Aren’t US ebike regulations super generous, like to the point its pretty much just an electric equivalent to a 50cc bike with pedals on it.
Ours are so restricted I don’t even see the point of a legal one outside of disabled or elderly users. Once I am up to speed I usually cycle at just under 30kmh which is above the speed limit for pedal assist ebikes, IIRC most of Europe has that sort of limit. If there are a lot of stop/starts then maybe it could be more useful, but I tend to avoid roads like that in the first place.
Depends greatly on the state (and in some cases city too) you live in but many have speed limits on them of 25mph (among many other restrictions based on motor wattage breaking them into classes). Any faster, pedals or not, it’s considered an electric motorcycle with all the restrictions that apply there.
But the biggest issue is the lack of cycling infrastructure in general. A shitton of the US has little support for that kind of transport, or any support for those not in cars.
And there’s legal restrictions on what kinds of roads you can ride on as well.
Go 25mph then. At some point it just seems like looking for excuses. Tbh I hear the same sorts of excuses here from people trying to justify why they “have to” drive 800m to the corner shop.
It would literally be illegal for me due to the only road being an interstate bridge during part of my commute, not to mention riding at night on winding roads with no shoulder (blind corners abound) with speed limits of 50+ mph due to my work hours. And of course some roads that have a bike lane (rare in my neck of the woods but improving), it’s illegal in my state to ride any vehicle with a motor (yes even electric motors) in the bike lane. So I’d have to ride in traffic on a bike on aforementioned roads.
I’m not saying other people shouldn’t try to ride bikes or ebikes to work, I’m just saying for me that it’s not possible.
Oh I wish I could but my local infrastructure ain’t human centered, it’s car centered.
I may only be 13 miles from where I work but with roads near me being 50+mph with no shoulder or streetlights
Aren’t US ebike regulations super generous, like to the point its pretty much just an electric equivalent to a 50cc bike with pedals on it.
Ours are so restricted I don’t even see the point of a legal one outside of disabled or elderly users. Once I am up to speed I usually cycle at just under 30kmh which is above the speed limit for pedal assist ebikes, IIRC most of Europe has that sort of limit. If there are a lot of stop/starts then maybe it could be more useful, but I tend to avoid roads like that in the first place.
Depends greatly on the state (and in some cases city too) you live in but many have speed limits on them of 25mph (among many other restrictions based on motor wattage breaking them into classes). Any faster, pedals or not, it’s considered an electric motorcycle with all the restrictions that apply there.
But the biggest issue is the lack of cycling infrastructure in general. A shitton of the US has little support for that kind of transport, or any support for those not in cars.
And there’s legal restrictions on what kinds of roads you can ride on as well.
It’s a headache.
Go 25mph then. At some point it just seems like looking for excuses. Tbh I hear the same sorts of excuses here from people trying to justify why they “have to” drive 800m to the corner shop.
It would literally be illegal for me due to the only road being an interstate bridge during part of my commute, not to mention riding at night on winding roads with no shoulder (blind corners abound) with speed limits of 50+ mph due to my work hours. And of course some roads that have a bike lane (rare in my neck of the woods but improving), it’s illegal in my state to ride any vehicle with a motor (yes even electric motors) in the bike lane. So I’d have to ride in traffic on a bike on aforementioned roads.
I’m not saying other people shouldn’t try to ride bikes or ebikes to work, I’m just saying for me that it’s not possible.