. No need to thank me 🤣
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